Seekers of Infinite Love
Products of wealthy narcissistic novelist parents, three siblings set out on a mission to rescue their sister from a woo-woo cult. Filmmaker Victoria Strouse delivers an oddball road movie in Seekers of Infinite Love.
Kayla is an anxiety-ridden writer. Wes is a gambling graphic novelist. Zack is a lawyer and aspiring songwriter. The fourth sibling, Scarlett, has joined a cult. Mom and Dad hired a deprogrammer to assist them. Following Kayla freaking out while boarding their flight, this eclectic group must drive halfway across the country to track down their missing sister before things get worse.
The Bachman siblings face absurd challenges along the way. Think The Hangover. As circumstances become more complicated, everyone’s insecurities are compounded by Rich’s extreme problem-solving suggestions. Three emotionally inept adults and one questionable weirdo must deal with their issues before they can approach Scarlett.
Justin Theroux plays our deprogrammer, Rich, a complex former cult member who now retrieves current victims for hire. His guru aura perfectly counters The Bachman’s manic energy, until his suspicious past changes the dynamic. Theroux is hilarious in this borderline caricature performance. Hannah Einbeinder, Griffin Gluck, and John Reynolds have an authentically charming chemistry.
Act Three features a surprising cameo as our cult leader. The script takes pages out of history’s doomsday cults, which is genuinely funny if they’re not happening to you. The overall tone of the film is goofy, and that’s the intent. The title serves as a clever double entendre in true dramedy fashion. At its heart, Seekers of Infinite Love is a story about the consequences of unresolved childhood trauma, the power of unconditional love, and proves that humor is the ultimate defense mechanism.
SXSW 2026 true-crime doc I Got Bombed at Harvey’s tells the off-the-wall tale of a casino, a ransom note, a homemade bomb with 1000 pounds of dynamite, and 24 hrs. Your jaw will drop as one absolute narcissistic lunatic’s spiral brings his kids down with him.
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The Peril at Pincer Point
The dialogue is outrageously offensive and damn funny. My guess is that they’re closer to reality than comedy since people are assholes, but I digress. The music is delicious. Fantasy sequences are action-packed shenanigans, akin to Everything Everywhere All At Once. Leading man, screenwriter, and showrunner Ash T absolutely kills it playing Raag. Not a single millisecond of hesitation in this absurdist performance; this is star-making stuff of the gods. The plot twist is out of left field, but that’s a complete compliment. I have to know what happens to Raag once the credits roll. I’m going to need HBO to pay attention because Son of a Bikram deserves all the money and every minute of an audience’s attention.
In Lauren Noll’s SXSW 2026 dramedy, Same Same But Different, we follow three Persian childhood friends: a personal trainer, a lawyer, and an aspiring writer, grappling with identity and their ever-evolving relationships.
SXSW 2026 Watchlist
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come
The oldest generation speaks about the legacy of Emmett Till and the importance of passing on that history from one generation to the next. Glendora created the Emmett Till museum in 2005 as a way to apologize to the Till family for their lack of engagement. They recount the abhorrent entitlement of white people and the aggression and violence they brought to the doorsteps of the African American community members.
Glendora is a snapshot of America’s authentic history of racial atrocities and economic disparity, but the strength of Black culture, excellence, empathy, and community shine brightest in Glendora. Their genuine pride is infectious. This country can learn from its relentless spirit to equally honor the past and change the future.
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The film is a collection of personalities all jockeying to outdo each other. Greg looks like Santa and is happy to dress as such for the local kids. His son, Little Greg, is poised to take over the family business as his father battles cancer. Brooklynite George (who used to work for Greg) hopes to find love this season and brings bravado to the group. Heather is nine years sober. You will find her supporting those struggling on a similar path. Ciree takes the reins from her parents after 30 years. All of them find themselves under the thumb of the mysterious Kevin Hammer. Think of him as the Christmas Tree Mafia Boss.
The film is a countdown to Christmas, tracking the complicated and expensive logistics of purchasing trees, trucking them sometimes across the country, bidding on street corner permits, setting up shop, all while navigating weather, workforce, and the economy. It’s a risky business that can be rewarding in the end. The job is physically taxing and emotionally exhausting, but its impact on building family traditions is worth its weight in gold. 
Aniskovich intersperses sit-down interviews with action on the ground. The pièce de résistance are the scenes mimicking the stop-motion animation in Christmas classics like 
Ian Kimble brings a laugh-out-loud murder mystery, DEAD GIVEAWAY, to the Philadelphia Film Festival. After waking up hungry, with a hangover and a murdered stranger in her bed, Jill’s (Ruby Modine) day spirals into chaos as she navigates a tied-up man in her closet, an unconscious roommate, and a knife to her best friend’s neck. The goal? To get to brunch by 3:00 pm.
Mikaela Hoover is Lia. Her disgust with both her current predicament and the rather gross crime scene is only outdone by her aserbic wit. She has a familiar energy, something we have seen in classic comedy duos of the most successful sitcoms. Hoover’s distinct look matches that tangibility. Ruby Modine is hilarious. Jill, like Lia, is generally messy and self-assured. Modine harnesses a manic energy that nails the genre. The two share unhinged chemistry. It is a delightful pairing. 
Best Picture: CAMP, directed by Avalon Fast
FANTASTIC PITCHES 
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