SXSW 2019: Our 10 most anticipated films screening at this year’s festival

While Austin’s long-running SXSW festival is still primarily known as a music and technology festival, their annual film slate has quickly made it one of the most exciting film festivals in North America, showcasing films that often drive the conversation for the next year. This year is no exception, with a diverse and exciting lineup that includes the world premiere of Jordan Peele’s highly anticipated US, along with world premieres for Pet Sematary, Netflix’s The Highwaymen, a robust music documentary lineup, and much more.

Below you’ll find our 10 most anticipated films at SXSW this year. Stay tuned for reviews, interviews, and much more from the festival in the coming days. For the complete SXSW film schedule, visit the festival’s official site.

US

Jordan Peele takes another stab at the world of horror with US, which looks to be a terrifying mashup between Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Night of the Living Dead. We’re a fairly spoiler-adverse bunch here so we haven’t dug too far into the plot synopsis, but Peele has earned so much goodwill from Get Out (not to mention years of incredible sketches on Key & Peele), that we’re here for whatever he does next. Starring Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Elisabeth Moss, and Tim Heidecker, US is without a doubt the one film everyone is clamouring to see during the festival.

Who Let The Dogs Out

Who did let the dogs out? And why? If you’ve ever pondered those very questions while hearing this unending earworm blasted at a local bar or sports game, you’re not alone. That insatiable desire to dig deeper into the party anthem so consumed Ben Sisto that he has devoted years of his life following the convoluted history of the song, amassing a collection of 250 pieces of Dogs Out-related merch in the process, and setting up a traveling lecture where he dissects the songs to audiences around the world. Director Brent Hodge incorporates Sisto’s lecture into a surprising documentary that tackles the universality of music, and one man’s obsession to uncover “the truth” about the origins of the song that’ll have you shouting “Who let the dogs out / Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof,” long after SXSW wraps up.

It Started As A Joke

This documentary focuses on the legacy of the Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival, an underground fest that was “started as a joke” by comedian Eugene Mirman (Bob’s Burgers), which eventually ran for a decade in Brooklyn before wrapping up in 2017. Often credited with helping boost the burgeoning alt-comedy scene, the festival featured a veritable who’s who of comics from the era, wrapping up in a massive final festival lineup filmed for this documentary, including appearances from Bobcat Goldthwait, Jon Glaser, Caroline Rhea, Mike Birbiglia, Janeane Garofalo, Aparana Nancherla, Wyatt Cenac, and many more.

Pet Sematary

According to legend, Pet Sematary is infamously known as the novel that scared Stephen King so much in the writing process that he actually locked up the manuscript at one point, so there is plenty of potential for this new take on the classic horror story. Co-directed by Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer, the team responsible for 2014’s grizzly Starry Eyes, and featuring a solid cast including Jason Clarke, Amy Seimetz, and John Lithgow, this new adaptation should hopefully build on the truly frightening themes of King’s original work. The new take on Zelda is already haunting our dreams.

Stuber

This one is still listed as a “work in progress,” but the pitch is far too good to pass up: Kumail Nanjiani stars as an Uber driver who picks up a cop (Dave Bautista) on the hunt for a violent killer. Directed by Michael Dowse (Goon, FUBAR), this has the potential to be one of the breakout cult hits of the festival.

Good Boys

The writers behind Superbad set their sights on the next generation of pre-teens acting badly in this upcoming comedy starring Jacob Tremblay. When a crew of young boys accidentally destroy a drone, they embark on a series of very bad decisions in order to replace it. Co-produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, we’ll have to see just what they manage to put poor Jacob Tremblay through.

Extra Ordinary

The premise for Extra Ordinary sounds fairly convoluted, but we can’t resist a cast that includes Will Forte and Claudia O’Doherty. In what sounds like something out of the mind of Neil Gaiman, a driving instructor in Ireland that possesses supernatural powers encounters a washed-up rock star who’s made a deal with the devil to return to his former RN’R glory. This one can go either way, but the great cast and fantastical premise seem like a perfect match.

Little Monsters

Lupita Nyong’o makes her second appearance on this list (she also stars in Jordan Peele’s US), starring as a schoolteacher on a field trip who suddenly has to contend with a zombie outbreak. While the only supplied image for the film looks fairly grim, this is billed as a “comedy,” which sounds like an intriguing premise for Nyong’o to sink her teeth into.

The Weekend

Former Saturday Night Live cast member Sasheer Zamata leads this upcoming comedy, starring as a stand-up comedian (no big stretch there) who invites a close friend to stay at her mother’s bed and breakfast, a plan that begins to unfurl when he brings his girlfriend along. Zamata was consistently hilarious during her SNL appearances, which bodes well for this starring vehicle.

The Chills: The Triumph & Tragedy of Martin Phillipps

The Chills were one of New Zealand’s most lauded bands in the 1980’s, winning the support of both critics and fans, and touring around the world behind seminal albums like Submarine Bells. Following years of Spinal Tap-level lineup changes and serious drug and alcohol abuse by the band’s singer-songwriter Martin Phillipps, Phillipps eventually receives a dire medical diagnosis that he will die within a year if he doesn’t give up drinking. A great overview of one of the most under-appreciated bands of the 80’s (at least on these shores), the film is also a moving testament to Phillipps’ dedication to his music, and perseverance through the darkest times.