SXSW 2022 Film Festival picks: 10 must-see movies at this year’s edition

After two years of online-only editions due to the pandemic, SXSW is set to take over Austin again with the return of its physical edition (with some online components). While the increased accessibility afforded by online film festivals has been welcome, you can’t beat the sensation of seeing new films surrounded by hundreds of fellow film lovers, opportunities SXSW provides numerous times a day throughout the film festival.

Running from March 11-20, this year’s tremendous lineup includes the premieres of buzz-worthy titles including Ti West’s X, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (starring Nicolas Cage as…Nicolas Cage), Michelle Yeoh’s sci-fi mind-bender Everything Everywhere All at Once, the Nunavut-set alien teen horror-comedy Slash Back, and many more.

On the documentary front, this year’s lineup includes Dio: Dreamers Never Die (tracing the life and career of metal icon Ronnie James Dio), I Get Knocked Down (an exploration of Chumbawamba singer Dunstan Bruce), Diamond Hands: The Legend of WallStreetBets (a dive into the wild story behind the GameStop stock madness), and much more.

Our SXSW 2022 Film Festival picks are below. Stay tuned for reviews and interviews out of SXSW in the coming days. Many of the below titles are also screening online; for tickets and the complete schedule visit the SXSW Film Festival site.

Bad Axe

This documentary from filmmaker David Siev is a moving and intimate look at Siev’s Asian-American family in the small Michigan town of Bad Axe amidst the pandemic. With restaurants forced to close in the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak, David’s family (including his father who escaped the Cambodian Killing Fields) have to adapt their long-standing family restaurant and everyday life in the face of a deadly pandemic, while dealing with aggressive anti-maskers and threats of racism and violence. A riveting look at the effects of racism during the Trump era, Bad Axe is also a vital snapshot of a country in crisis.

The Cellar

Starring Elisha Cuthbert and Eoin Macken, writer-director Brendan Muldowney’s The Cellar, is a riveting nail-biter perfectly suited for a late-night SXSW screening. Filmed on location in Roscommon, Ireland, the film follows a couple who move into a shambling country home to the horror of their teenage daughter. When her daughter mysteriously vanishes in the cellar of the house, Keira Woods (Cuthbert) has to go head-on to battle an evil force within the house to set her daughter free in this eerie and out-there horror film with shades of The Ring and The Amityville Horror.

Diamond Hands: The Legend of WallStreetBets

If you followed in wonder (or horror) as investors somehow ratcheted the stock of the dying video game business GameStop into the stratosphere during the pandemic, Diamond Hands: The Legend of WallStreetBets is a fascinating look at the strangest story in Wall Street history. Featuring frank interviews with the predominately young Reddit board members who bounded together to buy up GameStop stock to take advantage of a trading loophole, Diamond Hands is a revealing look at some of the primary players (including the revered “Jeffamazon”) behind this wild and industry-shaking story. To the moon!

Dio: Dreamers Never Die

Beloved hard rock and metal icon Ronnie James Dio gets the spotlight in Dio: Dreamers Never Die, a new documentary on the late rocker from filmmakers Don Argott and Demian Fenton. The film traces Dio’s legacy from his time as a ’50″s doo-wop singer (Really!) through to his years fronting the influential ’70s hard rock band Rainbow, his time in Black Sabbath following the departure of Ozzy Osbourne, and his long solo career as Dio. Featuring interviews with the likes of Wendy Dio, Sabbath members Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward, and metal mainstays including Sebastian Bach, Lita Ford, and Rob Halford, this is a must-see look at one of the most unique vocalists of our time. Raise your horns!

Everything Everywhere All at Once

A24 is being relatively coy about what this wild-looking new film from Daniels (directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert) is actually about. According to the synopsis, the film “is a hilarious and big-hearted sci-fi action adventure about an exhausted Chinese American woman (Michelle Yeoh) who can’t seem to finish her taxes.” OK, then. But anyone who has watched the viral trailer for the film knows there is a lot more in-store in this cosmic epic that looks to put Marvel’s multiverse to shame. The film co-stars Stephanie Hsu, Jenny Slate, and a nearly unrecognizable Jamie Lee Curtis. We spoke with Daniels for the release of Swiss Army Man, the Daniel Radcliffe-starring “farting corpse” movie; listen to the interview here.

I Get Knocked Down

25 years (!) after the release of Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumping,” the song is as ubiquitous as ever (you may have caught it in Intuit’s recent Superbowl ad). I Get Knocked Down is a thought-provoking and fascinating documentary focused on the stratospheric success of the anarchist collective Chumbawamba in the late ’90s and what it means to be an activist as you approach your 60s, as told through the band’s singer Dunstan Bruce (Bruce co-directed the film with Sophie Robinson). Featuring interviews with Bruce’s former bandmates, journalists, and a near-mythical encounter with Crass’s Penny Rimbaud (who absolves the band for their sin of “selling out”), I Get Knocked Down is a vital reminder about the need to speak truth to power, regardless of your age.

Slash Back

A gang of Inuk teenage girls from the remote Arctic town of Pangnirtung, Nunavut do battle with alien invaders in Slash Back, a wildly entertaining sci-fi-horror-comedy from director Nyla Innuksuk. With a vibrant cast including Tasiana Shirley, Alexis Wolfe, Chelsea Prusky, Frankie Vincent-Wolfe, and Nalajoss Ellsworth, Slash Back is a thrilling new genre film set amidst the stunning scenery of Nunavut. Like a cross between Attack the Block and The Thing, Slash Back is the sort of crowd-pleaser that should have the whole festival buzzing. Expect Slash Back to be one of the breakout films of the year.

Still Working 9 to 5

40 years ago, the comedy 9 to 5 was one of the first mainstream films to shine a light on the lives of women office workers. Starring Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda, and Lily Tomlin, the film become a beloved classic over time, with its invigorating mix of take-no-bullshit attitude and surrealist comedy elements. Directors Camille Hardman and Gary Lane examine the legacy of the film, its recent Broadway adaptation, and the real-life 9 to 5 women’s worker movement that inspired the film in this insightful and fun new documentary, featuring extensive interviews with the film’s iconic stars.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

Nicolas Cage stars as …Nicolas Cage in this meta-comedy from director Tom Gormican (Ghosted). Cage plays a down on his luck version of himself who accepts an offer from a wealthy superfan (Pedro Pascal) to make an appearance at his birthday party. He then becomes embroiled in a plot with a CIA operative (Tiffany Haddish) and is “forced to live up to his own legend, channeling his most iconic and beloved on-screen characters in order to save himself and his loved ones.” Truthfully, this could go either way, but Cage playing numerous versions of his on-screen personas over the years sounds like just the sort of bonkers role us Cageheads have been longing for.

X

Acclaimed genre director Ti West (The House of the Devil, The Innkeepers) is back with X, his first film in six long years. X revolves around a group of young filmmakers who set out to make a pornographic film in a remote Texas home in the ’70s, but then have to fight for their lives when the owner finds out what these darn kids are up to. Starring Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Kid Cudi, and Brittany Snow, X looks like another tense outing from Ti West, who hasn’t disappointed yet.

The SXSW 2022 Film Festival runs from March 11-20; for the complete schedule and passes visit the official festival site.