SXSW 2023 film reviews (Air, Joy Ride, Theater Camp, Raging Grace, and more)

With this year’s incredible edition of SXSW behind us, we’re taking a look at a number of the best films from the festival including Ben Affleck’s Air, the raunchy comedy Joy Ride starring Stephanie Hsu, the hilarious mockumentary Theater Camp, and the powerful thriller Raging Grace.

You can find all of our SXSW coverage here.

Air

The behind-the-scenes corporate machinations behind some of the biggest (or most infamous) companies have become a new trend for filmmakers in recent years. Alongside recent documentaries and dramatizations based on companies including Theranos, Uber, WeWork, and more, this year’s SXSW Film Festival featured dramatized retellings of the rise (and fall) of Blackberry and Air, the Ben Affleck-directed tale of how Nike managed to sign Michael Jordan back in the ’80s.

While it’s easy to see a project like Air as a thinly-veiled piece of corporate-sponsored fluff, Affleck has crafted a rousing story of an underdog company fighting to succeed (it was a different time), as well as a moving look at how Michael Jordan’s family fought for his worth, forever changing the relationship between athletes and the companies they partner with.

Shot in a documentary-like fashion, Air stars Matt Damon as Sonny Vaccaro, the Nike employee who doggedly chased down Michael Jordan for a sponsorship deal against the wishes of nearly all of the involved parties. Also starring Affleck as Nike co-CEO Phil Knight, Jason Bateman, and Chris Tucker as fellow Nike staff, and a film-stealing Viola Davis as Michael Jordan’s protective mother, Air feels like Moneyball for the world of basketball shoe endorsement deals.

Even though we all know the outcome (you can’t walk more than 20 feet in any city without encountering a pair of Air Jordans), Affleck manages to make Sonny’s determination to sign Jordan at all costs a thrilling experience. While the entire cast shines (including a hilarious return from Chris Tucker who proves to still be one of the funniest performers we have), the heart and soul of the film lies with Viola Davis’ measured and confident portrayal of Deloris Jordan. While the Oscars just took place last week, expect to see Davis’ name back on the ballot next year for this moving examination of a mother who knew the worth of her gifted son and fought for his proper share of the proceeds for what would eventually become one of the best-selling shoe lines of all time.

Air lands in theatres on April 5, 2023. 

Joy Ride

Following up her Oscar-nominated role in Everything Everywhere All at Once, Stephanie Hsu returns with Joy Ride, an ultra-raunchy comedy that is sure to be one of the best times you’ll have in a theatre this year.

The feature directorial debut by Adele Lim, Joy Ride is the story of four very different women who end up on an international adventure that goes awry in nearly every way possible. Along the way, the various characters eventually come together to express their true identities and embrace their cultural heritage, while making an avalanche of genitalia-related jokes (Seth Rogen’s producer credit is fitting here).

Audrey (Ashley Park) is a young Asian woman who was adopted by white parents as a child. Now a successful lawyer, she is tasked with traveling from the U.S. to China to sign an important client, after lying to her co-workers that she speaks Mandarin. In a panic, she recruits her childhood best friend Lolo (Sherry Cola) to come along as a translator. At the last minute, they are also joined by Lolo’s nerdy cousin “Deadeye” (a hilarious Sabrina Wu), and once in China, by Audrey’s old friend turned TV star Kat (Stephanie Hsu).

With the cast of misfits set, the crew embarks on a wild and raunchy trip that would make the cast of Bridesmaids cover their eyes in shame. Featuring over-the-top hijinks and detours, Joy Ride is a total blast, a movie that demands to be seen with a hyped-up (and hopefully, slightly intoxicated) crowd. The performances feel lived-in, and the chemistry of the cast is off the charts; it truly feels like watching a group of friends talk shit and ultimately support each other.

With its all-Asian starring cast, writers, and director, Joy Ride is not only an exuberantly funny comedy but also an important reminder of how representation matters in the stories that Hollywood tells and the way those communities see themselves reflected on-screen.

Theater Camp

Theater Camp is a prime example of how specificity is at the root of the best comedy. While you don’t have to be a former theatre camp kid to appreciate the warmth and the humour of this hilarious comedy, this razor-sharp mockumentary was obviously made with a deep reserve of love and appreciation for the whole idea of child performers and their adults who attempt to guide them in their pursuit.

Directed and co-written by Molly Gordan and Nick Lieberman (Ben Platt and Noah Galvin also served as co-writers), Theater Camp purports to be a documentary focused on AdirondACTS founder Joan (Amy Sedaris). While she falls into a coma during filming, the crew decides to stick around anyway, following the awkward transition as her dim-witted, TikTok-loving son Troy (Jimmy Tatro) takes over the camp in her absence.

Starring real-life theater kids Molly Gordon (Shiva Baby) and Ben Platt (Dear Evan Hansen) as two theater instructors who take their jobs a little too seriously, Theater Camp is filled with both absolute sincerity and pitch-perfect snide humour. That’s often a difficult balancing act, but Theater Camp succeeds on all fronts.

With an absolutely incredible cast (including a wildly charismatic group of child actors) and a hyper-specific tone that feels like a long-lost Christopher Guest movie, Theater Camp is one of the best comedies in years. This is a film that practically cries out for a rewatch before the credits have even finished rolling, about as strong an endorsement for a comedy as you can get.

Theater Camp opens in theatres on July 14. 

Raging Grace

Raging Grace was one of the best surprises out of this year’s SXSW lineup. The feature debut from writer-director Paris Zarcilla, Raging Grace is a thrilling horror-drama focusing on an undocumented Filipina care worker who finds herself and her young daughter at risk when she accepts a job caring for an elderly man.

Joy (Max Eigenmann) is a single Filipina mom working hard as a housecleaner for a number of wealthy clients in London. She takes on as many jobs as she can in order to earn enough to purchase a black-market visa which will save her and her rebellious teenage daughter Grace (Jaeden Paige Boadilla) from being deported.

Forced to hide her daughter in the cavernous homes she’s employed to live and work in, Joy jumps at the chance to work for Katherine (Leanne Best), who needs help to care for her sick uncle Master Garrett (David Hayman) in his mansion. It immediately becomes clear to the audience that something is very wrong with this entire situation, but Joy’s unshakable desire for a better life for herself and her daughter keeps her in the house, even as she begins to be plagued by mysterious visions.

A searing portrait of class and race in modern Britain, Raging Grace is both an effective supernatural thriller and an indictment of a system that profits from the physical work of immigrants while offering them no real protection or sanctuary. This is an incredibly assured feature debut from Paris Zarcilla, and marks the arrival of a thrilling and vital new voice in the genre space.