Holy hell this year’s SXSW Film Festival (March 10-18, 2023) really isn’t messing around.
The previous announcement unveiled a stacked horror lineup that includes headiners Evil Dead Rise and opener Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
In addition, they revealed several prominent horror titles that will premiere as part of the Midnighters program, including the Sundance hit Talk to Me and the surprise sequel to Becky, The Wrath of Becky.
It turns out, the programming team isn’t finished!
SXSW announced another wave of film programming today, including an eighth Midnighter.
“Midnighters don’t need to be exclusively horror films, they just need to perk you up and get your blood pumping,” said Peter Hall, Film & TV Festival Programmer. “That’s why this year’s SXSW Midnighters class is a mix of horror, bone-crunching action, and mind-melting genre hybrids. Some of them introduce new, terrifying lore to the canon of suburban horror movies, some will worm around in your brain like thoughts you can’t shake, but all of them will make you sit up and wonder what the hell you’ve just gotten yourself into.”
Here’s what’s been added:
MIDNIGHTERS: Scary, funny, sexy, controversial – eight provocative after-dark features for night owls and the terminally curious.
Furies (Vietnam)
Director: Veronica Ngo (Ngo Thanh Van), Producers: Giang Ho, Bey Logan, Screenwriters: Ngo Thanh Van, Aaron Toronto, Uyen Nguyen Nha Ly, Thach Ngoc Nguyen, Nhan Truong Nguyen
A mysterious woman trains a trio of girls to take revenge on a criminal gang that abuses females. The three lady warriors risk everything to challenge this corrupt empire, before finally learning that their cause is not what they believed it to be.
Cast: Dong Anh Quynh, Toc Tien, Rima Thanh Vy, Thuan Nguyen, Song Luan, Gi A Nguyen, Phan Thanh Hien (Festival Premiere)
NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT: High profile narrative features receiving their World, International, North American, or U.S. premieres at SXSW.
Hannah, portrayed by Hadley Robinson, in the film APPENDAGE directed by Anna Zlokovic. | Credit: Powell Robinson
Appendage
Director/Screenwriter: Anna Zlokovic, Producers: David Worthen Brooks, Arbi Pedrossian, Jenna Cavelle, Katrina Kudlick, Alex Familian, Hadley Robinson, Anna Zlokovic
After hitting a breaking point, Hannah’s inner thought’s physicalize into a monstrous creature that threatens to upend her life.
Cast: Hadley Robinson, Emily Hampshire, Brandon Mychal Smith, Kausar Mohammed (World Premiere)
Hail Mary
Director: Rosemary Rodriguez, Producer: Karina Miller, Screenwriter: Knate Lee
A young Belizean girl (Maria) finds herself mysteriously pregnant and trying to cross the US/MEX border while outrunning a deadly virus, the Cartels, Border Patrol and the right-hand man of the Devil. This genre-bending retelling of the Mary and Joseph story begs the question – who are the real monsters?
Cast: Natalia del Riego, Benny Emmanuel and Jack Huston with Angela Sarafyan (World Premiere)
VISIONS: Visions filmmakers are audacious, risk-taking artists in the new cinema landscape who defy traditional categorization in documentary and narrative filmmaking.
Laya DeLeon Hayes plays “Vicaria,” a sixteen year-old genius who desperately seeks to cure death. | Credit: Jim McGruie
The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster
Director/Screenwriter: Bomani J. Story, Producers: Jack Davis, Darren Brandl, Bomani J. Story
Death is ever present in Vicaria’s world – violence, police brutality, substance abuse – and after watching her mother and brother succumb, she’s had enough. Vicaria is going to put an end to all this death… by bringing the dead back to life.
Cast: Laya DeLeon Hayes, Denzel Whitaker, Chad Coleman, Reilly Brooke Stith, Keith Sean Holliday, Amani Summer Boyles, Edem Atsu-Swanzy (World Premiere)
The Artifice Girl
Director/Screenwriter: Franklin Ritch, Producers: Aaron B. Koontz, Ashleigh Snead
Three special agents develop a bold new computer program to catch online predators, but its rapid advancement poses unexpected challenges.
Cast: Tatum Matthews, Sinda Nichols, David Girard, Franklin Ritch, Lance Henriksen (U.S. Premiere)
DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHT: Shining a light on new documentary features receiving their World, International, North American or U.S. premieres at SXSW.
Satan Wants You (Canada)
Directors/Screenwriters: Sean Horlor, Steve J. Adams, Producers: Michael Grand, Melissa James
The shocking story of how a young woman and her psychiatrist ignited the global Satanic Panic with their bestselling memoir Michelle Remembers. (World Premiere)
TV SPOTLIGHT: Presenting world premieres of new seasons of prestige series.
JJ Nolan and Maury Sterling react to an unsettling truth in Shatter Belt Episode 2 “Immotus.” | Credit: SXSW
Shatter Belt
Showrunner/Director/
From director James Byrkit (Coherence) comes a collection of stories from the other side of consciousness. A modern mindbender for a new generation, it dives head first into the deep end of emotional questions about our relationship to reality.
Cast: Abigail Spencer, Patton Oswalt, JJ Nolan, Maury Sterling, Elimu Nelson, Julie Zhan, Dale E. Turner, Annie Ruby, Richard Follin, Catherine Lidstone, Shannon Timberlake, Ryan Keem, Bobby Foley, Isayas J. Theodros (World Premiere)