16 MOVIES I'M HYPE TO SEE AT THE 2026 SXSW FILM & TV FESTIVAL

Right as Oscar season is crossing the finish line, South by Southwest comes around to start the next phase of the Hollywood calendar. It’s the springiest of any film festival, loading its lineup with raucous crowd-pleasers befitting a city known for breweries and warm weather.

For several days, downtown Austin is flooded with celebrities zipping in and out of town to promote their projects, some of which will open in theaters or debut on streaming platforms a few short weeks later. What often gets lost in the commotion is the fact that SXSW is also a robust hub for small, off-kilter indies that struggle to stand out when Keke Palmer and Zazie Beetz are up-staging the little guys at a headline-making premiere.

Whatever next week brings, there are a lot of very promising titles on SXSW’s roster. From Boots Riley's highly anticipated return, to the true story of a real life Black vigilante turned potential criminal, to a witchy cult—here are the films on my radar for the 2026 SXSW Film & TV Festival, kicking off next Thursday.

#WhileBlack

Directors: Jennifer Holness & Sidney Fussell

The video of George Floyd’s murder was viewed 1.4 billion times in twelve days. #WhileBlack asks a harder question: what happens to the people behind the camera? Through voices like Darnella Frazier and Diamond Reynolds, the documentary examines the uneasy economy where viral Black trauma becomes content—and the very real cost of making the world pay attention.

Black Zombie

Director: Maya Annik Bedward

Before zombies became Hollywood’s favorite brain-eating monsters, the myth had roots in colonial Haiti. Black Zombie digs up that history, tracing the creature from plantation folklore to the horror movie industrial complex—and reclaiming it as a symbol of survival, resistance, and spiritual power.

Dead Deer High

Director: Jo Rochelle

One year after a tragedy rocks their school, a group of high school slam poets and their English teacher channel their grief into verse as they prepare for a national competition. Directed, written, produced, and edited by teachers, Dead Deer High is a moving portrait of poetry as both catharsis and survival.

Fifteen

Directors: Jack Zagha & Yossy Zagha

In Fifteen, a quinceañera spirals into something far stranger—and bloodier—than a coming-of-age celebration. Set in Mexico City, the film mixes creature horror with kitschy comedy as best friends Mayte and Ligia navigate class divides, teenage illusions, and the terrifying realization that growing up might be the real monster.

Forbidden Fruits

Director: Meredith Alloway

At a mall shop, Apple secretly runs a witchy little coven with her coworkers Cherry and Fig. But when new hire Pumpkin starts questioning the sisterhood, the vibe quickly shifts from retail therapy to ritual sacrifice. Forbidden Fruits mixes workplace comedy with occult chaos—and the kind of girl-group dynamics that can turn deadly fast.

I Love Boosters

Director: Boots Riley

A scrappy crew of professional shoplifters set their sights on a ruthless fashion maven. I Love Boosters turns retail theft into a high-stakes sport, blending crime caper energy with a sly jab at the fashion world, adding a dash of "eat the rich".

Imposters

Director: Caleb Phillips

After a couple’s baby boy is taken, a grieving mother discovers a mysterious way to bring him back. But when the child returns, her husband can’t shake the feeling that something isn’t right. Imposters leans into that deeply unsettling parental nightmare: what if the baby in the crib isn’t actually yours?

Monitor

Directors: Matt Black & Ryan Polly

Maggie spends her days as a content moderator, scrubbing the internet’s worst horrors from the feed while quietly carrying guilt over her sister’s suicide. But after she blocks a mysterious video, something on the other side of the screen starts watching back. Monitor taps into our very online anxieties, turning the job of moderating the internet into a straight-up digital nightmare.

My NDA

Directors: Miriam Shor & Juliane Dressner

Three people bound by strict non-disclosure agreements risk everything to expose how a seemingly routine contract can become a powerful tool for silence and control. My NDA pulls back the curtain on the ways corporations weaponize legal fine print to manipulate, intimidate, and keep inconvenient truths buried.

Phoenix Jones: The Rise and Fall of a Real Life Superhero

Director: Bayan Joonam

In 2010, a masked vigilante calling himself Phoenix Jones began patrolling the streets of Seattle in a black-and-gold supersuit, quickly becoming a media sensation. But after police exposed his identity, the myth started to unravel. A decade later, he reemerges amid protest movements and legal trouble—raising the question: hero, or just a man who really liked the costume?

Pretty Lethal

Director: Vicky Jewson

Five ballerinas stranded in a remote forest take refuge in a very sketchy roadside inn. Unfortunately for whoever’s waiting inside, these girls didn’t spend years training just to plié politely. Pretty Lethal turns pointe shoes, discipline, and ballerina rage into deadly weapons.

A Safe Distance

Director: Gloria Mercer

A romantic getaway goes very left when Alex rejects her boyfriend’s surprise proposal and he abandons her in the wilderness. Rescued by an alluring off-the-grid couple, she’s drawn into their intoxicating little world—until she learns they’re fugitives behind a string of violent robberies and Alex must navigate the blurred lines between desire, loyalty, and survival.

The Saviors

Director: Kevin Hamedani

A suburban couple on the brink of divorce rents their guest house to a quiet brother and sister, hoping the extra cash will help them sell the house and move on. But when strange lights, missing animals, and suspicious tech start piling up—just days before the President’s visit—their new tenants begin to look a lot less harmless. Saviors blends domestic drama with a slow-burn conspiracy thriller.

Seahorse

Director: Aisha Evelyna

Nola, a burned-out sous chef barely keeping it together, crashes her bike after a brutal shift and wakes up to find her estranged father—now unhoused—standing over her. Taking him in forces years of buried hurt to the surface. Seahorse is a quiet, emotional reckoning about grief, forgiveness, and the fragile possibility of repair.

The Shitheads

Director: Macon Blair

Macon Blair’s third feature sends two wildly unqualified chaperones—played by Dave Franco and O'Shea Jackson Jr.—on a chaotic road trip escorting an increasingly unhinged teen. Packed with delightfully strange turns from Nicholas Braun, Peter Dinklage, and Kiernan Shipka, The Shitheads looks like Blair’s signature brand of absurd, gasoline-soaked chaos.

They Will Kill You

Director: Kirill Sokolov

A young woman spends one very bad night trapped inside the Virgil, a death-trap lair run by a demonic cult. If she wants to make it out alive, she’ll have to survive a gauntlet of increasingly brutal—and absurd—set pieces. They Will Kill You promises a blood-soaked blend of horror, action, and very dark humor.

SXSW kicks off March 12 in Austin, and I’ll be on the ground attending the festival for BLACKASF.com—so expect reviews, lots of food, and a few surprise discoveries along the way.