The 2026 SXSW Film & TV Festival began on March 7 in Austin, Texas, marking the first time it started on a Thursday. Featuring 49 world premieres, the event runs through March 18. Deadline has published a compilation of its reviews for several films premiered there.
The SXSW Film & TV Festival, now in its 33rd year, opened with Boots Riley's sci-fi comedy I Love Boosters as the headliner. Directed and written by Riley, the film stars Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige, Poppy Liu, Eiza González, LaKeith Stanfield, Will Poulter, and Demi Moore. Deadline's review describes it as "a surreal, hyperpop love letter to creatives living under capitalism that successfully captures the hopelessness of our current capitalist dystopia. The camp factor is evident in every frame," according to critic GG.
Other notable premieres include Searchlight's sequel Ready or Not 2: Here I Come directed by Radio Silence, New Line's horror action comedy They Will Kill You starring Samara Weaving and Zazie Beetz, Lionsgate's music film Power Ballad directed by John Carney with Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas, Vince Vaughn's gangster picture Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice, and Jorma Taccone's Over Your Dead Body.
Deadline's reviews cover additional entries in various sections. In the Narrative Feature Competition, Grind, directed by Brea Grant, Ed Dougherty, and Chelsea Stardust, features Barbara Crampton, Rob Huebel, Christopher Marquette, Jessika Van, Vinny Thomas, Mercedes Mason, Matt Mercer, and Aubrey Shea. The review calls it "an ingenious horror-comedy anthology" that balances laughs and shocks while critiquing the gig economy, comparable to works by Ken Loach, per DW.
Seekers of Infinite Love, in Narrative Spotlight and directed by Victoria Strouse, stars Hannah Einbinder, Justin Theroux, John Reynolds, Griffin Gluck, Justine Lupe, Greg Kinnear, David Ury, Michelle Johnston, and Andrea Pyle. Critic PH praises it as a "smart, sharply written and directed" comedy creating "outrageously funny situations."
The documentary We Are The Shaggs, directed by Ken Kwapis in the 24 Beats Per Minute section, explores the band of sisters known as The Shaggs. DW's review notes it as a "charming documentary" that views them "for who they really were," moving beyond the outsider art label to something more personal.
In another Narrative Feature Competition entry, Wishful Thinking, written and directed by Graham Parkes, stars Lewis Pullman, Maya Hawke, Randall Park, Jake Shane, Kate Berlant, Amita Rao, and Eric Rahill. GG describes it as a "dreamy romantic comedy about the lengths people will go for the ones they love," emphasizing inner harmony for relationships.
These reviews highlight the festival's diverse lineup of narratives, comedies, horrors, and documentaries.