South by Southwest is that rare thing, a film festival that caters to both the art-house crowd and the masses. Just take last year’s gathering in Austin, Texas. It launched one of the biggest movies of 2018 with “A Quiet Place,” put Kay Cannon on the map as a director with “Blockers,” and discovered the indie gem “Thunder Road.”
In addition to all the barbecue and parties in downtown Austin, this year’s SXSW offers a promising-as-ever slate: including Jordan Peele’s next movie, Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut, and Charlize Theron as the next president of the United States. Speaking of politicians, both Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (“Knock Down the House”) and Beto O’Rourke (“Running With Beto”) are subjects of documentaries playing at the festival. Here are the 11 buzziest films at SXSW 2019.
“Us”
Perhaps the most anticipated movie of this year’s SXSW is Peele’s latest feature after his Oscar-winning opus, “Get Out.” In “Us,” a married couple (played by Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke) realize they are on the worst vacation ever, when they are met by four strangers who look exactly like their family members. If “Us” succeeds, it will cement Peele as one of the most important filmmakers of his generation, who can pack the multiplexes with his high-brow touch.
“Long Shot”
Neither Theron nor Seth Rogen are strangers to SXSW. She came here two years ago with the underrated action movie “Atomic Blonde.” He owes Austin for championing his star-making role in “Knocked Up,” and since then he’s used the venue for the premieres of almost all of his biggest hits, such as “Neighbors,” “Sausage Party,” and “The Disaster Artist.” In “Long Shot,” Theron plays a secretary of state running for president who enlists Rogen, a journalist she used to babysit as a young boy, to work as her speechwriter. The trailer looks like “Miss Congeniality” meets “Veep.”
“Booksmart”
Wilde’s directorial debut centers on two studious high school girls (Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein) who decide they need to cram in some partying before they graduate. The early buzz on the comedy is strong, much like last year’s “Blockers,” which also premiered at SXSW.
“The Beach Bum”
Harmony Korine’s first feature in seven years (since “Spring Breakers”) has long been rumored to be on the verge of release — there was talk that it might debut at last year’s Cannes. Now it’s finally here. Matthew McConaughey is a bongo-playing poet, who is having an existential crisis as he’s working on his next novel. If nothing else, the cast looks fun: from Snoop Dogg to Zac Efron and Isla Fisher.
“Kathy Griffin: A Hell of a Story”
After a controversial photo in 2017, in which she posed with a bloody facsimile of Donald Trump’s severed head, Kathy Griffin was blacklisted from Hollywood, lost Anderson Cooper as her friend, and underwent two lengthy federal investigations. But she wasn’t about to give up. She went on a redemptive tour, telling her story, called “Laugh Your Head Off,” which grossed $4.4 million. Griffin paid to have cameras shoot her last performance, which turned into her first concert movie.
(Excerpt) Read more in: Variety