This year’s South by Southwest Film and TV Festival was a more star-studded affair than ever. Big movie stars from Nicole Kidman to Ben Affleck and Jenna Ortega descended on the city of Austin, TX to celebrate the premieres of their latest projects. Meanwhile, the festival also served as an exciting showcase of some of the most promising up-and-coming talents in the indie film scene.

From blockbusters to indie gems, this writer saw a total of 51 movies at this year’s SXSW Film and TV Festival. Although narrowing it down to our top ten was challenging, we have decided which films we think you don’t want to miss — whether they come out a few weeks from now or are still looking for a distribution deal.

And if you keep reading after our top 10, you’ll catch some of our additional thoughts on other films that we saw at this year’s festival. 

Top 10 Films of SXSW 2025

10. Holland

Director Mimi Cave made a big splash on the scene with her feature debut, Fresh, and her second feature, Holland, is another stylish genre picture. Like her previous film, Holland proves that Cave is an exciting director who doesn’t always get the best scripts. However, Holland has enough strong elements that it manages to overcome some of the more underwhelming aspects of its narrative.

9. Fucktoys

Annapurna Sriram’s Fucktoys is the quintessential SXSW movie: a weird, messed up, yet also artsy genre picture heralding the arrival of a singular new voice. With its gross-out humor in a story inspired by The Fool’s Journey, Fucktoys feels like it could be as much at home in the filmography of Pasolini as it would in Troma’s catalog. It’s unabashedly crude in a way that may be off-putting to some viewers, but what makes the film stand out is that it doesn’t feel like it’s gratuitous, with all of its depravity actually building to a meaningful conclusion. While it won’t be for everyone, this definitely has all the marks of a future cult classic.

8. The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick

Pete Ohs is one of the most interesting independent filmmakers working today, with a collaborative process that seems much more akin to working as part of a collective than on a typical film set. This would explain why Ohs shares writing credit for The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick with the film’s cast — Zoe Chao, Jeremy O. Harris, Callie Hernandez, and James Cusati-Moyer.

The film starts with a normal enough premise: a woman’s idyllic country retreat turns into something more sinister. However, in the third act, this darkly comedic psychological horror gets VERY weird in a way that feels like a mixture of Kafka and Kaufman. It’s a dense work that demands multiple viewings to be fully analyzed, but it’s also incredibly engrossing.

7. Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore

Shoshannah Stern’s documentary Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore is, on its surface, a biography about the groundbreaking Academy Award-winning actress, who became the first deaf performer to win an Oscar. However, this isn’t your typical fluff piece. Stern engages with the topic of representation — particularly as it relates to the disabled community — in a way that makes this documentary essential viewing. Stern, like her subject, is completely unafraid to approach the more challenging aspects of this story, including the controversy that has surrounded Children of a Lesser God in the decades since its release. The result is a much more challenging, engaging film than one might expect.

6. The Baltimorons

The Christmas comedy The Baltimorons is filmmaker Jay Duplass’s first film in the director’s chair in over a decade, and it feels like a departure from the mumblecore genre he made his career on. Following an improv comedian who goes on a crazy Christmas Eve adventure with his dentist after chipping a tooth, The Baltimorons feels like The Holdovers for amateur comedians with a splash of Harold and Maude thrown in for good measure. It’s very funny and relentlessly charming, largely thanks to the efforts of co-writer/star Michael Strassner, who cements himself as a talent to watch.

5. Deepfaking Sam Altman

Adam Bhala Lough’s film Deepfaking Sam Altman is a film about Sam Altman… but it’s also not. After the OpenAI founder does not respond to a request by the Telemarketers director for an interview, the filmmaker takes an unorthodox turn: he creates an AI chatbot to impersonate Altman and uses this experience to explore the relationship that we have with artificial intelligence. Through this approach, Lough offers more insight into the status quo of artificial intelligence than a standard talking head documentary ever would, and also creates something much funnier, and even sometimes sadder, than one would expect.

4. Slanted

Written and directed by Amy Wang, the co-creator of the short-lived Michelle Yeoh Netflix series The Brothers Sun and writer of the upcoming Crazy Rich Asians sequel, Slanted is the type of high-concept genre picture that had the potential to either be great or a total flop. Playing like a mix of Get Out and The Substance, Slanted is a smart, funny, and surprisingly emotional satire despite its occasional adherence to formula.

3. It Ends

Every few years, the festival circuit does exactly what it’s supposed to do: discover an exciting new talent working within the confines of indie filmmaking in a way that feels legitimately fresh and innovative. Young filmmaker Alexander Ullom proves that he is that talent with his directorial debut It Ends, a true independent film that subverts expectations and feels subtly clever.

2. The Rivals of Amziah King

It’s hard to believe that, outside of some cameo appearances and TV work, Matthew McConaughey has largely been out of the spotlight for the greater part of five years. His return in The Rivals of Amziah King is triumphant, though, as his turn as the eponymous beekeeper/bluegrass musician ranks among the best work in his career, with all the charm, humor, and emotion the actor has ever delivered.

The first half of the film is absolutely magical, feeling completely original and unlike anything else you have ever seen. Although the second half drops off some, turning into a more conventional Coen Brothers riff, it’s still well-made, charming, and fun. When audiences get to see this film, they will be swept away by its atmosphere and story.

1. Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie

Very few filmmakers get up on stage introducing their movie by saying ‘You may be the only audience that ever gets to see this film.’ Although that may be a bit of an exaggeration for Blackberry director Matt Johnson’s latest movie, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, this comedy truly gives no f*cks, making it one of the most creative, boundary-pushing films in recent memory.

More SXSW 2025 Reviews

The Astronaut

The Astronaut is the type of film that’s not exactly bad, but it’s also not particularly interesting either. Kate Mara stars as an astronaut who, following her return to Earth, begins to suspect that she might have brought back an extraterrestrial threat with her. Several aspects of the film’s execution, from the production design to the cinematography and special effects, are very solid and create an atmosphere that is just effective enough to keep audiences from fully checking out. However, the story is generic and so is the direction — including several shots that are direct rip-offs of various Steven Spielberg films — which keeps the film from ever working.

Brother Verses Brother

Ari Gold’s Brother Verses Brother is an incredibly ambitious work of independent cinema, and it deserves credit for that. It’s a dramatization of Ari and his brother Ethan Gold’s life, with them playing themselves. The catch is that it’s shot in real-time and is fully improvised, including the many songs the duo performs. The music is certainly very catchy and is the best part of the film, but in trying to capture their lives, the Golds create conflict that feels forced and, frankly, not very interesting. It’s an innovative concept, for sure — it just would have been better if it were applied to something a bit more cinematic in terms of storytelling.

Caper

The low-budget comedy Caper is, unfortunately, one of the more disappointing cases of false advertising in recent memory. The film follows a group of friends who spring into action to save their friend after he sends an inappropriate text message to the wrong person on accident. At its base level, Caper wants to turn the eponymous subgenre on its head with a playful spin on its tropes. However, the film loses track of what makes its inspirations so enjoyable. The characters aren’t memorable, the cast isn’t particularly likable, and the heist itself isn’t all that exciting. While the concept behind the film is easy to admire, its execution doesn’t work.

Corina

If you ever wondered what a Mexican version of Amélie would look like, Corina has you covered. Although this twee comedy doesn’t have a whole lot of substance, it’s hard not to love because it does a great job of attaching the audience to its protagonist — a 20-year-old introvert who has to go on an adventure to save her career and the publishing company she works for. In the supporting cast, Cristo Férnandez (ROJAS!!! DANI ROJAS!!!! DANI ROJAS!!!) gives a charming turn, but the real standout is star Naian González Norvind (New Order), whose screen presence is just downright gripping.

Dead Lover

Grace Glowicki’s Dead Lover can best be described as an anarchic, DIY take on the Frankenstein trope. It’s an ingenious approach and concept, but the novelty of its approach wears off its welcome in the first thirty minutes. However, there is still a ton to like about this scrappy little gothic horror. Glowicki’s performance in the lead role is enchanting, offering the awkward charm that many Frankensteins (and Frankenstein-adjacent characters) have tried and failed to capture. The production design and cinematography are also fantastic, lending the film an alluring atmosphere. The result doesn’t all work, but its highs are very high.

Descendent

Produced by the duo of Benson and Moorhead (Daredevil: Born Again and Moon Knight, as well as some of the best indie sci-fi pics of the 2010s), Descendent has an interesting premise: an expectant father (Ross Marquand) who still struggles with a personal tragedy begins to experience visions of the extraterrestrial. Although the themes of fatherhood are interesting, the film all too often falls back onto the more conventional theme of trauma. The result is mostly very boring, except for a few moments that cross the line into downright laughable, with “alien” visions that resemble Snapchat filters.

The Dutchman

Andre Gains’s The Dutchman, inspired by the play by Amiri Baraka, offers an intriguing approach to the adaptation of its source material but is over-ambitious to a fault. The film, like the play that inspires it, follows a Black man who is ensnared on the NYC subway by a seductive, manipulative white woman. However, this film takes a metafictional approach to this story, involving the playwright (played by Dune’s Stephen McKinley Henderson) crafting this narrative of racial violence and duplicity. The main cast — André Holland, Kate Mara, Zazie Beets, and Aldis Hodge — is stacked, and all of them are very good, but the film’s commentary feels both ham-fisted and rudimentary, a frustrating combination to have.

The Home

If there is one recent trend in horror that really needs to stop, it is the “old people are scary” subgenre. Mattias Johansson Skoglund’s The Home is an uninspired entry into the genre, following the formula with few deviations. Although there are a few moments throughout the film that are quite unsettling, three or four disturbing scenes are not enough to carry a feature runtime. It’s frankly hard to believe a threat like the one shown in the film because it requires so much suspension of disbelief. The result is generic and just not very interesting. 

Idiotka

Nastasya Popov’s Idiotka is the type of cute, funny enough film that will likely find a cult following if it is able to reach its target audience (in this case, reality TV addicts). The film follows an aspiring fashion designer, a daughter of immigrants, who receives the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to compete in a reality show.

What follows is part conventional (but charming) underdog story and part satirical (but silly) comedy about the superficiality of reality TV. The best part of the film is its cast, led by an incredibly charming Anna Baryshnikov and rounded out by Camila Mendes, Saweetie, Julia Fox, and Emilia Perez’s Israeli doctor Mark Ivanir. Although it’s not a great film, at 82 minutes, it’s likable enough.

La Salsa Vive

Juan Carvajal’s documentary La Salsa Vive traces the origins of salsa music — one of the most vibrant aspects of Afro-Latino culture around the world. Carvajal’s film is incredibly academic in nature, effectively limiting its appeal to those who are already interested in Latin American culture and music. However, those who are fascinated by the topic already will find that this is an informative, engaging watch, with an interesting perspective that will have you rethinking what you think you know about this genre of music. That being said, the film is held back from greatness — even for musicophiles — by occasionally amateurish production, including sound issues that are damning for a music documentary.

The Librarians

Recently nominated for an Oscar for her short Death by Numbers, documentarian Kim A. Snyder looks at another important issue plaguing the American education system in her latest feature, The Librarians: book banning laws. Snyder and the film’s subjects — school librarians from states like Texas and Florida, where these laws are passing in alarming numbers — make a powerful argument about the connection between these laws and the spread of White Christian nationalism in the country. While the film’s claims do border dangerously close to fear-mongering at times, there are few other films calling attention to the issue, so The Librarians serves as a great starting point for this conversation.

Magic Hour

Katie Aselton’s Magic Hour, co-written with her husband Mark Duplass, was one of the biggest disappointments of the festival. The film, following a couple who seeks retreat in the desert to overcome an unexpected new obstacle in their relationship, shows potential but is weighed down by melodrama. It’s hard to give the comps without spoiling the film’s first-act twist, but Magic Hour feels like a carbon copy of other films that have done this premise better before. Aselton and Daveed Diggs’s performances in the lead roles are quite good, but like the film’s namesake, the best elements of Magic Hour are only fleeting.

Make It Look Real

Make It Look Real is the type of behind-the-scenes documentary that is destined to go down as better than the production it chronicles. That being said, Kate Blackmore’s film is much more than a making-of featurette. Instead, it’s a feature-length biographical documentary about intimacy coordinator Claire Warden as she works on set. The film opens up some fascinating conversations about the relationship between cinema and sex, as well as unsafe on-set practices and what can be done to make intimate scenes feel sensual without endangering the performers. This is definitely a film that cinephiles will not want to miss.

The Makings of Curtis Mayfield

The directorial debut of Academy Award-winning singer-songwriter H.E.R. sees the multihyphenate musician explore the career and style of one of the most unsung icons in R&B music history. The Makings of Curtis Mayfield is one of the nerdiest music documentaries you will see this year, diving deep into Mayfield’s technique, down to individual tracks and rhythms. Because of this, it might be hard for casuals to get invested in this documentary. However, H.E.R.’s enthusiasm for Mayfield’s legacy is infectious and goes a long way in making the film more engaging.

Mermaid

Tyler Cornack’s sophomore feature after the incredibly weird Butt Boy is hardly as strange and out-there as his debut. However, Mermaid — following a lonely Florida man who takes care of a wounded mermaid — has its charms. One will be left wishing that the film had leaned more heavily into the lunacy of its “Florida Man” premise, instead of settling for being a slightly weirder version of Splash. However, the film is kept afloat by some genuinely incredible make-up and prosthetics work and an unexpectedly nuanced performance by Fallout’s Johnny Pemberton in the lead role.

New Jack Fury

With a title that calls to mind both the Mario Van Peebles classic New Jack City and the cult classic comedy short Kung Fury, Lanfia Wal’s ultra-lo-fi action-comedy New Jack Fury is the type of movie that you have to know what you’re signing up for to appreciate. The film tells the story of an undercover cop who partners with two strange companions to rescue his girl and take down a criminal organization.

It’s a low-budget, tongue-in-cheek parody of a particular genre of action cinema, and while it doesn’t always land its punches, there are enough campy fun moments and bursts of genuine creativity to make it a good time. If you’re a fan of the Wakaliwood style of filmmaking, New Jack Fury is the type of midnight movie you’ll dig.

Odyssey

It seems as if indie filmmaking goes through waves, where up-and-coming filmmakers try to imitate — or are at least inspired by — a popular filmmaker of the moment. Right now, the “in” style is a Safdie-esque thriller. Odyssey tells the story of a London real estate agent driven to desperate measures because her life is on the edge of collapse. It feels like a cross between Uncut Gems and Industry, and while it’s very competently made, it’s not particularly engaging beyond an aesthetic level. The film really struggles to maintain its narrative momentum throughout its 110-minute runtime, although strong performances by Polly Maberly and The Hobbit’s Mikael Persbrandt will keep viewers from entirely checking out.

One More Shot

A genre picture set on New Year’s Eve — does that premise ring a bell? That’s probably because it’s been done a handful of times before. Yet even though Nicholas Clifford’s high-concept comedy One More Shot isn’t particularly original, it’s still super charming. The film follows a single woman in her 30s with everyone else in her life settling down as she finds a bottle of tequila that allows her to travel back in time with every shot. The message here is very obvious, and the humor never reaches laugh-out-loud levels of funny, but thanks to some relatable character work and a very strong performance by Emily Browning (Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch), it’s able to keep viewers invested.

$POSITIONS

Speaking of Safdie knock-offs, it would be harder to find a more direct imitation of their film Good Time than $POSITIONS. The darkly comedic thriller follows a crypto hustler who falls into a self-destructive spiral when he risks his entire life in an attempt to make a quick buck for himself and his developmentally disabled brother. Mike Kunicki’s performance in the lead role is impressively nuanced, nailing the balance between annoying and oddly sympathetic. Admittedly, the film’s derivative story is a bit distracting at times, but the film has enough stressful and uncomfortable moments that it manages to be memorable in its own right.

Redux Redux

Redux Redux is the latest in a line of indie multiverse movies that have popped up in the wake of Everything Everywhere All at Once, and while it has an intriguing premise, it doesn’t quite deliver on its promise. The film follows a woman who travels through alternate universes killing the murderer of her young daughter in each one.

Unfortunately, the film is not particularly action-packed, and while this was clearly an intentional decision by writer-directors Kevin and Matthew McManus, the result is that the film drags throughout its 107-minute runtime. That being said, the McManus brothers do a great job of creating compelling characters, and Michaela McManus is excellent in the leading role, which will keep audiences from entirely checking out of the film.

Sally

At first glance, one might expect Cristina Constantini’s documentary Sally, telling the story of pioneering female astronaut Sally Ride, to be a straightforward biographical documentary. However, as the film’s subject asserts about herself, this documentary isn’t all that interested in Ride’s accomplishments as a spacefarer. Instead, Constantini seems much more intrigued with Ride’s role as a queer woman in a society and industry that was not only sexist but also hostile toward the LGBTQIA+ community. The result feels a lot more meaningful and insightful than your typical bio-doc.

Selena y Los Dinos

Unsurprisingly, the documentary Selena y Los Dinos — telling the story of the meteoric success of Tejano music icon Selena Quintanilla — played like a rock concert in her home state of Texas. However, Isabel Castro’s film is a very straightforward biography, failing to add any insight beyond what we already know from the Jennifer Lopez-starring biopic or the extensive news coverage of her story. It’s fluffy, although that can be expected from a documentary produced with such profound collaboration from the subject’s family. All in all, it’s a solid enough celebration of Selena’s legacy, but nothing particularly groundbreaking or eye-opening.

Shuffle

Benjamin Flaherty’s Shuffle took home the Grand Jury Prize in the Documentary Feature Competition at this year’s SXSW, and it’s understandable why. Shuffle is an eye-opening exposé of the rehabilitation industry, exploring how many of the rehabilitation centers participate in shady practices in an attempt to profit off of people’s adaddictionsAlthough the film is flawed — better focus could have created a greater emotional connection to the subjects, for example — the message is incredibly urgent and not one that often gets the limelight like this.

Spreadsheet Champions

The great thing about documentaries is that they can often tell a story that you wouldn’t even expect to be interested in so compellingly that they become absolutely gripping. That is the case with Spreadsheet Champions — a documentary that follows the competitors at a student Microsoft Excel competition. Although that may not seem like the most cinematic fodder, director Kristina Kraskov tells the story in such a way that it feels both thrilling and emotional, getting the audience more invested than they probably ever thought they would be in the Microsoft Office Suite.

Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror

Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror is the ultimate documentary for fans of the eponymous cult classic. Directed by Linus O’Brien, the son of Rocky Horror creator Richard O’Brien, Strange Journey has an incredible level of access to the creatives and cast of Rocky Horror, including those who are now A-listers like Susan Sarandon and Tim Curry. Although the documentary doesn’t reveal anything that fans don’t already know, it is effective as a joyous celebration of the enduring quality and legacy of one of the most unlikely pop culture behemoths in history.

The Threesome

Chad Hartigan’s The Threesome is a charming romantic comedy that rides on the strength of its three lead performances. The film follows a man who, after trying to make a crush jealous by flirting with an attractive younger woman, ends up in a threesome with both of them, having to deal with the consequences afterward. If you can suspend your disbelief for the first act, which is a pure fabrication of male fantasy, The Threesome actually becomes really charming and funny. If there is one takeaway from this film, though, it is that Bottoms breakout Ruby Cruz needs to become a star — and now.

Trash Baby

Jacy Mairs’s Trash Baby is a pretty conventional “poverty porn” coming-of-age tale, following an adolescent girl who is forced to grow up too early. It follows the formula of the genre very closely, offering little unique in the way of social or emotional insight. What keeps Trash Baby from being entirely forgettable is an exceptional performance by young actress Esther Harrison in the lead role. Harrison brings a lot of nuance and emotion to the role, elevating the film above its conventional storytelling.

We Are Storror

The parkour documentary We Are Storror is the first documentary made by action blockbuster filmmaker Michael Bay. And, unsurprisingly, the film has all of the cinematic indulgences that one would expect: drone shots, slow-mo, and tons of Bayhem (although no explosions). The parkour footage, although a bit repetitive, is awe-inspiring and demands a big-screen (perhaps even IMAX) viewing experience. However, what really sets this documentary apart is how much Bay is able to get viewers invested in the brotherhood and friendship of this central group, lending the film a very strong emotional core.

The 2025 SXSW Film Festival ran March 7-15 in Austin, TX.

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