Better late than never, right?

Last month I attended SXSW 2024, spending each day surrounded by hundreds, if not thousands, of other film enthusiasts and industry professionals. The energy of a place like that is incomparable, and I treasure the time I get to spend there. I saw some truly amazing films, and my Part One includes my reviews of recent releases Monkey Man and Arcadian, as well as the anticipated Y2K, amongst others.

This post, chronicling the second half of my week, is severely belated, but there’s not much I can do about that now. I must share my reviews for The Fall Guy and The Idea of You with the world! As always, all of these are spoiler-free, in the interest of wanting people to see the film, not ruining it for them.

Disclaimer, I guess: When I saw Immaculate and Música during my week at the festival, they hadn’t come out yet, and I know they’ve been wide released since then, but I’m including them here anyway! Road House will be in a later post.

Here’s my “Part Two” for SXSW 2024:

The Fall Guy dir. David Leitch

I absolutely loved this take on an action rom-com in a modern Hollywood blockbuster setting. Ryan Gosling is at his best when he’s allowed room to do whatever he wants and he was so, so good here. Emily Blunt as a female director was really exciting to see as an aspiring one myself, and the tongue in cheek commentary on current action blockbusters and the amount of agency (or lack thereof) directors truly have was hilarious. I found the comedy to be a perfect balance of slapstick and absurdity, and with Gosling’s signature charm, was a huge crowd pleaser. Blunt and Gosling have really excellent chemistry together; their banter is so much fun and the tension between the two is palpable. The storyline was obscured pretty well in the trailers and advertisements, and I was on the edge of my seat throughout the 2h5min runtime. The stunts were brilliantly staged and executed, which makes sense from a director who was a stunt performer for more than 10 years. Visually, it’s dynamic and exciting, and the sound design was really great as well. I am honestly really looking forward to when this releases in theaters and I can go watch it again, this time with my friends! It’s so much fun. I’ll admit I am biased, as I don’t think there’s much Ryan Gosling could do that I wouldn’t like, and a Taylor Swift needle drop will almost always win me over anyway. Either way, I truly think The Fall Guy is such a fun experience and I can’t wait for everyone else to see it and enjoy it too!

Immaculate dir. Michael Mohan

Unnatural pregnancies and convent settings are both well-traversed (albeit separately) in the horror genre, but this really captured an intense and raw energy that felt very unique. It’s also gorgeous, often modern horror films are so much uglier than they need to be, but the cinematography in Immaculate really stood out. Sydney Sweeney is genuinely a force to be reckoned with; she has delivered several great performances before, but this one really stood out. The last act, as I’m sure you’ve heard, is off-the-rails insane, and the ending is one of the more memorable of the decade. Another part of Immaculate that I really enjoyed was the friendship between Sweeney’s Cecelia and Benedetta Porcaroli’s Gwen, the chemistry between the two was palpable and created more of an emotional tether to follow throughout the remainder of the film. The tension mounts really well, and even in the more trope-y scenes, it does a good job of maintaining its pace and aesthetic sensibilities. I’m not sure if it’ll hold up against other “nunsploitation” films of the 2020s, considering the obvious resemblance to The First Omen, as well as the lesser but still prevalent similarities to 2021’s Benedetta, but Sydney Sweeney’s performance has definitely cemented her as a modern scream queen.

Música dir. Rudy Mancuso

Música is one of the more unique films I’ve seen. Writer/director/star Rudy Mancuso has synesthesia and he tells his story through that lens, so we get to experience every sound and sight, every distraction and imaginary musical composition, along with him. The storyline itself wasn’t groundbreaking, but the way the story was told, with the interludes and puppets and dance breaks and songs that weren’t really songs, was very unique and exciting. Camila Mendes plays Isabella, the Brazilian girl of Rudy’s dreams, contrasting with his white American girlfriend from a wealthy family, Haley (Francesca Reale). Rudy’s conflict lies in how he doesn’t have an obvious path towards his future, his girlfriend and mom don’t take his performance art very seriously, and Isabella is the only one that “gets” him. Rudy doesn’t handle this situation well at all, and at times it’s difficult to root for the character. But, the film never stops being entertaining, and the format is genuinely groundbreaking. It’s only Mancuso’s directorial debut, so I am interested to see where he goes next.

I Wish You All The Best dir. Tommy Dorfman

A genuinely captivating and special story, with an unbelievable leading performance by Corey Fogelmanis, I Wish You All The Best is Tommy Dorfman’s impressive directorial debut. The film is about a non-binary teenager and their experience moving in with their sister and starting at a new school after they’re kicked out by their parents. It’s painful to watch them struggle to navigate the casual transphobia and microaggressions everywhere they look, but I think it’s a very powerful image that invites audiences to empathize with Ben in ways that they might not have been previously exposed to. The love and acceptance that Ben then receives is that much more special, and I found the film was at its strongest during the scenes with their previously estranged sister Hannah and her husband Thomas. The score was absolutely beautiful and was such a good representation of Ben’s inner turmoil. I think this is an extremely important film that could really positively impact so many people’s’ lives, especially young, scared, and closeted queer and trans teenagers. It is an unbelievable feeling to be seen and accepted for who you are, not who you “should” be, something Ben is able to experience within the film, and I hope their story can help others feel seen and accepted, too.

Cuckoo dir. Tilman Singer

Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens go head-to-head in a mind game of sorts in Tilman Singer’s Cuckoo. Schafer gives a great performance as a moody mourning teenage girl stuck in an uncomfortable and increasingly volatile environment. The tension built up really well in a way that didn’t feel over the top or forced, and there were some really clever shots and editing choices that aided in creating that nerve wracking and deeply unsettling atmosphere. The setup is not entirely new, but it does introduce a new perspective on ideas that have been explored before, which is compelling to horror audiences. Cuckoo maintains its very strong stylistic choices throughout, and as the layers of the mystery are peeled back, the film continues to create more questions. I thought the sound design was really impressive, and in a film like this the sound design is crucial, and can truly make or break the entire thing. It wasn’t my favorite of the festival, but it did stand out as an exciting and promising genre film. I could really see this finding its footing as a cult classic years down the line!

It’s What’s Inside dir. Greg Jardin

I think this movie benefits greatly from knowing as little as humanly possible before going into it, which makes me worried about how they’ll choose to cut trailers for it and market it. However, assuming they pull it off without giving away any of the more fun reveals, audiences are in for such a treat with this one. I don’t even want to compare it to anything else, but since I’ve seen comparisons everywhere anyway, it is definitely a Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022) with a bit of a sci-fi twist, neon colors and absolutely insane editing. The film follows an estranged college friend group who reunite the night before one of them is to get married. Their night of fun and nostalgia takes a turn for the unexpected pretty quickly. The performances were really, really good; there were so many layers that they had to portray and I felt like it was done really successfully. I was hooked on every twist and turn! It’s a bummer it seems like this’ll go straight to streaming, because watching it in a huge theater and hearing everyone’s reactions was a priceless experience. I hope it still finds its audience online because it really is something special.

Sing Sing dir. Greg Kwedar

I’ll probably say it about multiple movies that come out this year, but know that THIS is the best film of the year. It is so unbelievably moving and human–showing the beauty of art and storytelling in the midst of the horrors of the US prison system and everything that can happen within those walls. Colman Domingo has already proven himself a once-in-a-lifetime performer, and of what I’ve seen, he has outdone himself completely in a haunting and compassionate portrayal of “Divine G,” a father and good natured family man who was wrongfully incarcerated. Divine G and a few other men in the prison have started an organization where they can put on plays, and it has allowed them to express parts of themselves that they are otherwise forced to suppress in the depravity of the prison. The story itself is beautiful on paper but it’s also captured incredibly by Greg Kwader, his direction and vision for the piece really blew me away. I really don’t think I can say enough good things about this one. I truly hope to see a mindblowing marketing campaign from A24 for this because it’s too good not to have all eyes on it! I already know everyone will love it, so my last hope is for Colman Domingo to win an Academy Award for this role. If it were up to me, it would already be on his shelf, but since it’s not, I guess we have to wait the standard 11 months. Allegedly, it’s set to release in July, so make sure to leave room on your calendar when A24 announces the official release date!

The Idea of You dir. Michael Showalter

This is a movie that really, really surprised me. All I knew going in was that it was based on a book that was converted from a Harry Styles fanfiction, and the internet sort of blew up in horror when the trailer dropped. I was definitely expecting the worst, but I figured, it’ll be entertaining, and I like the actors, so why not give it a shot? I’m not really biased in favor of romcoms, but wow–this one was so good! The chemistry between Nicholas Galitzine and Anne Hathaway is actually insane, I could feel it radiating off the screen. Hathaway plays a 40-year-old single mother who accidentally stumbles across Galitzine’s 24-year-old boyband member in his trailer at Coachella while looking for the bathroom. I think what elevated this from what could’ve easily been a very subpar film is, in addition to the performances, how well designed it is. Everything, especially the needle drops that play during the film, but also the costume design, the set decoration of Hathaway’s character’s house, all of these decisions come together to create a piece that is a lot more cohesive and interesting than it had any right to be. The dialogue, whether it was just well delivered/directed or if it also worked on paper, I can never be sure, but it came across as very natural (amidst the circumstances) with a couple lines in particular I really liked. There were many, many, many ways for this to go wrong, and very few that could’ve resulted in it going right, but I have to say they were able to pull it off! I am not looking forward to the boring discourse that is sure to arise around this movie, but I am looking forward to people getting to experience this very unique and special love story, and hopefully being converted from their skepticism like I was. My fault for doubting Anne Hathaway, it won’t happen again!

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I hope you found something new to put on your watchlist! I really had a great week watching movies, and I feel silly for how long this post took to put up but time is genuinely such an illusion for me. It’s been a weird month. At least it’s posted now, right???

If you made it this far, thanks so much for reading, it really does mean a lot to me! : )

xx
kendall