We’ve had an excellent SXSW 2024. To ensure we give shout-outs to all of the movies we saw at SXSW, here is our official SXSW 2024 Capsule review wrap-up. Check out our complete list of reviews at the link below.
Sing Sing – Directed by Greg Kwedar
Passionate filmmaking will always win out over middling efforts. In the case of Sing Sing, the passion for the project shines bright from every corner of the cast and crew. The starring vehicle for Colman Domingo features one of his best performances to date. However, Sing Sing‘s star-making turn from Clarence Maclin will shake you to your core. Director Greg Kwedar imbues his film with humanity and warmth inside the sterile walls of New York’s most famous prison. Visually stunning and emotionally devastating, it’s one of the most impressive films of SXSW 2024.
Divine G (Domingo) serves out a sentence for a crime he did not commit. To ensure he can pursue the arts, he begins a theater program for men he’s incarcerated with to express themselves. After a successful Shakespearean production, he invites new members into the group, including Divine Eye (Maclin). When Divine G gets relegated to a supporting role, tensions grow. However, Divine Eye and Divine G find common ground in their upcoming clemency and parole hearings.
Kwedar recruits cinematographer Pat Scola, who has exploded on the scene in the past five years. After shooting Monsters and Men and Pig, Scola proved his ability to make unique locales look gorgeous. Yet it’s the grit and industrial look he achieves in Sing Sing that stands out. You can feel the claustrophobia and lack of humanity in the concrete cells. The camera becomes motionless and sterile. However, when it joins the cast during their rehearsals and “play,” the world feels more energetic and exciting.
Furthermore, Sing Sing deserves consideration for every casting prize for the rest of the year. With only a few professional actors in the crew, the alumni of the program depicted in the movie fill out the rest of the roles. It makes for a stunning sense of discovery, and nearly every person on the screen shines so bright you would never know this might be their first time on camera. Kwedar, Domingo, and Paul Raci will draw in viewers. However, this ensemble and crew bring their all to every frame. Sing Sing stands a strong chance to be the indie drama breakout hit of 2024.
Alan’s Rating: 9/10
Watch Sing Sing at SXSW 2024. It recently added an extra “Buzz Screening” to the schedule. A24 distributes. Read Borja’s full review here.
The Antisocial Network – Directed by Giorgio Angelini & Arthur Jones
Growing up in an era before 4chan was a better place, but the infamous website quickly became a haven for those struggling to find friends. Behind a computer screen and a username, hackers and meme lovers found a place to develop a unique sense of humor. Unfortunately, the problem with the internet is a lack of central command.
Over the next two decades, it became clear some who became influential users on 4chan began to enact their fantasies in the real world. The Antisocial Network follows a trail from the origins of 4chan to Occupy Wall Street and eventually the January 6th insurrection. Along the way, it examines the duality of the internet and how it can be used for good or for ill by the wrong people.
The Antisocial Network comes from directors Giorgio Angelini & Arthur Jones. Their previous documentary, Feels Good Man, shocked many with its nuanced and sprawling story based on the history of a single meme. The biggest issue that The Antisocial Network has going against it is the breadth of the project. The topics covered by this movie would be more effective as a seven or eight-part TV series because we are forced to understand massive moments in internet history in less than fifteen minutes at a time. This leaves us with a surface-level examination of the problems, making the documentary feel bloated.
However, it also sheds light on early hackers who helped launch Anonymous. The interviews with these users provide a hopeful light for the future. Over the past fifteen years, these individuals have grown up and matured. It helps to fight against the idea that all hackers are incels, and in many cases, they actively fight back to retake their community. Helping investigations, exposing fraud, and reshaping activism shows the value of one of these sites. While 4chan, especially 8chan, will always carry negative connotations, there’s still an opportunity to change the narrative on these sites.
Alan’s Rating: 6/10
The Antisocial Network at SXSW 2024. Check its SXSW page here. Netflix distributes.
Family – Directed by Benjamin Finkel
No idea seems more prevalent in the history of horror than the spirit. Humans, creatures, demons, and more can all embody this idea. Yet, how they’re utilized to scare the audience can vary greatly. Family looks to capitalize on the fearful imagery director Benjamin Finkel crafts. Unfortunately, embracing some of the worst tendencies of modern horror sinks the movie before its emotional conclusion.
A family moves back to the matriarch’s (Ruth Wilson) old hometown. The patriarch (Ben Chaplin) is very sick and may die from diseases ravaging his body. With her mother paying attention to her father 24/7, a young girl, Johanna (Lucinda Lee Dawson Gray), tries to help as well. However, when she calls spirits to the house, she finds out they are far more than the family bargained for.
On one hand, Family swings big, and it’s almost impressive on that front. The themes around a parent abandoning a child to care for someone they love is unique. The type of monsters that haunt the family are terrifying, and the imagery is bizarre as hell. In many ways, Family showcases Finkel’s best tendencies. He’s undeniably effective at framing the shots throughout the movie.
However, what undoes the goodwill for Family stems from the auditory experience. More often than not, the story puts Gray in an impossible situation. She must scream. And scream. And scream. It turns her into a one-note character, seemingly crying wolf to everyone outside of her house. At no point does any other character take her seriously. It’s not even a question of her being a child, but the fact that no one stands in (including her grandfather) eventually tips into overkill.
Additionally, Family relies on jump scares far too much. Sometimes, this manifests as hands reaching out to birdhouses or a character disappearing without warning. Additionally, the auditory experience uses too many “booms” or atmosphere-popping sound designs to sell its scariness. Worst of all, the camera focuses on the grotesque contortions of its characters in ways that feel empty. Rather than giving us frights, these moments are expected to carry the vibes. They do not, partly because so many movies (like Joker) have utilized the same trick in the past decade.
Alan’s Rating: 3/10
Watch Family at SXSW 2024. Check out its SXSW page for more information.
Desert Road – Directed by Shannon Triplett
In 2020, I drove across the American Southwest through Nevada, California, and Utah. During this time, we went hours without service in Death Valley, the Mojave, and other roads. Each time we hit a bump or drove on a dirt road, the tension was thick in the air. Getting stranded in the desert remains one of the great fears of my life. In many ways, Desert Road from Shannon Triplett should be an ideal horror scenario for me. Unfortunately, a convoluted storyline hurts the movie at every turn.
Desert Road follows a woman (Kristine Froseth) after her car breaks down outside a gas station. After fighting with a gas station worker earlier in the day, she quickly drove away and blew a tire. When she returns to the gas station, time and space have seemingly stopped. At times, the world shifts months ahead. Sometimes it’s been years. Suddenly, the woman struggles to survive in a strange, upsetting scenario.
Triplett does an excellent job framing the film. The visuals look great, especially with the changing times of day allowing her to recontextualize scenes. Kroseth also comes to play, and delivers a relatively good performance. She’s not only angered and frustrated by the experience. She attacks it with the vigor one needs when facing something so odd.
However, while Desert Road occasionally lands the Back to the Future scenes (where a character is in the same scene multiple times), it also struggles to communicate basic ideas. The time travel seemingly bends its rules to whatever Triplett wants the woman to do next. Additionally, aged characters pop on screen, while others are limited to cameos. These are bigger-name performers, and while it’s fun to see them work, they feel distracting. These issues sink Desert Road as it tries to work, and unfortunately, the rules get messier as they go. If this element of Desert Road had been better, it would have helped this movie considerably.
