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SXSW 2022: SOFT & QUIET Review

In a secluded room above a church, a group of posh and affluent white women sip tea and eat dessert while making polite conversation. Then, like a switch being flipped, casting all their pleasantries into a new light, school teacher Emily (Stefanie

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SXSW 2022: DEADSTREAM Review

The slapstick, heavy-found-footage horror Deadstream works much better as a sendup of exploitative YouTuber culture than as a Raimi-esque horror comedy.

skate-dreams-224714 7.5

SXSW 2022: SKATE DREAMS Review

The world of professional skateboarding during its ascendance into mainstream popularity inarguably has the aura of an insulated “boys club,” born out of and maintained within California. For those not entrenched in the skating community, the likelihood of their familiarity with any

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SXSW 2021: GAIA Review

With climate change becoming a more important issue on a daily basis and the world in the grips of a horrific pandemic, it seems more appropriate than ever to see the production of more eco-horror films — movies that typically feature Mother

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SXSW 2021: THE SPINE OF NIGHT Review

The Spine of Night is the type of film that proudly wears its obvious inspirations on its sleeve and plays out like a pastiche for an audience that is very much in the know for what it is going for. Philip Gelatt

6ft-apart-199391 7.5

SXSW 2021: ALONE TOGETHER Review

No matter who you are or where you happen to live, the pandemic has profoundly affected us all in a myriad of ways, not the least of which is us being forced to isolate from one another, exacerbating people’s feelings of loneliness

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SXSW 2021: HERE BEFORE Review

If anything, the taut psychological thriller Here Before serves as yet another feather in the cap of Andrea Riseborough and her ability to elevate most anything with her presence alone. Playing a grieving mother teetering on the precipice of madness when her

witch-hunt-195958 3.5

SXSW 2021: WITCH HUNT Review

Playing out like Part 1 of an ill-conceived YA series, Elle Callahan’s Witch Hunt hooks you in with its interesting premise but fails to deliver anything of substance. We’ve all seen stories like this multiple times over, from HBO’s True Blood to

paul-dood-s-deadly-lunch-break-197539 6.5

SXSW 2021: PAUL DOOD’S DEADLY LUNCH BREAK Review

Nick Gillespie’s ultra-violent satire is like if Joel Schumacher’s controversial Falling Down was updated for the generation that was raised on British talent shows like X-Factor and Britain’s Got Talent. Centering on one eccentric idealist who is pushed over the proverbial edge

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SXSW 2021: FUCKING WITH NOBODY Review

The intimacy of the “influencer relationship” has always been suspect. How does one sift through the disingenuity of the online space to find any real affection when there are Instagram power couples who spend more time orchestrating their romantic selfies and composing

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SXSW 2021: ALIEN ON STAGE Review

What happens when you combine a fleet of public transportation employees, a stage, a classic sci-fi horror film directed by Ridley Scott, and an endless spark of creative ingenuity? You get the West End production of “Alien…on Stage,” an amateur, from-scratch stage

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SXSW 2021: EXECUTIVE ORDER Review

Sometimes nuance and subtext are the strongest methods in reaching an audience, allowing them to organically discover the meaning behind specific themes and attributes of a film. Other times, using a proverbial sledgehammer to bash the viewer over the dome is the

broadcast-signal-intrusion-196709 6.5

SXSW 2021: BROADCAST SIGNAL INTRUSION Review

There is an enthralling line of dark-web, creepypasta intrigue running through Jacob Gentry’s Broadcast Signal Intrusion. which starts his sleek conspiracy thriller off on some strong footing. Set in the late ’90s, when the broadcast airwaves were unruly and full of potential