SXSW 2024 Festival Diary Day 8: The Final Day and My Festival Top 5

Here I am at the end of a long and incredible road. By the end of the day I will have totaled 25 movies over eight days. Not bad considering I took an entire day off and lost a few movies to the crowds. That is of course what will be at the end of the day, as of now the day has just begun. First is a small british production called Turtles. It is a film about love, an old married couple whose relationship is strained by one of their retirement from the police force. Each of them have go through a personal journey to rediscover who they are in this new era of their relationship. The film is a small film that packs a large emotional punch. The two leads Dave Johns and Oliver Gourmet have incredible chemistry and beautifully paint a portrait of a couple bound together by time. A great love story to start the day.

The second film was a documentary called Roleplay it follows several college students from Tulane University as they confront the subjects of sexual assault and inclusion head on. Tulane has several issues with wide-spread sexual assault that has gone overlooked or out right ignored by the university and the students of the film were aided by a film team to write and star in a stage play addressing the issues. This subject is a sore spot coming from a person who grew up with the understanding that you do not lay your hands on any loved one in anger or aggression. The film needs to be standard viewing at every university. The issues are discussed and confronted by the students themselves and in their own words and voices which brings unmistakable sincerity to the message. The play that they create has been sold and is now performed by Colleges and High Schools across the nation.

The final film of the festival is the Michael Showalter directed romantic comedy The Idea Of You. The film is about forty year old single mother Solene who, by chance, meets Hayes, the lead singer of the big boy band in the world August Moon. Led by the great Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine, the film is funny, sexy, heartfelt, and overall a great rom-com. The return to fun rom-coms for Hathaway is a welcomed one. She reminds everyone just why we all fell in love with her in the first place. Galitzine does the most as a leading man. Honestly, if you haven’t heard of this man yet, this may be the time. Anyone who wants to see what he can do in a purely comedy setting I suggest the film Bottoms. After the film, Hathaway was brought to tears by the crowd’s reaction. She thanked the crowd profusely, as did all the cast. Premiering on Amazon Prime in May, the film is a great date night movie and will be sure to please any fan of rom-coms.

Now, at the end of the festival it is time to look at my Top 5 favorite films of 2024 SXSW. Coming in at number 5 is the first film I saw at the festival, Timestalker. I didn’t expect to see this film, having become aware of it after getting to the festival earlier than I thought I would but I was delighted that I did. The longer it stuck with me the longer I grew to appreciate the cynical and dark comedy style and intricacies of the 80’s aesthetics. At number 4 is the popcorn poppin’ stunt-tastic comedy The Fall Guy. Aside from the amazing stunt showcase and the comedic genius of Ryan Gosling, this film is just plain fun. I have no problem ripping on a 125 million dollar dud. In fact, I take pleasure in doing so. However, there is nothing bad to say about the film. Number 3 was the comedic genius of Babes. I laughed so hard throughout the entirety of this film which is not surprising considering this film is anchored by 3 comedic powerhouses: Director Pamela Adlon, and stars Ilana Glazer and Michelle Buteau. This film is an honest and comedic look at the realities of motherhood but if you are pregnant be weary, the extreme laughter from this film could lead to accidentally induced labor. My second favorite film was Dev Patel’s Monkey Man. The film is stunning, brutal, unique and a pure labor of love from Patel. He literally got infections, broken bones, and put his health and body on the line to finish it. Patel cried when he was given a standing ovation for the film which he absolutely earned. My favorite film from the 2024 SXSW Film Festival not only won the Jury Award but the Audience Narrative Award and is Bob Trevino Likes It. To say the film took me by surprise is a bit of an understatement. I was prepared for a comedy with one of my icons, John Leguizamo and while the movie was funny it was so much more than a comedy. It was touching and tragic and showed generational trauma like nothing has before. The film delicately balanced dramatic family moments with heartwarming moments of a budding friendship. The star Barbie Ferreira truly carries the film on her back as she is responsible for both the drama and comedy, playing off acting veterans Leguizamo and French Stewart beautifully. Writer and Director Tracie Laymon is sure to be a common name in this industry very soon if this film is any indication.