HFC at SXSW '25: Full Coverage List

Another SXSW is behind us. Eight days later, our writers have emerged from the dark of the theater, blinked away the harsh Texas sun, and delivered us a comprehensive view into SXSW ‘25's programming, from documentary to screenlife films, from deadpan comedy to cutting drama. If you missed any of our coverage over the last month, here’s a rundown of every film that we wrote about with links included.

Pre-SXSW Screenings Calendar

See what the team wanted to see before the fest.

NICOLE KIDMAN in HOLLAND Courtesy of Prime Video © AMAZON CONTENT SERVICES LLC

Holland

A stellar performance and quirky setting don’t make up for the fact that Holland has little to say.

— Alix Mammina

Spreadsheet Champions

Despite the occasional lapse in focus, Spreadsheet Champions remains a fascinating look at an under-discussed subculture.

— Ziah Grace

Reeling

Reeling is filmmaker Yana Alliata’s first narrative feature, and it’s a strong debut.

— Justin Harrison

Interview with Elaine Epstein on Arrest the Midwife

Filmmaker Elaine Epstein on her SXSW premiere of Arrest the Midwife, a documentary on the plight of three midwives in the Northeast.

— Alix Mammina

Zodiac Killer Project

By focusing so much on the imagined perfection of a non-existent project, Zodiac Killer Project loses focus on its own best qualities.

— Ziah Grace

Bunny

Bunny (Mo Stark) is the sort of guy you’d want for a neighbor.

— Justin Harrison

Shuffle

Shuffle adeptly straddles the line between documentarian and subject.

— Alix Mammina

Midwife, Lissa Horning, feeding sheep on her farm in the Finger Lakes, NY. | Credit: Naiti Gámez

Arrest the Midwife

Arrest The Midwife is a powerful reminder that we are all we have, that our similarities are more striking than our differences, and that the people we’ve helped can and will go on to help others.

— Ziah Grace

Slanted

Director Amy Wang takes a familiar premise to an absurd conclusion in her feature debut.

— Alix Mammina

Friendship

Tim Robinson continues his streak of ego-less humiliation comedy in which half the joke is that he’s willing to act like that.

— Ziah Grace

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie

Following its first screening, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie proved itself as the SXSW breakout of the year, with the word-of-mouth buzz resulting in a frenzy around the film’s second showtime.

— Gabrielle Sanchez

The Infinite Husk

The Infinite Husk falters under the weight of its big philosophical ambitions.

— Gabrielle Sanchez

LifeHack

A good heist film, a good coming-of-age film, and a skillful deployment of screenlife as a storytelling technique.

— Justin Harrison

O’Dessa

With due respect paid, O’Dessa is awful.

— Justin Harrison

Surviving Earth

Where some stories of addiction slip into melodrama and misery, Surviving Earth shows the reality of sobriety as a choice that’s made every single day.

— Alix Mammina

The Python Hunt

The Python Hunt expertly delivers on its promises of humor and human interest.

— Gabrielle Sanchez

The Rivals of Amziah King

One of the most strangely-paced films and thematically-incohesive films I’ve ever seen, both to its benefit and its greatest flaw.

—Ziah Grace

ASCO: Without Permission

ASCO’s work is given a deserving pedestal in Without Permission, which rightfully refuses to let them vanish into obscurity.

—Gabrielle Sanchez

Glorious Summer

Co-directors Helena Ganjalyan and Bartosz Szpak craft an ethereal vehicle to examine the pitfalls of blissful ignorance.

—Gabrielle Sanchez

“Adam Lough and AI Companion," Adam Bhala Lough, Deepfaking Sam Altman, 2025.

Deepfaking Sam Altman

As soon as we realize that this whole experiment is just a reflection of ourselves, the quicker the panic goes away.

— Blake Williams

The Accountant 2

Truth be told, this reviewer didn’t care for The Accountant 2.

— Blake Williams

Idiotka

In her feature debut as a director, Nastasya Popov delivers one hell of a calling card.

— Blake Williams

Now! More! Yes!

This is one of the most Midwest movies I’ve ever seen, for better or for worse.

— Blake Williams

Sally

Cristina Costantini’s Sally is a welcome highlight among the documentaries of SXSW ‘25.

— Blake Williams

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