BABY/GIRLS

The state of reproductive health care and sex education in this country is a never ending nightmare that always has my full attention. This documentary follows the stories of three pregnant teenagers living in rural Arkansas and facing the implications of those issues head-on. While I have little faith in our government’s ability to do anything right by women, I am always fully eager to listen to the stories of young women navigating the sometimes-bleak landscape of pregnancy and motherhood in a post-Dobbs US. — Hannah Dubbe (HD)

BEAST RACE (Corrida Dos Bichos)

I love movies that revolve around a deadly competition, and this movie looked primed to scratch that Battle Royale/The Running Man/The Long Walk/Death Race 2000/etc. itch. What’s even more intriguing, though, is that this is the first Portuguese language film in almost 20 years by Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles, who might be the most well-known Brazilian director to people outside that country. While I’ve never seen City of God, I’m intrigued by an Oscar-award winner co-directing a sci-fi action film. — Ziah Grace (ZG)

People in animal masks run toward the camera through a crowd that is cheering and waving flags

CRASH LAND

Anyone who knows me knows that I love outlandish bits and painful physical comedy, and Crash Land looks like an intriguing take on post-Jackass arrested development. While I’m a little leery about how nearly everyone involved in the film looks young and handsome in a way I don’t mentally associate with that type of degenerate burnout, I’m open to being surprised and touched if they can pull it off. — ZG

FIRST THEY CAME FOR MY COLLEGE

College campuses have long been the front lines of America’s culture wars—and maybe never more so than now, as the right-wing politicos wage campaigns against professors, students and education itself. Director Patrick Bresnan takes an on-the-ground look with a case study on Florida Governor Ron Desantis’s attempted takeover of a small liberal arts college, in what’s sure to be a resonant documentary. — Alix Mammina (AM)

FORBIDDEN FRUITS

As far as I can tell, this movie’s logline boils down to “witches in a mall fighting each other.” I love that. That sounds so fun. All the promo for this movie shows the actors wearing the coolest clothes and saying awful things to each other. Also it has Lili Reinhart in it, and she has the best facial expressions. — HD

HOKUM

I loved Irish filmmaker Damien McCarthy’s Oddity, a horror film that delivered both terror and substance. His follow-up Hokum, starring Adam Scott (check out The Saviors during the fest for buy one, get two Scott) looks equally entertaining, with another spooky Ireland setting and supernatural intrigue. — AM

I LOVE BOOSTERS

Boots Riley is back to the big screen with his latest movie and I couldn’t be more excited. His last film Sorry To Bother You was such a firestorm of creativity and panache, and his TV show I’m A Virgo carried that same energy, so this one should fall in line perfectly. Plus Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige, Lakeith Stanfield and Don Cheadle are here!? I’m in there like swimwear, baby. — Blake Williams (BW)

Three Black women, one with curly shoulder length brown hair, one with a red bob, and one with straight blonde hair and glasses, look in different directions with surprised expressions. Their outfits and surroundings are all yellow.

JOYBUBBLES

Imagine if you will, whistling a high pitched frequency into a phone and then getting connected with someone long distance and not having to pay for the phone call. Well that’s exactly what phone phreak (it’s a thing but not what you think) Joybubbles did. In a time where this just isn’t a thing anymore, it’s really cool that someone is highlighting just how cool of a thing this was. — BW

KILL ME

This mystery/horror movie follows the events immediately after a man wakes up in a bathtub filled with his own blood and his wrists slit—without knowing how he got there. That sounds like something straight out of a Saw movie, and Saw movies are some of my favorites. I am always down for a midnight horror movie where things go from bad to worse, and this promises all the bloodshed and chaos of that perfect type of late-night gorefest. — HD

MONSTERS OF GOD

I have somewhat mixed feelings on the ethics surrounding director Eric Goode’s Tiger King and Chimp Crazy, but I would be lying if I didn’t admit to finding both those television shows eminently watchable. Goode’s newest project, Monsters of God, shifts the focus away from mammals and toward reptiles, and I am braced (and darkly excited) to see what manner of sickos and freaks they find to populate their newest documentary series. — ZG

MY BROTHER’S KILLER

The premise of My Brother’s Killer brings to mind Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father: a documentary meant to honor the life of a murder victim takes a turn into true-crime as developments from the case arise. It’s always a roll of the dice on whether a true-crime doc will be thoughtful and non-exploitative, but I’m tentatively hopeful about this one. — AM

Billy London, a white man with blonde hair, blue eyes, and some facial scruff, sits reclined near the camera wearing all white and holding a rose

PHOENIX JONES

Real-life superheroes. Vigilantes. They walk among us. An MMA fighter turned masked vigilante. This is a real story about a real man and a real group of people trying to fight crime. It’s kinda like if Kick-Ass was wholesome. — BW

THE SAVIORS

Santa Cruz Hometown Hero Adam Scott has a new project, and that is all I need to stand in line to see it. For years, he’s been an underrated comedic dynamo, but with his recent star turn in Severance, the average movie and TV-watcher is seeing his dramatic side as well. This film looks like a comedy horror thriller playing on fears of middle eastern terrorists amid a presidential visit—which is a dicey hook to hang a movie on in any year, but especially now—but director Kevin Hamedani is a second-generation Iranian-American so I’m optimistic that the movie will be more nuanced than its summary suggests at first glance. — ZG

SEEKERS OF INFINITE LOVE

Hacks’ Hannah Einbender stars in this directorial debut from screenwriter Victoria Strouse, a comedy centering on family dynamics and cult deprogramming. The cast is rounded out with additional stars from all-time favorite TV shows: Justin Theroux (The Leftovers), John Paul Reynolds (Search Party) and Justine Lupe (Succession). — AM

#SKYKING

Growing up I used to love Jay Jay the Jet Plane and thought what if I was a jet plane? Well that’s not possible but what is possible is learning to fly a plane, but that’s crazy expensive. The story of Skyking is one of passion and drive and is honestly very endearing. What if you stole a plane and then just rode around for a bit and everyone championed you for it? That’s #SKYKING in a nutshell. — BW

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What to Watch at SXSW 2026: I Love Boosters, Forbidden Fruits, Kill Me & more