Peter Strickland’s Duke of Burgundy examines the give and take of love through the prism of kink, and how even in the context of a sapphic dom-sub relationship, power dynamics can ever shift between two people.

This Week in Screenings 4/25-5/1

This week in Austin screenings, 4/25-5/1.

Community ScreeningsJames McDonaldApril 25, 2025Comment

What We’re Watching at AFS Doc Days

Each year, Austin Film Society brings the best of nonfiction cinema from across the world to our city for the annual Doc Days film festival.

Aspen and Model: Zooming Out to Zoom In

Wiseman’s directorial method is never clearer than with Aspen (1991) and Model (1981), the final two installments in AFS’ “Frederick Wiseman: Eight Systems” series.

An Angel at My Table: Disability, Creativity, and the Tortured Artist

An Angel at My Table grapples with, and sometimes struggles against, historic and contemporary portrayals of illness and disability, in order to craft a beautiful, moving tale about an extraordinary woman.

ReviewsMaya FramptonApril 23, 2025Comment

SXSW '25: Idiotka

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

Reviews, SXSWBlake WilliamsApril 21, 2025Idiotka, Nastasya Popov, Anna Baryshnikov, Camila Mendes, project runway, fashionComment

SXSW '25: The Accountant 2

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

Reviews, SXSWBlake WilliamsApril 21, 2025The Accountant 2, Ben Affleck, Jon Berenthal, Gavin O’ConnorComment

SXSW '25: Deepfaking Sam Altman

What happens when the subject of your documentary wants nothing to do with you? Obviously, you use their own technology to create an AI version of them, and interview it in hopes of finding your answers.

Reviews, SXSWBlake WilliamsApril 21, 2025Deepfaking Sam Altman, Adam Bhala Lough, Sam Altman, OpenAIComment

This Week in Screenings 4/18-4/24

This week in Austin screenings 4/18-4/24.

Community ScreeningsJames McDonaldApril 18, 2025Comment

Movies of The Moment

The following films are all concerned with forces that exist beyond the scope of their narratives.

Soderbergh is Back in his (Black) Bag

Black Bag, Steven Soderbergh’s 36th feature, sees the director return to the thrills and sex appeal of his ‘90s output.

Reviewsd. a. goellerApril 16, 2025Black Bag, Steven Soderbergh, Cate Blanchett, Michael FassbenderComment

SXSW '25: Idyllic days foster existential dread in Glorious Summer

In Glorious Summer, co-directors Helena Ganjalyan and Bartosz Szpak craft an ethereal vehicle to examine the pitfalls of blissful ignorance.

Reviews, SXSWGabrielle SanchezApril 15, 2025Glorious Summer, Helena Ganjalyan, Bartosz SzpakComment

SXSW '25: Travis Gutiérrez Senger memorializes Chicano artistic vanguards in ASCO: Without Permission

ASCO: Without Permission centers the revolutionary art collective and its cultural impact.

Reviews, SXSWGabrielle SanchezApril 14, 2025Comment

SXSW '25: The Rivals of Amziah King

The Rivals of Amziah King is one of the most strangely-paced films and thematically-incohesive films I’ve ever seen. That’s both to its benefit and its greatest flaw.

Reviews, SXSWZiah GraceApril 14, 2025SXSW, Matthew McConaughey, The Rivals of Amziah King, Angelina LookingGlass, Andrew PattersonComment

SXSW '25: Snake wrangling and mans’ folly collide in The Python Hunt

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

Reviews, SXSWGabrielle SanchezApril 14, 2025Xander Robin, The Python Hunt, SXSW, Florida, everglades, documentaryComment

SXSW ‘25: 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.

Reviews, SXSWAlix MamminaApril 14, 2025Surviving Earth, Slavko Sobin, Thea Gajić, Olive Gray, SXSW, addictionComment

SXSW '25: O’Dessa signifies nothing, and doesn’t even offer sound or fury

With due respect paid, O’Dessa is awful.

Reviews, SXSWJustin HarrisonApril 11, 2025O'Dessa, musical, Murray Bartlett, Regina Hall, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Sadie Sink, Geremy JasperComment

SXSW '25: LifeHack

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

This Week in Screenings 4/11-4/17

This week in Austin screenings, 4/11-4/17.

Community ScreeningsJames McDonaldApril 11, 2025Comment

SXSW '25: The Infinite Husk: A sci-fi feature too cynical for its own good

The Infinite Husk falters under the weight of its big philosophical ambitions, leaning too far into the pessimism of the human condition without actually exploring what it means to live and move through the world’s structures.

Reviews, SXSWGabrielle SanchezApril 10, 2025Aaron Silverstein, SXSW, The Infinite Husk, science fiction, Peace Ikediuba, Circus-SzalewskiComment

Hyperreal Film Journal