SXSW Fest 2026: Highlights (Anticipated)

In “#SkyKing” by director Patricia E. Gillespie. In August 2018, Richard “Beebo” Russell, a 28-year-old who worked at Horizon Air, stole an empty plane, took it for a ride and then crashed it into the ground, killing himself.  “#SkyKing” uses the audio from Russell’s conversation with air traffic control on the ground at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Gillespie turns the documentary into rumination about mental health and class in America. Produced by ABC News and Fifth Season, it is on Hulu on April 14.

Directed by Jennifer Holness and Sidney Fussell, “#WhileBlack” tells the parallel stories of Darnella Frazier, who in 2020 (age 17) filmed George Floyd’s murder, and Diamond Reynolds, who in 2016 went on Facebook Live just as her boyfriend Philandro Castile had been killed by police. While the video evidence of these deaths exposed police officers’ crimes, the docu indicts the social media platforms that profit from Black pain.

From A24 and David E. Kelley comes an adaptation of Rufi Thorpe’s bestselling novel, “Margo’s Got Money Troubles.” The comedic family drama follows aspiring writer Margo (Dakota Fanning), who must find a way to support herself after unexpectedly getting pregnant. Leaning on her mother, an ex-Hooters waitress (Michelle Pfeiffer), and her absentee father (Nick Offerman as a former pro wrestler), she searches for ways to pay her bills. The cast includes Marcia Gay Harden, Greg Kinnear, Michael Angarano, Nicole Kidman, Rico Nasty and Lindsey Normington. The first three episodes debut on April 15 on Apple TV with weekly drops to follow.

Jonathan Glatzer, known for writing and producing on “Succession,” “Better Call Saul” and “Bad Sisters,” created the new Silicon Valley drama, set to debut on AMC and AMC+ on April 12. Led by Billy Magnussen, Sarah Goldberg and Zach Galifianakis, the series takes a look inside “the warped dreams, outsized egos, and ethical lapses of the self-styled inventors of the future.” Lucy Punch, Simon Helberg, Rob Corddry and Meaghan Rath also star, with Randall Park in a guest role. Glatzer will debut the series at SXSW with Magnussen and director Lucy Forbes.

A toxic couple takes a trip together to a remote cabin — each believing the other is there trying and reconnect, each with their own plan: kill the other. The dark comedy thriller, filmed in Finland, comes from The Lonely Island’s Jorma Taccone; this marks his first time directing since 2016’s “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.” Samara Weaving and Jason Segel lead with Timothy Olyphant, Juliette Lewis, Paul Guilfoyle and Keith Jardine in supporting roles. After its March 14 debut at SXSW, “Over Your Dead Body” hits theaters April 24.

Writer-director Vicky Jewson’s “Pretty Lethal” sees a group of ballerinas fight to evade a more literal death. It stars a “who’s who” of Gen Z actresses — Iris Apatow, Lana Condor, Millicent Simmonds, Avantika and Maddie Ziegler — as dancers who get stranded in a remote forest and rely on their training to make it out alive. The film is released on Amazon Prime Video on March 25.

Dakota Fanning, Jake Johnson and Cory Michael Smith are engaged in a messy love triangle involving divorce, kids and unexpected reunions in “The Sun Never Sets,” written and directed by SXSW Joe Swanberg. The 2005 edition of the fest showed Swanberg’s directorial debut, “Kissing on the Mouth,” alongside titles from Andrew Bujalski, the Duplass brothers and others later crowned as pioneers of American cinema’s “mumblecore” movement. Swanberg returned to Austin with “Hannah Takes the Stairs” (2007) and “Nights and Weekends” (2008). “The Sun Never Sets” is his 10th SXSW premiere.

When Netflix debuted the docu short film “The Dads” in 2023, viewers were touched by the five fathers’ care and affection for their transgender children. The same will be true of the feature-length version directed by Luchina Fisher, but with a change in tone. Three years later, the US is wading through a second Trump presidency that is dismantling the legal protections and social acceptance of trans people. This Dwyane Wade-produced docu offers an intimate, verité-style look at a community in pain–families doing their best to make it hurt less.

The 2019 original was a riff on “The Most Dangerous Game,” serving up socio-economic critique, as well as bloody hide-and-seek. Grace MacCaullay (Samara Weaving) may have survived her fiancée and his family’s attempts to murder her in the first film, but she’s not out of danger yet. In the “Ready or Not” sequel, Grace is once again forced to break out her shotgun after her sister is targeted by cabal of wealthy elite who believe that hunting the siblings for sport is the best way to preserve their riches.

Boots Riley, the rapper and filmmaker behind 2018’s “Sorry to Bother You,” slides behind the camera for this satire about a group of shoplifters hitting a chain of high-end stores. Keke Palmer stars as an aspiring designer who turns to crime when the fashion world shuts her out. She leads a cast of heavyweights that includes Naomi Ackie, Don Cheadle, Demi Moore and Will Poulter. Palmer said the film was a more hopeful riff on the 1996 crime classic “Set It Off.”

When Paul Rudd was in acting school, he made extra bucks as a bar and bat mitzvah DJ. In “Power Ballad,” Rudd draws on his experience getting the party started to play Rick, a middle-aged wedding singer. A chance encounter with struggling boy-band star, Danny (Nick Jonas) leads to a late-night jam session. But things get messy when Danny steals one of Rick’s songs and it becomes a chart-topper. John Carney, whose films “Begin Again” and “Once,” directs this comedy.

“Forbidden Fruits” follows Apple (Lili Reinhart), a mall store employee, who leads her co-workers (Victoria Pedretti, Alexandra Shipp) in after-hours coven. But their fun is disrupted with the arrival of a new salesperson, Pumpkin (Lola Tung).

Chloë Grace Moretz leads Joey Power’s “Love Language” playing Lou, who writes other people’s wedding vows for money. Soon, though, she realizes one of the speeches she’s penning is meant to be read to her former best friend (Manny Jacinto). The ensemble cast features Anthony Ramos, Isabel May, Lukas Gage, Billie Lourd, Chloe Fineman and Bobbi Althoff.