SXSW 2026 Cheat Sheet: 10 Movies and Shows to Add to Your Watchlist
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- DirectorsMatt Bettinelli-OlpinTyler GillettStarsSamara WeavingKathryn NewtonElijah WoodGrace MacCaullay battles old wounds with her estranged sister Faith MacCaullay while rival occult dynasties hunt them through a deadly contest that promises power, survival, and betrayal before dawn.Let the games begin again! Samara Weaving returns for Round 2 as Grace, a blushing bride-to-be who first discovered she was the sacrificial center of a sinister game back in 2019’s Ready or Not. Now, after surviving that harrowing night, she learns there is a new level to this nightmare. Can Grace outsmart the wealthy people sent to hunt her down and save her sister (Kathryn Newton) from an untimely death? Not if Elijah Wood, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nestor Carbonell, Shawn Hatosy, and David Cronenberg have anything to say about it. May the best player win.
- DirectorBoots RileyStarsKeke PalmerTaylour PaigeNaomi AckieA group of shoplifters take aim at a cutthroat fashion maven by stealing her clothes and reselling them at a lower price, what they call "fashion-forward philanthropy."Rapper-turned-director Boots Riley is back with another outrageously unpredictable comedy from the mind who brought you Sorry to Bother You and “I’m a Virgo.” Keke Palmer leads a stacked cast that includes Naomi Ackie, LaKeith Stanfield, Taylour Paige, Eiza González, and Demi Moore.
- CreatorDavid E. KelleyStarsElle FanningNick OffermanGreg KinnearA young mother struggles to make ends meet. When her estranged father offers help, she starts an OnlyFans account using his advice from pro wrestling. Though successful, she wonders if Internet fame comes at too high a cost.Based on the novel by bestselling author Rufi Thorpe, this Apple TV series follows Elle Fanning playing a new mother who turns to OnlyFans to make ends meet. Along the way are her ex-Hooters waitress mother (Michelle Pfeiffer) and her estranged pro wrestling father (Nick Offerman, who has never looked hotter).
- DirectorDamian McCarthyStarsAdam ScottPeter CoonanDavid WilmotA horror writer visits an Irish inn to scatter his parents' ashes, unaware the property is said to be haunted by a witch.Irish director Damian McCarthy returns to SXSW with another horror tale sure to raise his stock among horror fans, two years after his hit Oddity made its debut at the Austin festival. Prepare for jump scares galore as Adam Scott ("Severance") stars as a writer shacked up in a haunted Irish hotel.
- CreatorJonathan GlatzerStarsBilly MagnussenSarah GoldbergLucy PunchIn the bubble of Silicon Valley, the unorthodox relationship between a wannabe tech titan and his therapist illustrate the Valley's madness and failings.We've been waiting for someone to put Billy Magnussen at the top of the call sheet since Ingrid Goes West, and we're biting our nails down to the quick in anticipation to see just how unhinged he gets in this Silicon Valley takedown that serves as ace TV writer Jonathan Glatzer's ("Succession" and "Better Call Saul") first creator credit. Try not to pass out from happiness when you cruise Magnussen's co-stars.
- DirectorsKevin DeanNick KocherBrian McElhaneyStarsGaten MatarazzoSean GiambroneLulu WilsonHigh college students face an unexpectedly epic journey when they must navigate two flights of stairs to retrieve their pizza delivery, turning a simple task into a surreal adventure.Go ahead and pretend this is a direct sequel to the finale of “Stranger Things,” as Gaten Matarazzo heads to college for a (very) high concept drug comedy about two friends on an impossible mission to retrieve a pizza from their dorm lobby.
- DirectorCurry BarkerStarsMichael JohnstonInde NavarretteCooper TomlinsonAfter breaking the mysterious "One Wish Willow" to win his crush's heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price.The powerful simplicity of this film’s premise is matched by how freaky it’s willing to get while interrogating that central concept: What happens when a boy’s wish that a girl loved him more than anyone else alive comes true? The answer is obviously “bad stuff” in writer/director Curry Barker’s debut horror feature that's been building fan interest at TIFF, Fantastic Fest, and now SXSW. Barker first gained attention with his YouTube feature Milk & Serial, and is on a similar trajectory to Talk to Me directors Danny and Michael Philippou.
- DirectorJorma TacconeStarsSamara WeavingJason SegelTimothy OlyphantA dysfunctional married couple retreats to a secluded cabin to repair their relationship, but each secretly plots to murder the other.It's a good year for Samara Weaving fans at SXSW, as the Australian scream queen returns for Ready or Not 2 AND gets to show of her comedic chops opposite Jason Segel in the wild anti-romcom. Directed by Lonely Island’s Jorma Taccone (MacGruber, Popstar), Over Your Dead Body is a remake of the Norwegian film The Trip and will satisfy anyone who appreciates relentlessly over-the-top mayhem.
- DirectorVicky JewsonStarsMaddie ZieglerLana CondorLydia LeonardA group of ballerinas try to escape from a remote inn after their bus breaks down on the way to a dance competition.If you were having trouble deciding what to watch one night and someone you love said, "it's an action movie where Uma Thurman plays a villain who is methodically taken out by five ballerinas," wouldn't you give up your search and make the biggest tub of microwave popcorn?
- DirectorBenDavid GrabinskiStarsVince VaughnJames MarsdenEiza GonzálezTwo friends navigate the dangerous world of organized crime, testing their loyalty and survival skills as they get deeper into the criminal underworld.No points deducted for 20th Century Fox's decision to play it safer and release writer-director BenDavid Grabinski's original sci-fi comedy on Hulu instead of risking it at theaters. At work we often talk the kind of streaming movie drops inspire us to stay in on a Friday night, and M&N&N&A is next on that list since we've heard great things about Vince Vaughn playing double duty alongside Eiza González and the comically underrated James Marsden.
