by Audrey Callerstrom, Staff Writer

I’ve yet to cover a film festival in person. I fantasize about standing in the lobby, spotting some artists I’m familiar with, and embellishing the facts later at a party. “I am basically best friends now with ________.” If I went to the SXSW 2021 FIlm Festival this year, for example, I could see, in person, some of my Moviejawn buds, and I could even meet the wonderful Liz Locke of cinemasips.com!

But here we are, watching film festivals from the comfort of our couch. What I miss almost as much as seeing my friends and making jokes about spilled popcorn (it explodes in my hands when I grab it!) is film as a shared experience. So, here is me sharing my experience with you on some films I will be covering for the SXSW Film Festival March 16-20. Are you also interested? It’s virtual this year, so you can watch them, too!

Here Before

After watching Possessor, I’ve become a fast fan of Andrea Riseborough. She continues to choose interesting projects, and she’s like a chamaeleon, unrecognizable from role to role. I don’t know much about Here Before, the debut psychological thriller from Stacey Gregg (who has directed for TV and done a couple short films), which left me even more intrigued.

Recovery

I’m interested in films created during COVID times that are not explicitly about the pandemic. In Recovery, Whitney Call and Mallory Everton, who wrote and star, play two sisters who travel across the country to rescue their grandmother from a COVID outbreak at her nursing home.

Our Father

Two estranged sisters reunite and track down a long lost uncle following their father’s suicide. I like these small, darkly comic indie dramas. Shot in Chicago, the cast is made of relative newcomers, aside from Austin Pendleton, who has been acting continuously since the 1960s and whom you might recognize from films like The Muppet Movie, My Cousin Vinny, and Short Circuit.

Witch Hunt

It’s the future/an alternate universe, witches are real, and they are illegal. A teenager helps two witches escape asylum into Mexico. Starring Gideon Adlon (The Craft) and Ashley Bell (The Exorcism of Emily Rose), I was intrigued by this film’s premise and that it comes from an up and coming female horror director (Elle Callahan).

Made for Love (TV series)

Prior to 2020’s Palm Springs, I knew Cristin Milioti from two roles. One was the shrill wife that Leonardo DiCaprio leaves for Margot Robbie in The Wolf of Wall Street. The other was her role as the proverbial “mother” of How I Met Your Mother. Palm Springs really showed her range. In Made for Love, Cristin stars as Hazel, a woman on the run after 10 years of a disastrous marriage. It’s based on the novel by Alissa Nutting and also features Ray Romano and Billy Magnussen.