This year’s takes place, as always, in Austin, Texas — this year from March 8–16, 2024 — and the fest has just announced its first-wave lineup. Following is the list of Midnighters, which SXSW says are “Exciting after-dark features for genre lovers and the terminally curious,” along with German shocker Cuckoo, which screens under the Narrative Spotlight section. Descriptions are from the festival’s official press announcement.
Director/Screenwriter: Tilman Singer, Producers: Markus Halberschmidt, Josh Rosenbaum, Maria Tsigka, Ken Kao, Thor Bradwell, Ben Rimmer
On a trip to the German Alps with her father and stepmother, Gretchen discovers that the resort town where they’re staying hides sinister secrets, as she’s plagued by strange noises and frightening visions of a woman pursuing her. Cast: Hunter Schafer, Dan Stevens, Jessica Henwick, Marton Csókás, Jan Bluthardt (International Premiere)
Azrael
Director: E.L. Katz, Producers: Dan Kagan, Simon Barrett, Dave Caplan, Screenwriter: Simon Barrett
Many years following the apocalypse, a devout cult of mute zealots hunts down a young woman who has escaped her imprisonment. Cast: Samara Weaving, Vic Carmen Sonne, Katariina Unt, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (World Premiere)
Family
Director/Screenwriter: Benjamin Finkel, Producers: Lynette Howell Taylor, Samantha Housman, Benjamin Finkel
Summer, 2002. Watching her sick father decline, 11-year-old Johanna makes a call for a good spirit to save him. But something else comes instead. Cast: Ruth Wilson, Ben Chaplin, Lucinda Lee Dawson Gray, Allan Corduner (World Premiere)
Hood Witch (France)
Director: Saïd Belktibia, Producer: Ladj Ly, Screenwriters: Saïd Belktibia, Louis Penicaut
Nour makes a living from smuggling exotic animals for her city’s marabouts, wishing to get her son out of the city and offer him a better future. But an exorcism turns into a tragedy and Nour has to face a wave of violence that could cost their lives. Cast: Golshifteh Farahani, Denis Lavant, Jérémy Ferrari, Amine Zariouhi, Issaka Sawadogo (North American Premiere)
Hunting Daze (Canada)
Director/Screenwriter: Annick Blanc, Producers: Maria Gracia Turgeon, Annick Blanc
Nina, a young, tempestuous woman, is taken in by a group of hunters in a remote cabin. In the midst of this tough, yet endearing, male microsociety, she feels like she finally belongs. A mysterious stranger’s arrival disrupts her newfound haven. Cast: Nahéma Ricci, Bruno Marcil, Frédéric Millaire-Zouvi, Marc Beaupré, Alexandre Landry, Maxime Genois, Noubi Ndiaye (World Premiere)
It’s What’s Inside
Director/Screenwriter: Greg Jardin, Producers: William Rosenfeld, Jason Baum, Kate Andrews, Raúl Domingo
A pre-wedding party descends into an existential nightmare when an estranged friend shows up with a mysterious suitcase. Cast: Brittany O’Grady, James Morosini, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Devon Terrell, Gavin Leatherwood, Reina Hardesty, Nina Bloomgarden, David Thompson (Texas Premiere)
Kryptic (Canada, United Kingdom)
Director: Kourtney Roy, Producers: Amber Ripley, Sophie Venner, Josh Huculiak, Screenwriter: Paul Bromley
Kryptic is a psycho-thriller about a woman’s search for a missing monster hunter and her growing realization that she is inescapably linked to the creature being pursued. Cast: Chloe Pirrie, Jeff Gladstone, Jason Deline, Ali Rusu-Tahir, Christina Meredith Lewall, Patti Allen, Pam Kearns, Jennifer Copping (World Premiere)
Oddity (Ireland)
Director/Screenwriter: Damian McCarthy, Producers: Katie Holly, Laura Tunstall, Evan Horan
In this new supernatural spectacle from Caveat’s Damian McCarthy, a blind medium uncovers the truth behind her sister’s death with the help of a frightening wooden mannequin. Cast: Gwilym Lee, Carolyn Bracken, Tadhg Murphy, Caroline Menton, Steve Wall, Jonathan French, Joe Rooney (World Premiere)
Things Will Be Different
Director/Screenwriter: Michael Felker, Producers: Shane Spiegel, Jacob Rosenthal, Michael Felker
In order to escape police after a robbery, two estranged siblings lay low in a metaphysical farmhouse that hides them away in a different time. There they reckon with a mysterious force that pushes their familial bonds to unnatural breaking points. Cast: Adam David Thompson, Riley Dandy, Chloe Skoczen, Justin Benson, Sarah Bolger, Jori Lynn Felker (World Premiere)
