SXSW 2024 Festival Diary Day 3: Bigfeet, Nick Cage, The Black Keys, and Dev's Success
After taking Sunday to network I was excited to return to the cinema but I wasn’t exactly prepared for what was about to transpire for the first 90 minutes of Day 3. My first film was titled Sasquatch Sunset, kind of innocuous right? What I expected was a pseudo mockumentary about a year in the life a stench of Sasquatch. What I was greeted with on this morning was an hour and a half of Sasquatch sex, bodily fluids, and the most graphic Sasquatch birth sequence to ever be conceived by man. I wish the crowd reaction was filmed because there was not a stomach not to be churned in the building. The Directing team of David and Nathan Zellner have crafted to most grotesquely realistic, hilarious, poignant, emotional and wholly unique film of the entire festival. As well as bringing the cursed baby Sasquatch props into my nightmares to sit at the edge of my bed and beg for death during sleep paralysis. Overall not the worst morning I’ve ever had.
My second film was an intimate blend of family drama and Sci-Fi horror, sounds familiar right? The film Arcadian does not stray from the formula laid out by A Quiet Place or Bird box. The only two real differences between this movie and those is no forbidden uses of a human sense and the fact that even though the film is led by the mythic Nicholas Cage the bulk of the dramatic heavy lifting is done by the two young leads Jaeden Martell and Maxwell Jenkins. However, even though the formula is the same, Arcadian uses the small differences to its extreme advantage. Martell and Jenkins are incredible young actors, bringing a dynamic that screams years of familiarity when they were only together for a few months. Another difference is the creature exploitation. Without the gimmick of losing a sense the film is able to lean into the creature design for tension. There are more than a few unsettling aspects of these creatures to lean into and the use of those aspects drive the tension opposed to not being able to talk or see. While not exactly original, the film is unique enough to carry the narrative and add to the family drama Sci-Fi horror zeitgeist.
The third film of my day was the first documentary of my trip and it was about one of my favorite bands. Aptly titled This Is A Film About The Black Keys, the film is an intimate look at the band through interviews and footage from their lives. If that sounds like every music documentary that is because it is like every music documentary. There is nothing really stand out about the film. Infact, in the moments where it is given room for creative filmmaking or editing the film sticks to the sticks to the formula. Whilst I loved the subject matter and enjoyed the story, there was nothing standout about the film. If you love The Black Keys then you will enjoy it, otherwise, at least now you know it exists.
The closer of my day was the film I was looking forward to the most of this festival. The Directorial debut of Dev Patel in a film he also wrote and is starring in, Monkey Man. The full review will be up on FilmSpeak as is most of the headliners but I cannot stress how much Patel knocked it out of the park on his fist swing. Gritty is to understated to describe a film like this. Just being in the theater makes me worry about a Staph Infection. The atmosphere is brutal as is the action. The lighting is striking as is the action. The sound design is enthralling… as is the action. Not nearly enough can be said about how powerful the visuals are. In terms of seriousness, the film is closer to The Raid: Redemption than it is to John Wick but different flavor, same result. In the end, Patel earned a standing ovation from the audience which was so overwhelming for him he was moved to tears. During the Q&A he revealed every setback and obstacle thrown at him during filming such as broken hands, infected eyes, and closed borders. Patel literally crawled through hell to produce this film and not only does the effort show in the final result, hell does too.