Five of the Biggest Heavy Hitters on the SXSW 2025 Slate
On the heels of a successful Sundance 2025, SXSW is the next major film festival on the docket. From Friday, March 7 to Saturday, March 15, a myriad of movies and content will be shown to expectant audiences both in-person in Austin, Texas, and online to critics and journalists who can’t make the show.
While it’d be nearly impossible to cover every single thing set to be shown, we can at least cover the “heavy hitters” - the big debuts that have the most folks buzzing for the festival premiere.
‘The Accountant 2’
The first of which is the Ben Affleck-fueled sequel to ‘The Accountant’, an uber-popular and well respected 2016 thriller directed by Gavin O’Connor. Not only do Affleck and O’Connor return in their acted and directed roles, but so does almost everybody else, headlined by Jon Bernthal’s heavy presence in promotional material to this point.
Seeing Affleck on the big screen (as much as we love his Dunkin’ commercials) at all, especially for a sequel, feels like a rare and special occasion. Whether or not the sequel will reach the heights of the first film is yet to be seen, but the undeniable excitement palpable in waiting audiences and fans is undeniable. This is a big one.
‘Death of a Unicorn’
Jenna Ortega, Paul Rudd, Will Poulter… and unicorns. What more could you ask for?
In all seriousness, this eccentric, apparently dark comedy explores the magical abilities of the aforementioned mystical animal through the lens of an A24-produced nightmare machine. Horror fans should find plenty to love especially, but with as much cultural impact as A24 has had in the past couple of years, the film has shot to the top of many folks’ lists ahead of this year’s SXSW.
‘Ash’
Brought to you by Flying Lotus, Ash, starring Eiza González and Aaron Paul, is a space-set, psychologically high-pressured sci-fi horror that stands out alone on an already impressive slate as something entirely singular.
The visuals are colorful and neon, and the brisk (just over 90-minute) runtime promises a tight experience with surprises abounding. By the sounds of it — a woman waking up alone on a mysterious planet to the sight of her slaughtered crewmates — we’re in for a wild ride. It’s not hard to see why a lot of people have this one circled on their calendars.
‘Drop’
The director of Freaky and Happy Death Day, Christopher Landon, is swinging for the horror genre trifecta with Drop; a horror thriller that looks to take advantage of modern technological culture and the heights of digital paranoia.
Meghann Fahy stars in what appears to be a wonderfully traditional scare-fest built for the modern audience. A date night gone horribly wrong sets the scene. All Fahy can do is watch from afar and evil infiltrates her home and, to some extent, puppets her from afar. The trailers alone have dropped audiences hearts for months now — this is one to look out for.
‘The Rivals of Amziah King’
If Matthew McConaughey is in it, people are going to be seated, no matter what. But the mega-star’s charm isn’t the only thing that has people excited for Amziah King.
In his sophomore directorial effort, following up the superb and widely loved Vast of Night, Andrew Patterson looks to tell the story of a young woman who finds value, strength and meaning after tragedy strikes and she reunites with her former foster parent, Amziah, played by McConaughey. It’s a crime thriller with an apparent bleeding heart, also starring Kurt Russell and Cole Sprouse. Undeniable on every level.
While these five films are certainly big, they aren’t the only projects putting butts in seats at SXSW this year. If we missed your most anticipated, let us know in the comments below! Across the board, the festival is primed to deliver chills, thrills, kills, and every other relevant and possible emotion you could ever hope for.
Tune in and keep up however you can; even if you aren’t able to catch a premiere, many of these movies will be available to stream in the following weeks, or to watch in theaters shortly after. Show out for the kind of art that reminds us why we love art in the first place.