SXSW 2025 capsule reviews

American Sweatshop

As it wades into the cesspool of contemporary social media and fetishistic content creation, this mildly provocative thriller unfortunately softens its cynical edges while exploring the ugly moral ambiguities of online voyeurism and capitalism. Daisy (Lili Reinhart) works a thankless job as a third-party moderator of videos flagged for graphic or offensive subject matter. After one especially disturbing clip depicting sexual violence, she becomes obsessed on seeking out its origins and exposing the truth. Reinhart (“Riverdale”) provides a sympathetic emotional anchor, although despite a thoughtful premise. the film struggles to translate its tension from the screen to the real world — which might indirectly be the point.

The Astronaut

Picking up where most space movies end — after the return to Earth — this intimate science-fiction thriller relies too heavily on jump scares and narrative misdirection rather than organic suspense. Sam (Kate Mara) begins experiencing strange and unusual occurrences while under NASA care following her mission. As she drifts in and out of reality, are her hallucinations simply PTSD, or has something followed her home from the cosmos? Despite Mara’s committed performance, the film never sufficiently gets inside of Sam’s head or diagnoses her trauma as it unravels a mystery with potentially widespread ramifications. The bold twist at the end seems to come from another planet.

Caper

In this middle-aged riff on the all-night mayhem and self-inflicted anguish of The Hangover, the scattered big laughs require sorting through excessive plot mechanics and far-fetched coincidences. It hardly seems worth all the trouble. When one of their poker buddies accidentally sends a NSFW text to his boss, rather than the intended recipient, four technologically challenged friends try to rescue his reputation during a desperate attempt to delete the evidence in seedy New York. The film uses their ill-conceived scheme as the basis for a lighthearted exploration of brotherhood and toxic masculinity, although it’s only mildly amusing and doesn’t add up to much in the end.

Descendent

Sidestepping genre tropes in favor of relatable character-driven emotions, this science-fiction drama becomes a quietly profound examination of masculinity and paternal anxiety. It follows a school security guard (Ross Marquand) who suffers a head injury during an on-the-job accident, then wakes up with newfound artistic talents and vague recollections of an alien abduction. He also grows strangely distant from his wife (Sarah Bolger) as her pregnancy becomes endangered. Richly textured performance by Marquand (“The Walking Dead”) and Bolger (End of Sentence) lend a palpable vulnerability to the relationship dynamics into the screenplay by rookie director Peter Cilella, which retains a haunting unease despite a muddled payoff.

For Worse

A first-rate ensemble cast propels this sharply observed comedy from actress-director Amy Landecker (“Transparent”) that embraces the insecurities and awkwardness that comes with middle-aged divorce. Landecker plays Lauren, recently sober and single, who sees an acting class as a way to start over. Her troupe includes Sean (Nico Hiraga), a guy in his 20s who brings Lauren out of her shell, yet has her feeling uncomfortable in social situations, especially around the young partygoers at the wedding of a classmate (Kiersey Clemons). As Lauren charts a new path to self-acceptance, the quirky film delightfully explores vulnerability and gender roles while balancing absurdity with heartfelt charm.

Hallow Road

The chills are more in the journey than the destination in this taut and tightly wound thriller from director Babak Anvari (Under the Skin) about tragic actions, consequences, and parental responsibilities. It takes place almost in real time after an ex-paramedic (Rosamund Pike) and her husband (Matthew Rhys) race to the rural scene of a late-night traffic accident apparently caused by their daughter. Along the way, their nightmarish journey becomes a surreal drive into a maze of guilt, grief, and damage control. Conceptually simple yet narratively ambitious, the twisty film relies on its two performances to maintain suspense as it rolls toward an unknown destination.

Idiotka

More silly than substantial, this heartfelt yet predictable satire offers a lighthearted probe of intergenerational family dynamics and the elusive American Dream filtered through a culturally specific lens. It follows Margarita (Anna Baryshnikov), who hails from an eccentric Russian immigrant family and harbors aspirations of making it big in the fashion world. A producer (Camila Mendes) gives Margarita her shot on a new fashion reality show, although winning could hinge on her ability to exploit her private life along the way. The screenplay by rookie director Nastasya Popov generates some big laughs while skewering some broad and obvious targets, but its ideas tend to clash.

Sweetness

Despite some committed performances and intriguing character dynamics, this Canadian coming-of-age thriller bogs down in contrivances while exploring celebrity fanaticism and the perils of fame. Rylee (Kate Hallet) is a bullied suburban teenager who experiences a chance encounter with her pop-music obsession (Herman Tommeraas) outside of his concert. But rather than living out her fantasy, their evening takes a dark turn with unforeseen consequences for Rylee and her best friend (Aya Furukawa). While probing contemporary adolescence on the margins through an exaggerated lens, the screenplay by rookie director Emma Higgins struggles to generate a rooting interest among this collection of morally ambivalent misfits and schemers.

Trash Baby

Finding a fresh perspective on familiar coming-of-age themes, this gritty and evocative drama is anchored by a multilayered portrayal from newcomer Esther Harrison. She plays Stevie, a quiet 13-year-old living in an Oregon trailer park, where she becomes torn with the innocence of childhood and the pressures of impending adolescence. During one pivotal summer, as she finds the older and more mature teenagers alluring in multiple ways, Stevie struggles to find her place and her voice. There’s a sense of bittersweet nostalgia in the tender and thoughtful screenplay by rookie director Jacy Mairs, who’s more concerned with raw slice-of-life authenticity than passing judgment or manipulating emotions.

We Bury the Dead

Combining some familiar genre elements into a fresh package, this haunting and evocative Australian thriller examines the psychological effects of mass tragedy — with plenty of blood and zombies. It’s set during the aftermath of a cataclysmic event that wipes out Tasmania. Ava (Daisy Ridley) volunteers for the “body retrieval unit” with ulterior motives, hoping to find her missing husband to get closure. Through encounters with a brash drifter (Brenton Thwaites) and a troubled military man (Mark Coles Smith), Ava discovers the survivors hold a secret. Ridley keeps the material emotionally grounded, while the screenplay by director Zak Hilditch (These Final Hours) provides some clever twists.