SXSW Review: Sound Of Violence (2021)

a formerly deaf girl who goes on a killing spree after witnessing the murder of her family.

Sound Of Violence is most definitely not going to be for everyone, it does have its flaws but at the same time there is a whole lot to like about it. For starters Jasmin Savoy Brown knocks it out of the park, she does such a good job in her role and really delivers when giving a haunting performance! The gore is also really well done as well as the kills, both of them combined give some very interesting kills that you don’t see very often and they really work here! Plus the film is a different type of slasher film that really delivers in that department, a lot of VOD slasher films have felt the exact same. So it’s refreshing to see a film try and do something different for a change! With that said the story itself is great but ultimately the ending did feel very anti-climatic had some very decent buildup going and then it just sort of ends. The writing also does have it’s ups and downs, there are some very well written portions of the movie and then there are other portions that are questionable like as if the movie wants to switch tones. But overall The Sound Of Violence is a ton of fun, sure it might be lacking in execution but for what the film is it’s a very neat slasher film that tries different things! Any slasher fan will love this, see this movie when it comes out on VOD May 21st 2021!!

7/10 B

SXSW Review: Here Before (2021)

The actress excels as a mother who thinks she has met the reincarnation of her late daughter.

Going to be a bit brief on this one as it is hard to talk about without spoiling which I don’t want to do. Anyway what makes Here Before standout is Andrea Riseborough’s performance, it’s easily the best part of the film and it’s not even close. She does such a good job of giving a suspenseful and haunting performance that keeps you invested in her character, the atmosphere is quite great as well! The atmosphere adds so much to the film by adding a lot of suspense and makes you wonder what is about to happen next. Here Before does struggle from having a very slow start that’s not as good as the rest of the movie, the premise itself also doesn’t reach it’s full potential as it could have. But the ending is quite great and Andrea Riseborough’s performance makes the movie worth the watch. Especially when you add some very interesting writing into the mix that while it doesn’t always work, the times it DOES work standout a lot more!

7/10 B

SXSW Review: Clerk (2021)


A documentary on the career and life of filmmaker and raconteur Kevin Smith.

Clerk is exactly what you expect it to be and is the very definition of a straightforward documentary, it goes over Kevin Smith’s career and life. For a lot of people this is going to be nostalgic, others are going to love this documentary because it has a lot of information on Kevin Smith. Heck I would argue that this is one of the best and fastest ways to get a lot of information on Kevin Smith if you don’t know who he is or know of him but don’t know much about him. A lot of the information is already public knowledge and you could just as easily look on Smith’s Wikipedia page however there’s a special charm to it being in documentary form. You get to see Kevin Smith talk which he comes off as a genuinely great person and you get to see his family and friends talk about him as well! As far as the filmmaking it’s nothing too crazy it’s very standard when it comes to documentary films. Of course that’s definitely not a bad thing at all just nothing really noteworthy! If you are a die hard Kevin Smith fan you will absolutely love this movie and I recommend checking this out once it releases!

7/10 B

SXSW Review: Best Summer Ever (2021)


A fresh and exhilarating take on the beloved teen musical genre featuring eight original songs and a fully integrated cast and crew of people with and without disabilities.


Best Summer Ever is the movie Sia’s film “Music” wanted to be, can the movie be cheesy? Oh absolutely but that’s really what makes the movie. As far as acting everyone does an incredible job, Rickey Alexander Wilson and Shannon DeVido both give incredible performances as the two main leads, their chemistry is absolutely beautiful and really makes you feel for their characters! Another performance that really caught my eye was Emily Kranking I know it’s part of her character, but Kranking really shows a lot of charisma and excitement in her role and to me that’s what makes an extraordinary performer. She’s a star in the making and can’t wait to see what she does next! What I seriously respect this film for is the fact that the film is a fully integrated cast and crew of people with and without disabilities and they play their respective roles. Representation absolutely matters and Best Summer Ever hits a home run when it comes to representation. As I said before yes the writing can be cheesy but when you have a ton of talented singing voices, a film where it feels like everyone had so much fun with it, really great acting and so much more. You really can’t help but put a giant smile on your face, it really gets you into a very happy mood! Overall I highly recommend Best Summer Ever, it’s truly a film that shines and is an absolute win for representation! Best Summer Ever releases April 27th on VOD!!

8/10 B+

SXSW Review: Alone Together (2021)


Charli XCX, a pop star in quarantine embarks on a whirlwind journey making an album in 40 days that tests her creative and emotional limits and unites a global community of vulnerable LGBTQ+ fans.


Alone Together is a very straightforward documentary that gets straight to the point, Charli XCX shows how she makes, prepares and her motivations on making an album. If it’s one thing that is clear in this documentary it’s the relationship Charli XCX has with her fans, she genuinely cares about them and it’s shown how frequently she interacted with her fans during the pandemic. Which were mostly from Zoom and Instagram, it’s not everyday that we get to see a relationship between fans and a celebrity! This is also another case of showing a more human side to a celebrity, you get to see how Charli XCX felt about the pandemic, what she was thinking, why she loves her fans so much and a lot more. The editing does have some slight flaws but it’s not enough to bring this film down! It’s neatly made and is quite a lot of fun to look at as well! Overall Alone Together is great, I definitely recommend this to fans of Charlie XCX!!

8/10 B+

SXSW Review: Inbetween Girl (2021)


Teen artist Angie Chen turns to secret hook-ups with the heartthrob of her private school after her parents’ sudden divorce.


Inbetween Girl is a familiar yet new point of view of the coming of age movie genre! Emma Galbraith does such a fantastic job in the leading role, she gives such an authentic and quite emotional performance. Combine that with Mei Makino’s script and you got yourself a wonderfully made film. The script really captures so many emotions and brings you into Angie Chen’s (played by Emma Galbraith) world, how she feels, how she thinks, how she acts it’s all there and it adds up to quite an interesting final act! The film is also beautifully filmed as well, the location makes the film that much stronger and makes the film more relatable as well. Seeing a new point of view to the coming of age movie genre is really refreshing, director Mei Makino really brings so much to the table and delivers on so many moments during the film! This is definitely one to keep on your radar!

8/10 B+

SXSW Reviews: The Spine Of Night and The Feast (2021)


Ultra-violent, epic fantasy set in a land of magic follows heroes from a different eras and cultures battling against a malevolent force.

I really don’t have a whole lot to say to be quite honest, I’ll definitely have a more in depth review when the film releases. But for now I liked what I saw, The Spine Of Night is a very strange animated horror movie that’s pretty gruesome so if you love gore this is most definitely going to be for you. The voice casting was really strong as well as the animation, it has a very interesting style to it that leads to a ton of “what did I just watch?” moments, in terms of story the movie does take awhile to get going. I’m not a huge fan of the story and thought it could have been done and presented a lot better, but there will definitely be fans out there! Overall The Spine Of Night isn’t bad, as I said it’s definitely going to need a rewatch but I do recommend it especially if you are looking for something different!

7/10 B

A young woman serving privileged guests at a dinner party in a remote house in rural Wales. The assembled guests do not realize they are about to eat their last supper.


The Feast is definitely a movie I’m going to need to watch again, but that’s definitely not a bad thing! It’s a very solid horror movie that does have a very slow start, which does stop the movie from being anything better. Once the gore kicks in it is quite strong, any gore fan will absolutely love those moments as they are definitely the highlights of the movie. The acting and writing aren’t too bad either, both could have been a bit better as the story takes a bit to develop and become fully realized. The cinematography is quite beautiful and has tons of haunting moments when you mix it in with the atmosphere! Overall not too bad, I recommend seeing this one when it comes out!

7/10 B

SXSW Review: The Fallout (2021)


High schooler Vada navigates the emotional fallout she experiences in the wake of a school tragedy. Relationships with her family, friends and view of the world are forever altered.


I absolutely had no idea what to expect going into The Fallout…let me tell you I was not ready at all not even at the slightest! It’s another film that takes place after a school shooting and shows the trauma the characters go through. It also adds some coming of age elements as well, Jenna Ortega gives such an incredible performance which is by far her best performance. She puts so much talent in her role to the point where her character is very realistic, in fact that’s the best word to sum up this movie realistic! It never feels manufactured or forced every single element, dialogue and piece of acting comes off as realistic and natural as possible. Which just makes the whole plot about trauma of a school shooting that much more powerful, Maddie Ziegler also does a fantastic job as well! The chemistry between Ziegler and Ortega is just brilliant and they really capture every single scene they are in together. The writing as I said before feels as natural as possible and the movie is just a huge gut punch from beginning to end! It has a range of emotions that are absolutely beautiful and will most definitely make you cry especially with how much in-depth analysis this movie goes into with the trauma. The ending is absolutely brilliant because it’s a completely honest one it lacks the resolution but given what the film is about there really is no resolution as we are still going through it! Overall The Fallout is a masterful film that I highly recommend seeking out once it releases!

10/10 A+

SXSW Review: Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free (2021)


Drawn from an archive of 16mm film, Tom Petty works on his 1994 album Wildflowers.

I’m not huge on Tom Petty unfortunately, but I still wanted to give this documentary a shot and I came out really liking it. Tom Petty seemed like a man who genuinely loved making music and loved to make people happy. The film itself was beautifully made with some never before seen footage and some very interesting stylistic choices as well. It’s a very straightforward documentary that understands what it’s set out to do and gets the job done pretty well. The only main criticism is that I do feel it doesn’t quite reach the 90 minute running time mark as it does start getting repetitive. But with tons of interviews of Perry’s family and friends, some relaxing music and very interesting footage it does take you into Petty’s world! This is most definitely for Tom Petty fans!

7/10 B

SXSW Review: Witch Hunt (2021)

In a modern America where witches are real and witchcraft is illegal, a sheltered teenager must face her own demons and prejudices as she helps two young witches avoid law enforcement and cross the southern border to asylum in Mexico.

Witch Hunt is a film that’s been on my “movies with no release date” list for quite sometime now. So when I saw that it was playing at SXSW I took the opportunity to see it. While I originally did praise it with my first reaction I’ve thought about the movie more and more and realized how flawed it really is. Gideon Adlon and Abigail Cowen are both really great and definitely have great chemistry plus they are the standouts of the movie. The problem is how much Witch Hunt feels like a prequel to a YA movie that doesn’t exist, I completely get what the movie was trying to go for however the horror elements just don’t blend well together at all. It’s very unfortunate because I do find witch movies to be interesting and the whole premise sounds like a very good idea, but between very awkward pacing and being way too predictable the movie just doesn’t add up to much. The filming is at least pretty decent especially when you mix it in with the setting and the movie does have it’s moments, but as I said a lot of it feels like a YA adaption that is trying to be horror but it really isn’t. I don’t recommend this one..

5/10 C