“I feel like I’m going to have a cocktail. I’m going to dance. I’m going to enjoy myself. I plan on going all in,” Colman Domingo told us on the red carpet at the 2024 SXSW Film Festival. For the second year in a row, the Oscars coincided with SXSW’s opening weekend, and Domingo was sharing his hopes for how he’d celebrate at the ceremony in just a few days time—but it doubled as solid festival advice, too.

He then took the stage for the stateside premiere of the monumental Sing Sing, receiving a standing ovation before a single frame shined on the screen (To be sure, the film earned another tearier standing ovation after the screening, too, and an Audience Award by the festival’s end.) Referencing his work in award hitters The Color Purple and Rustin, the latter securing him a Best Actor nomination, he explained to the already rapt audience, “I make movies like that, so I can make movies like this.”

His words stayed with us throughout our nine days in Austin as we endeavored to get both the scoop on the splashiest titles already high on Letterboxd watchlists and to uncover the hidden gems ready for a brighter spotlight. In many ways, SXSW is a study of those contrasts.

Leaning into the familiar refrain that “everything’s bigger in Texas,” the Headliners section provides a buzzy launching pad for star-studded, studio-backed offerings with release dates usually not far on the horizon. With the Letterboxd mic firmly in hand, we hit the Paramount Theatre red carpet and heard from Dev Patel about the “brute force” required to make his ferocious directorial debut Monkey Man; fulfilled a January promise and snagged Rachel Zegler’s four favorites at the Y2K debut; and got the details on how Nicholas Galitzine convinced Anne Hathaway to dance with him in his The Idea of You audition. And with the keen reminder that the moviemaking machine never ceases to grind, we saw Domingo off to the Oscars, then chatted with Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt at The Fall Guy premiere not even two days after awards season (almost) wrapped.

Speaking of awards, Tracie Laymon’s charmer Bob Trevino Likes It took home both the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Award for the Narrative Feature Competition, while Pinny Grylls and Sam Crane’s Grand Theft Hamlet won the latter in Documentary. Both main competition sections are dedicated to emerging voices—a reminder of how the fest focuses on smaller-scale indies, many searching for deserved distribution, alongside the big-ticket events. As always, we made it a priority to delve beyond the highest billings, too, and turned to the Letterboxd community for input, talking to some of you on the ground about your last four watched and sifting through your Letterboxd reactions.

As a result, here’s our ten best of the fest, intended to be a celebration of cinema on all scales: future summer blockbusters, independent horrors and thrillers, rom-com tearjerkers, documentary debuts that hit close to home. As Domingo said: “All in.”

Words by Jenni Kaye, Annie Lyons, Alejandra Martinez and Katie Rife.

Based on its title, Dead Mail sounds like it should be a Troma-style horror parody. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but the latest from Midwestern directing team Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy draws from a much deeper well of strangeness. A low-budget effort marinated in digital film grain, Dead Mail is set in the early ’80s, and seems at first to be about a dead-letter investigator named Jasper (Tomas Boykin), the coolest cat at his small-town post office investigating a mysterious, blood-soaked note that recently landed on his desk.

It seems to be, and also is—which says a lot about this movie’s shifting points of view and circular flashback structure. There are elements of Saw and Rob Reiner’s Misery in this detective story of two nice ladies who work in the mail sorting room investigating the blackened, revenge-driven heart of their quiet Illinois town. DeBoer and McConaghy’s directing is eccentric, their attention to detail impressive. As Josh writes on Letterboxd, he “went into this expecting a love letter to mail carriers and left with way more information on synths than I ever expected to learn.”

This is a film that delights in odd detours, populated by vaguely familiar character actors and soundtracked by the discordant results of one man’s obsessive quest to synthesize the perfect woodwind sound. Andrew praises the film by writing, “shot composition unsettling, sound design vaguely oppressive, performances full of idiosyncratic humanity. Loved this.” It’s a review as unconventional as Dead Mail itself. KR

Desert Road

Written and directed by Shannon Triplett

In a festival with multiple time-loop narratives (see also: the Mary-Louise Parker vehicle Omni Loop), Desert Road stands out for the seriousness with which it treats its sci-fi/horror premise. Rather than shrugging away details, Shannon Triplett’s debut feature breaks down the geography and timeline—if not the metaphysics—of the time loop trapping Kristine Froseth’s unnamed character on a stretch of inland California highway for… well, she’s not sure how long it’s been. Could be days, could be decades. Could be forever.

Froseth’s character (calling herself Clare in the film but unnamed in the credits) is “one of the smartest, most resourceful heroines in recent memory,” as Daniel notes on Letterboxd. She does everything right, and still can’t untangle the reason why whenever she attempts to walk from a dusty desert gas station back to her busted car she ends up back where she started.

The audience experiences Clare’s growing panic right alongside her, as Triplett uses clever editing and mind-bending twists to draw the viewer into its mystical world. A subplot about Clare’s failed photography career thoughtfully ties together form and content: how many of us have felt as if we were walking in circles in those frustrating early days when we’re still trying to prove ourselves? More than just an ingenious indie thriller, it’s a “smartly written and emotional journey about finding and accepting what you’re going to do with your life,” as Christian puts it. KR

Raunchy sex comedies, which used to feel like a dime a dozen in the early aughts, have gone quiet in the years since. With changing mores about sex and bodily autonomy, it’s a tough genre to handle—but thankfully, Doin’ It knows how to balance it all while having fun along the way. Lilly Singh plays Maya, a teacher assigned to a sex education course, who just so happens to be a virgin. With help from her friends and some inner reflection, Maya has to face her own hang-ups and struggles with sexuality while teaching her students and contending with abstinence-only education.

Jihad has big praise for the film, writing “Sharp jokes. Lilly Singh is fantastic. The trajectory is familiar but the ending still has a few surprises.” Singh’s performance is what makes the movie work, with the former YouTuber showcasing her comedic chops beyond the computer screen. like Thomkat agree, calling the comedian’s work “hilarious and honest.” Doin’ It feels like a transformative return to a genre that’s been missing for a while. AM

The Fall Guy

Directed by David Leitch, written by Drew Pearce

Ryan Gosling has enough charisma to power a half-dozen movies like The Fall Guy. This tongue-in-cheek update on a now-obscure ’80s TV series has the potential to spawn multiple sequels, if the ticket-buying public is as charmed by the film as audiences and critics were at SXSW. “Everything you want out of a big action rom-com blockbuster and more,” Ethan raves, while Rosie calls it “a perfect fucking movie.”

Gosling’s character, washed-up stuntman Colt Seavers, has a certain lunkheaded appeal: he likes motorcycles and cool jackets and classic rock (the KISS disco anthem ‘I Was Made for Loving You’ features prominently on the soundtrack). But under Colt’s derring-do beats the heart of a romantic, flipping cars and slamming himself into rocks to impress his crush, played by Emily Blunt. (Lucaxaurus can relate, writing that “I would also put myself through physical harm for the attention of the girl I like.”) Most importantly, however: Gosling is very down to look silly in this role, carrying over that self-effacing Kenergy that got him so much love last summer.

This is “dudes rock” cinema at its most earnest, a rousing salute to the art of stunt performance directed by a former stuntman—David Leitch, who doubled for Brad Pitt before becoming a director himself. As one might hope, given Leitch’s background, “the stunt work in this film is some of the best I’ve witnessed in a Hollywood blockbuster in recent memory,” praises Jeremy. KR

It’s a feat of filmmaking, where every swoon-worthy moment feels earned. “The world has been wishing on the Hollywood genies for a good rom-com and Michael Showalter just yeeted Anne Hathaway and Nick Galitzine out of his bottle to grant us our hopes and dreams,” declares Lgreene91, while Isabella writes from the packed screening schedule of SXSW, “This is probably my favorite movie of the week. Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine gave incredible performances and made this movie what it was. Super funny and sexy. Can’t wait to watch again!” We’ll all have the chance to do just that when Amazon releases The Idea of You streaming on Prime Video starting May 2. AM

The In Between

Directed by Robie Flores

Movies can give us a portal to other worlds, ideas, experiences—but they can also be mirrors, reflecting ourselves back to us. The In Between was the latter for me, having grown up on the border between the US and Mexico in Laredo, Texas. Filmmaker Robie Flores navigates the loss of her brother by returning home to Eagle in the state. She’s been struggling to him, and decides to pick up his old camera and recreate moments from their childhood and adolescence. It’s a moving examination of how creativity can help us cope with grief, but also a profound portrait of what it’s like to grow up in a certain place and time. “I loved this movie. Finding your identity between two opposing cultures. Appreciating life through the eyes of someone else. I’m just upset nobody beeped the horn during La Carcacha,” writes Bethannangel.

So many times, Flores presents a shot or situation—a family gathering in the kitchen, celebrating a quinceañera, musing with friends about the future right before graduation—that feels like it was ripped from my own memories. The sibling relationship at the heart of the film showcases how strong the bonds of familial love can be. That dynamic can touch upon so many, as Doyin says, “I don’t personally know what it feels like to be defined by a place, but I know how it feels to be defined by your siblings. A beautiful ode to a home and a beloved, lost sibling.” AM

Monkey Man

Directed by Dev Patel, written by Patel, Paul Angunawela and John Collee

Monkey Man, the feature directorial debut of Skins heartthrob Dev Patel, took home the Audience Award as a Headliner at this year’s SXSW. I was in the audience and can confirm that Patel as an action star turns crowds feral. But audiences weren’t just reacting to a soaking wet Patel showing off his black belt Taekwondo moves. It’s clear that this new director/writer/action star has something to say and is going to use his whole entire body to say it. Even if that means breaking his foot, or his hand, or getting pink eye from too many bathroom floor stunt maneuvers.

Patel didn’t set out to be a director, but the story of Monkey Man—one that generated from the tale of the immortal monkey god Hanuman, told to him as a boy by his grandfather—needed him (and producer Jordan Peele) behind the wheel to deliver it to John Wick audiences. It’s clear the filmmaker is attempting to capture the spirit of predecessors like Bruce Lee and Donnie Yen in grounding his characters’ motivations in real, honest pain. “You take it all in, all of the humanity of it, not in a vacuum but inextricably tied to the pulse of human experience,” Kit writes of Monkey Man.

“The action genre has been abused by the system,” Patel said during his introduction at the SXSW premiere. “You know, a quick buck. Mindless shit. I wanted to give it soul. Real trauma. Real pain. You guys deserve that. I wanted to infuse it with a little bit of culture.” So come for a shirtless Patel, stay for the stellar action choreography and leave with feelings of awe for this new visionary’s ion and thoughtfulness. He’s just getting started. JK

Oddity

Written and directed by Damian McCarthy

The sophomore feature from Irish director Damian McCarthy (Caveat) opens with the most chilling horror sequence of the year so far: Dani (Carolyn Bracken) is spending the night alone—or so she thinks—in the isolated country home that she’s busy renovating while her husband Ted (Gwilym Lee) works at a mental hospital back in town. But a wild-eyed drifter then appears at her door, frantic, warning her that someone slipped into the house when Dani left the door open. Trapped between her fear of the stranger outside and the strange noises she suddenly hears in every corner of this creaky old building, Dani is frozen in place.

McCarthy’s script moves in directions that are bizarre and unexpected—except for when he’s clearly telegraphing a twist, which is an unusual choice in itself. As a result, Oddity feels fresh, and sometimes even a little dangerous. The supernatural elements are appealingly strange as well, including a life-size wooden witch dummy with spells tucked into its skull that’s an unnerving presence throughout most of the film.

The “wooden man” was on hand for the premiere at SXSW, where Courtney reports that it was “legitimately the scariest thing I’ve seen at the festival this year.” There are many lessons to be taken away from this film: “I will unfortunately be thinking about this movie every single time I go outside to get the mail,” Erinemcg writes, while Sawyerelle gets to the heart of the matter by saying, “simply put: don’t fuck with witches.” KR