Most Anticipated SXSW Film Debuts
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2026 marks SXSW’s 40th year and for the first time will feature all programming running simultaneously for seven days across Innovation, Film & TV and Music. Also new this year is their reservation system. All badges now come with daily reservations that can be used to secure seats in advance for high-demand sessions, screenings, and showcases. If that sounds overwhelming, we got you covered by highlighting some of our most anticipated film debuts across the SXSW Film & TV Festival lineup.
EDIE ARNOLD IS A LOSER
Timid dork Edie accidentally takes the spotlight when she starts a punk band with her fellow “turds”, becoming an icon to the rest of the losers at her all-girls Catholic school.
DIRECTORS: MEGAN RICO & KATE ATWOOD | NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION | WORLD PREMIERE
DIRECTORS: MEGAN RICO & KATE ATWOOD | NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION | WORLD PREMIERE
SCREENING SHOWTIMES
🎞️ MAR 13, 2026 6:00PM - 7:13PM 📌 ALAMO LAMAR 5
🎞️ MAR 15, 2026 3:15PM - 4:28PM 📌 ALAMO LAMAR 2 & 7
🎞️ MAR 17, 2026 11:30AM - 12:43PM 📌 ALAMO LAMAR 1
MALLORY’S GHOST
Mallory's jealousy takes hold as Sam tries to avoid her interrogations about his ex. || Credit: Jeff Griecci
Mallory, plagued by fears of being unremarkable, joins her playwright boyfriend Sam on a retreat to coastal Maine. When she learns he once brought his glamorous ex, Louise, there, she’s struck with an obsessive curiosity about his past.
DIRECTOR: ARABELLA OZ | NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION | WORLD PREMIERE
DIRECTOR: ARABELLA OZ | NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION | WORLD PREMIERE
SCREENING SHOWTIMES
🎞️ MAR 14, 2026 7:15PM - 8:42PM 📌 ALAMO LAMAR 4
🎞️ MAR 15, 2026 9:00PM - 10:27PM 📌 ALAMO LAMAR 6
🎞️ MAR 18, 2026 11:45AM - 1:12PM 📌 ALAMO LAMAR 7
HE BLED NEON
Credit: Drew Kirsch
After learning his brother’s death may be murder, Ethan returns to Las Vegas to uncover the truth, and confront the violent past he buried.
DIRECTOR: DREW KIRSCH | NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT | WORLD PREMIERE
DIRECTOR: DREW KIRSCH | NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT | WORLD PREMIERE
SCREENING SHOWTIMES
🎞️ MAR 16, 2026 7:00PM - 8:25PM 📌 STATE THEATRE
🎞️ MAR 18, 2026 6:00PM - 7:25PM 📌 ALAMO LAMAR 5
PLANTMAN & BLONDIE: A DRESS UP GANG
Cory's world changes when he meets "the Plantman," a vigilante rescuing neglected houseplants. Thrust into an underground network of plant-lovers and rogue greenhouse workers, Cory must decide how far he'll go to join their cause.
DIRECTOR: ROBB BOARDMAN | NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION | WORLD PREMIERE
DIRECTOR: ROBB BOARDMAN | NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION | WORLD PREMIERE
SCREENING SHOWTIMES
🎞️ MAR 14, 2026 11:30AM - 1:08PM 📌 ZACH THEATER
🎞️ MAR 15, 2026 3:30PM - 5:08PM 📌 ALAMO LAMAR 8
🎞️ MAR 18, 2026 11:15AM - 12:53PM 📌 ALAMO LAMAR 1
THE SNAKE
Credit: Justin Rix
When an ungovernable 40 something wild child collides with her venomous mother, her life blows up spectacularly leaving her newly evicted, partially single, and in bed with her best friend’s husband.
DIRECTOR: JENNA MACMILLAN | NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION | WORLD PREMIERE
DIRECTOR: JENNA MACMILLAN | NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION | WORLD PREMIERE
SCREENING SHOWTIMES
🎞️ MAR 13, 2026 10:45AM - 12:14PM 📌 ALAMO LAMAR 5
🎞️ MAR 16, 2026 3:15PM - 4:44PM 📌 ALAMO LAMAR 3
🎞️ MAR 18, 2026 3:15PM - 4:44PM 📌 ALAMO LAMAR 7
THANKS FOR NOTHING
Caption: Thanks for Nothing || Credit: Schiwago Film
Katharina, Victoria, Ricky, and Malou live in a group home for troubled girls, run rather half-heartedly by social worker Ballack. Katharina's plan to kill herself before her 18th birthday, however, throws the group home life into disarray.
DIRECTOR: STELLA MARIE MARKERT | GLOBAL | NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
DIRECTOR: STELLA MARIE MARKERT | GLOBAL | NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
SCREENING SHOWTIMES
🎞️ MAR 14, 2026 3:00PM - 4:48PM 📌 VIOLET CROWN 2&4
🎞️ MAR 15, 2026 6:30PM - 8:18PM 📌 VIOLET CROWN 1&3
🎞️ MAR 17, 2026 2:45PM - 4:33PM 📌 ALAMO LAMAR 2
SAME SAME BUT DIFFERENT
Caption: Rana (Medalion Rahimi), Set (Layla Mohammadi), and Nadia (Dalia Rooni) reunite for Rana’s wedding on Cape Cod. || Credit: Nathaniel Krause
An Iranian immigrant agrees to marry her boss’s son to stay in the U.S., but their simple green card wedding on Cape Cod gets complicated when her two Iranian best friends arrive with their own American boyfriends and cross-cultural baggage in tow.
DIRECTOR: LAUREN NOLL | NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT | WORLD PREMIERE
DIRECTOR: LAUREN NOLL | NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT | WORLD PREMIERE
SCREENING SHOWTIMES
🎞️ MAR 12, 2026 9:30PM - 11:15PM 📌 ALAMO LAMAR 9
🎞️ MAR 14, 2026 11:30AM - 1:15PM 📌 ALAMO LAMAR 8
🎞️ MAR 18, 2026 6:15PM - 8:00PM 📌 ALAMO LAMAR 6
MAM
After falling in love with Vietnamese cuisine during a life-changing trip abroad, Jerald, a self-taught chef from small-town Texas, arrives in New York City with one goal: to open his own restaurant. Juggling odd jobs and secretly perfecting recipes in a basement kitchen, he’s running out of time and money. When he meets Nhung, their unlikely alliance sparks a bold culinary journey.
DIRECTOR: NAN FEIX | NARRATIVE FEATURE | US PREMIERE
DIRECTOR: NAN FEIX | NARRATIVE FEATURE | US PREMIERE
SCREENING SHOWTIMES
🎞️ MAR 16, 2026 6:30PM - 7:51PM 📌 ALAMO LAMAR 5
🎞️ MAR 17, 2026 2:45PM - 4:06PM 📌 ALAMO LAMAR 8
🎞️ MAR 18, 2026 11:45AM - 1:06PM 📌 ALAMO LAMAR 2
UGLY CRY
Caption: Still of Emily Robinson || Credit: Photo Courtesy of More Avenue
When Delaney's boyfriend leaves town to shoot a splashy zombie movie, she becomes obsessed with a character she’s auditioning for after she learns the producers think she has an "ugly cry." But when she tries to make her cry prettier, her performance suffers. Can she contort herself, and her face, to have the perfect cry?
DIRECTOR: EMILY ROBINSON | NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT | WORLD PREMIERE
DIRECTOR: EMILY ROBINSON | NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT | WORLD PREMIERE
SCREENING SHOWTIMES
🎞️ MAR 12, 2026 6:45PM - 8:19PM 📌 ALAMO LAMAR 2&7
🎞️ MAR 14, 2026 3:15PM - 4:49PM 📌 ALAMO LAMAR 2&7
🎞️ MAR 15, 2026 3:00PM - 4:34PM 📌 VIOLET CROWN 2&4
BRIAN
An acerbic high school student prone to panic attacks runs for class president to get closer to the teacher he's hopelessly in love with.
DIRECTOR: WILL ROPP | NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
DIRECTOR: WILL ROPP | NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
SCREENING SHOWTIMES
🎞️ MAR 14, 2026 3:30PM - 5:04PM 📌 STATE THEATRE
🎞️ MAR 15, 2026 3:00PM - 4:34PM 📌 ALAMO LAMAR 4
🎞️ MAR 17, 2026 3:00PM - 4:34PM 📌 ALAMO LAMAR 9
