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Mermaids, threesomes, proms and Lili Reinhart. It sounds like the plot to an episode of Riverdale, but in fact is just four separate scenarios from four films that premiered at this years South by South West film Festival. A festival that prides itself in keeping Austin “weird’ while also bringing forth new voices and filmmakers. To some extent it succeeds while also being another film festival that needs to keep the lights on so engages in the more popular from time to time. But in breaking down my reviews for the SXSW fest it was nice to see some new voices emerge while championing retuning filmmakers that do not stick to the beaten path. These four films good or bad range from brining up ideas of capitalism at its worst to rediscovering yourself through a deadly sea creature. All in all these are some of the films that actually helped keep Austin “weird” and show that the SXSW Film Festival continues to have some juice in the tank especially when it goes off on its own detour.

THE THREESOME

Chad Hartigan already proved with his 2020 film “Little Fish” that he knows how to break both his characters’ hearts as well as the audience. A filmmaker that seems to relish in the in between aspect of both heartfelt and heartache. Throwing his character’s in absurd situations while finding ways to ground them through natural reactions and emotions. THE THREESOME follows thirty something Connor (Jonah Hauer-King) who like many single white men his age is down in the dumps thinking he deserves a love he cannot have. The love in particular is from his close friend and once co-worker Olivia (Zooey Deutch) who spends her time playfully mocking and teasing him but never giving him the satisfaction of her love and touch. That is until Connor hits it off with quiet college girl Jenny (Ruby Cruz) much to Olivia’s frustration. So how does Olivia interfere? Well by suggesting they spend a party infused night together and ending with with a sexual one night threesome. Hauer-King and Cruz have chemistry instantly as performers and Deutch’s interruption of this works well. In fact whenever the three are on screen together the film is at its highest and yes especially in a rather enticing but respectful threesome.

The problem is not every threesome is just something you can walk away from. One could argue that we have officially hit the point where we are getting our movie ideas from an episode of “Entourage,” but Hartigan with his screenwriter Ethan Ogilby don’t just want to have fun with the possible absurd outcome that comes from having sex with two women, but also the familiar heartache that most emotionally angsty men of that demographic would experience. Connor for all credits sake is just another man. There isn’t anything particularly special or interesting about him and while that could play into some of the humor of as Olivia puts it “scoring two major babes” the film really wants to lock in on the connection between Olivia and Connor. Deutch is enjoyable with her quick wit but it is Cruz’s Jenny that often steals the spotlight bringing up some of the film’s more intense moments of debate that has divided this country for ages. Deutch and Cruz and more specifically their characters is where the weight of the film falls in its depiction of women finding themselves at a crossroads that many women find themselves at while also learning how not to be defined by their mistakes as well as the errors of the men in their life.

THE THREESOME is an enjoyable throwback to more hard hitting romantic comedies that want to thrive in the reality even amongst absurdity. A film that is quite hilarious whenever its core three share screentime together, but those moments can often feel too sparse. However it is the kind of film that unlike “Little Fish” can become an instant comfort watch. This isn’t to say it is too simplified because at times and due to a convenient script choice of state location the film does want to engage in larger topics. It is the kind of film that knows it can lead to discussion especially amongst couples on which way is the right way, and while the film clearly has a specific path and opinion it always feels open to discussion much like its empathic characters. THE THREESOME may be a film of instant reaction but in the end it is a sweet charmer that truly cares about patiently allowing life to unfold.

B+

MERMAID

It doesn’t get more Florida than Tyler Cornack’s MERMAID. Doug Nelson (Johnny Pemberton) spends his days cleaning the giant fish tank at a local strip club before going home and spending his nights drinking and popping Percocet’s in his (what seems to be) clearwater Apartment. Estranged from his daughter (Devyn McDowell) and with an ex-wife (Julia Valentine Larson) who cannot stand him, life for Doug seems easier if it just did not continue. On what may be his final night Doug ventures out onto the ocean where he stumbles upon a severely injured and frightening looking mermaid. (Avery Potemri under some terrific makeup effects) All of a sudden Johnny has purpose again as he tries to heal the mermaid (who he now calls Destiny) back to health. MERMAID is the kind of film that while the premise may seem like the film’s most peculiar bit it only gets stranger from there testing its audience ability to connect with something so grotesque, and I am not just referring to the mermaid. In fact Destiny may be the kindest character of the film, one that includes a drug addicted father, a wannabe Florida gangster (Robert Patrick) and a strip club owner (Kirk Fox) that is as grimy as well a strip club owner. But MERMAID also has a sweetness to it in its focus on helping Doug find a new purpose. Pemberton as Doug delivers deadpan line reading with such sincerity that fans of his work on shows like “Superstore” and “fallout’ will easily eat up every word he is spewing out.

The film also wants to be a love letter to Floridians and while the term “love letter” can now be met with eye rolls this is a film that truly earns that title. A film that engages greatly with the “Florida Man” stereotype while also feeling like one of the only Florida films this side of “Spring Breakers” that actually lives and breathes the peculiar culture. Florida is often seen as a place that many go to escape but what about those that live there already trying to escape from their own lives but are stuck living in “paradise.” In fact much of the film wants to turn this paradise on its head playfully as it shows some truly uncomfortably hysterical moments including a children’s party that ends with everyone covered in mermaid puke as well as an intervention scene that goes from laugh out loud to extremely heartbreaking. All this is set Joel Lavold’s gorgeous cinematography that can only come from shooting on location. Yes this may not be the Travelocity version of Florida given its context and yet it is one of the rare films that gets Florida right through and through. Sure there’s a killer mermaid on the loose (make that two) but you also want to hop in a boat and sail the Florida seas watching Doug screw up from afar while you enjoy your own paradise. MERMAID may be the definition of weird but much like Florida its tender, beautiful and dangerous making it all the more exciting.

B+

SLANTED

Life as a teenage girl is already tough enough as it is, but for many American born girls of color they often feel like they do not fit in to the conventional standards set by white America. More than often they are not wrong in their fears. America especially for its young women have an unrealistic and often harmful standard of beauty both inside and out. Director Amy Wang takes this idea on in her first feature film with both satirical humor and even some body horror to remind us that teenage girldom can be hell no matter how much you try to change. For American Chinese teenager Joan Huang (Shirley Chen) she has always wanted to be prom queen ever since she stumbled upon the glitz and glamour that comes with it when she was a young girl. But arriving in deep south America Joan notices from an early age that many of the women on billboards and magazines look nothing like her. In fact according to the on the nose propaganda in the film the standard is beautiful and often busty white women who look like they were designed in a lab. Joan’s parents want to give their daughter the American dream which means her father spends days as a janitor and a house cleaner while her mother tries to remind Joan to be proud of both her cultures. But Joan lives in 2025 and like most Gen Z teens just wants to fit in and shake off any motherland appreciation. But the more she tries to fit in and even become prom queen it is clear that her skin color is no match for her white dominated school set on rewarding the social media famous queen bee Olivia (Amelie Zilber). But thanks (?) to a new mysterious procedure from an even sketchier doctor Joan has the chance to undergo a skin pigment procedure completely transforming herself into a white girl fit to match what her town has come to love and respect. SLANTED is always upfront with both its comedy and uncomfortable notion of what makes a “true American” in today’s world. But it is also a film of two halves that never blends together due to its main premise.

Shirley Chen as Joan is a delight and carries both the awkwardness and lovable quality that makes a great high schooler just trying to figure it all out. Her frustration with her own skin color is disheartening to see, but for many people of color constantly told they are not enough it fits into the behaviors. In fact most of the believability relies on Chen’s performance selling us on this over the top school where the white people feel like clones and the people of color are basically invisible. Perhaps that is why the film takes a giant halt when Chen herself is removed from the film in the form of Mckenna Grace. Grace a young actress who has already made a giant name for herself is an enjoyable lead but the script with its self-proclaimed “big swing” feels less of a risk and more of a scapegoat. The film falls into typical high school storyline involving the outcast determined to be popular by any means. Yes the satirical humor is still there but often held on a leash. A moment involving Joan, now white, speaking Mandarin is both humorous and heartbreaking as we still see the Joan we have com to love beneath her new skin. But as Grace gets more screentime the focus on Joan’s heritage takes a backseat with only small sprinkles throughout. Even as the film dives into its more body horror aspect it all feels sleight especially in a time where films like “The Substance” came out only a few months prior. The timing is far from the filmmakers fault and the comparison of films is not always just but it doesn’t change the fact that SLANTED always feels to tame in its darker moments. It may play better for teens (who are most likely the preferred demographic) but the screenplay certainly has some growing up to do.

C

AMERICAN SWEATSHOP

There are many jobs that happen every day that most people don’t even think about let alone even know they exist. Normally they are jobs that reflect on products or content that we just absorb every day without considering how they end up at our front door or onto our phone. Do any of us really care how our packages arrive as long as they arrive on time. Well that same notion applies to everything on our phone. Sure you click on an app or go on social media and interact but whether it is a human or an algorithm something is pushing the information towards us so in terms of social media it means somebody sees the content we see before it ever gets our way. AMERICAN SWEATSHOP directed by Uta Briesewitz is an intense look at those that try their best from protecting us from the worst evils the internet has to offer. It also wants to show us that a job is a job no matter what it is and at some point everyone in capitalistic America reaches their breaking point. The varying degrees of how they handle it depends on the person but when it comes to those monitoring social media you wouldn’t blame them for losing their shit all too often. SWEATSHOP is a hybrid of a film partly work place comedy (in the darkest sense) while also merging into a mystery thriller that proves that every young promising actor gets their “Blow-Up” at some point. That young actor being Lili Reinhart enforces the film’s notion that while we may be used to the obscenities we see everyday on social media it doesn’t mean we have to stand for it even when those in power refuse to hold bad people accountable. Reinhart both an actress an advocate for truth is the perfect actress for the role even when the film’s script doesn’t fully live up to her talents. Nonetheless AMERICAN SWEATSHOP gets the job done of leaving you uncomfortable but hopeful that someone is taking a stand to not just do the right thing but also taking all the punches so you don’t have to. 

Daisy (Lili Reinhart) is always late to work. Perhaps it’s accidental or perhaps it’s because everyday she hesitates before logging on to her job where she monitors social media flagging offensive content that can range from hate speech to outright graphic violence against people. Daisy has seen it all. Animal abuse, suicide videos, people threatening others with rape, death and everything in between. It’s a sickening job and one that can only be survived through the odd connections you make with your coworkers. Coworkers that can be empathetic while others are completely numb and then of course there’s those that have a daily breakdown, understandably after watching a video labeled “fetus in a blender.” Director Uta Briesewitz doesn’t hold back and while she doesn’t show most of the videos we see labeled it’s all because she doesn’t have to. So many of us can pick a specific video we accidentally stumbled upon that shook us to our core. Just reading this sentence you probably resorted back to remembering one so all Briesewitz needs to do is just leave the breadcrumbs and our mind does the rest. Thankfully this resistance allows for the films most entertaining aspect which is the relationship Daisy has with her coworkers. Sitting right next to her everyday is Ava (Daniela Melchior) who gives off the feeling of being emotional numb to everything she sees while Bob (a terrific Joel Fry) has a freak out everyday much to his coworkers annoyance and then there is newcomer Paul (Jeremy Ang Jones) filling in the audiences shoes of being totally scared and disgusted by the content he is now forced to monitor. When all four are on screen together the film excels. 

Unfortunately AMERICAN SWEATSHOP can’t seem to fully appreciate the workplace dramedy it has at hands. Instead it’s bigger goals cause the film to stumble into deeper thriller territory that suffers mainly due to Briesewitz’s inability to maintain the same tension once Daisy stumbles upon a horrific video that could be either a snuff film or protected pornography. Daisy knows there is a deeper sinister to these videos so much so that she believes the man paying for these videos is at large and could possibly cause more harm. The film from there takes on an investigation into the bowels of the dark web giving Reinhart a platform to continue to show us she’s one of the best young talents of today but it’s at the disservice of the film itself. There’s a sense that screenwriter Matthew Nemeth didn’t trust his script to not include a cat and mouse chase feel. In fact AMERICAN SWEATSHOP is another example of how several SXSW films this year seem to not be comfortable with their own script always feeling like it needs to go bolder when in fact they are limiting themselves. Still even as SWEATSHOP dives deeper it’s the cast that elevates. A film that doesn’t offer a ton of rewatchability but much like social media allows for an entertaining watch even if you keep scrolling by at times. 

B