Cover Story
AI Goes Mainstream at SXSW
Panels delve into the good and not-so-good of artificial intelligence
In Austin, Michelle Obama Talks Rediscovering Hope
Sixteen years after “hope” campaign, hope defines SXSW keynote
The Unforgiving Lens: Lucy Lawless Makes Her Documentary Debut With Never Look Away
Actor turns director for life of war photographer Margaret Moth
SXSW Film Review: Idiotka
Girls just want to Slay, Serve, and Survive
Musician Panels, a Band of Horses Live Set, and More Reviews From Wednesday of SXSW
John Fogerty, Tom Morello, and Andrew McMahon get chatty
SXSW Film Review: Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror
Charming doc reflects on the 50-year-old phenomenon
SXSW Announces 2025 Film & TV Festival Award Winners
Good Boy’s Indy fetches “Howl of Fame” honors
Our Cars Have Become a Treasure Trove of Data. Can We Do Anything About It?
Potential for hacking and tracking loom large
The Metropolitan Opera: Fidelio
The Metropolitan Opera: Fidelio 2025, NR, 185 min. Starring Lise Davidsen, Ying Fang, David Butt Philip, Magnus Dietrich, Tomasz Konieczny. Soprano Lise Davidsen stars as Leonore, who risks everything to save her husband from the clutches of tyranny. Conducted by Susanna Mälkki for the Met, streaming (and repeating) as part of the Met’s award-winning Live…
SXSW Film Review: Cotton Candy Bubble Gum
Carter, 21 and living at home, navigates a chaotic, funny day
SXSW Film Review: The Python Hunt
How a man-made ecological disaster may be hiding a much worse sin
SXSW Film Review: The Age of Disclosure
New documentary probes the changing government position on UFOs
SXSW Film Review: Descendent
Alien abduction drama probes trauma, parenthood
SXSW Film Review: Are We Good?
In candid doc, Marc Maron opens up about grief
Benson Boone, La Sécurité, Ken Pomeroy, and More Reviews From Tuesday of SXSW
Plus: Lars Ulrich pumps up new Apple Vision Pro experience
Finding Autistic Cool in Animation Anthology Autistic Mode
The five shorts screen with alt-fest Smash by Smash West
There’s Only One Naomi Ackie in Mickey 17
The British actress contains multitudes in the new sci-fi satire
SXSW Film Review: For Worse
A divorced woman over 50 vs. the millennials in her life
SXSW Film Review: My Uncle Jens
Norwegian film finds humor and compassion in immigration
Aiko, Jurassic 5’s Soup, Quiet Light, and More Reviews From Monday of SXSW
Music fest kicks off with a bang
SXSW Film Review: The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick
Anti-thriller mines wellness culture to unnerving effect
SXSW Film Review: Assembly
Doc suggests AI & art work together as agents of resistance
SXSW Film Review: Shuffle
Harrowing documentary lens on Florida’s broken rehab industry
How Texas Soccer Stakeholders Are Bracing for 2026 World Cup
And how Texas clubs are hoping to welcome new fans to the fold
SXSW Film Review: The Secret of Me
Intersex doc depicts lifelong fallout of genital mutilation
Trauma From the Past, Trauma From the Skies in Descendent
Peter Cilella on the myth of control in his SXSW sci fi domestic drama
SXSW Film Review: Reeling
A Hawaiian party cracks under pressure from a tragic past
SXSW Film Review: Friendship
Tim Robinson obsesses over Paul Rudd in A24 black comedy
Corrupting an Australian Paradise in The Surfer
Director Lorcan Finnegan on his new film with Nic Cage
SXSW Film Review: Real Faces
Quiet Belgian drama explores the boundaries of authenticity
SXSW Film Review: The Dutchman
Cerebral drama flips the script on Civil Rights era classic
SXSW Film Review: Good Boy
It’s pet vs. poltergeist in ghost story with a twist
SXSW Film Review: Fantasy Life
The most Gen X movie in years stars a millennial and Amanda Peet
SXSW Film Review: O’Dessa
Bold rock opera dazzles but doesn’t quite land its allegory
SXSW Film Review: Slanted
Amy Wang’s dystopian teen film is a thought-provoking debut
SXSW Film Review: Death of a Unicorn
Jenna Ortega stars in darkly absurd tale of carnage and corporate greed
Bad Breaks Doom Austin FC in Loss to Colorado Rapids
Big advantages in shots and possession don’t pay off
Friendship Brings Awkward Hugs and Comedy Giants to South by Southwest
Director Andrew DeYoung gets matey with Paul Rudd and Tim Robinson
SXSW Film Review: Zodiac Killer Project
How to tell a true-crime story without cops or criminals
SXSW Film Review: Bunny
What do you do with a dead body? Call your friends.
Exhibition on Screen: The Dawn of Impressionism – Paris, 1874
Exhibition on Screen: The Dawn of Impressionism – Paris, 1874 NR, 90 min. Directed by Ali Ray. This documentary explores ground zero of the Impressionism movement alongside an exhibition at Paris’ Musée d’Orsay.
Never Look Away
Never Look Away 2024, NR, 85 min. Directed by Lucy Lawless. Documentary about the trailblazing CNN photojournalist Margaret Moth.
SXSW Film Review: The Spies Among Us
A historian investigates the Stasi’s legacy of brutality
SXSW Film Review: One More Shot
Emily Browning is a delight in a Groundhog Day-style romp
SXSW Film Review: Sweetness
Teenage dreams become a harsh reality for one pop star
SXSW Film Review: Baby Doe
An empathetic look at pregnancy denial and its consequences
Tugging at True-Crime’s Seams in SXSW Doc Zodiac Killer Project
Charlie Shackleton on genre conventions, and why he subverted them
A Dog’s View of Evil in SXSW Midnighter Good Boy
Director Ben Leonberg on channeling Poltergeist and White Fang
SXSW Drama American Sweatshop Contemplates the Extreme Content That Can’t Be Unseen
Director Uta Briesewitz on the power of images for good and evil
SXSW Film Review: Another Simple Favor
Like con artists, sequels to even campy crime can be tricky
SXSW Film Review: The Threesome
This modern rom-com takes itself seriously … but not too seriously
Scholars Visiting Austin Discuss the Building Blocks of a “Just Economy”
Authors sit down at SXSW and UT to dissect moral economics
In I Really Love My Husband, a Couple Becomes a Throuple
GG Hawkins on her SXSW debut and DIY filmmaking
Chasing the Yeses: Bluesky COO Rose Wang Heads to SXSW
How a community-first culture pervades the social media startup
Short and Sweet: “Neuro”
Austin-made psychotropic short explores the mutability of memory
Short and Sweet: “Red Sands”
Riding the dunes with El Paso’s gearheads and off-roaders
Dust Bowl Blues and Dystopian Futures in South by Southwest Musical O’Dessa
Geremy Jaspar on his Sadie Sink post-apocalyptic Americana odyssey
In SXSW Documentary Other Side, an Activist Fights to the End for Access to Medical Aid in Dying
Lynda Bluestein’s battle to die on her own terms
In The Lost Lands
Action-fantasy based on a George R.R. Martin short story
Night of the Zoopocalypse
A meteor crash turns zoo animals turn into zombie mutants
Queen of the Ring
Drama based on wrestling pioneer Mildred Burke
The Rule of Jenny Pen
John Lithgow terrorizes a retirement home
Seven Veils
Atom Egoyan drama about trauma and opera
Mickey 17
Bong Joon Ho’s clone comedy is the resistance movie we need right now
Rule Breakers
Inspirational film about Afghanistan’s first all-female robotics team
As Trump Consolidates Power, SXSW Focuses on Fate of Democracy
Kings, courts, and creative dissent
Building Brains and Resilience at SXSW
Researchers illuminate the front lines of neuroscience today
The Common Law
Stand up paddling vs. boating? Restrictions on Lady Bird Lake
AI at the Wheel, for the Masses
Self-driving cars are mostly Uber-like, but could automation enter public transit?
The Best of “Best of Austin”
Wondering what to do while you’re visiting Austin? Just ask our readers.
Tracking, Vacuuming, and Sinking Carbon at SXSW
Time to save the planet
War, Meet Climate Change
SXSW Arctic panel explains climate impact on national security
The Powerful Never Change in Death of a Unicorn
A24’s star-studded satirical horror comes to SXSW
Free Will Astrology
Your weekly horoscope, March 7-13
SXSW Doc Tells the Story of Local Psych-Punk Legends Butthole Surfers
Never sacred, always profane
Visual Arts Review: Juan Cisneros’ “Tethered Ashes”
Physical and sound-based pieces offer a visceral sensory sensation in Co-Lab exhibit
The Austin Chronic: A Rundown of Cannabis Bills at the Texas Capitol
The legislative “sesh” has its papers
Inside the Unspeakable Killings That Changed Austin Forever
Margaret Brown explores the tragedy and lingering trauma in a four-part series
Camaraderie, Collaboration, and Sonic Time Travel Stuffed the 2024-2025 Austin Music Awards
Stacked Antone’s jam piled on the sounds of the city
Suspected El Paso Serial Killer Near Execution Insists He’s Innocent
Texas plans to kill “Desert Killer” David Wood despite new evidence
How the BTS ARMY Superpowered the Megapopular Boy Band
This fandom moves mountains
The Luv Doc: The Replacement
No one better than a Nazi to deliver the profound revelation that men are going to get shit wrong
Solar Power Initiative Proceeds After Threat of Funding Freeze
$31 million for Austin solar is not lost, after all
A Midwestern Slasher Is on the Loose in Clown in a Cornfield
Eli Craig adapts the hit YA novel about teens in a dying (literally) town
Opinion: Our Love of Guacamole is Killing Monarchs. But There’s Hope for Deforestation-Free Avocados.
Grocery stores and consumers must commit to ethically sourced avocados
35 Recommended SXSW Music Acts
From rock to new age to Irish traditional, these are the incoming artists to see
Flying Lotus on Moving in Front of the Camera in Ash
The musician-turned-filmmaker on leveling up in his SXSW Headliner
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
According to his diaries, George Washington didn’t like celebrating his birthday. In fact, he might have preferred installing a fence to a party. Studies have shown that wearing headphones while driving can reduce reaction time for drivers. At 46 mph, a difference in reaction time of 0.3 seconds means a difference of about 20 feet…
Andrew McMahon Is Reuniting Jack’s Mannequin and Fighting Ticket Scalpers
Alt rocker looks back and ahead with Music and Conference appearances
Terror Has Your Number in Drop
Director Christopher Landon on his latest nail-biter coming to SXSW
“Un/Broken” Stitches Together Art and Trauma
Artist Yuliya Lanina presents her newest multimedia works at Ivester Contemporary
Aiko Packs a Pop-Fueled Punch
Czech artist brings Eurovision excellence across the pond
Hairy Situations, Pickle Parties, and More Weekend Events
Some non-SXSW arts and culture recommendations
Day Trips: Goliad State Park & Historic Site, Goliad
Spanish colonial mission site offers a historical outdoor experience
Headlines / Quote of the Week
Brand-New Flower in Texas: The top news this week concerns the “wooly devil.” Readers will be alarmed to learn that a new species of sunflower has been discovered in the Big Bend National Park in West Texas. The hairy, green-gray plant with yellow and lavender flowers, dubbed Ovicula biradiata, was found on a hike in…
Advocacy, Art, and More Recommended Events
What to do this week that isn’t SXSW
Qmmunity: For Queers By Queers Fest Recs and More
Mostly unofficial SXSW recos, local non-Fest fun, and Oscars complaints this week in Qmmunity
The Thinkery Under Pressure to Improve Sanitation, Safety Measures
After employees protested, CEO says they’re making changes
No Badge Necessary at These Live Music Recommendations
Crucial concerts for the week ahead
The Verde Report: Which Players Will Decide Austin FC’s Fate in 2025?
A closer look at some of the club’s wild cards
Go Off the Grid for Unofficial Queer Fun During SXSW
Austin offers tourists and locals alike queer parties outside the Festival mainframe
Brand Events and Immersive Experiences, No Badge Required
A black hole re-creation, the Criterion Mobile Closet, and Alien: Earth close encounters await
Medics at Hays County’s Private, Unionized EMS Service Fear for Agency’s Future
One government client has moved on, another appears ready to
Asylum Seeker in Texas Faces Deportation After Complying as Witness
With no criminal history, Trump order requires his prosecution
