The SXSW Film Festival has announced the bulk of of its feature and episodic slate, and it is (as per usual) an eclectic collection of high and low art.
The festival will open with the horror thriller A Quiet Place, directed by John Krasinski and starring Emily Blunt; it’s the married couple’s first major collaboration (they did separate cameos in The Muppets and voice-over work in the forthcoming animated film Animal Crackers). Other feature highlights include The Legacy of a Whitetail Deer Hunter, the latest collaboration between director Jody Hill and star Danny McBride; Support the Girls, from Results and Computer Chess director Andrew Bujalski, starring Regina Hall and Haley Lu Richardson; Sarah Dagger Nickson’s A Vigilante, starring Olivia Wilde as, um, a vigilante; Paradox, the feature writing and directing debut of Daryl Hannah, with a cast that includes Neil Young and Willie Nelson (!); Kay Cannon’s directorial debut Blockers, starring Leslie Mann, John Cena, and Ike Barinholtz; Megan Griffiths’ Sadie, starring our pal Melanie Lynskey; and Madeline Olnek’s Wild Nights with Emily, starring Molly Shannon as Emily Dickinson, no I’m not making that up.
On the documentary side, the festival will debut features on subjects ranging from trans soldiers and Internet fame to Bill Murray and Elvis Presley. And their increasingly popular Episodic sidebar will include new shows from Bill Hader, David S. Goyer, and (still feels good to type this) Oscar nominee Jordan Peele.
Check out the full first wave here. SXSW runs from March 9-18 in Austin, Texas.