The Best and Worst Films at SXSW 2017
and Keith Kimbell, Metacritic Film Editor – March 19, 2017
The 2017 edition of South by Southwest wrapped up its film program last night, and the 10 days of premieres produced some welcome hits (with five films scoring 81 or higher) as well as some surprising misses.
Below, our editors have picked out the most notable films debuting at the festival, and sampled the critical consensus for each one. You can also find bonus reviews for a handful of television shows that premiered at SXSW (though not the highly anticipated upcoming series American Gods, since Starz has embargoed reviews until April 17th).
In this adaptation of the graphic novel The Coldest City, Charlize Theron plays secret agent Lorraine Broughton, who comes across as a combination of James Bond and John Wick. Directed by David Leitch (John Wick and Deadpool 2), Blonde is earning praise for its action set pieces (especially a “one”-take staircase sequence). But the film comes up a bit short in the story department, as noted by Variety’s Andrew Barker, who writes, “Virtuosic kick-ass filmmaking can be its own reward, but to paraphrase Idiocracy, you still need to care about whose ass it is, and why it’s being kicked.”