The Best and Worst Films at SXSW 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).
While not the lowest-scoring film debuting at the festival, it was perhaps the biggest disappointment. In the words of Variety critic Peter Debruge, the latest from director Terrence Malick “finds the maestro in broken-record mode, rehashing more or less the same themes against the backdrop of the Austin music scene — merely the latest borderline-awful Malick movie that risks to undermine the genius and mystery of his best work.”
The film, which also opened this weekend in limited release, does have a few defenders. Manohla Dargis of The New York Times believes there is “much to admire” and “much to argue with” in the film, but encourages people to “go, fall into its embrace, resist its charms, argue. This may not be a film to love, but it is a film to see.”
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