SXSW's Horror Lineup for 2025 is STACKED
SXSW Film Festival is taking place this year in Austin, TX March 7-15, 2025. They recently released their film lineup and horror is showing up in a big way.
Some of our most anticipated horror features will be dropping during the film festival, along with some we hadn't even heard of yet. The schedule is packed with some great genre bending features.
Here is what you can look forward to this year:
Headliner
Big names, big talent featuring red carpet premieres and gala film events with major and rising names in cinema.
Death of a Unicorn
Director/Screenwriter: Alex Scharfman
Producers: Drew Houpt, Lucas Joaquin, Alex Scharfman, Lars Knudsen, Tyler Campellone, Tim Headington, Theresa Steele Page
Synopsis: A father and daughter accidentally hit and kill a unicorn while en route to a weekend retreat, where his billionaire boss seeks to exploit the creature’s miraculous curative properties.
Cast: Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega, Will Poulter, Téa Leoni, Richard E. Grant, Anthony Carrigan, Sunita Mani, Jessica Hynes (World Premiere)
Ash
Director: Flying Lotus
Producers: Nate Bolotin, Matthew Metcalfe
Screenwriter: Jonni Remmler
Synopsis: A woman wakes up on a distant planet and finds the crew of her space station viciously killed. Her investigation into what happened sets in motion a terrifying chain of events.
Cast: Eiza González, Aaron Paul, Flying Lotus, Iko Uwais, Kate Elliott, Beulah Koale (World Premiere)
Holland
Director: Mimi Cave
Producers: Kate Churchill, Peter Dealbert, Nicole Kidman, Per Saari
Screenwriter: Andrew Sodroski
Synopsis: In this unpredictable thriller, Nancy is a teacher whose life with her husband in Holland, Michigan, tumbles into a twisted tale when she and her colleague become suspicious of a secret.
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Matthew Macfadyen, Jude Hill, Gael García Bernal (World Premiere)
Drop
Director: Christopher Landon
Producers: Jason Blum, Michael Bay, Brad Fuller, Cameron Fuller
Screenwriters: Jillian Jacobs, Chris Roach
Synopsis: A widowed mother, on her first date in years, arrives at an upscale restaurant where she meets her handsome date. But their chemistry curdles as she begins being irritated and then terrorized by a series of anonymous drops to her phone.
Cast: Meghann Fahy, Brandon Sklenar, Violett Beane, Jacob Robinson, Ed Weeks (World Premiere)
Midnighter
Exciting after-dark features for genre lovers and the terminally curious.
Good Boy- World Premiere
Director: Ben Leonberg | Screenwriters: Alex Cannon, Ben Leonberg
Good Boy is the story of a dog who sees everything that goes bump in the night. No talking pets, just terrifying scares.
Cast: Indy, Shane Jensen, Larry Fessenden, Arielle Friedman, Stuart Rudin, Anya Krawcheck, Max
Descendent- World Premiere
Director/Screenwriter: Peter Cilella
After a traumatic brain injury triggers terrifying visions of extraterrestrials and a newfound talent for drawing, a father-to-be begins to question his reality and becomes obsessed with the need to protect his family from an unseen threat.
Cast: Ross Marquand, Sarah Bolger, Susan Wilder, Charlene Amoia, Dan O’Brien, Brandon Scott, Alexandra Barreto, Alex Ruiz, Clare Cooney, Emily Pendergast
The Home- World Premiere
Director: Mattias J Skoglund | Screenwriter: Mattias J Skoglund, Mats Strandberg
Joel reluctantly returns to his childhood town to help his mother Monika move into a home for people with dementia after she suffers a stroke. She is unrecognizable and Joel becomes convinced that something has followed her back from the other side.
Cast: Philip Oros, Anki Lidén, Gizem Erdogan, Malin Levanon, Peter Jankert, Lottie Ejenbrant, Ayan Ahmed, Bengt CW Carlsson
The Surrender- World Premiere
Director/Screenwriter: Julia Max
When the family patriarch dies, a grieving mother and daughter risk their lives to perform a brutal resurrection ritual that will bring him back from the dead.
Cast: Colby Minifie, Kate Burton, Neil Sandilands, Vaughn Armstrong, Mia Ellis, Pete Ploszek, Chelsea Alden, Alaina Pollack, Riley Rose Critchlow, Lola Prince Kelly
Clown in a Cornfield- World Premiere
Director: Eli Craig | Screenwriters: Carter Blanchard, Adam Cesare, Eli Craig
A fading midwestern town in which Frendo the clown, a symbol of bygone success, reemerges as a terrifying scourge.
Cast: Katie Douglas, Will Sasso, Cassandra Potenza, Aaron Abrams, Carson MacCormac, Verity Marks, Dylan McEwan, Daina Leitold, Vincent Muller, Kaitlyn Bacon
Stay tuned for more upcoming programming announcements.