Female-Led Films We Can’t Wait to See at SXSW
SXSW is back in a big way, and this year, they’re celebrating International Women’s Day all festival long with an abundance of female-led films as women take center stage–or should I say screen. Here’s the shortlist of my most anticipated female-led films premiering at this year’s SXSW.
The hit horror flick is back again, and this time featuring even more iconic women. Samara Weaving returns as Grace, our spunky final girl who may not be so final after all. Immediately following the events of Ready or Not’s first installment, Grace is challenged to a second round of the game, this time with higher stakes. Starring Kathryn Newton and Sarah Michelle Gellar, this film is one I have been waiting for. I loved the horror and hijinks of the first film, and let’s be honest, The Purge, The Hunger Games, Saw, who isn’t a sucker for a deathly game?
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come premieres at The Paramount Theatre on March 13th.
Keke Palmer stars alongside Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige, Poppy Liu, Eiza González, and Demi Moore in this star-studded drama that follows a crew of professional shoplifters who target a cutthroat fashion maven. As the description cheekily declares, “It’s like community service.” Listen, I’m a simple woman, I see Keke Palmer (and Demi Moore), and I simply must watch. Directed by Boots Riley, this film looks like a mix between the Technicolor charm of Charli XCX’s Brat and the feminist stealth fantasy of Ocean’s 8, and that’s a combo I can get behind.
I Love Boosters premieres at The Paramount Theatre on March 12th.
If I had to pick out the film I’m the most excited about, it would be Forbidden Fruits. Directed by Meredith Alloway and written by Alloway and Lily Houghton, this comedic thriller follows a secret witch cult operating out of a mall store. When new hire Pumpkin questions their sisterhood, it forces the crew to confront inner darkness. Starring absolute baddies Lili Reinhart, Lola Tung, Victoria Pedretti, Alexandra Shipp, Emma Chamberlain, and Gabrielle Union, this horror flick is giving me everything I’ve ever wanted. The witchy vibes? At a ten. The aesthetic? At a ten. The potentially sapphic undertones? At a ten! Wow, tens, tens, tens across the board.
Forbidden Fruits premieres at The Paramount Theatre on March 16th.
In a similar vein to Forbidden Fruits, Pretty Lethal follows another all-female ensemble as they are stranded in a remote forest and must take shelter at an unsettling roadside inn. This action-packed thriller stars Iris Apatow, Lana Condor, Millicent Simmonds, Avantika, Maddie Ziegler, and Uma Thurman as ballerinas who must weaponize years of brutal training, turning grace, discipline, and even pointe shoes into tools for survival. Given this lineup, it seems pretty clear to me that women are taking over horror this SXSW.
Pretty Lethal premieres at The Paramount Theatre on March 13th.
