Get ready, Austin! SXSW is back, and its 2026 Film & TV Festival lineup is here. With world premieres, red carpet galore, and bold new storytelling across film, TV, shorts, music videos, and XR experiences, this year’s festival promises to be a can’t-miss event for cinephiles and pop culture fans alike.

Opening Night TV: Big Stars, Big Drama

Kicking off the festival is Apple TV’s Margo’s Got Money Troubles, from Emmy-winning producer David E. Kelley. Elle Fanning stars as Margo, a recent college dropout juggling a new baby, piles of bills, and life’s curveballs. She’s joined by Michelle Pfeiffer, Nick Offerman, Nicole Kidman, Marcia Gay Harden, Greg Kinnear, Michael Angarano, Rico Nasty, and Lindsey Normington. The series makes its world premiere at SXSW before its global Apple TV debut on April 15, 2026.

Headliner Films You Can’t Miss

SXSW’s film lineup is stacked, with 58 features including 49 world premieres. Highlights include:

  • I Love Boosters (Boots Riley): A heist comedy with Keke Palmer, LaKeith Stanfield, and Naomi Ackie targeting a cutthroat fashion mogul.
  • Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice (BenDavid Grabinski): R-rated action-comedy with a time-travel twist, starring Vince Vaughn, James Marsden, and Eiza González.
  • Over Your Dead Body (Jorma Taccone): Darkly hilarious thriller about a murderous couple in a remote cabin, starring Samara Weaving and Jason Segel.
  • Ready or Not 2: Here I Come: The deadly game continues with Samara Weaving and Kathryn Newton navigating rival families in a fight for survival.
  • They Will Kill You (Kirill Sokolov): A horror-action-comedy showdown in a demonic cult’s twisted death trap, starring Zazie Beetz and Patricia Arquette.

Narrative Spotlight: Bold New Voices

SXSW 2026 shines a light on unforgettable features receiving their World, North American, or U.S. premieres:

  • Campeón Gabacho (Mexico) – Jonás Cuarón’s heartwarming tale of a Mexican migrant punching through prejudice, starring Juan Daniel García Treviño, Leslie Grace, Rubén Blades, and Rosario Dawson.
  • Downbeat – Danny Madden’s story of a bucket-drumming misfit navigating Boston’s streets, starring Daniel Rashid and Addie Weyrich.
  • Family Movie – Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon helm a chaotic low-budget horror movie set that turns terrifyingly real, featuring Sosie Bacon, Liza Koshy, and John Carroll Lynch.
  • Forbidden Fruits – Meredith Alloway’s darkly comic tale of a secret witch cult, starring Lola Tung, Victoria Pedretti, and Gabrielle Union.
  • Mam (France) – Nan Feix’s story of a self-taught chef opening a Vietnamese restaurant in New York, starring Jerald Head and Nhung Dao Head.
  • Pizza Movie – Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher’s trippy college comedy, starring Gaten Matarazzo and Sean Giambrone.
  • Power Ballad – John Carney’s heartwarming North American premiere about a past-his-prime wedding singer and a rising rockstar, starring Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas.
  • Seekers of Infinite Love – Victoria Strouse’s tale of estranged siblings searching for a sister who joined a traveling cult, starring Hannah Einbinder and Justin Theroux.
  • The Sun Never Sets – Joe Swanberg’s romantic triangle drama, starring Dakota Fanning, Jake Johnson, and Cory Michael Smith.
  • Their Town – Katie Aselton’s intimate story of high school theater, featuring Ora Duplass and Chosen Jacobs.

Midnighter: After-Dark Chaos for Genre Fans

SXSW’s legendary Midnighter section returns with horror, thrills, and wickedly dark humor. As programmer Peter Hall puts it, these films are “scary, wildly entertaining, and usher in a new wave of filmmakers.”

Highlights include:

  • American Dollhouse: A haunting Christmas nightmare colliding with childhood trauma.
  • Drag: A robbery-gone-wrong thriller starring Lizzy Caplan, Lucy DeVito, and John Stamos.
  • Fifteen (Argentina/Mexico): A quinceañera spirals into supernatural chaos.
  • Grind: A darkly comic anthology tackling workplace horror in late-stage capitalism.
  • Imposters: A chilling parental nightmare starring Jessica Rothe.
  • Monitor: Social media terror unleashed when a moderator refuses to post a cryptic video.
  • Never After Dark (Japan): A rural exorcism becomes something far more terrifying.

TV That’s Breaking the Mold

Beyond Margo’s Got Money Troubles, the festival’s TV slate is just as bold:

  • The Audacity: A darkly comedic look at tech ambition, starring Billy Magnussen, Sarah Goldberg, and Zach Galifianakis.
  • Monsters of God: A thrilling tale of reptile smuggling and the cops trying to take down the criminal empire.

Plus, SXSW 2026 features an Independent TV Pilot Competition, six competitive short film categories, 20 music videos, and a jaw-dropping lineup of 29 XR projects, including immersive experiences and special events.

With so many world premieres and star-studded events, SXSW 2026 is shaping up to be one of the most exciting festivals yet. The rest of the lineup drops in mid-February. So, mark your calendars, because Austin is the place to be for entertainment this spring.