Will Any Titles From SXSW 2022 Factor in the Awards Race?

You’ve probably moved on from the Oscars by now. Or perhaps you’re still a little peeved about a category loss that cut a little too deep. And let’s face it, we’re all still stuck in the outer bands of the hurricane that was “the slap,” the consequences of that incident reverberating far beyond the ceremony and our corner slice of pop culture.

If you’re like me and my fellow awards obsessives (which is probably what has brought you to Awards Daily), you are ready to leave behind the 2022 Oscars and begin focusing on next year’s race.

Well, dear reader, I am ready to make my list of early contenders, and I’d like to start with the films I saw during this year’s South By Southwest (SXSW) in March. Yes, it’s true that SXSW doesn’t have the awards track record of a festival like TIFF, Venice, or Cannes. The festival likes to focus on small, idiosyncratic films. They embrace crowd-pleaser films that test genres—not typical Oscar fare. But, many of the films that have premiered or screened at Austin’s marquee film event have gone on to have incredibly successful awards campaigns and run-ins with Oscar—Boyhood, A Quiet Place, Baby Driver, and Bridesmaids all received raves and rapturous applause from queso-filled audiences at the iconic Paramount Theatre.

So, which films do you need to have on your radar? Here are my predictions and hopes for which 2022 SXSW titles will you be hearing (or reading) about all season long.

Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Everything Everywhere All at Once is both a genre-bender and crowd-pleaser so of course SXSW was the perfect place to premiere it. The Michelle Yeoh-starring film, in theaters nationwide on April 8, follows Evelyn (Yeoh), an overworked wife and mom struggling to save her laundry business when a mundane trip to the tax office thrusts her into the multiverse, and she is tasked with saving the world. I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything like it before. There were surprises at every turn. But, what has really stayed with me is the film’s powerful emotional throughline rooted in family dynamics and regret.

I expect Yeoh will be receiving praise from critics groups for her performance–one of the best of an already impressive career. Her Evelyn is warm, funny, flawed, and in some ways haunted by the ghosts of paths not taken. She is remarkable. Vietnamese screen legend Ke Huy Quan is wonderful as Yeoh’s husband, and Stephanie Hsu, who stars as Yeoh’s daughter Joy, is a terrific scene partner as the two navigate the evolving, sometimes impossible, ever-evolving dynamics of a mother-daughter relationship. The film is at its very best when these three interact.

Alongside the Wang family, Everything Everywhere All at Once also features dynamic and unique costumes, playing a key role in our understanding of the characters. We might also see mentions for the sound design and inventive editing.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

In The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, out April 22, Nicolas Cage plays himself. Or at least a version of himself. Facing financial ruin after divorce, the actor takes a lucrative deal to appear at a billionaire (Pedro Pascal)‘s birthday party—until Cage gets recruited by the CIA to take him down.  Cage’s performance in Pig was a reminder that he is a tremendous dramatic actor. Massive Talent takes that a step further, successfully making the case that not only is Cage one of our greatest movie stars ever, but one that we have been taking for granted for far too long. 

This absurdist comedy cleverly winks at many of Cage’s most iconic roles—Face/Off, Moonstruck, Leaving Las Vegas, and Adaptation among others—a tailor-made showcase for his impressive range and a conduit for commentary on the movie business, movie stardom, and Cage’s own relationship to his success.

As for Cage’s awards path, the comparison that immediately comes to mind is James Franco in The Disaster Artist, a comedy that also premiered at SXSW and centered around Hollywood. Franco earned critics prizes, a Golden Globe, and very, very nearly an Oscar nomination. Decades of goodwill and a new wave of appreciation for his work could play out the same way for Cage.

Cha Cha Real Smooth

One of the most talked-about titles of Sundance 2022 capitalized on its momentum with a buzzy, Dakota Johnson-attended SXSW showing. Written and directed by Cooper Raiff, Cha Cha Real Smooth stars Raiff as a fresh-out-of-college Bar Mitzvah party host who strikes up a friendship with a young mother (Johnson) and her autistic daughter. Awards bodies love auteur-driven, personal stories, sweet and touching but packed with raw emotion; Cha Cha seems destined for the Best Original Screenplay conversation (see The Big Sick, a previous SXSW title). In the afterglow of The Lost Daughter, Johnson could also enter the supporting actress race. Cha Cha Real Smooth is set for a June release.

Fire of Love

Another Sundance title that made its way to Texas is Fire of Love, a documentary centered on Katia and Maurice Krafft, married French scientists with a deep love for volcanoes and each other. They came together because of their passion for exploring and documenting volcanic eruptions and tragically died during one of their excursions. The film features interviews with the couple and their personal footage from trips to some of the most explosive places on the planet. The footage is truly stunning, as is this heart-wrenching story of love and the life-long quest for adventure and learning. But, how far is too far? How much is too much? Fire of Love is both a fascinating scientific piece and a riveting reckoning that came too late.

Movies that should be on your radar.

These movies may not seem like obvious awards contenders, but here are some honorable mentions—films I loved that I encourage you to seek out, regardless of accolades that may or may not come their way. I’ll still be rooting for these films all year long.

Marcel The Shell With Shoes On

Marcel the Shell is back! I’m a child of the internet age, and I fell in love with this one-eyed, adorable Jenny Slate-voiced little shell when he first made his debut over a decade ago. The animated video series spawned books, accolades, and now a feature-length film—a mockumentary interviewing the sweet anthropomorphic shell about his life. The film premiered to raves in Telluride and has since been acquired by A24. It doesn’t matter if you are a Marcel superfan like me or a newbie; it’s impossible not to be charmed by this endearing little guy and his stop-motion animated world. No matter what he’s going through, Marcel will have you smiling from ear to ear.

Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood

Animation is at its very best when used as a medium to explore complicated truths. Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood is a prime example. The design doesn’t break new ground, but it allows director Richard Linklater to transport his audience to his childhood, 1969 to be exact, when Linklater was growing up a stones-throw from NASA, the epicenter of the space race. Apollo 10 1/2 is remarkable in its recall—from its rendering of the Houston suburbs, a recreation of actual NASA footage, to even which songs were on the radio and which TV shows were playing on which channels when Linklater and his siblings would fight for control of the remote. One of the many fun things about Apollo 10 1/2 is waiting to see which 1960s icon would show up next.

Part memoir and part adventure story, Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood is a deeply personal consideration of imagination, memory, and being a kid.  Linklater’s signature themes beautifully rendered and more resonant than ever.

I Love My Dad

I Love My Dad will make you laugh out loud. And cringe. There are a lot of films out there about parents trying to reconnect with their kids. This gross-out comedy is truly a new take on the sub-genre. Patton Oswald stars as a divorced dad who catfishes his own son in an effort to spend more time with him. High jinx and hilarity ensue in a series of mortifying events. Uncomfortable as it may be, I Love My Dad is a wild, worthy ride—the film won the audience prize for the narrative feature competition at this year’s festival.