Todd Zelin | Film Festival Today

SXSW Interview: “Chili Finger” Directors Edd Benda and Stephen Helstad

March 24, 2026

SXSW Interview: “Chili Finger” Directors Edd Benda and Stephen Helstad
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
March 24, 2026
The new comedic thriller Chili Finger just had its world premiere at the 2026 SXSW Film & TV Festival (where I reviewed it). Directed by Edd Benda and Stephen Helstad, the movie follows the misadventures of married couple Jess (Judy Greer) and Ron (Sean Astin) after they discover a finger in their chili at popular Midwestern chain “Blake Junior’s” (owned by an eponymous individual played by John Goodman). Things go south quickly after ... >>
SXSW Review: “The Fox”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
March 22, 2026
The Fox (Dario Russo, 2025) 3½ out of 5 stars There’s something afoot in a small Australian town, a place where folklore combines with age-old desires and the modern world in a strange and unsettling mix. Director Dario Russo’s debut feature film, The Fox, presents a parable where unexpected plot developments lead us down a surprising path, both charming and deeply peculiar. If not every script beat quite comes together cohesively, the result is ... >>
SXSW Review: “Campéon Gabacho”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
March 20, 2026
Campéon Gabacho (Jonás Cuarón, 2026) 3½ out of 5 stars There is a moment in Campéon Gabacho, the new feature from Jonás Cuarón (Chupa), where the protagonist, an undocumented migrant from Mexico trying to scrape by in New York City’s Bronx neighborhood, soars into the sky in the arms of his would-be girlfriend, the two so enraptured with each other in the moment that their fantasies carry them far and high. As they begin to exit the Earth’s ... >>
SXSW Review: “Basic”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
March 17, 2026
Basic (Chelsea Devantez, 2026) 4 out of 5 stars Basic, writer/director Chelsea Devantez’s feature debut, starts out as one kind of film and then, delightfully, becomes something else entirely. Throughout, it is consistent as a raucous comedy and celebration of female empowerment and agency. It’s also a clever rom-com that never forgets that, at our most “basic” level, many of us just want to be happy in love. ... >>
SXSW Review: “The Peril at Pincer Point”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
March 17, 2026
Тhe Peril at Pincer Point (Jake Kuhn/Noah Stratton-Twine, 2026) 3½ out of 5 stars It’s the strangeness of it all that makes The Peril at Pincer Point work. From the opening scene where a crab mysteriously appears in a London apartment to the choice of an overly eager movie sound recordist as protagonist to the hodgepodge design of the remote, titular island, and so much more, directors Jake Kuhn and Noah Stratton-Twine (Two Big Feet) craft a ... >>

SXSW 2026 XR Experience: “Lacuna” and “Lesbian Simulator”
March 15, 2026
XR Experience Spotlight @ Fairmont It’s ...>>
5 Films to Watch at SXSW 2026
March 10, 2026
I didn’t travel to Austin, Texas, last year for SXSW, ...>>
10 Films to Watch at Sundance 2026
January 20, 2026
The 2026 Sundance Film Festival runs live and ...>>
Chris Reed’s Top 10 Films of 2025
December 31, 2025
It always amazes me how different a given year’s ...>>
Hannah Tran’s Top 10 Films of 2025
December 29, 2025
Whether in narrative or documentary, few years have ...>>