The South by Southwest Film Festival had a banner year in 2022, with an opening-night film that still figures prominently in awards shows as the best: “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
So it’s not unreasonable to wonder whether the festival can repeat its stellar opening. The festival has announced its opening-night film of 2023 to be “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.”
Before you dismiss this announcement, it should be noted that “Everything Everywhere” was not expected to be an awards contender, especially since it blended sci-fi craziness with pop culture. But that’s what happened.
“Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” is directed and co-written by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, and it brings the legendary role-playing game to the big screen. It stars Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Rege-Jean Page, Justice Smith, Sophia Willis and Chloe Gilio.
Here’s the plot: A charming thief and a band of adventurers try to stage an epic heist to retrieve a lots relic, but bad stuff happens.
The festival announced a lot of other features and shorts in its initial lineup, and several are notable:
- Director/screenwriter Lee Cronin gives us “Evil Dead Rise,” about two estranged sisters who engage in a primal battle for survival. The cast includes Lily Sullivan, Alyssa Sutherland and Morgan Davies.
- “Problemista” looks quite interesting. It deals with a toy designer from El Salvador who moves to New York and assists an art-world outcast, played by the inimitable Tilda Swinton. Julio Torres stars and directs.
- “Flamin’ Hot” is directed by Eva Longoria and focuses on a Frito Lay janitor who came up with the recipe for Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. It stars Jesse Garcia, Annie Gonzalez, Dennis Haysbert and Tony Shalhoub.
- “Down Low” stars Zachary Quinto as a deeply repressed man and a twink. Enough said. Lukas Gage, Simon Rex, Audra McDonald and Judith Light co-star.
- “The Lady Bird Diaries” is directed by Dawn Porter and looks at Lady Bird Johnson’s audio diaries to tell a story of a misunderstood first lady.
Many more movies are detailed at sxsw.com/festivals/film. The festival kicks off March 10.
