Though there are plenty of serious subjects among the selections at this year's South by Southwest, which begins Thursday night, even the festival's own programmers were surprised to find how strongly they gravitated toward films that made them laugh amid the chaos of the world at large.

"I don't know if it's the generation of filmmakers or just a reaction to how grim the rest of the world is," says Peter Hall, SXSW senior film & TV programmer. "The filmmakers are processing it through a slightly more comedic lens. Even some of the dramas that we're playing or the horror films — a lot of what we responded to has some comedic element to it."

In a change introduced this year, the film and TV portion of SXSW — which also spotlights live music and technology — launches Thursday (pushed up from the traditional Friday opening) with the world premiere of Boots Riley's political satire "I Love Boosters," the follow-up to his celebrated 2018 debut feature "Sorry to Bother You." The anticipated Apple TV series "Margo's Got Money Troubles," starring Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer and Nicole Kidman, premieres later Thursday night.

Rather than creating a "chaos reigns," everything-in-overdrive sprint of an event, organizers hope the new format for the overall SXSW festival will be a positive change, encouraging interactions and discovery.

"The film festival has always spanned the entire event," Hall says of how the film festival previously ran for all nine days when SXSW was a longer event. "So even though the dates changed, on a philosophical level, it didn't really change for us because we were always across everything the whole time."

Another change for the event this year is that the central hub of the Austin Convention Center has been demolished and is in the process of being rebuilt. It will remain closed for the next few years, forcing organizers to rethink the overall SXSW footprint across the city. To that end, events for the film and TV festival will be much more centralized around the signature venue of the Paramount Theatre, home to many high-energy premieres, and a clubhouse lounge for attendees across the street.

"Everything has moved into more of a neighborhood feel," Hall says.

"Austin has really changed in the last 15 years," says Greg Rosenbaum, SVP of programming for SXSW. "We've also seen in the post-pandemic world that as people are engaging in events — not just at South by Southwest but more broadly — there may be limited windows of time you have to be in a given place. So we want to basically give the community the best day at South by Southwest every single day."

Headline premieres this year include "Ready or Not 2: Here I Come," a sequel to the 2019 thriller starring bride and final girl Samara Weaving; "Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice," a time travel action-comedy starring Vince Vaughn; and "They Will Kill You," an action-horror-comedy hybrid starring Zazie Beetz and Myha'la.

Claudette Godfrey, SXSW's VP of film and television, notes how with its outrageous style, the deeply idiosyncratic "I Love Boosters," a politically radical satire about a group of shoplifters that takes on issues of race and class, stands out from the increasingly selfsame-looking wave of many recent films.

"I feel like that movie is tapping into how I feel," Godfrey says. "Tapping into the way that everybody feels in this moment of... literally name a list of the 10 things that are on everyone's mind. Boots' films are always political, but people also want to have a good time, even if that's on the way to talking about, 'What are we going to do about the future?'"

A lot of the most charged filmmaking this year is doing the work of processing a world in flux. "And doing it through strange lenses," Hall adds. "And Boots' film does it through quite a big creative lens. In the room when that plays, people are going to have the same sense of discovery that we had when we watched it."

Among the late additions to the program is a keynote speaking slot for Steven Spielberg, who will be sitting for an interview for "The Big Picture" podcast with Sean Fennessey. Spielberg previously premiered his film "Ready Player One" at SXSW in 2018, causing immediate speculation that the festival might also have a surprise screening of the filmmaker's upcoming alien invasion movie "Disclosure Day," which opens in June.

However, Godfrey and Hall both stress that there are no plans to show "Disclosure Day."

"It doesn't matter what we say, people will still think that," Godfrey says. "I have not seen that movie and I have not talked to anyone who has seen that movie. So it's not a thing. I even sent this Slack to the whole company, 'I just want you to know, even if you're not going to believe me, we really are not going to play this movie.'"

"It's not out of disinterest on our part," Hall adds — a slight caveat.

With a new timeline and an altered footprint, this year feels like it could mark a new beginning for SXSW, even as the film program leans further into what the festival already does best: combining a sense of adventure and fun.

"I think it's going to be really cool," Godfrey says. "But it's definitely going to be different."

Eight titles to prioritize at SXSW 2026

'I Love Boosters'

As a follow-up to his debut feature "Sorry to Bother You," writer-director Boots Riley has created another outlandishly absurd, scathingly satirical story set in a universe all his own with a cast that includes Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie and Demi Moore. The first film from powerhouse distributor Neon to open SXSW, this tale of a team of shoplifters fighting against an unequal system will receive the maximum spotlight for its radical message ahead of opening May 22.

'Brian'

The debut feature from actor-turned-director Will Ropp (with "Late Night" host Seth Meyers as an executive producer), this warmly funny film is a decidedly Gen Z take on the high school movie, in which mental health issues are a given. Ben Wang delivers a breakthrough performance in the title role as a kid who tries to conquer his anxiety issues head-on by running for class president.

'Wishful Thinking'

Taking two of the most charming young stars of today — Maya Hawke and Lewis Pullman — and putting them in a mystical, woo-woo spin on the rom-com, in which the status of a couple's relationship seems to have broader ripple effects in the world, casts a winning spell of its own. The feature debut from writer-director Graham Parkes is also one of three films at the fest to feature comedy star Kate Berlant, here in a double role as unnerving twin couples-therapy influencers.

'Plantman & Blondie: A Dress Up Gang Film'

With a disarming, at times disorienting, blend of sincerity and irony touched by a bit of stoned whimsy, the comedy troupe known as the Dress Up Gang create an off-kilter, only-in-L.A. tale about a bored remote worker who becomes part of a scheme to rescue houseplants from owners who don't properly care for them. Having moved from web videos to a TV series and now a feature film, the group seems to be running the gamut of possibilities for the contemporary comedy scene.

'The Sun Never Sets'

Few filmmakers are likely as emblematic of the adventurous spirit of SXSW as Joe Swanberg, who is premiering his 10th project at the fest. Now firmly exploring the contours of midlife crisis rather than the postcollegiate world of his earlier mumblecore work, Swanberg's latest follows a restless woman (an outstanding Dakota Fanning) as she finds herself torn between a reckless ex (Cory Michael Smith) and a more settled recent flame (Jake Johnson), all against the backdrop of life in Anchorage, Alaska.

'We Are the Shaggs'

The 1969 LP "Philosophy of the World" by the Shaggs is still one of the most astonishing things ever recorded, a work of unvarnished talent and raw emotions that over the years has garnered fans around the world even as the band itself, three sisters from rural New Hampshire, was long shrouded in mystery. Ken Kwapis, a TV veteran and director of "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" making his first documentary, creates an insightful, empathetic portrait of their unlikely trajectory to cult acclaim.

'Over Your Dead Body'

This remake of 2021 Norwegian film "The Trip" is, nevertheless, full of surprises as a couple on the rocks (Samara Weaving and Jason Segel) go to an isolated vacation cabin each with a plan to kill the other — that is, until circumstances force them back together against a bigger problem. Lonely Island member Jorma Taccone, directing a feature for the first time since his work on 2016's "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping," threads the needle of relationship comedy and bloody slapstick action.

'Margo's Got Money Troubles'

SXSW has long provided a spotlight to new television work, and the high-profile opening night TV slot goes to David E. Kelley's much-anticipated adaptation of Rufi Thorpe's novel about an aspiring writer, Margo (current Oscar nominee Elle Fanning), with eccentric parents (Michelle Pfeiffer and Nick Offerman). After she finds herself a single mom to a newborn baby, Margo turns to OnlyFans to support herself. The eight-episode series premieres on Apple TV on April 15.

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