SXSW 2019 Recap and Rankings

124 feature films and 81 shorts screened at SXSW 2019.  Despite my best efforts, I was only able to see 26 feature films and 10 shorts (which I've grouped together in the list below as Animated Shorts Program since they all screened together).  Below is a ranked list of every film I saw, along with links to my previous festival posts where you can read about each film in more detail.

Previous Posts

Day 1:  And So It Begins
Day 2:  Stop Whatever You're Doing and Go See Pink Wall
Day 3:  A New Roommate
Day 4:  Switching Up the Format
Day 5:  Burning the Candle at Both Ends
Day 6:  Still Watching Movies, Still Maintaining a Semblance of Sanity
Day 7:  Hanging on by a Thread
Day 8:  The Last Day

SXSW 2019 Films, Ranked

*Documentaries are noted with an asterisk.

Tier 1 - These should go down as some of the absolute best films of 2019

1.  For Sama*
2.  Pink Wall

Tier 2 - Really strong films; seek them out when they hit theaters
3.  Strange Negotiations*
4.  J.R. "Bob" Dobbs and The Church of the Subgenius*
5.  Animated Shorts Program
6.  The Art of Self-Defense
7.  Aquarela*
8.  Mickey and the Bear
9.  The Wall of Mexico
10.  The Garden Left Behind
11.  Human Nature*

12.  Running with Beto*
13.  Building the American Dream*

Tier 3 - Solid films; see them if you can, but it's not a big deal if you don't
14.  Little Monsters
15.  The Day Shall Come
16.  Alice
17.  Girl on the Third Floor
18.  Mother's Little Helpers
19.  Apollo 11*

Tier 4 - Mediocre films; can't recommend
20.  The Weekend
21.  Her Smell
22.  Villains

Tier 5 - More boring than C-SPAN; turn them on if you can't fall asleep
23.  Frances Ferguson
24.  Yes, God, Yes
25.  The Mountain
26.  Adopt a Highway

Tier 6 - Just the absolute worst; never see this under any circumstance
27.  Porno

As always, one's festival experience is heavily dependent upon which films one is able to see.  Last year I was pretty underwhelmed with the films I saw, but I had a really great experience this year.  19 of the 27 films were enjoyable, and 13 were exceptional.  I may try to focus more on non-fiction films in future years.  Documentaries make up 4 of the top 7 films on my list, and all 8 that I saw were good.  The narrative films were less consistent, but there were some great films in that category too.

This was a ton of fun.  I hope you enjoyed the posts.  Maybe I'll do this again next year.


Michael Dixon is a mild mannered accountant by day and a mild mannered movie watcher by night.  He will not do your taxes for you.  He lives in Austin, Texas with his lovely television and collection of fine whiskies.  You can't purchase his book anywhere because it doesn't exist.