By Mo Moshaty

As they say on the streets, yowza, yowza, yowza. Neighbors, Austin is gonna have it’s hands full the menace these beauties are bringing in March! At NightTide, we’re pretty excited about this Dirty baker’s Dozen.

Ash (2025)

A woman wakes up on a distant planet and finds the crew of her space station viciously killed. Her investigation into what happened sets in motion a terrifying chain of events.

Director: Flying Lotus | Executive Producer: Neill Blomkamp, Dave Brown, Maxime Cottray, Adam Riback, Nick Spicer, Aram Tertzakian | Producer: Nate Bolotin, Matthew Metcalfe | Screenwriter: Jonni Remmler

Principal Cast: Eiza González, Aaron Paul, Flying Lotus, Iko Uwais, Kate Elliott, Beulah Koale

The Astronaut (2025)

After returning from her first space mission, astronaut Sam Walker is placed under NASA’s care at a high security house for rehabilitation and medical testing. However, when disturbing occurrences begin happening around the property, she fears that something extraterrestrial has followed her back to Earth.

Director: Jess Varley | Executive Producer: Laurence Fishburne, Jan McAdoo, Stephen Braun | Producer: Brad Fuller, Eric B. Fleischman, Chris Abernathy, Cameron Fuller | Screenwriter: Jess Varley

Principal Cast: Kate Mara, Laurence Fishburne, Gabriel Luna, Ivana Milicevic, Macy Gray

Clown in a Cornfield (2025)

Quinn and her father have just moved to the quiet town of Kettle Springs hoping for a fresh start. Instead, she discovers a fractured community that has fallen on hard times after the treasured Baypen Corn Syrup Factory burned down. As the locals bicker amongst themselves and tensions boil over, a sinister, grinning figure emerges from the cornfields to cleanse the town of its burdens, one bloody victim at a time. Welcome to Kettle Springs. The real fun starts when Frendo the clown comes out to play.

Director: Eli Craig | Executive Producer: Carter Blanchard, George Hamilton | Producer: Marty Bowen, John Fischer, Wyck Godfrey | Screenwriter: Carter Blanchard, Adam Cesare, Eli Craig

Principal Cast: Katie Douglas, Will Sasso, Cassandra Potenza, Aaron Abrams, Carson MacCormac, Verity Marks, Dylan McEwan, Daina Leitold, Vincent Muller, Kaitlyn Bacon

Descendent (2025)

Set in present-day Los Angeles, Descendent follows Sean Bruner, an elementary school security guard grappling with past trauma while preparing for the birth of his first child with his wife, Andrea. Haunted by his mother’s death in childbirth and his father’s suicide, Sean fears he’s destined to fail. After a beam of light appears in the sky during a late-night shift, Sean wakes in the hospital with an inexplicable talent for vivid, unsettling drawings of extraterrestrials and desert landscapes. As his visions blur the line between dreams and reality, Sean’s grip on sanity unravels. With time running out, he must confront his fears to escape his family’s tragic legacy.

Director: Peter Cilella | Executive Producer: Arianne Fraser, Delphine Perrier, Henry Winterstern, Mark Ward | Producer: David Lawson Jr, Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead, Caleb Ward | Screenwriter: Peter Cilella

Principal Cast: Ross Marquand, Sarah Bolger, Susan Wilder, Charlene Amoia, Dan O’Brien, Brandon Scott, Alexandra Barreto, Alex Ruiz, Clare Cooney, Emily Pendergast

It Ends (2025)

A group of recent grads head out on a late night drive for grub, hoping to enjoy one final hangout before their paths diverge. Instead, they accidentally turn onto a never-ending, two-lane hellscape surrounded by untold horrors and cosmic forces beyond their understanding. Cramped together inside a Jeep Cherokee and with the miles stretching infinitely ahead, they face a choice: embrace their new existence or fight to escape it.

Director: Alexander Ullom | Executive Producer: Keith Calder, Jess Wu Calder, Carson Tappan, Andrew Mayne, Roshni “Rush” Bhatia, Ryan Keely, Elle León Nostas, Ben Mekler, Chris Amick | Producer: Carrie Carusone, Evan Barber | Screenwriter: Alexander Ullom |

Principal Cast: Phinehas Yoon, Akira Jackson, Noah Toth, Mitchell Cole

Redux Redux (2025)

In an attempt to avenge her daughter’s death, Irene Kelly travels through parallel universes, killing her daughter’s murderer over and over again. She grows addicted to the revenge streak, putting her own humanity in jeopardy.

Director: Kevin McManus, Matthew McManus | Executive Producer: Paul Cormier, Karen Cormier | Producer: Michael J. McGarry, McManus Brothers, Nate Cormier, PJ McCabe | Screenwriter: McManus Brothers

Principal Cast: Michaela McManus, Stella Marcus, Jeremy Holm, Jim Cummings, Grace Van Dien, Taylor Misiak, Dendrie Taylor

We Bury the Dead (2025)

From acclaimed writer/director Zak Hilditch (1922, These Final Hours), WE BURY THE DEAD is a gripping and emotional thriller set after a military experiment decimates the people of Tasmania. Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens) stars as Ava, a desperate woman who joins a “body retrieval unit” in the hopes of finding her husband alive. Ava’s search takes a chilling turn, however, when the corpses she’s burying start showing signs of life… As she journeys to the south of Tasmania in search of her husband, Ava is forced to confront the undead — and make peace with her own unfinished business.

Director: Zak Hilditch | Executive Producer: Nathan Klingher, Ford Corbett, D.J. Jiang, Nicholas Erickson, Ari Novak, Ari Harrison Producer: Kelvin Munro, Grant Sputore, Ross Dinerstein, Joshua Harris, Mark Fasano | Screenwriter: Zak Hilditch

Principal Cast: Daisy Ridley, Brenton Thwaites, Mark Coles Smith, Matt Whelan

Touch Me (2025)

After a series of unfortunate events leaves their house uninhabitable and reeking of poo, two co-dependent friends, Joey and Craig, find themselves homeless and out of options. That’s when Joey’s mysterious ex resurfaces. He wants her back. Along with being hot, Brian also happens to be an alien whose touch makes anxiety and depression disappear. The two venture to his compound for the weekend with the hope of being healed from past traumas, but underneath Brian’s veneer of healing is a sinister plot filled with murder, mayhem, and blood. ‘Touch Me’ is a psychosexual horror-comedy about the nature of co-dependent friendships and how far we are willing to go for a slice of happiness.

Director: Addison Heimann | Executive Producer: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead, Olivia Taylor Dudley | Producer: John Humber, David Lawson Jr., Addison Heimann | Screenwriter: Addison Heimann

Principal Cast: Olivia Taylor Dudley, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jordan Gavaris, Marlene Forte, Paget Brewster, JJ Philips, Yumarie Morales, Ashley Lauren Nedd, Eli Lucas

Drop (2025)

A widowed mother, on her first date in years, arrives at an upscale restaurant where she meets her handsome date. But their chemistry begins to curdle as she begins being irritated and then terrorized by a series of anonymous drops to her phone.

Director: Christopher Landon | Producer: Jason Blum, Michael Bay, Brad Fuller, Cameron Fuller | Screenwriter: Jillian Jacobs, Chris Roach

Principal Cast: Meghann Fahy, Brandon Sklenar, Violett Beane, Jacob Robinson, Ed Weeks

Death of a Unicorn (2025)

A father and daughter accidentally hit and kill a unicorn while en route to a weekend retreat, where his billionaire boss seeks to exploit the creature’s miraculous curative properties.

Director: Alex Scharfman | Executive Producer: Ari Aster, David Darby, Jacob Epstein, Nate Kamiya, Jenna Ortega, Paul Rudd, Michael Williams | Producer: Drew Houpt, Lucas Joaquin, Alex Scharfman, Lars Knudsen, Tyler Campellone, Tim Headington, Theresa Steele Page | Screenwriter: Alex Scharfman

Principal Cast: Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega, Will Poulter, Téa Leoni, Richard E. Grant, Anthony Carrigan, Sunita Mani, Jessica Hynes, Stephen Park

Hallow Road (2025)

Two parents receive a distressing late-night call from their teenage daughter, who has just accidentally hit a pedestrian. They jump in their car, racing to get there before anyone else stumbles across the scene. As they head deeper into the night, disturbing revelations threaten to tear the family apart as they soon realize they might not be the only ones driving down Hallow Road.

Director: Babak Anvari | Executive Producer: Nate Bolotin, Conor Barry, Mila Cottray, Maxime Cottray, Niamh Fagan, Babak Anvari | Producer: Lucan Toh, Ian Henry, Richard Bolger | Screenwriter: William Gillies

Principal Cast: Rosamund Pike, Matthew Rhys, Megan McDonnell

O’Dessa (2025)

Set in a post-apocalyptic future, O’Dessa is an original rock opera about a farm girl on an epic quest to recover a cherished family heirloom. Her journey leads her to a strange and dangerous city where she meets her one true love – but in order to save his soul, she must put the power of destiny and song to the ultimate test.

Director: Geremy Jasper | Executive Producer: Jonathan Montepare, Rodrigo Teixeira, Alan Terpins | Producer: Michael Gottwald, Noah Stahl | Screenwriter: Geremy Jasper

Principal Cast: Sadie Sink, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Murray Bartlett, Regina Hall, Pokey LaFarge

The Home (2025)

Many years after leaving the small town behind, Joel returns to move his mother Monika, a home for the elderly struggling with dementia. However, Monika’s health takes a turn for the worse soon after her arrival. She experiences terrifying visions of her late husband, Joel’s abusive father, and begins exhibiting violent behavior. Joel begins to believe that something malevolent and supernatural has taken control of his mother. But with his own history of substance abuse and mental instability, can he trust his own perceptions? As Monika’s memories fade, Joel must confront the demons of his own past, dredged up by his return to the home where he grew up.

Director: Mattias J Skoglund | Producer: Siri Hjorton Wagner | Screenwriter: Mattias J Skoglund, Mats Strandberg

Principal Cast: Philip Oros, Anki Lidén, Gizem Erdogan, Malin Levanon, Peter Jankert, Lottie Ejenbrant, Ayan Ahmed, Bengt CW Carlsson

You can explore the entire SXSW 2025 Film and TV lineup here, and you should really think of buying a ticket, cuz this season’s looking to be wild!