The Best Movies Complex Saw at SXSW

With over a hundred films to catch at SXSW, it was impossible to see them all. Regrettably, we missed a few big winners—Exists, The Great Invisible, and Before I Disappear—in favor of movies that probably wouldn't compare. However, we did catch a handful of gems—ones that, now that the red carpets are all rolled up and the theater seats are empty, have stuck with us. From spooky thrillers to laugh-out-loud comedies and sweet romances, these are The Best Movies Complex Saw at SXSW 2014.

For more of Complex Pop Culture's SXSW coverage, click here.

Director: Nick Stoller
Stars: Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, Rose Byrne, Dave Franco, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Ike Barinholtz

I haven't seen a theater audience laugh so often and so loudly since I first saw Superbad on opening night. Neighbors is that goddamn funny.

Bold prediction alert: It'll be incredibly difficult for any movie to best director Nick Stoller's (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek) latest Hollywood comedy. The premise is simple enough: A married couple (Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne) are dealing with a newborn baby in quaint suburbia when a noisy, rambunctious fraternity moves in next door, led by Zac Efron and Dave Franco as its two alpha males. At first, the older folks try partying with the greeks, but they ultimately can't hang and call the cops on their neighbors. From there, it's a back-and-forth battle of pranks and sabotage.

With an ensemble devoid of any weak links (Byrne and Franco, in particular, shine throughout), Neighbors makes the most of its promising set-up and achieves a kind of Animal House-by-way-of -em>The-Burbs mania. It's that rare starry, mainstream comedy where none of the jokes fall flat. In other words, it's something of a Hollywood miracle. -Matt Barone

Director: Lawrence Michael Levine
Stars: Sophia Takal, Lawrence Michael Levine, Alia Shawkat, Jason Ritter, Annie Parisse

Wild Canaries reminds you off the fun you can have at the movies. This is a movie that begs to be seen with an open mind and a clear heart. Seriously. Don't go into it expecting everything to make sense and trying to connect the dots. It's a hodge podge of a film that's a throwback to old screwball comedies. It doesn't need your analysis.

So take it for what it is, which is this: An old lady drops dead in a Brooklyn apartment building, and one of the tenants (Sophia Takal) becomes convinced that it wasn't purely accidental. Thus setting off a wild goose chase for a maybe-murderer. It's chock full of all the manic rambling, sexual tension, and physical comedic gags you never knew you wanted in your face all at once. —Tara Aquino

Director: Collin Schiffli
Stars: David Dastmalchian, Kim Shaw, John Heard, John Hoogenakker

Of all the high-quality films screening in SXSW's "Narrative Competition" category, the voters stupidly picked the obnoxious comedy Fort Tilden as their Grand Jury Prize winner. Wait until you see that one, people—it's the evil step-sister of Girls in which none of Lena Dunham's nuance or handing of characters carries over. And it has nothing on rookie filmmaker Collin Schiffli's Animals, the movie that should have been the festival's Grand Jury Prize winner.

A Drugstore Cowboy for today's generation, Animalstackles the dark sides of homelessness and drug addiction through two endearing characters, Bobbie (David Dastmalchian) and Jude (Kim Shaw). They're madly in love and wholly dependent on each other, living in their car and marauding around Chicago conning people and stealing in order to get enough money to buy more smack.

Dastmalchian and Shaw are both dynamite, fusing into an instantaneous chemistry that's constantly alive. When good tidings occasionally and briefly come into their world, you'll want to applaud—when bad shit happens to them, though, and that's more often than not, you'll feel your heart crushing more and more. Animals is a bold and assured debut from a fresh voice, that of Collin Schiffli, that deserves more post-SXSW attention that it's received so far. -Matt Barone

Director: John Ridley
Stars: Andre Benjamin, Hayley Atwell, Imogen Poots, Ruth Negga, Adrian Lester

One of SXSW's biggest surprises, no doubt.

Focusing more on Jimi Hendrix's personality more than his music, JIMI: All is By My Side foregoes the traditional origin story pitfalls of other biopics. Writer-director John Ridley (an Oscar winner earlier this month for writing 12 Years a Slave) wasn't able to secure the rights for Hendrix's original music from his family's estate. Thus, JIMIexplores the future rock icon's pre-fame life, when he was a somewhat aloof man unaware of his own greatness but also unable to curb his dangerous vices. Ridley channels that exploration through the two loves of Hendrix's life: Linda Keith (Imogen Poots), the woman who discovered him but with whom he couldn't act upon their mutual love for one another, and Kathy (Hayley Atwell), his actual girlfriend who bore the brunt of Hendrix's adultery and physical abuse.

The Hendrix seen in JIMI isn't a bad guy, however, and that's a credit to André Benjamin's wonderfully nuanced performance. That's right, your boy André 3000 acts his ass off. Just how well did his performance go over att the film's U.S. premiere during SXSW last week? JIMI's end credits sequence, which features Benjamin playing an acoustic set in his full Hendrix get-up, received a standing ovation. -Matt Barone

Director: Adam Wingard

Stars: Dan Stevens, Maika Monroe, Brendan Meyer, Sheila Kelley, Leland Orser, Lance Reddick, Chase Williamson

In a perfect world, Adam Wingard's The Guest would be opening in theaters nationwide, like, tomorrow. It demands to be seen by mass audiences in big theaters, not constricted to indie art-house venues and VOD platforms. But, alas, there's no exact 2014 release date for this intelligent, vibrant action/comedy/thriller/WTF mash-up, though a 2014 release is imminent.

But, for now, just know that The Guest is about as much fun as you're going to have watching a movie all year. Made by the writer/director team responsible for last year's similarly awesome horror-comedy You're Next (director Wingard and screenwriter Simon Barrett), it's about a handsome, polite Army soldier named David, (Downton Abbey alum Dan Stevens) who, having been discharged, immediately visits the family of a fallen comrade. He starts off beneficial to them, helping the young son overcome bullies and the father deal with workplace neglect. Gradually, David starts revealing that he's not quite the wonderful houseguest everyone thinks he is, and that's when the bullets spray, bodies drop, and The Guest turns into something that resembles The Terminatorwithout the science fiction trappings.

Like Drive, The Guest pumps on glossy, bouncy '80s-esque synth music, juxtaposing its moments of heightened carnage with a shrewd bubblegum soundtrack. In the middle of that contrast is Dan Stevens, exuding ample movie star presence and commanding every single frame he's in. In an even more perfect world, The Guest would elevate Stevens into being the new Ryan Gosling. -Matt Barone

Director: Neil Berkeley
Stars: Dan Harmon, Jeff B. Davis, Spencer Crittenden, Erin McGathy

Dan Harmon knows he's fucked up, but despite all that, he wants to be your friend. That's the message of Harmontown, Neil Berkeley's candid documentary about the Community creator. Set against the backdrop of a national tour of Dan Harmon's comedy Harmontown, the doc is more of raw look into the mind of one of Hollywood's most tortured creative souls.

Rather than being a complete fluff piece that paints Harmon as a shaggy but lovable bear of a man, it's a confession. Harmon apologizes for his sociopathic tendencies and reaches out to his fans scene after scene, seeking personal connection and understanding. More than approval from his audience, his goal is to come to terms with himself. As Berkeley shows, his audience already loves him. They're just waiting for him to love himself, too. —Tara Aquino

Director: Dennis Widmyer, Kevin Kolsch
Stars: Alexandra Essoe, Amanda Fuller, Fabianne Therese, Noah Segan, Shane Coffey, Natalie Castillo, Pat Healy, Marc Senter, Maria Olsen, Lou Dezseran

The best pure horror film I saw at SXSW (Oculus is excellent but I'd seen it at Toronto already), Starry Eyes is one hell of a gruesome and poignant Roman Polanski/David Lynch/Satan himself cinematic marriage.

Steeped in '80s influences both sonically and visually, the first collaboration from novice director Dennis Widmyer and Kevin Kolsch is also quite funny, satirizing Hollywood starlets through the guise of Sara Walker (an impressive Alexandra Essoe), a wannabe actress living in Los Angeles and desperate to become a star. Her willingness to do whatever it takes drives Sara to audition for a horror flick called The Silver Screambeing made by some obviously insidious people who are ready to exploit her vulnerability. In this case, interpret "exploit" as "use occultism to turn her into a homicidal maniac whose body heinously deteriorates."

At times phantasmagoric and in other moments darkly amusing or flat-out brutal, Starry Eyes is one of the strongest horror debuts in years. It signals the arrival of two must-watch directorial talents and the breakthrough of Alexandra Essoe, an unknown actress who's able to handle every crazy performance demand thrown her way and makes her unstable character strongly empathetic. -Matt Barone

Director: Riley Stearns
Stars: Leland Orser, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Chris Ellis, Lance Reddick, Jon Gries, Leonard Earl Howze, Beth Grant

Faults, to put it simply, is a weird one. One could describe it as Martha Marcy May Marleneas remixed by the Coen Brothers at their funniest. Frankly, though, it's the kind of film that's best served by little pre-viewing spoilers or in-depth awareness.

Know this much: veteran character actor Leland Orser plays Ansel Roth, a celebrated expert on mind control and cult practices who's wallowing in a self-dug pit of deprecation. He's able to break out of the funk when a husband and wife team offer to pay him big bucks to find their daughter, Claire (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), save her from the dangerous cult she's been enraptured by, and "deprogram" her back into being their loving, normal child. Which Ansel does...sort of. Locking himself into a hotel room with Claire, Ansel begins to suspect that Claire's family might be just as sinister as the cult.

Faults has the feel of a cinematic stage play, one in which Orser and Winstead get it on in an unpredictable battle of wits. First-time writer-director Riley Stearns tightly volleys around from laughs to creepiness, with a constant sense of mystery and subtle dread giving way to a knockout resolution that's as brain-scrambling as it is totally logical. -Matt Barone

Director: Hugh Sullivan
Stars: Josh McConville, Hannah Marshall, Alex Dimitriades

Love is imperfect, no matter how much you try and try and try and try to make it flawless. The Infinite Man is all about that. It tells the story of a man who tries to recreate the idyllic weekend getaway with his lover using his time machine, only to trap themselves in a neverending Groundhog Day-esque loop.

It's a charming look at the frustrations of true love and the reality of broken-in relationships. When puppy love fades, you're left with a clear vision of your partner, flaws and all, and it's up to you to accept those faults and make it work. As The Infinite Man will remind you, trying to redeem a fleeting feeling will only cause you to lose sight of what you truly need, which could be right in front of you all along. —Tara Aquino

Director: Patrick Brice
Stars: Mark Duplass, Patrick Brice

A found-footage genre movie starring mumblecore god/comedy all-star Mark Duplass? Indeed, Creepsounds like a silly bit of nonsense on paper, but, man, is it effective.

Duplass plays Josef, an eccentric guy who hires a cameraman (played by Creep director Patrick Brice), via Craigslist, to film him for a day as a parting gift to his unborn son, since Josef's dying of cancer. That grim set-up quickly lightens, though, with Creep going for uncomfortable, dark laughs early in, falling into Duplass' comfort zone perfectly. Gradually, though, Josef show signs of being a bit cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, and Creep confidently eases into a digitized, legitimately unnerving Fatal Attractionriff.

Brice and Duplass (who co-wrote the script and improvised much of the dialogue) strike a fine balance between comedy and suspense, often nailing both tones at the same time. Though, once Creep's slam-dunk of a finale happens, the mirth ceases and Brice's peculiar little film sticks with you. Of everything I saw at SXSW last week, Creep has been lingering in my thoughts the most. -Matt Barone

Director: Gerard Johnstone
Stars: Morgana O'Reilly, Rima Te Wiata, Glen-Paul Waru, Cameron Rhodes, Millen Baird, Ross Harper, Bruce Hopkins, Ryan Lampp, Ian Mune, Wallace Chapman

Entering SXSW last week, genre critics and fans had their sights set on several movies, mostly those in the Midnighters section. Housebound, though, wasn't on anyone's radar. That quickly changed once New Zealand native Gerard Johnstone's debut film premiered over the first weekend. Immediately after that, horror lovers and experts would start off conversations with, "Did you see Housebound? Fuck, was that great!"

And they weren't lying. Starting off as a standard haunted house picture but morphing into something much stranger and more intriguing, Housebound thrives on the lead performance from actress Morgana O'Reilly. She's fantastic as Kylie, a criminal placed under house arrest at her mother's home and amazing at giving hilariously deadpan facial reactions to all the weird shit happening there. As in, the teddy bear with a life and mean-spirited sarcasm of its own; the large figure covered in a white sheet; and the secret passageways that resembles those seen in Wes Craven's underrated film The People Under the Stairs.

Johnstone's horror-comedy routinely upends your expectations, eventually revealing itself to be a different kind of genre film than it began as, and saving its terrifically gory carnage until its bonkers finale. -Matt Barone

Director: Zach Wigon
Stars: Kate Lyn Sheil, John Gallagher Jr.

If you're on the fence about online dating, watch this movie. It might save your sanity. Directed by newcomer Zachary Wigon, the film stars the Newsroom's John Gallagher as a NYC-based man who suspects that his online girlfriend (Kate Lyn Sheil) has been screwing with his mind and living in the same city all along. But it's a far more complicated story than "psycho girl toys with lonely boy."

The Heart Machine not only explores the nuances of online dating, but it calls into question one's true identity, and brings to the forefront the inherent fear of being completely and utterly honest with ourselves. It's a reminder that the Internet forces us to create multiple facades of ourselves, making it difficult to come to terms with what our reality actually is.—Tara Aquino

Director: Leigh Janiak
Stars: Rose Leslie, Harry Treadaway

Welcome a talented, highly promising new filmmaking voice into the genre community, folks. Say hello to Ms. Leigh Janiak, the director/co-writer of the SXSW highlight Honeymoon. Hopefully you'll all be familiar with her in due time.

For now, get excited about this eye-opening, expertly crafted debut feature, which doesn't have distribution yet but, fingers crossed, will generate further buzz when it plays at the Tribeca Film Festival next month. It's a clever little genre sneak attack, about a newly married couple (Rose Leslie, Harry Treadaway) spending their post-wedding time together in a small, cozy cottage tucked away deep in the woods. Their trip starts off romantic and pleasant enough, until one night when Leslie's character disappears out of their bedroom and gets found in the woods, naked and in shock.

An intimate, quietly disturbing two-person show throughout, Honeymoon puts its characters first and the genre elements second, but when the freaky stuff kicks in, it's white-knuckle caliber. -Matt Barone

Director: Fernando Coimbra
Stars: Milhelm Cortaz, Leandra Leal, Fabiula Nascimento

A Wolf at the Doorhits like a sledgehammer. Seriously, it's the only SXSW screening I attended this year where, once the movie ended and the credits rolled, nobody got up to leave right away. Everyone just sat there, in silence, stunned and rattled.

The debut from Brazilian filmmaker Fernando Coimbra, A Wolf at the Door, based on a true events, utilizes flashbacks and unreliable narrator testimonies to investigate the kidnapping of a 6-year-old girl. Her father suspects his young, beautiful mistress, while she claims innocence and tells of how her married lover isn't the blameless gentleman he's selling himself as.

Shades of True Detective are undeniable, with police station interrogations conjuring up some disturbing revelations and messy eyewitness accounts. Like True Detective's writer Nic Pizzolatto, Coimbra constructs A Wolf at the Door as a puzzle of clues and escalating malevolence, and when the truth finally comes out, it's, to say the least, devastating. -Matt Barone

Director: Rob Thomas
Stars: Kristen Bell, Jason Dohring, Chris Lowell, Ryan Hansen, Percy Daggs, Enrico Colantoni, Francis Capra, Tina Majorino, Kristen Ritter, Martin Starr

After all the hype, Veronica Mars doesn't disappoint. At least, not for fans of the series. What can pass as season four, episode one, the Veronica Mars movie, brought to life by a legendary Kickstarter campaign that raised $6 mil, is a satisfying treat for Marshmallows.

Not only does the film call back every beloved character of the series, but it throws in some unexpected cameos, tugs on the Piz-Veronica-Logan love triangle, and plays with a murder mystery that's true to the Veronica Mars canon.

For non-fans of the original series, the Rob Thomas film is a simple crash course on the series YA crime drama. The film paints a clear picture of Mars' world, without getting too ambitious for new audiences to follow. It's a fun and entertaining bandwagon to hop on, and we advise you to do it now, before the (inevitable) next film hits production.—Tara Aquino