SXSW: How It Ends, Alien on Stage, and Violet

by Christopher James

It’s the end of the world as we know it on Day Three of the 2021 SXSW Film Festival.

The festival only continues to heat up with more great films. A buzzy first feature, documentary of a viral sensation and dramedy on the brink of apocalypse comprise my watches on Day Three. The virtual film festival continues to impress, not just in terms of the filmmaking but also in terms of organization. Aside from registration confusions, booking and watching films throughout the week continues to be seamless and stress free. Most of all, it helps make sure the films are presented in the best light possible, short of being in a physical theater...

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Sundance: The Best Way to Go Out in “How It Ends”

By Abe Friedtanzer

It’s been quite revealing to see how the film and television industries have responded to the limitations imposed by stringent regulations during the pandemic. We saw a few shows like Connecting… and Social Distance, the Coastal Elites special, and radically different release strategies from studios and streamers. What excites me most is the way that filmmakers have used new approaches to create stories that don’t directly reference what’s going on now in the world but try something innovative instead. To best illustrate this, let’s look at How It Ends, the new collaboration between Zoe Lister-Jones and Daryl Wein, who were last at Sundance with White Rabbit in 2018.

It’s the end of the world – a comet is headed towards Earth and so there’s literally going to be no tomorrow...

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