SXSW 2024 Capsule Reviews of ‘Hacks’ Season 3, ‘Pet Shop Days,’ ‘Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show’ and more

I’ve been on the ground in Austin, Texas, at the SXSW Television and Film Festival for a week now, engorging myself with cinema that offers different perspectives on the world we live in. As I’ve seen many things over the course of the past week here, it’s time to give some capsule thoughts on things I’ve seen here, including Hacks, Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show, Birdeater, Omni Loop, Pet Shop Days, and Timestalker. 

Hacks Season 3 (dir. Lucia Aniello)

MAX’s comedy about comedy premiered two episodes at SXSW this year, confirming an incredible return to form for the series in its third season. Taking place a year after the last time Deborah (Emmy winner Jean Smart) and Ava (Emmy nominee Hannah Einbinder) saw each other, Hacks jumps right back into everyone’s lives in a familiar yet surprising fashion. The series is constantly finding ways to transform itself into something better, the first couple episodes containing huge laughs to remind audiences what caliber of performances, writing, and direction they’re engaging with when it comes to the Emmy winning comedy series. It shouldn’t come as a surprise as the first two seasons never dipped in quality, only consistently bettering itself as episodes go by. The two episodes shown at the festival contained incredible guest stars that dare not be spoiled, an empathy towards every character that is almost unmatched on television, and perhaps the best joke about Roman Polanski you’ll hear all year. 

Grade: A

Hacks debuted two episodes of its third season in the TV Spotlight section of the 2024 SXSW Festival. Hacks season three will premiere May 2 on MAX.

Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show (dir. Ari Katcher)

Another HBO title that premiered episodes at SXSW was Jerrod Carmichael’s new series that blends reality with a docuseries approach, blending the two together to understand the reality of Carmichael’s life, sexuality, family, and celebrity status. The opening episode announces Carmichael’s intentions: have a camera follow him around to force honesty from himself. The premise is simple, but entirely effective as Carmichael navigates the pains of coming out, the challenges of relationships after a life of repressed sexuality, and familial issues that permeate the fabric of someone’s life. Carmichael is naturally hilarious, so following him around in his daily life offers his humor in a casual setting that adds another dimension to his already funny persona. A standout moment in the episodes screened at SXSW is Carmichael getting high to watch Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread, a film he reveals keeps him calm and grounded as he mouths along with some of the best lines. There are moments of earnestness as he attempts to create the same field of honesty around the people in his life that he’s invited into the project, creating a fascinating dynamic between Carmichael and his loved ones that builds tension along the way. The series blends in moments from small venue standup sets he does as he tells, in his own way, some of the stories that are unfolding on screen. It’s a promising premise that will hopefully stick the landing when the entire season is unveiled.

Grade: B+

Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show debuted three episodes in the TV Spotlight section of the 2024 SXSW Festival. Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show will premiere March 29 on HBO/MAX.

Birdeater (dirs. Jack Clark and Jim Weir)

From Australian directing duo Jack Clark and Jim Weir, the feral Birdeater attempts to understand the inability to leave when we find ourselves in seemingly impossible situations. A bride-to-be is invited to come to a party with her fiancé and his friends, usually an all-male event, to spend a night drinking, talking, and having good food. Or perhaps that’s what she thinks to prepare for, as what unfolds is an unhinged night of drugs and revelations that heightens the discomfort of the film with every scene. Birdeater drags out this premise for almost two hours, a seemingly impossible feat with how little plot is actually taking place in the film, only crisp cuts to elevate the material being shown. The film is unable to decide how it wants to portray the situations and pasts being shown, maneuvering from one character to another with no real attention being given to any one character enough for their struggle to matter emotionally or thematically. Shabana Azeez as Irene, the bride-to-be, is almost the only redeemable quality of the film, as the rest feels bloated and forced. The film takes itself too seriously and builds towards a final reveal that would have only been shocking had the entire film not heavily hinted at it the entire runtime. 

Grade: C

Birdeater had its international premiere in the Visions section at the 2024 SXSW Festival. Blue Finch Films will distribute the film at an unknown date in 2024.

Omni Loop (dir. Bernardo Britto)

Bernardo Britto’s take on Groundhog Day finds its lead, Zoya (Emmy winner Mary Louise Parker), in the last week of her life as a literal black hole threatens to swallow her from within her chest. Taking a pill at the end of every week that sends her back seven days, Zoya desires the understanding of how she began this journey and how her decisions have affected those around her. She finds a lab partner in Paula (Emmy winner Ayo Edebiri), a young woman who she feels an instant connection with that decides to help Zoya investigate and research the strange phenomenon happening to her. The film takes a little while to find its footing but leads into an incredibly strong second act that features great work from both Parker and Edebiri. Omni Loop is best when Parker and Edebiri are together, a comedic chemistry so natural that it makes the film feel grounded even when steeped in scientific jargon about physics and the cosmos. The more she experiences the looping and the deeper she gets into her research, Zoya breaks free of the anxieties that have riddled her mind throughout her entire life. Though the third act of the film feels a bit lengthy and could use some trimming in areas that feel slightly repetitive, Omni Loop finishes on a high and offers viewers a chance to heal. 

Grade: B

Omni Loop debuted in the Narrative Spotlight section at the 2024 SXSW Festival. Produced by 2AM and Killer Films, Omni Loop does not yet have a distributor or release date.

Pet Shop Days (dir. Olmo Schnabel)

Olmo Schnabel’s directorial debut about an affair between the destructive Alejandro (Dario Yazbek Bernal) and pet store employee Jack (Jack Irv) is a frenetic misfire of a film that’s stakes are as high as playing Russian roulette with a bulletless chamber. Pet Shop Days offers nothing of substance, only able to give 100 minutes of drugs, sex, and violence that amounts to nothing by the film’s end. The film toys with the idea of eroticism as an escape from daily life, especially towards Jack, who is having an awakening of sorts by being in Alejandro’s presence, but never pierces any meaning in it. There are moments in the film that could be plucked out and perhaps inserted into a better version of it, but most scenes are so superficial that the implication of a deeper meaning seems impossible to fathom. The film is shrouded in darkness, entire scenes played out with strange lighting that obfuscates in a way that punishes the eyes of its audience. The end of Pet Shop Days offers no solution to the problems presented by everything leading up to it, only further cementing the ineffectiveness of the narrative structure and direction of the film.

Grade: D

Pet Shop Days screened in the Festival Favorites section of the 2024 SXSW Festival. Pet Shop Days has been acquired by Utopia Pictures for distribution and does not yet have a release date. 

Timestalker (dir. Alice Lowe)

In Alice Lowe’s follow-up to Prevenge, she takes audiences on a journey with Agnes, a hopeless romantic that finds herself dying every century, only to return looking for the man she fell in love with in her original life in the 1600s. An often hilarious film, Timestalker manages to push wacky humor and sentimentalism into the same container as Agnes (Alice Lowe) falls through time searching for the man she believes to be her true love. Any attempt to get close to the man she keeps seeing results in death and furthers her delusion that she’s destined to spend her life with him. The entire cast gets big laughs from outrageous dialogue, none funnier than Agnes’ proclamation that she’d rather “be a slave than a lesbian.” A soft lighting that features hues of pink encases every scene, a fantastical element added that keeps the film larger than real life. There are moments that could have been trimmed from the final cut of the film, but there aren’t enough of them to put a damper on the good will built by the rest of Timestalker. The end drags out a little too long, but ultimately the film relishes in the outrageous story it’s telling with an entire cast ready to do anything for a laugh, confidently led by director and leading actress Alice Lowe. 

Grade: B

Timestalker debuted in the Narrative Spotlight section of the 2024 SXSW Festival. Produced by Western Edge Productions and Popcorn Group and distributed by Hanway Films, Timestalker does not yet have a release date.