Earlier in the SxSW week I ran into Texas and LA based filmmakers that I have known for many years with SxSW and Fantastic Fest screenings so of course I had to check out their new movie ONLY THE GOOD SURVIVE with a massive burger and pile of fries at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar location for SxSW 2023.
About: A traumatized young woman named Brea Dunlee is found alone in rural Texas where a local sheriff named Cole Mack questions her. He discovers Brea and three of her friends tried to steal rare coins from a farmer and his wife, but they uncovered something far more valuable in the process. As a result, the four friends become targets of a powerful cult. The story gets more convoluted as Brea recounts her night of terror. Cole has to find out if Brea is telling the truth. Brea has to find out if Cole is who he says he is. The only thing for certain is, only one of them will survive.
JASON’S REACTION: A small, intimate Texas story taken to bizarre and animated heights (both figurative and literal), ONLY THE GOOD SURVIVE is a kind of procedural and kind of a coming of age love story that has a very small and indie vibe with its idea and was pitched to me by filmmaker Dutch Southern as a “fever dream”. Count me in. There are quite a few sequences where animation plays over live action (one particular shot of the lead walking up to a door with pinball machine noises changing her shape) are highlights, and lead Sidney Flanigan (Never Rarely Sometimes Always) is very good as the conflicted Brea. Most of the scenes in the movie cut back to an investigation where she is matched by Frederick Weller with a pretty intense stare while we see her journey unfold. It’s a small Texas story but with such a visual and aural flare and I’m not sure how this would play at other festivals or in a wide release, however I really enjoyed the look and feel and also can tell filmmaker Dutch Southern and his creators are taking their small concept and running with it. I have repeated it many times to keep an eye on a particular smaller title, but I really think indie-cinema fans would dig this one.
This film and many others like it showed at South By Southwest this year from March 10-19. For more information on this and other titles, point your browser to www.sxsw.com!