SXSW Preview: Silver Bullets

We don’t know about you, but with all the amazing documentaries and intense indie dramas, we thought it might be nice to take a break and get a little Fantastic Fest-y by embracing our inner horror fan with a good old-fashioned werewolf flick.

Well, maybe “old-fashioned” isn’t exactly the right term. It is, after all written and directed by Joe Swanberg (director of Hannah Takes the Stairs and Alexander the Last and called “one of the leading practitioners of mumblecore” by no less than the New York Times). So chances are, it’s not gonna be your “usual” horror movie.

Sure enough, the horror movie is here...but it’s the movie in the movie, if you’re following. Let us explain: Silver Bullets is the story of Claire and Ethan, a young actress and her filmmaker boyfriend, whose artsy projects get put on hold when she accepts the lead in a werewolf movie being directed by Ben. Ethan, jealous and frustrated by Claire’s new opportunity, casts her best friend Charlie as his girlfriend in his new opus. Tension mounts as both films continue into production, until emotions start to boil over and things get a whole lot more intense.

Swanberg has been to SXSW before and has proven he can do the verité thing well, finding the comedy in real life situations by allowing his actors to improvise in order to better feel in the moment. But the film within the film angle is new territory, and we’re interested to see where it goes. Plus, you know—werewolves! Intimate little indie drama plus a peek behind the film production process? This is one concept that has us licking our chops.

Silver Bullets plays Sunday, March 13 at 9:30pm at the State Theater, with additional screenings Monday, March 14 at 7:30pm (Rollins Theater) and Thursday, March 17 at 4pm (State Theater). For the full schedule, go to SXSW.com.