# ‘Pretty Lethal’ from ‘I Swear’ producer Tempo among 2026 SXSW second wave
BY JEREMY KAY 4 FEBRUARY 2026
SOURCE: COMPOSITE PROVIDED BY PRIME VIDEO
PRETTY LETHAL
SXSW unveiled the remainder of its features lineup on Wednesday (February 4) with world premieres for Vicky Jewson’s UK action thriller Pretty Lethal, formerly known as BallerinaOverdrive, and Damian McCarthy’s Ireland-set horror Hokum. The festival runs March 12-18 in Austin, Texas.
Pretty Lethal screens in the 33rd edition’s Headliners section and follows a group of ballerinas en route to a dance contest who get stranded in a sinister roadside inn and must weaponise years of training to escape.
The cast includes Iris Apatow, Lana Condor, Millicent Simmonds, Avantika, Maddie Ziegler, and Uma Thurman. Piers Tempest of Tempo Productions, whose I Swear is nominated for five Baftas, is among the producers, and Kate Freund wrote the screenplay. Prime Video holds worldwide rights.
Irish-US production Hokum premieres in Midnight and stars Adam Scott from Severance as an author who checks into a remote inn said to be haunted by a witch. Neon acquired worldwide rights last year.
The Narrative Spotlight lineup brings Chelsea Devantez’s comedy Basic starring Ashey Park and Leighton Meester in the story of a young woman who discovers her ex-boyfriend’s former partner has stolen him back and is about to steal her life, too. Marc Platt and Fortitude International head Nadine de Barros are producing.
The section includes Judy Greer in comedy thriller and Archstone sales title Chili Finger playing a small town lawyer whose life spirals out of control when she tries to blackmail a restaurant after she finds a severed finger in her chili. Edd Benda and Stephen Helstad co-directed and the cast includes Sean Astin, Bryan Cranston, and John Goodman.
The Visions programme features UK drama The Peril At Pincer Point from Jake Kuhn and Noah Stratton-Twine starring Jack Redmayne, about an inept sound recordist entangled in a nautical prophecy, and Australian horror Dead Eyesfrom Richard E. Williams, in which a grief-stricken man discovers he has become the bridge between the living and the dead. Ana Thu-Nguyen, Mischa Heywood, Rijen Laine, and Charles Cottier star.
As previously announced, Boots Riley’s I Love Boosters at Neon opens the festival, and world premieres include Searchlight Pictures’ horror Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come with Samara Weaving, and New Line’s They Will Kill You starring Zazie Beetz, which both open on March 27.
“These projects push boundaries, take risks, and demand to be seen live and in person,” VP Film & TV Claudette Godfrey said. SXSW announced 54 additional projects on Wednesday, bringing the total to 107 features including 82 world premieres.
FIRST FORUM REVIEW
A catty fivesome of ballerinas are on the way to a prestigious competition in Hungary and their bus breaks down. They walk to a funky inn to get help, but it’s really a hangout for gangsters run by a psycho Uma Thurman who was a ballerina until she suffered a permanent injury. All hell breaks loose and the ballerinas must fight their way out.
It’s a slim premise, surely the fallout from Ballerina, but it’s 87north, the reigning kings of ultravi, so I gotta watch to keep my fan card valid. Nowadays, 87N is delivering films they enjoy making, stuff that shows of their choreographic panache, and not necessarily that good on any other level. The fights here are ok - the ballet schtick is creative and funny, but the story and character development is akin to Love Hurts, underwhelming when compared to their usual fare. I confess, I thought the claw hammer getting stuck in a villain’s head was funny. And the ballet melee works ok for laughs and stunts. I also liked the box cutter blade toe shoes despite their unfeasibility. My biggest disappointment was when Princess (the snooty ballerina) walks into a room of swords but chooses a crossbow. There’s a psychedelic trip in the beginning which is mildly funny but underdeveloped and quickly abandoned. This film does have good gal power.
That being said, if this got enough traction for a sequel, I’d watch that too. I was definitely amused for an hour and a half, which is more than I can say for a lot of movies nowadays.