SXSW 2026 announces horror-packed first wave of programming, including Ready or Not 2 and They Will Kill You

The South by Southwest TV and Film Festival returns to Austin, Texas from March 12-18. This week, organizers announced the first wave of programing, and it's quite a horror-packed line-up. Highlights include Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, They Will Kill You, Over Your Dead Body, and, of course, the Midnight features. Here's a list of all of the horror movies announced as part of SXSW's first wave of programming.

SXSW Headliners

Ready or Not 2: Here I Come

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, also known as Radio Silence, return as directors for Ready or Not 2. After surviving the Le Domas attack, Grace (Samara Weaving) faces the next level of the deadly game, and this time, she must protect her estranged sister Faith (Kathryn Newtown). Four rival families hunt Grace and Faith in what looks like quite the gruesome game. This is quite a star-studded cast, rounded out by Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shawn Hatosy, Elijah Wood, and David Cronenberg.

Over Your Dead Body

Directed by Jorma Taccone, Over Your Dead Body is the second SXSW premiere starring Samara Weaving. In this feature, she plays one half of a dysfunctional couple that heads to a remote cabin in hopes of reconnecting. Each, however, has a secret plan to kill each other. The cast also includes Jason Segel, Timothy Olyphant, Juliette Lewis, Paul Guifoyle, and Keith Jardine.

They Will Kill You

They Will Kill You looks like a great pairing to go with Ready or Not 2. In this high-octane horror comedy, a woman must survive the night at the Virgil, a demonic cult's death trap, or risk becoming the next offering. This one also has a heck of a cast, including Zazie Beetz, Myha'La, Paterson Joseph, Tom Felton, Heather Graham, and Patricia Arquette. It's produced by Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti, the creators of the revamped It universe, and directed by Kirill Sokolov.

SXSW Midnighters

American Dollhouse

Written and directed by John Valley, this movie follows a woman caught between a grotesque Christmas fantasy and her own childhood trauma. She searches for a fresh start, until her search is violently interrupted by a psychopathic neighbor. The movie stars Hailley Lauren, Kelsey Pribilski, Tinus Seaux, Danielle Evon Ploeger, and Richard C. Jones.

Drag

In this feature, written and directed by Raviv Ullman and Greg Yagolnitzer, a routine robbery at a rural house transforms into a nightmare for two amateur burglars when one of them throws out her back. Things spiral out of control as they try to escape before the homeowner returns. The cast includes Lizzy Caplan, Lucy DeVito, John Stamos, and Christine Ko. Lucy DeVito's father, Danny DeVito, is one of the producers.

Fifteen

Supernatural rumors and small-town gossip collide at a Mexican girl's quinceañera in Fifteen, directed by Jack Zagha and Yossy Zagha. This forces the teen to face adulthood much sooner than expected. The cast includes Greta Marti, Macarena Oz, Aminta Ireta, Martha Claudia Moreno, Enrique Arreola, Mercedes Hernández, Malena Sandy, Cloe Juresa Furgan, Andre Fajardo, and Silvia Villazur.

Grind

Horror anthologies can be hit or miss, but Grind has impressive names attached to it, including Brea Grant, Ed Dougherty, and Chelsea Stardust as directors and a cast that includes Barbara Crampton, Rob Huebel, Vinny Thomas, Jessika Van, Christopher Rodriguez-Marquette, James Urbaniak, among others. This workplace horror anthology focuses on the daily grind of making a living and trying to survive late-stage capitalism. Most of us can relate.

Imposters

This feature sounds all kinds of creepy. Writer/director Caleb J. Pillip's film entails a couple's baby boy who is taken. The mother attempts to bring him back, but then her husband suspects that what she returned isn't their kid. Imposters stars Jessica Rothe, Charlie Barnette, Yul Vazquez, Bates Wilder, Luisina Quarleri, Thomas Parobek, Ian Lyons, Taylor Karin, Lee Bennett, and Declan Bennett.

Monitor

In writer/director Matt Black and Ryan Polly's feature, a social media moderator unleashes a deadly terror after refusing to publish a cryptic video. The cast includes Brittany O'Grady, Taz Skylar, Viveik Karla, Ines Høysæter Asserson, Gunner Willis, Sara Alexander, and Camila Wahlgren.

Never After Dark

Like horror anthologies, possession movies can be tough to get right. Too many of them end up being repetitive or overly reliant on tired tropes. That said, writer/director Dave Boyle's Never After Dark sounds interesting. In his film, a medium travels to the Japanese countryside to perform a routine exorcism. There, she's forced to confront a different type of enemy: the living. The movie stars Moeka Hoshi, Kento Kaku, Kurumi Inagaki, Mutsuo Yoshioka, Bokuzo Masana, and Tae Kimura.

For information regarding tickets and screening times, visit SXSW's website.