The Bacon and Sedgwick’s Family Movie (SXSW) is a Delightfully Killer Portrait of a Dysfunctional Family

Title: Family Movie

First Non-Festival Release: TBD

Director: Kevin Bacon

Writer: Dan Beers

Runtime: 81 Minutes

Starring: Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Sosie Bacon, Travis Bacon

Where to Watch: Check out where to find it here

This film’s review was written after its screening at the South by Southwest Film Festival in 2026.

There are some relationships that only make sense in certain contexts. Family bonds have a reputation for being contentious, stressful, and confusing, even when the various members do care for each other. The complexity and depth of these relationships can make or break the larger unit. Would you rather weather a storm alone or together?

Nearly universally maligned by critics and audiences alike, independent horror director Jack White (Kevin Bacon) struggles to finish his final film with his family. His wife Ellen (Kyra Sedgwick) and daughter Ula (Sosie Bacon) star while his son Trent (Travis Bacon) assists with a variety of production elements. With money troubles making financing the picture difficult and Trent and Ula working up the nerve to tell him it’s their last movie, Jack finds himself spiraling. Things get even worse when bodies start dropping for real.

Family Movie is a sugary sweet slasher comedy that largely coasts on its affable cast and airy sense of humor.

The absurdity of its situational horror makes the sickly-sweet family comedy even tastier. With much of the slicing and dicing happening by way of Ellen’s deep-seated need to protect the unit, the violence is often cartoonish and loud, but it always feels real for the universe. It connects so well because of the family’s chemistry and each actor’s committed performance.

Replicating familial chemistry is a challenge in many movies. Family relationships color many aspects of our lives, and Family Movie shows what a loving, if slightly, dysfunctional family looks like. Thankfully, the Bacon-Sedgwick family is up for the challenge. While it’s impossible to know their true dynamic, the family appears to have a blast onscreen, both in character and out. The little breaths shared between characters following emotional catharsis or murder bring the magic to the relationships. Whether its siblings talking about their upbringing or parents fussing about their children’s futures, the care makes Family Movie work.

Equally about independent filmmaking as much as it is about family, Family Movie explores the ways intimacy can blossom when working together on set. Embodying the scrappiness and passion of filmmakers, the production team depicted in Family Movie spans the spectrum of who you would expect to be there: muddling investors, an ambitious producer, the irritating nepo baby. What’s more, they all come together, in their own special way, for the greater good of the movie. Family Movie showcases the flexibility, dedication, and sacrifice that these people make to create the art we love.

Family Movie charms easily but never quite reaches the gonzo levels of gore and insanity it promises throughout the plucky horror comedy. As the story progresses, it gets blurrier in direction, unsure of exactly what it wants to do or say. The third act falls apart slightly, coinciding with the crumbling structure of the film the family is attempting to piece together. It sticks the landing with its ending but some of the meat falls off by the time Family Movie gets there.

That being said, it’s the little things that help Family Movie stand out and put in work against its messy third act. Featuring innumerable buckets of blood, the gore is well-done, offering moments of levity any time the interpersonal drama threatens to get too real. Crisp cinematography, a killer score, and a liberal smattering of silly fake movie props allow the film to tie everything together smoothly.

There’s an infectious joy about Family Movie that makes it easy to want even more from it. Natural chemistry from the cast, great gore, and its wholesome sense of humor carry Family Movie farther than its low budget sensibilities could imagine. Plenty goes into making both independent filmmaking and families work, and Family Movie blends the two ideas together with the rough charm one would expect from a real family of performers.

Overall Score? 7/10