Announcing Jordan Peele’s Us as 2019 SXSW Film Festival Opening Night

We are thrilled to announce the world premiere of Jordan Peele’s Us as the Opening Night film for the 26th edition of the SXSW Film Festival on Friday March 8, 2019. After sending shockwaves across contemporary culture and setting a new standard for provocative, socially-conscious horror films with his directorial debut, Get Out, Academy Award®-winning visionary Jordan Peele returns with another original nightmare.

"We are crazy excited to world premiere the most anticipated film of 2019 from the creative powerhouse that brought us Get Out,” said Janet Pierson, Director of Film. "We honestly couldn’t imagine a more perfect film to kick off the 2019 SXSW Film Festival."

Set in present day along the iconic Northern California coastline, Us, stars Oscar® winner Lupita Nyong’o as Adelaide Wilson, a woman returning to her beachside childhood home with her husband, Gabe (Black Panther’s Winston Duke), and their two children (Shahadi Wright Joseph, Evan Alex) for an idyllic summer getaway. Haunted by an unexplainable and unresolved trauma from her past and compounded by a string of eerie coincidences, Adelaide feels her paranoia elevate to high-alert as she grows increasingly certain that something bad is going to befall her family. After spending a tense beach day with their friends, the Tylers (Emmy winner Elisabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker, Cali Sheldon, Noelle Sheldon), Adelaide and her family return to their vacation home to discover the silhouettes of four figures standing in their driveway. Us pits an ordinary American family against a terrifying and uncanny opponent: doppelgängers of themselves.

Peele produces for his Monkeypaw Productions, alongside Monkeypaw creative director Ian Cooper, in the company’s first solo production venture. Also producing are Sean McKittrick and Jason Blum. Written and directed by Peele, Us will be released by Universal Pictures on Friday, March 22, 2019.

SXSW Film Festival will release its Feature slate on Wednesday, January 16, 2019 (except for Midnighters and Festival Favorites). Midnighters, Festival Favorites, Shorts, Episodic Pilot Competition, Virtual Cinema, Music Videos and Title Design Competition will be announced on Wednesday, February 6, 2019.

Watch the trailer here!

Join Us For SXSW 2019

Register and book your hotel now to save! The Film Badge gets you primary access to all SXSW Film events including Film Keynotes and Featured Sessions, world premieres, round tables, workshops, parties, and more. Over the course of nine days, the SXSW Film Festival hosts over 450 screenings! Film registrants also have primary access to Convergence events, including the Comedy Festival and nine unique conference tracks, as well as secondary access to most Interactive and Music events.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and SXSW News for the latest SXSW coverage.

2019 SXSW Opening Night Film, Us – Photo courtesy of Claudette Barius/Universal Pictures