SXSW 2024 Things Will Be Different Review- Stylish And Emotional Stunner

As a longtime editor for Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, Michael Felker has obviously learned a few tricks. Having worked on Synchronic, Something In The Dirt, The Endless, and Spring he has experience for days. Acting as writer/director/editor for his feature debut Things Will Be Different, he created a story that could easily fit inside the Benson and Moorhead Universe. It’s grimy and grounded, with a character-driven plot and high-concept/low-fi effects. Capturing the same ability to create a compelling sci-fi story with very little money and few effects, Things Will Be Different is the kind of film people will remember for its lofty ideas.

This is the second time-travel film I have reviewed for SXSW 2024 and the third that has been a try, try again type film where the protagonist relives failed attempts at escape. You would think I would have grown bored by now despite my affinity for these types of films. The SXSW 2024 crop of genre entertainment this year is overflowing. All three have been excellent and stand apart from each other. More like the best in class of Groundhog Day’s, Things Will Be Different breathes life into the familiar trope.

A tense sibling relationship is further strained when the siblings try to exploit supernatural forces they don’t understand and can’t control. Sydney(Riley Dandy) and Joseph(Adam David Thompson) have an uncomfortable relationship but clearly care about one another, and they quickly fall into a comfortable rhythm. That is made possible by the big bag of cash that Joseph is carrying from a recent bank robbery. Two things can fix relationships instantly, at least for a while: winning and money. They have the money, but with the authorities on their trail, they must figure out how to keep it. They arrive at a dilapidated farmhouse with very specific instructions on accessing its special powers.

This farmhouse isn’t a regular home. It is a portal to other dimensions you can access by turning door handles in specific ways and using similar cheat code-esque tricks. It’s a nifty idea that is executed well. If only things went as well for Riley and Joseph. They quickly realize that they haven’t found a perfect pocket in time to wait out the cops when new dangers present themselves.

Like a video game walkthrough, Things Will Be Different leads you through the effective set pieces. As the siblings quickly learn, this place isn’t the oasis they had hoped for. Decisions come with consequences, and they must decide which they can live with. Felker patiently allows the characters to unfold before us. Instead of relying on huge effects or action sequences, Felker invites us into his world and lets us become invested in Riley and Joseph. Their chemistry is palpable, and Dandy and Thompson do an excellent job of allowing their relationship to breathe. It feels lived in and real, especially once the inevitable other shoe drops and they have to defend themselves from unseen dangers.

Once problems intrude, the layers begin peeling back, and we see why they haven’t been close lately. Even with those cracks, their care for one another is the glue that holds everything together. It isn’t often that you see an authentic and loving sibling relationship. Too frequently, in stories like this, we get siblings who are broken beyond repair or romantic partners. Things Will Be Different is the rare exception that invites us in without manipulating us with sex, narcissism, or romance.

Like the best character-fronted stories, Felker lets his actors evolve slowly. Their collective trauma before and during their current predicament is more important than any needless narrative or stereotypical action. This is a simmering pot of dread that gets amplified with each moment. When the mind-melting begins, we have been eased into it so much that we believe every rule of this strange world. By this point, Riley and Joseph’s relationship has begun to unravel despite their best efforts, yet they won’t abandon each other. That familiar throughline is why the film works so well.

When the aforementioned melting begins, they fight for their lives. What’s most interesting is this is a deadly prison of their own making. It was their choice to hide out here without fully knowing what they were getting into. Desperate times make for desperate actions, and as in most cases, you leap right out of the fire and into the frying pan. Felker knows what to show and what to allow our imaginations to fill in. This allows the spell of the family drama and the ambiguous nature of the time-warping house to feel real. Sometimes, less is more, and Felker proves he is a master of simplicity.

As with all of the films he did with Benson and Moorhead, the experience and the emotion are far more important than the mechanics of otherworldly places could ever be. That’s not to say his house doesn’t have a few nifty stunts up its sleeve or that there aren’t a few surprises toward the end of Things Will Be Different.

Cinematographer Carissa Dorson captures the stark beauty of the countryside and the house, letting us revel in the wide open spaces as much as feel the oppression of the house’s confines. Felker’s film greatly benefits from the set, and he takes advantage of it.

The stunning ending relies heavily on Sydney and Joseph’s story. The fact that you are so invested in them by the end makes the film’s ending that much more impactful. The film shines in the ordinary moments when Felker defies convention and lets the characters reveal their true selves—the fact he does it with smart genre stylings is icing on the cake.

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