SXSW: Attack The Block and Insidious are fest favourites

The South By Southwest Film Festival is closing up this week after a breathless run of exclusive film screenings.

Now that all the hullabaloo has started to die down, it’s time to reflect on the films that showed during the festival, and pick out the best of the lot.

And according to those in attendance, it’s Attack The Block and Insidious that are the films to keep an eye on when they’re gifted nationwide release.

The former is a new sci-fi thriller from Joe Cornish, who makes his directorial debut. And by all accounts, it’s a fantastic first film.

HeyUGuys call it “an original British masterpiece with so many original ideas and an absolutely fantastic script”, while Collider commend Attack The Block as “the best film at this year’s SXSW”.

Horror film Insidious , which comes from the makers of the first Saw film, also came out trumps, with WeGotThisCovered calling it “a great, almost Hitchcockian tale, a mystery and a horror that relies on old-fashioned scares and a creepy chill factor”.

On the flipside, Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Hesher turned out to be a disappointment, while James Gunn's Kick-Ass -style Super divided critics - some labelled it fantastic, others bemoaned its bleak outlook and generally mean spirit.

In terms of festival awards, indie drama Natural Selection was handed seven trophies by the SXSW panel, including Best Director and Best Narrative Feature.

The film, which follows a barren Christian woman who goes in search of her husband's illegitimate son, has yet to land a distributor. With kudos like that, though, you can expect it to be snapped up pretty sharpish.

For our picks from the festival, head over here .