Megan Park’s coming-of-age film starts like a typical high school day that takes a dark turn that’s also increasingly tragically common. The result ing story of the aftermath of a school shooting is a nuanced and emotionally riveting piece of storytelling that won audience and jury awards at this year’s SXSW film festival.

Whenever I’m feeling indecisive at a film festival, I tend to default to documentaries. The highs may not be as high as with a surprisingly revelatory narrative feature, but the lows are rarely as low as a complete indie disaster. Reviews from four pretty-good documentary premieres from this year’s SXSW fit the bill with stories of would be public servants and scam artists.

Two comedies that embrace the aesthetics of the pandemic era premiered — and succeeded — at this year’s SXSW.

When a group of Dorset bus drivers made the very unconventional decision to abandon their holiday season pantomime in favor of a homegrown theatrical adaptation of Alien, Ridley Scott’s revered science fiction horror film, the response from local audiences was predictably muted. Luckily, the show found a life beyond their town and has been committed to film in this delightful documentary.

When he received a surprise ALS diagnosis in in his early thirties, advocacy lawyer Ady Barkan pledged to spend the limited time he had left to live with his young family in Santa Barbara. A weekend in DC lobbying to save the Affordable Care Act, a chance meeting with a young activist in the airport, and a viral conversation with Arizona senator Jeff Flake aboard a cross-country flight changed all of that.

Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil (2021 | USA | 98 minutes | Michael D. Ratner) In 2018 Demi Lovato, who had …