The SXSWCares Big Benefit will take place April 12- 20 at participating venues around Austin.
Courtesy of Austin Music People
The greater Austin community rallied together quickly after the tragic Red River accident that took place during SXSW 2014. The SXSWCares Fund was created on March 13 (just hours after the incident), to raise funds for those affected by the tragedy. Now, less than a month after its inception, SXSWCares is launching a multi-day, mega-event to further the cause.
Organized by Transmission Events, the Red River Cultural District, Austin Music People and SXSW, the SXSWCares Big Benefit will take place April 12 - 20. The nine-day initiative will feature day and evening events and an online auction to continue fundraising efforts (approximately $180,000 has already been raised).
Participants — more than 20 venues and 30 area businesses so far — will host events (or promotions) in an effort to raise additional funds that will be directed to SXSWCares at the Austin Community Foundation. Austin Music People Executive Director Jennifer Houlihan reiterated to CultureMap that this is not a festival — no street closures, no wristbands, no free drinks. Instead, individual events will take place under the larger umbrella of the Big Benefit name.
Venues include ACL Live, Cheer Up Charlie's, Mohawk, Holy Mountain, Red 7, Stubbs, The White Horse and more.
With a multi-day event at controlled locations, organizers hope to maximize fundraising efforts by offering businesses and individuals multiple chances to participate. It's also the hope that by participating in the recovery efforts, the community will gain closure. Interested businesses can join in on the community-wide fundraising effort by contacting Austin Music People.
And for those who want to participate by attending one — or multiple — scheduled events, a comprehensive list of mini-fundraisers is available via Do512. The list will be updated as more venues and businesses enlist to support SXSWCares.
Maika Monroe and Tyriq Withers in Reminders of HIm.
Texas author Colleen Hoover has gone from being a popular writer to a full-on celebrity in the 2020s, with the new film Reminders of Him marking the third adaptation of her books in just 19 months (a fourth, Verity, is scheduled for release in October 2026). All of her books that have been adapted so far — most notably It Ends With Us — are female-led stories that feature elements of romance and trauma, catnip for studios looking to appeal to the underserved demographic of women.
Leading the way in this film is Kenna Rowan (Maika Monroe), who returns to her hometown of Laramie, Wyoming after spending years in prison for killing her boyfriend, Scotty (Rudy Pankow), in a car accident. That relationship resulted in a daughter, Diem (Zoe Kosovic), whom Kenna gave birth to while imprisoned and is now being raised by her grandparents, Patrick (Bradley Whitford) and Grace (Lauren Graham).
Yearning to be a part of Diem’s life, Kenna tries to reconnect with Patrick and Grace, only to be rebuffed by Scotty’s best friend, Ledger (Tyriq Withers), a former NFL player who now owns a local bar. In running interference, Ledger starts to become closer to Kenna, discovering that her tragic mistake shouldn’t be the only thing that defines her.
Directed by Vanessa Caswill and written by Lauren Levine, the film features mostly surface level examinations of its themes and average performances, yet it winds up being effective thanks to a willingness not to rush through its storytelling beats. The filmmakers take the slow and steady approach toward the coupling of Kenna and Ledger, setting up their bond through a series of heart-to-heart conversations that makes any romance feel earned.
The majority of the focus is on Kenna reclaiming her place in the world, and on Ledger coming to terms with the fact that the person who killed his best friend is not inherently a bad person. The film definitely could have gone deeper in its explorations of grief and anger, but the sheer amount of time it takes in addressing the characters’ doubts and fears turns out to be sufficient for a film that’s not aiming to be considered a dramatic masterpiece.
It also helps that Caswill and Levine do a solid job of establishing the variety of characters that inhabit the film. Kenna and Ledger don’t always feel like fully-formed people, but they become so through their interactions with each other and the other townspeople. Lady Diana (Monika Myers), a girl with Down syndrome who lives in Kenna’s apartment complex, and Roman (Nicholas Duvernay), Ledger’s co-worker at his bar, help to broaden the appeal of the two leads.
Monroe has, to this point, been best known for starring roles in horror films like It Follows and Longlegs. While she does somewhat well in this role, her delivery is often more flat than you’d expect for a character going through what she does. Withers thankfully doesn’t remind viewers of his recent bomb Him, demonstrating a crossover appeal that should serve him well in the future. Whitford and Graham don’t get to do much, but their combined experience gives their roles exactly what is needed.
It may sound like damning with faint praise, but Reminders of Him is a competently made film that knows how to serve its core audience without insulting anyone who may not automatically be all-in for such a story. The filmmakers don’t try to force any of the key moments down the audience’s throat, and that stands out in a genre that’s not always known for its subtlety.
