Weekend Event Planner

These are the 10 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

It'll be another big weekend in and around Dallas as we move into October. A certain mega female pop star will play not one but two concerts at the area's biggest venue. She'll be joined by two other big concerts, and a festival-style event featuring both bands and politicians. There will also be two new local theater productions and a semi-annual arts festival.

Below are the best ways to spend your free time this weekend. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Thursday, October 4

Angelika Film Center and Cafe presents Hitchcocktober
There's no better time to enjoy the creepy movies of Alfred Hitchcock than in October, which is why Angelika Film Center in Dallas and Plano will once again present Hitchcocktober. They will screen a different Hitchcock movie every Thursday of the month, starting with Rear Window. Other movies will include Shadow of a Doubt, Strangers on a Train, 39 Steps, and Psycho on Halloween.

Wingspan Theatre Company presents On The Verge or The Geography of Yearning
In On The Verge or The Geography of Yearning, three Victorian lady travelers — Mary, Fanny, and Alexandra — take it upon themselves to explore “the mystery of things” and set out for “Terra Incognita” and soon discover the future. These intrepid trekkers pass through a jungle bejeweled with artifacts of the yet to come, hack through history’s underbrush, sojourn with cannibals, bridge-guarding trolls, gas station attendants, and night club crooners. The production will run through October 20 at Bath House Cultural Center.

Kitchen Dog Theater presents Radiant Vermin
When a young couple is offered an ideal house by a mysterious stranger, it prompts the question: How far would any of us go to get our dream home? A fast-paced, pitch-black comedy, Radiant Vermin is a provocative satire about consumerism, gentrification, and inequality. The production will run through October 28 at Trinity River Arts Center.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents Carmina Burana
Arguably one of the most popular orchestral pieces performed today, Orff's Carmina Burana features vocals from over 200 members of the Dallas Symphony Chorus. The concert, conducted by Brett Mitchell, will also include Theofanidis’ Rainbow Body and Elgar’s Cockaigne Overture. There will be four performances through Sunday at the Meyerson Symphony Center.

Friday, October 5

Taylor Swift in concert with Camilla Cabello and Charli XCX
It's been almost three years since Dallas-Fort Worth fans have had a chance to see Taylor Swift perform in person, so she's doubling down and giving them two chances. Swift's latest album, Reputation, has not been quite the crowd-pleaser as her previous albums, but her level is so high that it dwarfs pretty much any other singer. She'll perform on both Friday at Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, with support from Camilla Cabello and Charli XCX.

Phoenix in concert with The Voidz
French indie pop band Phoenix has long been one of those bands that is the soundtrack to many people's lives without ever truly breaking through into the mainstream. Their biggest success was their 2009 album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, which yielded hit songs like "1901" and "Lisztomania." They'll play at South Side Ballroom in support of their 2017 album, Ti Amo, with The Voidz as opening act.

Saturday, October 6

Crow Museum of Asian Art Grand Opening Celebration
The Crow Collection of Asian Art completes its transformation into the Crow Museum of Asian Art with this grand opening event. They'll celebrate with wellness classes, performances, art making, and tours, including the Dallas premiere of "Jacob Hashimoto: Clouds and Chaos." Guests can also stop by the new Pearl Art Studio, watch Tibetan monks create a sand mandala, and visit the newly-designed museum gift shop.

Cottonwood Art Festival
Cottonwood Art Festival is a semi-annual event that features works from the nation's top visual artists. Approximately 1,400 artists submitted their work for consideration, and jurors select over 240 artists to exhibit their museum-quality work and compete in 14 separate categories. The festival, which also features local bands performing the best in rock, country, jazz, blues, swing, and folk, will be at Cottonwood Park in Richardson through Sunday.

David Byrne in concert
We've barely recovered from David Byrne's last visit to Dallas in April, and now we get another chance to enjoy his musical genius. The legendary former Talking Heads lead singer will play at The Theatre at Grand Prairie in support of his new album, American Utopia. He will perform songs from the new album, as well as classics from his solo career and his days with Talking Heads.

Sunday, October 7

The Buffalo Tree Festival
The name of this festival belies its purpose and the big names that will be there. It's a family-friendly music and political engagement festival that will feature musical acts like Spoon, The Polyphonic Spree, and Sarah Jaffe alongside Texas Democratic candidates like Beto O'Rourke, Colin Allred, and Lupe Valdez. It will be a day of entertainment, voter registration, and democracy in action.

Taylor Swift will perform at AT&T Stadium on October 5 and 6.

Getty Images for DIRECTV

Taylor Swift will perform at AT&T Stadium on October 5 and 6.

event-planner

Movie Review

Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney go off in trashy film The Housemaid

Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney in The Housemaid.

Both Amanda Seyfried (the upcoming The Testament of Ann Lee) and Sydney Sweeney (Christy) are starring in movies with Oscar ambitions this year. By sheer coincidence, the two actors are also co-starring in The Housemaid, a thriller coming out within weeks of their more ambitious works, one that is likely to be seen by many more people than those prestige plays.

Sweeney is given top billing as Millie, a down-on-her-luck ex-convict looking to land any type of job so as not to break her parole. She finds a too-good-to-be-true lifeboat with Nina (Seyfried), who hires her to be a housemaid for her large house on Long Island, where she lives with her husband, Andrew (Brandon Sklenar), and daughter, Cecilia (Indiana Elle).

After a warm interview, Nina almost immediately becomes highly erratic, whipping back-and-forth between happy-go-lucky and rageful. It seems clear that Nina is suffering from mental health issues, as she’ll often accuse Millie of misplacing or stealing items that she didn’t take. Andrew, apparently used to Nina’s tirades, tries to protect Millie from the worst, something that grows increasingly difficult as Nina ups the ante.

Directed by Paul Feig (A Simple Favor) and adapted by Rebecca Sonnenshine from the bestselling book by Freida McFadden, the film is likely the trashiest mainstream movie to come out in 2025. The first half of the movie relies not on story but on moments as Nina embodies the word “hysterical” to an unbelievable extent. The resigned acceptance of the abuse by Millie, as well as the saintly patience of Andrew, make almost every scene laughable, as nobody seems to be acting anywhere close to how a person would normally react to such extreme situations.

The scenes and the performance of Seyfried are so over-the-top, in fact, that it’s clear that the filmmakers are in on the joke. It’s next to impossible not to have a little bit of fun while watching the actors react to outrageous incidents as if nothing is out of the ordinary. The worse Nina acts, the more Millie and Andrew retreat into their chosen roles, and the funnier the film becomes.

Fans of the book will know that the story changes course, eventually turning into a more stereotypical thriller that also has some relatively gnarly visuals to offer. But the trashiness continues, with Sweeney’s, um, assets repeatedly on display in both clothed and unclothed ways. The sex appeal of the R-rated movie makes it an outlier, as recent studio films have shied away from asking their big stars to disrobe completely.

Both Seyfried and Sweeney are far from their Oscar hopeful roles here. Seyfried is given free rein to act as brazenly as she pleases, and she takes full advantage of that ability. Sweeney seems to have been told to be much more reserved, and unfortunately that results in too many wooden line readings. Sklenar continues his breakout streak (It Ends with Us, Drop) with a role that allows him to show more range than either Seyfried or Sweeney.

The Housemaid is an unusual type of movie to be released at a time of year when most films are either those aiming for awards or more family-friendly fare. Despite its many flaws, it’s still an enjoyable watch that features a variety of crazy scenarios not typically seen in movies nowadays.

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The Housemaid is now playing in theaters.

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