Festival News

Sabrina Carpenter headlines annual 2025 ACL Music Fest in Austin

Sabrina Carpenter will be at ACL.

Photo courtesy of Sabrina Carpenter

Austin City Limits Music Festival is back for another year of big names including Sabrina Carpenter, Hozier, Doja Cat, Luke Combs, The Strokes, John Summit, Doechii and more. Austinites will take Zilker Park from October 3-5 and October 10-13.

Ticket sales start with three-day wristbands at noon on May 6 at aclfestival.com.

Just in terms of buzz alone, Sabrina Carpenter and Doechii are two big pulls that perhaps could have been expected, although there are never any guarantees. The pristine pop and artistic rap performers, respectively, are each on a meteoric rise. Their sets could echo Chappell Roan's last year, which stole headlines for sheer excitement and crowd size.

Hozier, Doja Cat, Luke Combs, and The Strokes are all returning artists. That means nearly half of this year's headliners are making their ACL Fest debut right at the top. One of those newcomers is John Summit, an who was speculated to show up in 2024 with Dom Dolla. Fans also expected to see Sabrina Carpenter in 2024 (in part thanks to a misleading advertisement on the "payphone" ACL Fest installed to tease its lineup), so thankfully they didn't have to wait long.

After the actual headliners, the top line of performers include Colombian reggaeton star Feid, who has collaborated with Bad Bunny, J Balvin, Karol G, and more; alternative rock band Cage the Elephant, who are back from a tumultuous patch; R&B star T-Pain, in the middle of a personal renaissance to remind people he can sing without autotune; Australian electropop duo Empire of the Sun, with alien operatic stage sensibilities; nostalgic solo artist Djo, the nearly incognito solo project of actor Joe Keery from Stranger Things; and iconic post-hardcore band Pierce the Veil, who are back in the studio again.

Locals receive a karmic second chance to see Passion Pit, the defining electropop group that recently dropped out of a 2025 South by Southwest showcase, leaving barely a trace. Japanese Breakfast also promises big crowds; a recent signing appearance at End of An Ear in South Austin created a line around the block for hours. Two more CultureMap favorites (if readers will indulge us) are Southern indie rock band Rainbow Kitten Surprise and British indie, post-punk band Wet Leg; respectively hyper sincere and deadpan, but both fun and high-energy.

Among Austin artists, two stand out as recent festival favorites: Geto Gala and The Point. Geto Gala is a hip hop duo favoring smooth, nostalgic beats and a laid-back lyrical delivery. The Point, a rock group, spans many styles, but their live sets tend to show off high-energy, world-influenced, and mostly instrumental blues. Dylan Gossett, while not exactly a festival staple, is much higher up on the lineup and is becoming very well-respected as a country-folk songwriter.

A press release pulls out some additional notable acts from the lineup:

Fujii Kaze (W2)
ROLE MODEL
Gigi Perez
CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso (W2)
Olivia Dean
Yoke Lore
flowerovlove
Royal & The Serpent
Amble
Good Neighbours
Celeste (W1)

And some from Texas:

Maren Morris (W1)
Dylan Gossett
Tanner Usrey
Asleep at the Wheel (W1)
INOHA (W1)
Johnny Stimson (W2)
SL Houser (W1)
Geto Gala (W1)
Farmer’s Wife (W2)
Alex Amen (W2)
Shallowater (W2)
Aaron Page (W1)
Huston-Tillotson University Jazz Collective (W2)
Disciples of Christ (W1)

A full lineup can be viewed here:

ACL's full 2025 lineup.Graphic courtesy of Austin City Limits Music Festival

Folks who can't make the festival can once again tune in on Hulu, returning as the festival's official streaming partner for performances, interviews, and more. Hulu will stream the first weekend, only.

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Movie Review

Glen Powell bumps off rich family in How to Make a Killing

Photo courtesy of A24

Glen Powell in How to Make a Killing.

Becoming a star in Hollywood and maintaining that stardom are two very difficult things to achieve, but Glen Powell has been adept at doing so over the past few years. A key supporting role in Top Gun: Maverick led to lead parts in films like Hit Man, Anyone But You, Twisters, and The Running Man. Powell is looking to keep his star power shining in the new dark comedy/thriller, How to Make a Killing.

He plays Beckett, an outcast member of the ultra-wealthy Redfellow clan. Struggling to get by in a menial job in New York City while still living in New Jersey, Beckett’s only smidgen of hope is that he remains an heir to the vast Redfellow fortune. The only trick? Every other remaining family member must die before he’ll see a dime of that money. When even that menial job goes away, Beckett indulges the fantasy of bumping off his familial competition.

Among those standing in his way are cousins Taylor (Raff Law), a finance bro, Noah (Zach Woods), a pretentious artist, and Steven (Topher Grace), a celebrity pastor; Uncle Warren (Bill Camp) and Aunt Cassandra (Bianca Amato); and grandfather Whitelaw (Ed Harris). Complicating matters, however, are an old childhood friend, Julia (Margaret Qualley), who starts asking more of Beckett than he can give; and new flame Ruth (Jessica Henwick), who happens to be dating Noah when he meets her.

Written and directed by John Patton Ford (Emily the Criminal), the film is a tale of two halves. Narrated by Beckett in the form of telling his story to a prison chaplain, the story plays with audience expectations on multiple occasions. As Beckett ramps up to detailing exactly how he got started down the road toward being a serial killer, the film has a fun-if-macabre vibe.

Under normal circumstances Beckett would be someone to despise, but since he’s an underprivileged person who’s taking aim at people who (mostly) don’t seem to appreciate their good luck, it feels okay to cheer for him. This follows a recent trend in “eat the rich” films, one that’s been influenced by a turn against real-life billionaires. Ford plays heavily into the theme and it works for a good portion of the film.

However, things get a little murky in the second half of the movie. A few of the planned killings get less attention than others, making their - pardon the pun - execution less interesting/fun than the others. Also, Ford does a poor job of indicating just how much weight should be put on Beckett’s relationship with Julia, someone with whom he only has occasional interactions for the bulk of the film.

It’s difficult to know the exact right way to showcase Powell, but this film doesn’t seem to be the best fit. Whether it’s the odd hairstyle/wig he’s given, or the varying degrees of confidence his character shows, his performance is up and down. Qualley’s acting style is over-the-top, and she needed to dial it down in this particular role. Henwick and Camp are the grounding forces in the film, keeping the story somewhat tethered to reality while almost everyone else makes a meal of their scenes.

How to Make a Killing is serviceable entertainment that gives viewers a decent number of laughs and thrills. But Ford can’t find a way to make the story work all the way through, and a so-so performance by Powell keeps the film from rising above its mediocre station.

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How to Make a Killing opens in theaters on February 20.

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