Seekers of Infinite Love held its world premiere on Mar. 12, 2026, during the 2026 SXSW Film & TV Festival at the Zach Theatre in Austin, TX. The film was selected for the festival’s Narrative Spotlight section.
Written and directed by Victoria Strouse, starring Hannah Einbinder, Justin Theroux, John Reynolds, Griffin Gluck, Justine Lupe, and Greg Kinnear. Einbinder also served as an executive producer.
The film is a comedy about three siblings who aren’t any more different from each other. Kayla (Einbinder), a claustrophobic writer, Wes (Gluck), a comic book artist who gambles and dabbles in drugs, and Zach (Reynolds), the oldest, a lawyer with control issues. The three reluctantly reconnect upon news of hearing that their sister, Scarlett (Lupe), has joined a cult known as the Seekers of Infinite Love. This soon causes the three siblings to join forces, to their chagrin, to save their sister from the doomsday cult. To aid in her rescue, the siblings bring a cult deprogrammer, Rick (Theroux), along as they journey through the American South.
John Reynolds, Hannah Einbinder, and Justin Theroux in SEEKERS OF INFINITE LOVE. Photo courtesy of SXSW Film & TV Festival.
Strouse’s high-stakes comedy features a moving performance from Einbinder in her first leading feature film role. Einbinder brings warmth and charm in a grounded setting compared to the glitz and glamour of Hacks, post-Emmy win. She balances the tightrope of the film’s many tones as she can switch from a high-strung and chaotic woman to a reliable shoulder to cry on and an ear to listen to.
Gluck, the youngest of the three siblings, is juvenile and is the least put-together of the group. The wisecracking Wes is constantly skeptical of their quest to save their sister. Gluck brought a boyish charm and hilarity as a young man who is very lost in life.
Reynolds played the snarky and selfish Zach effortlessly, who sees his siblings as beneath him in terms of success. His performance can frustrate and irritate, while also showing the cracks in his facade as the insecure and scared man that he truly is. His dryness sets off the absurd yet relatable disagreements that are, to an elevated degree, realistic to anyone who has ever had fights with their sibling(s).
The odd one out is Theroux as Rick, the cult deprogrammer who is hired by the family to save Scarlett. He is unconventional in his methods but has a strong determination as he joins the three siblings on the road trip. Theroux brings an arrogant but eccentric energy to the film, sparking the drive for the siblings to put aside their differences to successfully rescue Scarlett due to his deep knowledge about what the cult truly is.
Scarlett, lost in her life, joins the Seekers as they form somewhat of a secondary family, as her original family is very eccentric and, in a way, broken. Her absence is the catalyst that causes these three siblings to go on this journey to not only become closer to themselves, but to repair the intangible bond that they have. Speaking of the cult, Kinnear is the overly friendly and manipulative leader, Hal, who promotes a harmonious nature, guiding those who are lost to his group, which Scarlett finds solace in. He brings an unsettling presence to the film, as once he is on screen, you can feel the tension rise as he uses his power to keep Scarlett at all costs.
The comedy ranges the spectrum from typical jokes to physical comedy, all the way to gags that will have you falling out of your seat in laughter and cringe, while also having moments that will strike an emotional cord.
Strouse, in a Q&A following the second screening of the film, discussed the extensive journey of the film’s production, twenty years in the making. She based the story on her own relationship with her siblings, being one out of four. The script went through different iterations and production cycles before she decided she would take the reins to adapt her script to the screen which she did to an amazing degree as she distilled the strange, delicate, and impossible feelings of family, a connection so firmly rooted upon birth, but that holds a beautiful inescapable presence throughout life, showing the unyielding connections between siblings.
4 out of 5 stars.
This film is still currently seeking distribution.
