As quickly as it came, Sundance 2024 is in the books, with it another excellent showcase of the hottest titles in independent cinema. This marked my fifteenth year attending the festival in Park City, Utah, and I ended up reviewing twenty-one movies as part of my coverage. Here are a few takeaways from the festival:
Horror is king at Sundance
The midnight section at Sundance has always been extensive, but in the last few years, thanks to the box office success of breakout acquisitions like Hereditary, The Babadook, and last year’s Talk to Me, it’s become the premiere section for big deals. A24 showed up with one of the most buzzed-about titles of the festival, I Saw the TV Glow (which I disliked – but I was in the minority), while Netflix spent $17 million on It’s What’s Inside, which could be a big horror breakout for them. The section is so hot that A24 brought their noir-tinged thriller Love Lies Bleeding to the section when, in previous years, it would have likely been in the premieres category.
Kung Fu Mayhem still had a place at Sundance:
In recent years, I’ve whined about how festivals don’t play enough action movies, so I was thrilled when this year’s opening night movie, Freaky Tales, seemed reverse-engineered to please my addled brain. The film has everything: Pedro Pascal being a badass, Nazis getting beaten up, a killer 80s score, and a kung-fu bloodbath climax. Hell yes.
Documentaries are big business
Two of the festival’s biggest acquisitions were for documentaries. Warner Bros is set to plunk down $15 million for Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (a fitting purchase given their DC ownership), while Netflix spent eight figures on Will & Harper, a documentary featuring Will Ferrell making a cross-country journey with his best friend, Harper, who recently came out as trans.
Here’s a list of 10 five favorite movies from the festival:
- Freaky Tales
- Hitman
- Exhibiting Forgiveness
- A Real Pain
- The Greatest Night in Pop
- Suncoast
- Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
- It’s What’s Inside
- Love Lies Bleeding
- Will & Harper
Which Sundance movies are you most looking forward to? Let us know in the comments! Reall all our Sundance reviews HERE!
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