It’s crazy for me to realize this, but this year marks my fifteenth time covering the Sundance Film Festival for JoBlo. Granted, two were virtual due to the pandemic, but I’ve made my way to lovely Park City, Utah, thirteen times over the years to catch all the most interesting indie flicks coming soon to theatres (or- nowadays – streaming). In my time at Sundance, I was lucky to see classics like Call Me By Your Name, Whiplash (at a genuinely unforgettable press screening), The Raid 2, and so many more.
While – to me anyway – the festival’s output has been a little lower key in recent years (due to a combination of the pandemic, the theatrical marketplace and a reticence to make truly provocative films), every year I know I’ll see at least a ten or so titles that will resonate with our audience. Last year’s midnight entry, Talk to Me, made over $90 million worldwide, so even in a quiet year, there’s a chance a blockbuster will emerge.
Here are some of the titles I’m most keen on seeing:
A legitimate Sundance legend is returning to Park City, with Steven Soderbergh bringing his latest film, Presence, which re-teams him with his Kimi screenwriter David Koepp. The film involves a family moving to a new home that has a mysterious “presence,” which – I’ll admit – sounds about as unoriginal as it gets. But, Soderbergh no doubt has something unique up his sleeves, and the film sports an exciting cast that includes Lucy Liu, Julia Fox (Uncut Gems), and This is Us / The Knick star Chris Sullivan.
Sebastian Stan stars in this A24 movie about an actor who undergoes an experimental procedure to radically alter his appearance for a role – which he doesn’t end up getting. To note, the film co-stars Under the Skin’s Adam Pearson, who suffers from neurofibromatosis, and delivered a pretty unforgettable performance in that film.
Captain Marvel directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck return to the indie scene with this 1987 set multi-character piece that sports an all-star cast which includes Pedro Pascal, Ben Mendelsohn (who was excellent in their film Mississippi Grind), Jay Ellis, and the late Angus Cloud. The Sundance program describes it as “a pastiche of pulp, pop, comic books, anthology horror, Old Testament wrath, and kung fu by way of a bloody crescendo that leaves no appendage unsevered,” which, I’ll admit, has my curiosity piqued.
Every year, at least one horror movie breaks out in a big way from the Midnight section, and A24 has been hyping their new film, I Saw the TV Glow. This stars Justice Smith and Bill & Ted Face the Music star Brigette Lundy-Pain as teens discover a mysterious new late-night show that alters their reality. Sounds like Videodrome for teens, right?
Saint Maud director Rose Glass returns to A24 (a company seemingly behind many of the fest’s hottest titles) for this noir-tinged thriller starring Kristen Stewart as a reclusive gym owner who falls in love with a bodybuilder (Katy O’Brian), but also has to deal with her mobster father, played by an unhinged Ed Harris. The trailer for this, which used the Bronski Beat classic “Smalltown Boy,” was pretty dynamic.
Sundance loves to break your heart with its showbiz documentaries. Last year, it was the Michael J. Fox doc, Still, and this year, we’re getting a feature-length account of the life of the best Superman, Christopher Reeve. Considering what an inspiration he became to so many of us, I’m not expecting a dry eye in the house by the time the credits roll on this one.
The great Nick Frost stars as the patriarch of a nineties sitcom family who has to man up and defend his home when he runs afoul of Russian mobsters. Frost’s involvement alone would have me eagerly anticipating this one. Still, the premise and the fact that it co-stars a bonafide legend in Alicia Silverstone makes this one of the festival’s must-see movies.
Which of these movies sounds the best to you? Let us know in the comments and keep an eye out for our reviews!