Ramin Bahrani
We may not be able to see every movie at the Sundance Film Festival, but we’re doing our level best to track down what’s new and what’s next. Here’s how it’s gone so far:
Day 1
99 Homes (above)
Right before its opening curtain on day one of the festival, director Ramin Bahrani described the film as a mob thriller. And he wasn’t wrong. This story about a man evicted from his home (Andrew Garfield) and the morally dubious relationship he forms with the man who seized it from him (Michael Shannon) carried a weight of danger the entire time. Strong lead performances by Shannon and Garfield propelled the film, while expert utility player Laura Dern brought a soft strength as its quiet moral center.
Strand Releasing
Girlhood
No, Richard Linklater had nothing to do with this movie. Director Céline Sciamma’s portrait of growing up poor, black and female in a housing project outside Paris was stark and honest (and very much not about a boy who just hangs out for 3 hours). It’s stripped down exploration of sexual, racial and socio-economic identity was set off by bursts of electronic dream-pop that boosted both the urgency and emotional impact.
Aaron Epstein
Stockholm, Pennsylvania
This is the first feature film from writer/director Nikole Beckwith, tackling light topics like the nature and capabilities of human connection. We talked with co-star Jason Isaacs and while he readily agrees this movie isn’t for everyone, if you can endure the claustrophobic character study you’ll be rewarded with outstanding performances. Beckwith eschews the dichotomy of heroes and villains, preferring to let her actors vacillate between their angels and demons and forcing the audience to decide what love really looks like. Saoirse Ronan’s outwardly minimal performance is an emotional wrecking ball, and Cynthia Nixon goes all in as a mother coping with the return of her daughter after she was abducted 17 years ago.
Day 2
Fresh Dressed
This directorial debut of ego trip founding editor Sacha Jenkins is a documentary in partnership with CNN Films that tells the story of contemporary black identity as it relates to fashion and hip-hop culture. Jenkins interviewed more than 70 people for the film, getting input from fashion industry icons like Riccardo Tisci, street fashion pioneers like Harlem’s Dapper Dan, and hip-hop legends like Nas. Going from the days of Melle Mel up through to the current reign of King Kanye, Jenkin provides a vibrant, passionate explainer on the antecedents of black fashion and culture.
David Moir
Dope
Fitting that we’d catch this on the heels of Fresh Dressed, as our heroes in Dope are three current-day high school seniors obsessed with ’90s hip-hop. Director Rick Famuyiwa (The Wood, Brown Sugar) captures the optimism of the decade he’s paying homage to while celebrating the nouveau chic of nerd-dom and why it’s hip to be square—even in a tough LA neighborhood like The Bottoms. (It’s also the feature acting debut of rapper A$AP Rocky, whose old-school cred begins with the fact that his parents literally named him after Rakim.) The soundtrack, with a handful of original tracks produced by Pharrell Williams, is beautiful mashup of nostalgia and dance party, and the characters are genuine and deeply lovable.
RADiUS
It Follows
This one had a lot of buzz coming into Sundance (including landing on our most anticipated list) and it did not disappoint. At a midnight screening on Saturday, director David Robert Mitchell (The Myth of the American Sleepover) was on hand to introduce the film, and put simply, it scared the goddamn life out of us. The score, the cinematography, the concept—everything worked. We’ll leave the hype superlatives to others. Just find this when it comes to theaters if you want to have a great time at the movies.
Day 3
Jason Robinette
Experimenter
From start to finish, Michael Almereyda spent more than five years directing, writing and producing this movie about social psychologist Stanley Miligram (Peter Sarsgaard)—and it shows. While not the most riveting movie we’ve seen so far, Almereyda presents a uniquely styled portrait (at times it feels like a documentary with actors playing the subjects) of a controversial researcher, and he does so with meticulous care and respect for Miligram the person as opposed to Miligram the monstrous myth. The hitch here is that monstrous myths make for more outright compelling cinema, but if you want a low-key, well-acted walk through one man’s life that doubles as a rumination on human nature, Experimenter should suit you just fine.
Magnolia Pictures
White God
This is one from the festival’s Spotlight section, meaning it’s already had its global premiere elsewhere, but the committee was so impressed they wanted to give it special attention at Sundance. Everyone knows that animals are the best part of every movie; even if it only shows up for like 30 seconds, no one can resist a puppy. But what happens when the beloved house dog is kicked to the street for being a low-brow mixed breed and has to survive horrid abuses before rising as a revolutionary? White God is what happens. Look, it’s a metaphor, okay? If you have a beating heart, it will be really hard to watch Hagen the dog’s painful journey without sobbing openly (we did), but this is a special, strange social allegory, and very deserving of its place in the Spotlight.
Still to Come
The Tribe
Knock Knock
Turbo Kid
Reversal
The Bronze
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