Tomorrow I head to Park City, Utah for my ninth Sundance Film Festival. I have soft spot for Sundance because despite the cold and despite some of the similarities among the indies they select, at the end of the day, there’s a real sense of discovery that you don’t get from other major film festivals. You never know what’s going to be the breakout hit that everyone is talking about, and the fact that these movies are mostly unknowns let you be a champion for the films you adore. So yes, while I will be freezing as I walk between venues, I’m so grateful I get to attend and share my thoughts on movies with all of you.
While I’ve got a packed schedule, these are the five films I’m most excited to see at this year’s festival. That being said, without fail, I’m sure the under-the-radar hit is floating off somewhere and I’ll be scrambling to track it down. Yay, Sundance!
Velvet Buzzsaw
Writer/Director: Dan Gilroy
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Toni Collette, Zawe Ashton, Tom Sturridge, and Natalia Dyer
The trailer for this one is amazing, but it looks like Gilroy getting back to his creepy, bonkers voice that we all heard with the unforgettable Nightcrawler. This story takes place in the art world, and while the plot seems to involve artwork that kills people, the film itself seems to be hinting at some very cool ideas about what we perceive as art, what value art has, what makes art “dangerous”, and if there’s any difference between aesthetics and the horrors of reality. I cannot wait.
Late Night
Director: Nisha Ganatra
Writer: Mindy Kaling
Cast: Emma Thompson, Mindy Kaling, John Lithgow, Paul Walter Hauser, Reid Scott, and Amy Ryan
This one could easily be a crowdpleaser like past Sundance films The Big Sick or The Way, Way Back. The plot revolves around a late night host who hires the show’s first female staff writer, which creates unexpected conflict between the host and the writer. Working from a script by Kaling, I can see the film being hilarious, and also timely as women in the real world fight for a larger role in all areas, especially comedy.
The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley
Director: Alex Gibney
Sundance has no shortage of excellent documentaries (four of the five Best Documentary nominees played at Sundance 2018), and 2019 looks to be no exception. The biggest one that’s on my radar right now is The Inventor, which chronicles the scam run by Elizabeth Holmes who promised to revolutionize blood testing. I love a good story about fraud (I happily watched both Fyre Festival documentaries), and The Inventor promises a look into how easy it can be to dupe Silicon Valley.
Them That Follow
Writers/Directors: Britt Poulton & Dan Madison Savage
Cast: Olivia Colman, Kaitlyn Dever, Alice Englert, Jim Gaffigan, Walton Goggins, and Thomas Mann
Newly-minted Oscar nominee Olivia Colman leads this one about “a snake-handling church deep in Appalachia”, which just seems like a really interesting setting. Plus, I’m a sucker for movies about faith and belief (at one Sundance there were like four or five different movies about cults, and I saw all of them), so this one seems to fit the bill. Plus, with an outstanding cast like this, I’ve got to see how it all comes together.
Relive
Director: Jacob Estes
Writers: Jacob Estes, Drew Daywalt
Cast: David Oyelowo, Storm Reid, Mykelti Williamson, Alfred Molina, and Brian Tyree Henry
You can always expect to see at least a few films at Sundance with a cool sci-fi/fantasy plot, and Relive fits the bill. The film has a terrific hook: “After a man’s family dies in what appears to be a murder, he gets a phone call from one of the dead, his niece. He’s not sure if she’s a ghost or if he’s going mad — but as it turns out, he’s not. Instead, her calls help him rewrite history,” but the real draw here is you have a primarily black cast comprised of terrific actors. Oyelowo is always fantastic, and I’m eager to see how he plays against Reid, who turned in a strong lead performance in last year’s A Wrinkle in Time.