I am so happy that I got to attend the Sundance Film Festival in person this year! I really missed the excitement of seeing a film on the big screen with a large and enthusiastic crowd as well as all of the wonderful conversations with people who love independent film as much as I do! I was able to see eighteen films (at the Grand Theatre and the Rose Wagner Center for the Performing Arts) which is my record for in-person screenings! My first film was Sometimes I Think About Dying. Fran (Daisy Ridley) is a lonely young woman in a mundane job who struggles to make connections with people because she thinks that her life isn't interesting enough. To compensate for her boring existence she has elaborate daydreams about dying. She eventually finds a reason to engage with life when she meets a new co-worker (Dave Merheje) but can she overcome her anxiety to have a relationship with him? I loved Ridley's restrained, yet highly nuanced, performance and I laughed out loud at Fran's awkwardness because it is such a realistic portrayal of an introvert. My second film was the psychological thriller Run Rabbit Run. Sarah (Sarah Snook) is disconcerted when her daughter Mia (Lily LaTorre) turns seven and seems to become possessed by Sarah's sister who mysteriously disappeared when she was seven. Mia's behavior brings up a repressed childhood trauma for Sarah and, eventually, the audience is left to wonder if she needs protection from Mia or if Mia needs protection from her. There is such a sense of foreboding (the sound design is brilliant) but the filmmakers can't seem to commit to it because just when the tension is at its peak it is dialed back and I found that incredibly frustrating. My third film was The Pod Generation where a couple (Emilia Clarke and Chiwetel Ejiofor) living in the near future decide to have a baby using an artificial womb. I loved the world-building (especially the A.I. psychologist) and the message about becoming too reliant on technology but it does go on a bit. My fourth film was Other People's Children. A 40-year-old teacher named Rachel (Virginie Efira) fears that she is running out of time to have a child but things become complicated when she grows attached to her partner's four year old daughter. I really loved Rachel's character arc (especially since I am a teacher and an aunt who doesn't have children) as well as Elfira's luminous performance. My fifth film was Magazine Dreams, which was one of my most anticipated because I really like Jonathan Majors. After surviving a childhood filled with violence, Killian Maddox (Majors) channels all of his obsessive energy into bodybuilding and his highest aspiration is to be on the cover of a magazine so he will be remembered. However, anger management issues, setbacks in his personal and professional life, and disillusionment after meeting his bodybuilding hero cause Maddox to contemplate another way of achieving fame. This has some really heavy themes that won't be for everyone but Majors delivers a brilliant performance. My sixth film was Birth/Rebirth which is a horror film based on Frankenstein involving a pathologist (Maren Ireland) and a labor and delivery nurse (Judy Reyes) who conspire to bring a child back to life. Both Ireland and Reyes give captivating performances that explore the lengths to which one will go for science and the other for the love of a child. It is plenty gory but I also enjoyed the dark humor. My seventh film was Theater Camp and this screening was the most fun I had at the whole festival! This is a feel-good mockumentary about saving a theater camp after the owner has a seizure and her clueless son takes over. It stars Ben Platt, Molly Gordon, and Noah Galvin who give hilarious performances. The audience in my screening laughed out loud through the whole thing! My eighth film was The Deepest Breath which was my first documentary of the festival. This is about the extreme sport of freediving which follows Alessia Zecchini and Stephen Keenan in their quest for her to complete a notoriously dangerous dive. I found it interesting, engaging, and emotional with stunning underwater photography. My ninth film was the noir thriller Eileen. A repressed young woman named Eileen (Thomasin McKenzie) becomes infatuated with the new psychologist, Rebecca Saint John (Anne Hathaway), at the prison where she works. They begin a relationship but the balance of power shifts in one of the wildest third act twists I've seen! It is stylish and atmospheric with fantastic performances from McKenzie and Hathaway. My tenth film was Infinity Pool which was the film I was most excited to see when the festival program was announced and the late night crowd was absolutely wild! While on vacation at an exclusive resort located in a developing country, a wealthy couple (Alexander Skarsgard and Cleopatra Coleman) discovers that the consequences of their actions can go away for the right price but this discovery leads the husband on a path to hedonism, violence, and, eventually, madness (with the help of an unhinged Mia Goth). It is shocking and disturbing (I've heard that the theatrical release has been cut) but I really dug it! My eleventh film was You Hurt My Feelings which is a light and breezy comedy about the little white lies we tell people to spare their feelings. It is pretty insubstantial but I did laugh out loud many times and the cast is great, particularly Julia Louis-Dreyfus. My twelfth film was My Animal which blends the coming of age genre with horror. Heather (Bobbi Salvor Menuez) is an outsider in her small town but her secret is harder to hide when she becomes infatuated with Jonny (Amandla Stenberg). The werewolf mythology is just a metaphor for Heather's sexual awakening but I wanted a bit more bite in the third act after all of the build-up. My thirteenth film was It's Only Life After All, a documentary about the Indigo Girls that details how Amy Ray and Emily Saliers became one of the most influential folk-rock duos despite the backlash about their gender, sexuality, and political activism. I am a casual fan but I loved this intimate, and often humorous, portrait (I had to laugh when Ray gets embarrassed by the angst in “Blood and Fire” because I love that song). My fourteenth film was Shortcomings which was another one of my most anticipated. Ben (Justin H. Min) is an aspiring filmmaker who is forced to recognize his insufferable behavior when he loses his job and his girlfriend Mika (Ally Maki) and best friend Alice (Sherry Cole) move to New York. Despite a few *ahem* shortcomings, I enjoyed the commentary on race and identity as well as the humor. My fifteenth film was Past Lives and I really loved it because it struck a chord with me. Childhood friends Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) are separated when her family emigrates from South Korea to Canada. Twelve years later they reconnect on Facebook but lose touch again and move on with their lives. After another twelve years, Hae Sung visits her in New York and they speculate about what their lives would be like if she had stayed in South Korea or if they had kept in touch. This film is about idealized memories of people and places and I could really relate to this theme as someone who left a childhood friend behind after emigrating to the U.S. This is my favorite film of the festival and will probably be one of my favorites this year! My sixteenth film was the hip romantic comedy Rye Lane. Dom (David Jonsson) and Yas (Vivian Oparah) meet and spontaneously spend the day walking through various London neighborhoods while commiserating about their recent break-ups and helping each other get revenge on their exes. There are lots of fun and surrealistic flashback sequences and some great cameos. My seventeenth film was Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie and I really enjoyed this documentary about Fox's rise to fame and diagnosis with Parkinson's Disease. Archival footage and reenactments are edited together very effectively and I loved the needle drops. My eighteenth and final film was Flora and Son and I definitely picked a good one to end with! This is another feel-good movie about the power of music from John Carney (the director of Once and Sing Street) with a great performance from Eve Hewson as a single mom trying to find a connection to her delinquent son (Oren Kinlan). I loved the chemistry between Hewson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (who plays her guitar teacher) and the original songs are fun and catchy. There you have it! I declare the festival a success because I had so much fun watching some great films and meeting some wonderful people!
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