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Sundance Film Festival · 2014

Sundance Film Festival 2014

US Dramatic Competition

Presenting the world premieres of 16 narrative feature films, the Dramatic Competition offers Festivalgoers a first look at groundbreaking new voices in American independent film.

Programme

16 films · 8 reviews

Jump to a film

Camp X-Ray

A young woman is stationed as a guard in Guantanamo Bay, where she forms an unlikely friendship with one of the detainees.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Peter Sattler; Writer: Peter Sattler; Stars: Kristen Stewart, Julia Duffy, Lane Garrison, Tara Holt, Yousuf Azami, Peyman Moaadi, Joseph Julian Soria, Ser'Darius Blain, Marco Khan, Anoop Simon, Jian, Nawal Bengholam, Cory Michael Smith, Richard Serio, Robert Tarpinian)

World premiere

Cold In July

Review preview for Cold In July

Be prepared for scenes you finish in your own head to haunt you.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
After killing a home intruder, a small town Texas man's life unravels into a dark underworld of corruption and violence.

(Country: US, France; Year: 2014; Director: Jim Mickle; Writer: Nick Damici, Jim Mickle, based on the novel by Joe R Lansdale; Stars: Michael C Hall, Don Johnson, Sam Shepard, Vinessa Shaw, Nick Damici, Wyatt Russell)

Full review

World premiere

Dear White People

Four black students attend an Ivy League college where a riot breaks out over an “African American” themed party thrown by white students. With tongue planted firmly in cheek, the film explores racial identity in postracial America while weaving a story about forging one's unique path in the world.

(Year: 2014; Director: Justin Simien; Writer: Justin Simien)

World premiere

Fishing Without Nets

A story of pirates in Somalia told from the perspective of a struggling, young Somali fisherman.

(Country: US, Kenya, Somalia; Year: 2014; Director: Cutter Hodierne; Writer: David Burkman, John Hibey, Cutter Hodierne; Stars: Abdikani Muktar, Abdi Siad, Abduwhali Faarah, Abdikhadir Hassan, Reda Kateb, Idil Ibrahim)

World premiere

God's Pocket

Review preview for God's Pocket

It struck me how well Slattery handles the shifts in tone from hard boiled to hilarious throughout.

Owen Van Spall · 3 out of 5
A man tries to find out how his stepson died against the backdrop of blue-collar Philadelphia.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: John Slattery; Writer: Peter Dexter, Alex Metcalf, John Slattery; Stars: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christina Hendricks, Richard Jenkins, Caleb Landry Jones, John Turturro, Domenick Lombardozzi, Peter Gerety, John Cenatiempo, Glenn Fleshler, Ivan Cardona, Bill Buell, Chris Cardona, Casey Roberts, Eddie McGee, Joe Mancini)

Full review

World premiere

Happy Christmas

After a break-up with her boyfriend, a young woman moves in with her older brother, his wife and their two-year-old son.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Joe Swanberg; Writer: Joe Swanberg; Stars: Anna Kendrick, Melanie Lynskey, Lena Dunham, Mark Webber, Joe Swanberg, Crystal Nicole Marcano)

World premiere

Hellion (Retribution)

Review preview for Hellion

Chandler's excellent script allows the raw drama to take centre stage.

Robert Munro · 4.5 out of 5
An alcoholic father struggles to keep his adolescent son out of jail and give him a better life.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Kat Candler; Writer: Kat Candler; Stars: Aaron Paul, Juliette Lewis, Tanner Beard, Jonny Mars, Walt Roberts, Annalee Jefferies, Augustine Frizzell, Brent Smiga, Deke Garner, Josh Wiggins, Jason Newman, Jayna Lacy, Corby Sullivan, Dylan Cole, Camron Owens)

Full review

World premiere

Infinitely Polar Bear

Review preview for Infinitely Polar Bear

Ruffalo is astonishing. He makes Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook look easy.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 3.5 out of 5
A manic-depressive mess of a father tries to win back his wife by attempting to take full responsibility for their two young daughters.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Maya Forbes; Writer: Maya Forbes; Stars: Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, Imogene Wolodarsky, Ashley Aufderheide, Beth Dixon, Keir Dullea)

Full review

World premiere

Jamie Marks Is Dead

No one seemed to care about Jamie Marks until after his death. Hoping to find the love and friendship he never had in life, Jamie’s ghost visits former classmate Adam McCormick, drawing him into the bleak world between the living and the dead.

(Country: US; Year: 2013; Director: Carter Smith; Writer: Christopher Barzak, Carter Smith; Stars: Liv Tyler, Judy Greer, Morgan Saylor, Cameron Monaghan, Madisen Beaty, Erin Wilhelmi, Lizzy DeClement, Noah Silver, Nadia Alexander, Maryann Urbano, Ronen Rubinstein, Fred Tolliver Jr, Connor Antico, Andrew Polk, Ryan Munzert)

World premiere

Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter (Kumiko The Treasure Hunter)

Review preview for Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter

As Kumiko’s journey takes her deeper into Minnesota, the breathtaking ‘Americana’ landscapes and intriguingly surreal score work together to suggest a heightened state, or a fable.

Owen Van Spall · 4 out of 5
A young Japanese woman obsessed with Fargo heads to Minnesota in search of lost treasure.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: David Zellner; Writer: David Zellner, Nathan Zellner; Stars: Rinko Kikuchi, Nobuyuki Katsube, Shirley Venard, David Zellner, Nathan Zellner, Kanako Higashi, Ichi Kyokaku, Ayaka Ohnishi, Mayuko Kawakita, Takao Kinoshita, Yumiko Hioki, Natsuki Kanno, Brad Prather, Earl Milton, Madde Gibba)

Full review

World premiere

Life After Beth

Review preview for Life After Beth

Feels less experimental and alternative than, well, the zombie genre demands.

Andrew Robertson · 3 out of 5
Beth dying makes life hard. Beth coming back makes it harder.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Jeff Baena; Writer: Jeff Baena; Stars: Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Alia Shawkat, Matthew Gray Gubler, Dane DeHaan, John C Reilly, Cheryl Hines, Molly Shannon, Thomas McDonell, Paul Reiser, Paul Weitz, Eva La Dare, Zoë Worth, Jenna Nye, Bechir Sylvain)

Full review

World premiere

Low Down

Based on Amy Jo Albany's memoir, Low Down explores her heart-wrenching journey to adulthood while being raised by her father, bebop pianist Joe Albany, as he teeters between incarceration and addiction in the urban decay and waning bohemia of Hollywood in the 1970s.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Jeff Preiss; Writer: Amy Albany, Topper Lilien, Amy Albany, Amy Albany, Amy Albany, Topper Lilien; Stars: Lena Headey, Taryn Manning, Elle Fanning, Peter Dinklage, Burn Gorman, Glenn Close, John Hawkes, Caleb Landry Jones, Tim Daly, Flea, Eddie Rouse, Ronnie Rodriguez, Mark Casimir Dyniewicz, Linda Wang, Juliet Tondowski)

World premiere

The Skeleton Twins

Review preview for The Skeleton Twins

The end product of a long and dismal trend in American indies, where the effort to create art just like the art one saw last week has produced a formula that is exponentially recursive.

Jennie Kermode · 1.5 out of 5
A restless young woman reconnects with her brother while he is recovering from a suicide attempt.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Craig Johnson; Writer: Mark Heyman, Craig Johnson; Stars: Kristen Wiig, Ty Burrell, Bill Hader, Luke Wilson, Boyd Holbrook, Kathleen Rose Perkins, Ian Hyland, Jennifer Lafleur, Eddie Schweighardt, Genevieve Adams, Sydney Lucas, Truck Hudson, Cliff Moylan, Paul Castro Jr., David Garelik)

Full review

World premiere

The Sleepwalker

A young couple, Kaia and Andrew, are renovating Kaia´s secluded family estate. Their lives are violently interrupted when unexpected guests arrive. The Sleepwalker chronicles the unravelling of the lives of four disparate characters.

(Country: US, Norway; Year: 2014; Director: Mona Fastvold; Writer: Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold; Stars: Gitte Witt, Christopher Abbott, Stephanie Ellis, Brady Corbet)

World premiere

Song One

Estranged from her family, Franny returns home when an accident leaves her brother comatose. Retracing his life as an aspiring musician, she tracks down his favourite musician, James Forester. Against the backdrop of Brooklyn’s music scene, Franny and James develop an unexpected relationship and face the realities of their lives.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Kate Barker-Froyland; Writer: Kate Barker-Froyland; Stars: Anne Hathaway, Mary Steenburgen, Ben Rosenfield, Stefano Villabona, Li Jun Li, Johnny Flynn, Al Thompson, Crystal Lonneberg, Steve Antonucci, Gideon Glick, Shawn Parsons, Walter DeForest, Crystal Nicole Marcano, Justin Arnold, Monna Sabouri)

World premiere

Whiplash

Review preview for Whiplash

The film takes on a masterful intesity as mental health as well as music begins to be at stake.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Under the direction of a ruthless instructor, a talented young drummer begins to pursue perfection at any cost, even his humanity.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Damien Chazelle; Writer: Damien Chazelle; Stars: Miles Teller, Melissa Benoist, JK Simmons, Austin Stowell, Kavita Patil, Michael D Cohen, Tian Wang, Kofi Siriboe, Tarik Lowe, Marcus Henderson, CJ Vana, Calvin C Winbush, Rogelio Douglas Jr., Adrian Burks, Charlie Ian)

Full review

World premiere. Day One film