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Sundance Film Festival · 2015

Sundance Film Festival 2015

Spotlight

Selection of some of the festival favourites from around the world.

Programme

9 films · 7 reviews

Jump to a film

6 Desires: DH Lawrence and Sardinia

Mark Cousins follows in the footsteps of the author.

(Country: UK; Year: 2014; Director: Mark Cousins; Writer: Mark Cousins, Laura Marcellino)

'71

Review preview for '71

Burke is interested in people not politics, keeping the focus on the sudden outbreaks of inhumanity and humanity in the madness, expertly crafting his thriller from the swirling fog of war.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A young British soldier is accidentally left behind by his unit on the deadly streets of Belfast in 1971.

(Country: UK; Year: 2014; Director: Yann Demange; Writer: Gregory Burke; Stars: Jack O'Connell, Paul Anderson, Sean Harris, Charlie Murphy, Sam Reid, David Wilmot, Sam Hazeldine, Martin McCann, Killian Scott, Jack Lowden, Valene Kane, Tom Raven, Barry Keoghan, Paul Popplewell, Gerard Jordan)

99 Homes

Review preview for 99 Homes

The narrative is paced with the urgency of a thriller.

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
A man struggles to get back the home that his family was evicted from by working for the greedy real-estate broker who's the source of his frustration.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Ramin Bahrani; Writer: Ramin Bahrani, Amir Naderi, Bahareh Azimi; Stars: Andrew Garfield, Laura Dern, Michael Shannon, Tim Guinee, J.D. Evermore, Patrick Kearns, Noah Lomax, Gus Rhodes, Judd Lormand, Cullen Moss, Donna Duplantier, Tom Bui, John L. Armijo, Wayne Pére, Jamie Elliott)

Aloft

Review preview for Aloft

There's no shying away from the fact that the New Age, twig-built mumbo-jumbo peddled here is no match from the otherworldly ancient belief systems of Peru that flow through Llosa's earlier works.

Amber Wilkinson · 2 out of 5
A son goes in search of his estranged mother.

(Country: US, Spain, France; Year: 2014; Director: Claudia Llosa; Writer: Claudia Llosa; Stars: Jennifer Connelly, Mélanie Laurent, Cillian Murphy, William Shimell, Zen McGrath, Nancy Drake, Winta McGrath, Allan Wallace Dunkeld, Carson Nattrass, Cam Gates, Erika Marxx, Marjorie Roden, Karen Tusa)

Eden

Review preview for Eden

Hansen-Løve's momentary excursions into animation, split screen, and possibly re-writing of world history are the most effective parts.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
Paul is taking his first steps as a DJ in the world of French house music.

(Country: France; Year: 2014; Director: Mia Hansen-Løve; Writer: Mia Hansen-Løve, Sven Hansen-Løve; Stars: Greta Gerwig, Brady Corbet, Golshifteh Farahani, Claire Tran, Arsinée Khanjian, Crystal Lonneberg, Laura Smet, Félix de Givry, Selcuk Demir, Vincent Lacoste, Pauline Etienne, Vincent Macaigne, Shirville Jarvis, Roman Kolinka, Matthias Van Khache, Reginald L. Wilson)

Girlhood (Bande de filles)

Review preview for Girlhood

Transformation is coming, although as with Sciamma's previous films this is not a simple, one-way manoeuvre, completed in double-quick time

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
Oppressed by her family setting, dead-end school prospects and the boys law in the neighborhood, Marieme starts a new life after meeting a group of free-spirited girls.

(Country: France; Year: 2014; Director: Céline Sciamma; Writer: Céline Sciamma; Stars: Diabate Idrissa, Rabah Nait Oufella, Tatiana Rojo, Karidja Touré)

The Tribe (Plemya)

Review preview for The Tribe

Slaboshpytskiy goes to show, first through Anna and then the actions of Sergey that some transactions can hold a lot more - and worse - than we have bargained for.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A deaf teenager runs into gang trouble at a boarding school.

(Country: Ukraine, Netherlands; Year: 2014; Director: Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy; Writer: Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy; Stars: Grigoriy Fesenko, Yana Novikova, Rosa Babiy, Alexander Dsiadevich, Yaroslav Biletskiy)

White God (Fehér isten)

A girl goes in search of her pet dog.

(Country: Hungary, Germany, Sweden; Year: 2014; Director: Kornél Mundruczó; Writer: Kornél Mundruczó, Viktória Petrányi, Kata Wéber; Stars: Zsófia Psotta, Sándor Zsótér, Lili Horváth, Szabolcs Thuróczy, Lili Monori, Gergely Bánki, Tamás Polgár, Orsolya Tóth, Kornél Mundruczó, Natasa Stork, János Derzsi, Péter Gothár, Ervin Nagy, Alexandra Gallusz, László Gálffi)

Wild Tales

Review preview for Wild Tales

Ferociously funny.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
Vulnerable before a reality that can suddenly be modified and become unpredictable, the characters of Wild Tales cross the thin line that divides civilization from brutality.

(Country: Argentina, Spain; Year: 2014; Director: Damián Szifron; Writer: Damián Szifron; Stars: Rita Cortese, Ricardo Darín, Nancy Dupláa, Darío Grandinetti, Oscar Martínez, Osmar Núñez, María Onetto, Erica Rivas, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Julieta Zylberberg)