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Sundance Film Festival · 2015

Sundance Film Festival 2015

US Dramatic Competition

View the US Dramatic Competition Gallery.

Programme

16 films · 9 reviews

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Advantageous

Review preview for Advantageous

As with the best science fiction, the technology of the future is used to explore the human condition of the present.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
In a near-future city, a mother faces a stark choice about her future.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Jennifer Phang; Writer: Jacqueline Kim, Jacqueline Kim, Jennifer Phang, Jennifer Phang; Stars: Jacqueline Kim, James Urbaniak, Jennifer Ehle, Rex Lee, Freya Adams, Ariana Altman, Mercedes Griffeth, Olivia Horton, Amy Huckabay, Jennifer Ikeda, Ken Jeong, Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris, Rebecca Pitkin, Troi Zee)

Full review

World premiere.

The Bronze

Review preview for The Bronze

After years of suffering manchildren at the cinema, we are now subjected to the womanchild.

Amber Wilkinson · 2 out of 5
A bitter former gymnast takes up a coaching role on the promise of cash.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Bryan Buckley; Writer: Melissa Rauch, Winston Rauch, Winston Rauch; Stars: Melissa Rauch, Gary Cole, Haley Lu Richardson, Thomas Middleditch, Sebastian Stan, Cecily Strong, Dale Raoul, Ellery Sprayberry, Ben Rauch, Sherry Hudak, Heidi Lewandowski, Stephanie Bertoni, Dave Durch, Kiana Madani, Stefanie Satchik)

Full review

World premiere. Day One Film.

The Diary Of A Teenage Girl

Minnie Goetze is a 15-year-old aspiring comic-book artist, coming of age in the haze of the 1970s in San Francisco. Insatiably curious about the world around her, Minnie is a pretty typical teenage girl. Oh, except that she's sleeping with her mother's boyfriend.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Marielle Heller; Writer: Phoebe Gloekner, Marielle Heller; Stars: Bel Powley, Alexander Skarsgård, Kristen Wiig, Christopher Meloni, Margarita Levieva, Quinn Nagle, Madeleine Waters, Austin Lyon, Miranda Bailey, Giovanni Miller, Samantha Hyde, David Fine, Natalie Stephany Aguilar, Drew Benda, Davy Clements)

World premiere.

Dope

Review preview for Dope

The film has charm, due in most parts to Shameik Moore's performance

Angus Wolfe Murray · 3.5 out of 5
Self confessed teen geek from the wrong side of the tracks in Inglewood, Cal, with aspirations to go to Harvard, is compromised by a stash of drugs and threats from gangster crews.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Rick Famuyiwa; Writer: Rick Famuyiwa; Stars: Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons, Zoë Kravitz, Kimberly Elise, A$AP Rocky )

Full review

World premiere.

The D Train

The head of a high school reunion committee tries to track down the most popular bloke from his class to convince him to attend.

(Country: UK, US; Year: 2015; Director: Jarrad Paul, Andrew Mogel; Writer: Jarrad Paul, Andrew Mogel; Stars: Jack Black, James Marsden, Kathryn Hahn, Jeffrey Tambor, Mike White, Kyle Bornheimer)

World premiere.

I Smile Back

Review preview for I Smile Back

The sort of film you'd expect to see in the lunchtime slot on True Entertainment, not in cinemas.

Jennie Kermode · 1.5 out of 5
All is not right in suburbia. Laney Brooks, a wife and mother on the edge, has stopped taking her meds, substituting recreational drugs and the wrong men. With the destruction of her family looming, Laney makes a last, desperate attempt at redemption.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Adam Salky; Writer: Paige Dylan, Paige Dylan, Amy Koppelman, Amy Koppelman; Stars: Sarah Silverman, Josh Charles, Thomas Sadoski, Mia Barron, Skylar Gaertner, Shayne Coleman, Sean Reda, Billy Magnussen, Kristin Griffith, Oona Laurence, Clark Jackson, Terry Kinney, Gregory Dann, Sarah Dulat, Nick Taylor)

Full review

World premiere.

Me And Earl And The Dying Girl

Review preview for Me And Earl And The Dying Girl

As cool as a multi-coloured popsicle.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5
How to be a teenager without losing your life and why helping a friend who is sick need not be an exercise in sentimental wishwash

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon; Writer: Jesse Andrews, based on his novel; Stars: Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler, Olivia Cooke, Nick Offerman, Connie Britton, Molly Shannon, Jon Bernthal, Katherine C. Hughes, Matt Bennett, Bobb'e J. Thompson)

Full review

World premiere.

The Overnight

Review preview for The Overnight

Resembles the first 15 minutes of a porn flick

Angus Wolfe Murray · 1 out of 5
Young couple, new to L.A, are seduced by cool couple who enjoy sexual experimentation

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Patrick Brice; Writer: Patrick Brice; Stars: Adam Scott, Taylor Schilling, Jason Schwartzman, Judith Godrèche)

Full review

World premiere.

People, Places, Things

Will Henry is a newly single graphic novelist balancing being a parent to his young twin daughters and teaching a classroom full of college students, all the while trying to navigate the rich complexities of new love and letting go of the woman who left him.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: James C Strouse; Writer: James C Strouse; Stars: Jemaine Clement, Regina Hall, Michael Chernus, Stephanie Allynne, Jessica Williams, Paul Castro Jr., Catherine Cain, Charles Cain, Alexa Magioncalda, Jordan Edmondson, Kiowa Smothergill)

World premiere.

Results

Review preview for Results

Bujalksi’s film, ambling on at a languid pace which would offend the five-miles-a-day Trevor, gets some mileage out of poking fun at the spandex set and their self improvement mantras, even if they are an easy target.

Owen Van Spall · 3 out of 5
Two mismatched personal trainers' lives are upended by the actions of a new, wealthy client.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Andrew Bujalski; Writer: Andrew Bujalski; Stars: Guy Pearce, Cobie Smulders, Kevin Corrigan, Giovanni Ribisi, Brooklyn Decker, Anthony Michael Hall, Tishuan Scott, Zoe Graham, David Bernon, Constance Zimmer, Elizabeth Berridge, Rebecca Chulew, Diane Selken, Katie Folger, Gary Teague)

Full review

World premiere.

Songs My Brothers Taught Me

Review preview for Songs My Brothers Taught Me

Zhao is in no hurry, allowing the sense of life in Pine Ridge to seep in to the bones of the film.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Life for siblings on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Chloé Zhao; Writer: Chloé Zhao; Stars: Irene Bedard, Eleonore Hendricks, Taysha Fuller, Travis Lone Hill, Dakota Brown, John Reddy, Lauren Janis, Cat Clifford, Kevin Hunter, Keanna Rowland, Jorge Dullknife, Gabby Montileaux, Derrick Janis, Allen Reddy, Jashaun St. John)

Full review

World premiere.

The Stanford Prison Experiment

This film is based on the events that took place in 1971 when Stanford professor Dr. Philip Zimbardo created what became one of the most shocking and famous social experiments of all time.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Kyle Patrick Alvarez; Writer: Tim Talbott, Philip Zimbardo; Stars: Billy Crudup, Michael Angarano, Moises Arias, Nicholas Braun, Gaius Charles, Keir Gilchrist, Ki Hong Lee, Thomas Mann, Ezra Miller, Logan Miller, Tye Sheridan, Johnny Simmons, James Wolk, Nelsan Ellis, Olivia Thirlby)

World premiere.

Stockholm, Pennsylvania

A young woman is returned home to her biological parents after living with her abductor for 17 years.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Nikole Beckwith; Writer: Nikole Beckwith, Nikole Beckwith; Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Jason Isaacs, Cynthia Nixon, Hana Hayes, Rosalind Chao, David Warshofsky, Rob Yang, Tom Wright, Michelle Alegria, Lindsey Elizabeth, Avery Phillips, Wiley B. Oscar, Derick Alexander, Gordon Greene, Dane Jensen)

World premiere.

Unexpected

When Samantha Abbott begins her final semester teaching science at a Chicago high school, she faces some unexpected news: she's pregnant. Soon after, Samantha learns that one of her favourite students, Jasmine, has landed in a similar situation. Unexpected follows the two women as they embark on an unlikely friendship.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Kris Swanberg; Writer: Megan Mercier, Kris Swanberg; Stars: Elizabeth McGovern, Anders Holm, Heidi Johanningmeier, DuShon Monique Brown, Gail Bean, Hans Dieter Wolff, Eric Sconyers, Aaron J. Nelson, Almedia Exum)

World premiere.

The Witch

Review preview for The Witch

Eggers draws fully on the iconography of the period, the muted greys and greens of the landscape captured by cinematographer Jarin Blaschkee broken only by repeated flashes of cardinal red, bringing with it the suggestion of cardinal sin.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A family of New England settlers find their faith tested when their son disappears... possibly snatched by something evil in the woods.

(Country: Canada, US; Year: 2015; Director: Robert Eggers; Writer: Robert Eggers; Stars: Anya Taylor Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Lucas Dawson, Ellie Grainger)

Full review

World premiere.

Z For Zachariah

In a post-apocalyptic world, a young woman who believes she is the last human on Earth meets a dying scientist searching for survivors. Their relationship becomes tenuous when another survivor appears. As the two men compete for the woman's affection, their primal urges begin to reveal their true nature.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Craig Zobel; Writer: Pall Grimsson, Nissar Modi, Nissar Modi, Robert C. O'Brien; Stars: Margot Robbie, Chris Pine, Chiwetel Ejiofor)

World premiere.