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Sundance Film Festival · 2017

Sundance Film Festival 2017

Midnight

Programme

8 films · 7 reviews

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78/52 (Hitchcock's Shower Scene 78/52)

Review preview for 78/52

Essential viewing for anyone with an interest in the craft of filmmaking.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A documentary about the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Alexandre O Philippe; Stars: Jamie Lee Curtis, Elijah Wood, Guillermo del Toro, Danny Elfman, Leigh Whannell, Peter Bogdanovich, Oz Perkins, Neil Marshall, Karyn Kusama, Bret Easton Ellis, Richard Stanley, Walter Murch, Mali Elfman, Fred Raskin, Josh C Waller)

Full review

World premiere

Bad Day For The Cut

Review preview for Bad Day For The Cut

Baugh and his co-writer Brendan Mullin have a good feel for how they can push the absurdity of the situation without turning the whole thing into farce.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
When a farmer's mum is murdered, he finds himself on a path for vengeance.... and a journey into her past.

(Country: UK; Year: 2016; Director: Chris Baugh; Writer: Chris Baugh, Brendan Mullin; Stars: Nigel O'Neill, Susan Lynch, Józef Pawlowski, Stuart Graham, David Pearse, Anna Próchniak, Stella McCusker, Ian McElhinney, Brian Milligan, Shashi Rami, Lalor Roddy, Ryan McParland, Andrew Porter)

Full review

World premiere

Bitch

Review preview for Bitch

A tight little film that could have been disastrous if mishandled.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A woman snaps under crushing life pressures and assumes the psyche of a vicious dog. Her philandering, absentee husband is forced to become reacquainted with his four children and sister-in-law as they attempt to keep the family together during this bizarre crisis.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Marianna Palka; Writer: Marianna Palka; Stars: Jaime King, Jason Ritter, Brighton Sharbino, Eric Edelstein, Caroline Aaron, Marianna Palka, Roger Guenveur Smith, Bill Smitrovich, Sol Rodriguez, Rio Mangini, Jason Maybaum, Ren Hanami, Kingston Foster)

Full review

World premiere

Bushwick

Review preview for Bushwick

Pulls no punches as it takes viewers on a terrifying ride through once-familiar territory turned utterly alien.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A young woman teams up with a military veteran to try and survive when insurgents bring war to the streets of New York City.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Jonathan Milott, Cary Murnion; Writer: Nick Damici, Graham Reznick; Stars: Brittany Snow, Dave Bautista, Arturo Castro, Christian Navarro, Angelic Zambrana, Jeff Lima, Patrick M. Walsh, Quincy Chad, Jay Hieron, Jeremie Harris, Alex Breaux, Ludovic Coutaud, Adrian Matilla, Justin L. Wilson, Myra Lucretia Taylor)

Full review

World premiere

Killing Ground

Review preview for Killing Ground

What Power does differently is to deny us the usual sources of comfort.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
A young couple camping in the woods find an abandoned tent and then a lost toddler.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2016; Director: Damien Power; Writer: Damien Power; Stars: Harriet Dyer, Aaron Pedersen, Stephen Hunter, Tiarnie Coupland, Ian Meadows, Maya Stange, Mitzi Ruhlmann, Aaron Glenane, Julian Garner, Tara Jade Borg, Michael Knott, Mark Gadaleta, Jackie Dettmer, Matthew Dettmer, Liam Parkes)

Full review See: Interview with Damien Power about Killing Ground

World premiere

Kuso

Review preview for Kuso

It’s absolutely a little squalid, but focusing on these elements ignores the often sublime visuals that permeate the film.

Luke Shaw · 4 out of 5
Broadcasting through a makeshift network of discarded televisions, this story is tangled up in the aftermath of Los Angeles's worst earthquake nightmare.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Flying Lotus; Writer: David Firth, Flying Lotus; Stars: Anders Holm, George Clinton, Byron Bowers)

Full review

World premiere

The Little Hours

Review preview for The Little Hours

The piecemeal nature of Giovanni Boccaccio’s source material only adds to the sketch show feel, with as many moments missing the mark as hitting it.

Amber Wilkinson · 2.5 out of 5
When a runaway slave takes shelter at a convent, sexual shenanigans ensue.

(Country: US, Italy; Year: 2017; Director: Jeff Baena; Writer: Jeff Baena; Stars: Alison Brie, Dave Franco, Kate Micucci, Aubrey Plaza, John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon, Fred Armisen, Jemima Kirke, Nick Offerman, Jon Gabrus, Adam Pally, Lauren Weedman, Paul Weitz, Paul Reiser)

Full review

World premiere

XX

This all-female horror anthology features four dark tales.

(Country: US, Canada; Year: 2017; Director: Roxanne Benjamin, Sofia Carrillo, Karyn Kusama, St. Vincent, Jovanka Vuckovic; Writer: Jack Ketchum, Jovanka Vuckovic; Stars: Natalie Brown, Angela Trimbur, Mike Doyle, Breeda Wool, Kyle Allen, Peter DaCunha, Peyton Kennedy, Ron Lea, Christina Kirk, Jonathan Watton, Brenda Wehle, Morgan Krantz, Sanai Victoria, Lisa Renee Pitts, Morgan Peter Brown)

World premiere