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Sundance Film Festival · 2017

Sundance Film Festival 2017

Premieres

Programme

19 films · 10 reviews

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Beatriz At Dinner

Review preview for Beatriz At Dinner

The satire feels a bit like shooting fish in a barrel, with Strutt so monstrous he's an easy target.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
A masseuse clashes with a real estate developer over a mansion meal.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Miguel Arteta; Writer: Mike White; Stars: Salma Hayek, John Lithgow, Chloë Sevigny, Connie Britton, Nina Arianda, Amy Landecker, John Early, Jay Duplass, David Warshofsky, Natalia Abelleyra)

Full review

World premiere

Before I Fall

Samantha Kingston has everything. Then, everything changes. After one fateful night, she wakes up with no future at all. Trapped into reliving the same day over and over, she begins to question just how perfect her life really was.

(Year: 2017; Director: Ry Russo-Young; Writer: Maria Maggenti, Lauren Oliver, Gina Prince-Bythewood; Stars: Zoey Deutch, Halston Sage, Jennifer Beals, Diego Boneta, Elena Kampouris, Logan Miller, Alyssa Lynch, Nicholas Lea, Kian Lawley, Medalion Rahimi, Cynthy Wu, Liv Hewson, Erica Tremblay, Claire Corlett, Liam Hall)

World premiere

The Big Sick

Review preview for The Big Sick

Each of the characters here, presumably because they are rooted in truth, is given room to breathe and shows an ability to be changed by circumstance.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A couple struggle to maintain their culture-clash relationship... and then one of them falls ill.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Michael Showalter; Writer: Emily V Gordon, Kumail Nanjiani; Stars: Holly Hunter, Zoe Kazan, Kumail Nanjiani, Ray Romano, Celeste Arias, Vella Lovell, Matty Cardarople, Bo Burnham, Adeel Akhtar, Linda Emond, Shenaz Treasurywala, Anupam Kher, Aidy Bryant, Kurt Braunohler, Rebecca Naomi Jones) , Trailer

Full review

World premiere

Call Me By Your Name

Review preview for Call Me By Your Name

It is fundamentally a film about the workings of infatuation with a charmed fever that contaminates its characters.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4.5 out of 5
First love blooms over a long, hot summer for a teenager in Italy.

(Country: Italy, France, US, Brazil; Year: 2017; Director: Luca Guadagnino; Writer: James Ivory, based on the book by André Aciman; Stars: Armie Hammer, Timothée Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar, Esther Garrel, Victoire Du Bois)

Full review See: Luca Guadagnino in conversation on the costumes for Call Me By Your Name

World premiere

The Discovery

In a world where the afterlife has just been scientifically proven — resulting in millions of people taking their own lives to get there — comes this love story.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Charlie McDowell; Writer: Justin Lader, Charlie McDowell; Stars: Jason Segel, Rooney Mara, Robert Redford, Jesse Plemons, Riley Keough, Ron Canada)

World premiere

Fun Mom Dinner

Review preview for Fun Mom Dinner

What just about saves this film from its scruffiness is the strength of the performances.

Amber Wilkinson · 2.5 out of 5
Four mums decide to de-stress on a girls' night out.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Alethea Jones; Writer: Julie Rudd; Stars: Toni Collette, Adam Scott, Molly Shannon, Katie Aselton, Adam Levine, Kathryn Prescott, Rob Huebel, Paul Rust, Jaz Sinclair, Owen Vaccaro, Bridget Everett, Cooper J. Friedman, Hart Denton, Lindsey Warm, April Martucci)

Full review

World premiere

The Incredible Jessica James

Jessica James, an aspiring NYC playwright, is struggling to get over a recent break-up. She sees a light at the end of the tunnel when she meets the recently divorced Boone. Together, they discover how to make it through the tough times while realising they like each other — a lot.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: James C Strouse; Writer: James C Strouse; Stars: Chris O'Dowd, Noël Wells, Megan Ketch, Jessica Williams, Evander Duck Jr., Robert King, Anne Carney, Eric Loscheider, McManus Woodend, Gavin Haag)

World premiere

The Last Word

Harriett is a retired businesswoman who tries to control everything around her. When she decides to write her own obituary, a young journalist takes up the task of finding out the truth, resulting in a life-altering friendship.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Mark Pellington; Writer: Stuart Ross Fink; Stars: Shirley MacLaine, Amanda Seyfried, Anne Heche, Thomas Sadoski, Philip Baker Hall, Tom Everett Scott, Ann Jewel, Lee Dixon, Alanna Ubach, Adina Porter, Joel Murray, Sarah Baker, Steven Culp, Marshall Bell, Gedde Watanabe, Joshua Harto)

World premiere

Manifesto

Can history’s art manifestos apply to contemporary society? An homage to the 20th Century’s most impassioned artistic statements and innovators, from Futurists and Dadaists to Pop Art, Fluxus, Lars von Trier and Jim Jarmusch, this series of reenactments performed by Cate Blanchett explores these declarations’ performative components and political significance.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2017; Director: Julian Rosefeldt; Writer: Julian Rosefeldt; Stars: Cate Blanchett, Erika Bauer, Carl Dietrich, Marie Borkowski Foedrowitz, Ea-Ja Kim, Marina Michael, Hannelore Ohlendorf, Ottokar Sachse, Ralf Tempel, Jimmy Trash, Andrew Upton)

See: Article about Cate Blanchett in Manifesto and The Present

World premiere

Marjorie Prime

Review preview for Marjorie Prime

The narrative depth also accrues gently, like sedimentary layers, as the film progresses, looking deceptively slight at first but gradually building into something more profound.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A family buy a hologram to help their matriarch, who is losing her memory.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Michael Almereyda; Writer: Michael Almereyda, Jordan Harrison; Stars: Geena Davis, Jon Hamm, Tim Robbins, Lois Smith, Stephanie Andujar, Leslie Lyles, Hannah Gross, Bill Walters, Azumi Tsutsui)

Full review

World premiere

Mudbound

Review preview for Mudbound

Both Hedlund and Mitchell deliver strong performances and balance well against one another.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Two families clash when Mississippi youths return from the Second World War with new perspectives on race relations.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Dee Rees; Writer: Hillary Jordan, Dee Rees, Dee Rees, Virgil Williams; Stars: Carey Mulligan, Garrett Hedlund, Jonathan Banks, Jason Clarke, Jason Mitchell, Rob Morgan, Mary J. Blige, Kerry Cahill, David Jensen, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Lucy Faust, Rebecca Chulew, Joshua J. Williams, Henry Frost, Jason Kirkpatrick)

Full review

World premiere

Newness

In contemporary Los Angeles, two millennials navigating a social media–driven hookup culture begin a relationship that pushes both emotional and physical boundaries.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Drake Doremus; Writer: Ben York Jones; Stars: Nicholas Hoult, Laia Costa, Danny Huston, Courtney Eaton, Matthew Gray Gubler, Albert Hammond Jr)

World premiere

The Polka King

Review preview for The Polka King

Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky love their protagonist just a bit too much.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
A Polish migrant tries to make it big in Pennsylvania.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Maya Forbes, Wallace Wolodarsky; Writer: Maya Forbes, Wallace Wolodarsky; Stars: Jack Black, Jenny Slate, Jason Schwartzman, Jacki Weaver, JB Smoove, Robert Capron)

Full review

World premiere

Rebel In The Rye

This portrait of the life and mind of reclusive author JD Salinger goes from the bloody frontlines of the Second World War to his early rejections and the PTSD-fuelled writer's block that led to his iconic novel, The Catcher in the Rye.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Danny Strong; Writer: Danny Strong, Kenneth Slawenski; Stars: Zoey Deutch, Nicholas Hoult, Sarah Paulson, Kevin Spacey, Lucy Boynton, Hope Davis, Victor Garber, Celeste Arias, Amy Rutberg, Brian d'Arcy James, Naian González Norvind, James Urbaniak, Eric Bogosian, Adam Busch, Jefferson Mays)

World premiere

Rememory

Review preview for Rememory

The machine here proves to be little more than a macguffin for a murder mystery set-up and a side helping of sentimental stodge.

Amber Wilkinson · 2.5 out of 5
A man investigates the suspicious death of a scientist while using his invention to try to overcome trauma from the past.

(Country: US, Canada; Year: 2017; Director: Mark Palansky; Writer: Mark Palansky, Mike Vukadinovich; Stars: Peter Dinklage, Julia Ormond, Martin Donovan, Anton Yelchin, Henry Ian Cusick, Evelyne Brochu)

Full review

World premiere

Sidney Hall

Over the course of 12 years, and three stages of life, Sidney Hall falls in love, writes the book of a generation and then disappears without a trace.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Shawn Christensen; Writer: Shawn Christensen, Jason Dolan; Stars: Logan Lerman, Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler, Michelle Monaghan, Nathan Lane, Margaret Qualley)

World premiere

Wilson

Wilson, a lonely, neurotic and hilariously honest middle-aged misanthrope, reunites with his estranged wife and gets a shot at happiness when he learns he has a teenage daughter he has never met. In his uniquely outrageous and slightly twisted way, he sets out to connect with her.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Craig Johnson; Writer: Daniel Clowes, Daniel Clowes; Stars: Woody Harrelson, Judy Greer, Laura Dern, Cheryl Hines, Margo Martindale, Shaun Brown, Tom Proctor, David Warshofsky, James Saito, Isabella Amara, Bruce Bohne, Roxy Wood, Katie Rose Law, Sally-Anne Hunt, Ava Justin)

See: Screenwriter and graphic novelist Daniel Clowes and director Craig Johnson in conversation on Wilson , Judy Greer in conversation on Wilson , Woody Harrelson in conversation on Wilson

World premiere

Wind River

Review preview for Wind River

The film is well-served by its genre action sequences but it's the traces of grief that linger longest, like footsteps in the snow.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
An FBI agent teams with the town's veteran game tracker to investigate a murder that occurred on a Native American reservation.

(Country: US, UK, Canada; Year: 2017; Director: Taylor Sheridan; Writer: Taylor Sheridan; Stars: Elizabeth Olsen, Jeremy Renner, Jon Bernthal, Gil Birmingham, Julia Jones, Teo Briones, Martin Sensmeier, Ian Bohen, Kelsey Asbille, Matthew Del Negro, Eric Lange, Hugh Dillon, James Jordan, Mason D. Davis, Tara Karsian)

Full review

World premiere

Where Is Kyra? (Deceit)

Review preview for Where Is Kyra?

The colours, like that coat, only serve to show Kyra in even paler relief, her invisibility coming to offer a welcoming cloak as she hatches a plan to avoid destitution.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A woman struggles to get by after the death of her mum.

(Year: 2017; Director: Andrew Dosunmu; Writer: Andrew Dosunmu, Darci Picoult; Stars: Michelle Pfeiffer, Kiefer Sutherland, Babs Olusanmokun, Suzanne Shepherd, Marc Menchaca, Celia Au, Anthony Okungbowa, Gabe Fazio, Mauricio Ovalle, Hubert Point-Du Jour, Nimo Gandhi, Elizabeth Evans, Bradley W. Anderson)

Full review

World premiere