Sundance Film Festival — A–Z of films

As a cinematic first the audacity and imagination of Bart Leyton's way of working breaks new ground

This quiet, documentary takes the viewer on an interesting, intriguing journey, ending on a question mark.

Older viewers may find it too much but it's spot on for what it's trying to achieve.

The feeling of exposure to evil never fades

Though the film feels too smart and too busy for its own good at times, the story remains fascinating (though troubling), and the cinematography always striking.

Has the high-energy crackle and syncopated rhythms of a rap battle.

Niki Lindroth von Bahr's film is once again a masterclass of model-making.

Turkish director Tolga Karaçelik shows a fine ear for family dynamics as well as a joyously off-the-wall sense of humour that ensures even though we've taken similar movie road trips in the past, this one feels fresh.

Berg's dilemma requires him to try and solve logical and ethical puzzles, and cannot be alleviated through the easy process of having him find Heisenberg likeable.

There's an impressive range of mouthwatering dishes on display, constantly being adapted and upgraded.

This evocation of Colette in 2018 knows that its heroine will always be larger than what is on screen.

The Zellner brothers...enter into a fascinating structural dialogue with the history of the genre.

The cinematography of Dead Pigs is consistently picturesque, even during the most melancholic moments.

It's hard to be tough on a film as warm-hearted as this one is in spirit - like Callahan, it's trying hard even when it fails.

If you have ever laughed at the headmaster when he slips on an egg yoke this movie is for you

The movie hangs loose on your bones.

Both stars are excellent; Grenier, who does most of the heavy lifting, transforms over the course of 17 minutes in a way that makes him almost unrecognisable.

First Reformed ends up being a satisfying meditative echo rather than a simple replay of Schrader greats.

Samuel Maoz steps into the rhythm of the foxtrot to give structure to the three separate chapters of his intense, reverberating film.

As Psihoyos dissects the marketing that has kept men believing in meat for decades, he's also gently shifting the concept of masculinity itself into a more positive space.

Well-written dialogue, strong acting all round and unobtrusive but taut direction give it real strength.

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

Something truly delightful.

Ashby's daughter Leigh MacManus is one of the few contributors to offer an off-set perspective of the man - and it comes with a poignancy and beat of heartfelt truth that is lacking elsewhere.

By looking at what would lie outside of the traditional framework of most documentaries, Ross builds a much more absorbing picture of people fully embedded within an environment.

Despite its conventional approach, Adrion’s doc reveals itself to be a comprehensive and important study

A mixed bag, as while Everett the actor masterfully evokes the mournful mix of decadence and decay of the last years of Wilde, Everett the filmmaker is, like so many before him, too much in love with the brilliant old rogue for his own good.

Despite, or perhaps because of this general air of ephemerality, you want to hold on to the moment and particularly to that sweet spot of youth, so deftly portrayed by Clemons, when everything is blossoming with possibility.

I personally found Aster’s film incredibly unsettling, one of the closest approximations to the kind of nightmares that really shake me that I have seen on film recently.

Sonne, seemingly named for her role, moves through it with languorous ease.

It's between the subjects themselves that the magic happens.

The bobbins are a brilliantly employed metaphor, something that feels freshly sprung from a fairy tale, only silly until you consider how sinister they are.

This odd couple film could easily have been mere farce, but the two leads, both on top form, imbue it with a warmth and pathos that breaks through in unexpected places.

The title might sound risque but the end product is as safe, cosy and unoriginal as a Now That's What I Call Music Christmas gift.

There is also no mistaking the challenge to us, the viewers, regarding our own awareness of where products come from and our, albeit unwitting, culpability in child exploitation.

Young Davis is a real find, bringing such freshness and naturalism to the role of Jake that it's impossible to lose sight of what's at stake.

For anyone who has experienced the obsessive attentions of a teacher, this makes for uncomfortable viewing.

One thing I particularly enjoyed was that it balances its study of Will with an exploration of Tom’s coming of age, while never making Will’s decision to drop out morally clear-cut.

This is a grim, austere story of the pressure cooker of frustration, rage and fear that results when the patriarchy squeezes just as tight as the corsets of the time.

Teles runs the gamut of emotions. We don't need to hear her discuss how she is feeling, we can see it written on her face

There's no doubt youngsters will enjoy the trippy and exuberant visuals of this film.

This is a woozily shot, dislocating experience that in its best moments generates the sort of tense mental anxiety that Lynne Ramsay has made her calling card.

The film only lives up to about 80% of the promise whereas I wanted 150%.

Whatever else she may be, Maya clearly has no tolerance for bullshit - she seems constitutionally incapable of playing the game.

Few artists are ever willing to let their audiences get this close to their unrevised selves.

I was won over by the whole approach of this confident sophomore feature pretty early on, from the witty, frank but also very tender script to the great casting and performances.

Green isn't interested in demonising individuals but rather in considering the pressure points that can motivate violence and the code of silence it is easier for everyone to adopt rather than speaking out.

For a slow film, there is too much plot.

An intense character study in triplicate, made gripping both by the deliberately ambiguous way in which Christina Choe approaches everyone's mental state and by the performances.

The plotting, though not without cliche, retains a satisfyingly robust quality - dense enough to keep you intrigued without becoming overwrought.

It is a film that is sustained by the irresistible, irrepressible duo at its heart, and by the appeal of seeing the typical stoner bro movie repurposed for the female perspective.

What makes the film all the more poignant is the fact that the children are, of course, despite all this, like kids anywhere else.

The film follows Nadia at a time when support for her cause is growing, though she still has very little in the way of personal support.

Pozdorovkin isn't trying to present new information here and there is very little context provided, but it is not so much what is being shown as the sheer weight of material.

Without a doubt, Pesce is one of the most exciting young directors to emerge in recent years.

Yannis Drakopoulos is on fine form in the central role and there are some great supporting performances.

As with a jigsaw puzzle, the overall picture may look familiar, but there's a real sense that craftsmanship has gone in to making sure each of the pieces fit satisfyingly together.

Less a cross-examination than a powerful summing up of her career, Cohen and West succeed in revealing the personality of the woman beneath the gown but there's no doubt they want to heavily influence our verdict.

Fargeat uses a lot of old tricks to give her desert a haunting, mystical quality, but she uses them well in a film that oozes style.

The craft, the knowledge, the deep communication with the animal, shown without words - this is breathtaking, transcendent cinema.

Cristina Constantini and Darren Foster have produced a film that charms, compels, shines a light on a field of competition that will be unfamiliar to audiences outwith the US.

The film - co-written by Sev Ohanian - is not just clever in the way that it uses familiar programs and the Windows and Apple Mac environments but also in the way it triggers familiar emotions.

Skating, drugs, genital preferences, menstruation; there is a frankness and authentic air to the chatter.

I've seen it described as a film with a twist but that suggests it's got just one. It's full of them, it's made of them, it reels and gyres and tumbles into something special.

There is artistry here and an absence of cliche.

It is Shiva's lightness of touch that sells the film.

The film is, necessarily, shocking but Fox handles what must have been difficult emotional material for her in a cool and responsible way that makes the message she delivers all the more devastating.

You don't simply watch Tarnation; you see, hear and taste it.

The surprises just keep coming in Tim Wardle's documentary, which starts in the realm of the remarkable and is likely to leave jaws dropped by record proportions by the time the credits roll.

This is a film about America's difficult relationship with race and the way that unresolved issues result in ongoing damage.

The story, such as it is, has the dreamy flow of childhood remembered, but though the honeyed tones of the magic hour are often used, there's never a glossing over the toughness of life being faced by these free-range kids.

Danner...does an excellent job with the material she is given and makes very clear the fact that her character is losing her memory, not her mind.

Landscape and music and everyday objects are used to splendid effect.

Neville makes a solid case about why Rogers' impact remains so great even if the man himself remains partially concealed from us.

A gut-punch of a short.

Nothing plays out as you expect, with Ramsay maintaining an unsettling staccato that keeps both the action and the viewer on edge.

The performances are powerful and Idris Elba's ability to recreate the feel of the times is impressive.