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Sundance Film Festival · 2018

Sundance Film Festival 2018

Premieres

Programme

15 films · 12 reviews

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The Catcher Was A Spy

Review preview for The Catcher Was A Spy

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.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
The true story of a baseball player recruited as a spy and sent to assassinate the physicist Werner Heisenberg before he can build the Nazis an atomic bomb.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Ben Lewin; Writer: Nicholas Dawidoff, Robert Rodat; Stars: Paul Rudd, Mark Strong, Connie Nielsen, Jeff Daniels, Sienna Miller, Guy Pearce, Paul Giamatti, Shea Whigham, Tom Wilkinson, Hiroyuki Sanada, Bobby Schofield, Giancarlo Giannini, Pierfrancesco Favino, Anna Geislerová, William Hope)

Full review

World premiere

Colette

Review preview for Colette

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

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
The story of author Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette's rise to fame.

(Country: UK, US, Hungary; Year: 2018; Director: Wash Westmoreland; Writer: Richard Glatzer, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Wash Westmoreland; Stars: Keira Knightley, Dominic West, Denise Gough, Fiona Shaw, Arabella Weir, Aiysha Hart, Robert Pugh, Ray Panthaki, Eleanor Tomlinson, Caroline Boulton, Shannon Tarbet, Karen Gagnon, Attila C. Arpa, Janine Harouni, Máté Haumann)

Full review See: Wash Westmoreland ‪in conversation on‬ Guy de Maupassant, Citizen Kane, Max Ophüls connections to Colette, and Susanna Jones's The Earthquake Bird , Wash Westmoreland ‪in conversation on‬ La Belle Époque, Keira Knightley's Colette, Dominic West's Willy, and Dickie Beau's Wague in Colette , Wash Westmoreland ‪in conversation on‬ Richard Glatzer, costume designer Andrea Flesch, nature, and the relationships in Colette

World premiere

Come Sunday

Internationally-renowned pastor Carlton Pearson - experiencing a crisis of faith - risks his church, family and future when he questions church doctrine and finds himself branded a modern-day heretic. Based on actual events.

(Year: 2018; Director: Joshua Marston; Writer: Marcus Hinchey; Stars: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jason Segel, Lakeith Stanfield, Danny Glover, Martin Sheen, Condola Rashad, Juan Gaspard, Allie McCulloch, Brian Kayode-Patrick Johnson, Ric Reitz, Selena Anduze, Joni Bovill, Wil Gonzalez, William Willet, Andrew Masset)

World premiere

Damsel

Review preview for Damsel

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

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4.5 out of 5
Several suitors pursue a young woman in the Wild West.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: David Zellner, Nathan Zellner; Writer: David Zellner, Nathan Zellner; Stars: Robert Pattinson, Mia Wasikowska, David Zellner, Nathan Zellner, Robert Forster, Joseph Billingiere, Morgan Lund, Ray Kelleher, Gabe Casdorph, David Wingo, Palmer Scott, Russell Mael, Gary Brookins, Landon Weeks, Larry Zeng)

Full review See: ‪David Zellner and Nathan Zellner in conversation on Butterscotch and Bunzo, the look of a Western, and Terry Anderson's costumes for Damsel , David Zellner and Nathan Zellner in conversation on Robert Pattinson, Mia Wasikowska, cowboy ballads, and the complexity to the characters for Damsel , David Zellner and Nathan Zellner in conversation on Westerns, Butterscotch, and being epic in scope for Damsel

World premiere

Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far On Foot

Review preview for Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far On Foot

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.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Portrait of cartoonist John Callahan and his battle with alcoholism.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Gus Van Sant; Writer: John Callahan, Gus Van Sant; Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Jonah Hill, Rooney Mara, Jack Black, Beth Ditto, Olivia Hamilton, Udo Kier, Kim Gordon, Carrie Brownstein, Emilio Rivera, Ken Tatafu, Angelique Rivera, Rebecca Rittenhouse, Anne Lane, Rebecca Field)

Full review

World premiere

Futile And Stupid Gesture

The story of comedy wunderkind Doug Kenney, who co-created the National Lampoon, Caddyshack, and Animal House. Kenney was at the centre of the 70’s comedy counter-culture which gave birth to Saturday Night Live and a whole generation's way of looking at the world.

(Year: 2018; Director: David Wain; Writer: John Aboud, Michael Colton, Josh Karp; Stars: Emmy Rossum, Domhnall Gleeson, Seth Green, Natasha Lyonne, Annette O'Toole, Paul Scheer, Joe Lo Truglio, Finn Wittrock, Will Forte, Thomas Lennon, Bambadjan Bamba, Joel McHale, Matt Lucas, Martin Mull, Camille Guaty)

World premiere

The Happy Prince

Review preview for The Happy Prince

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.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
The last days of Oscar Wilde.

(Country: Germany, Belgium, UK, Italy; Year: 2018; Director: Rupert Everett; Writer: Rupert Everett; Stars: Colin Firth, Emily Watson, Colin Morgan, Rupert Everett, Tom Wilkinson, Anna Chancellor, Ronald Pickup, Béatrice Dalle, Julian Wadham, Joshua McGuire, John Standing, Daniel Weyman, André Penvern, Edwin Thomas, Tom Colley)

Full review

World premiere

Hearts Beat Loud

Review preview for Hearts Beat Loud

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.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
In Red Hook, Brooklyn, a father and daughter become an unlikely songwriting duo in the last summer before she leaves for college.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Brett Haley; Writer: Brett Haley, Marc Basch; Stars: Nick Offerman, Kiersey Clemons, Ted Danson, Toni Collette, Sasha Lane, Blythe Danner, Quincy Dunn-Baker, Alex Reznik, Andrea Morales, Michael Abbott Jr., Harrison Chad)

Full review

World premiere

Juliet, Naked

Review preview for Juliet, Naked

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.

Amber Wilkinson · 2.5 out of 5
Annie is the long-suffering girlfriend of Duncan, an obsessive fan of obscure rocker Tucker Crowe. When the acoustic demo of a record from 25 years ago surfaces, its release leads to an encounter with the elusive rocker himself.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Jesse Peretz; Writer: Tamara Jenkins, Evgenia Peretz, Phil Alden Robinson, Jim Taylor, based on the novel by Nick Hornby; Stars: Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke, Chris O'Dowd, Denise Gough, Megan Dodds)

Full review

World premiere

A Kid Like Jake

Review preview for A Kid Like Jake

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.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Parents struggle to do the right thing after realising that their child is gender nonconforming.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Silas Howard; Writer: Daniel Pearle, Daniel Pearle, Daniel Pearle; Stars: Claire Danes, Priyanka Chopra, Octavia Spencer, Jim Parsons, Ann Dowd, Amy Landecker, Julia Chan, Cindy Cheung, Aaron Serotsky, Kelly Deadmon, Shaunette Renée Wilson, Leo James Davis, Ian Unterman, Kelly McAndrew, Meghan Strange)

Full review

World premiere

Leave No Trace

Review preview for Leave No Trace

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.

Owen Van Spall · 4 out of 5
A father and daughter find themselves searching for a place to call their own after their off-the-grid lives are discovered by the authorities.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Debra Granik; Writer: Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini; Stars: Ben Foster, Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, Jeff Korber, Dale Dickey)

Full review

World premiere

The Negotiator (Beirut)

Review preview for The Negotiator

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

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A US diplomat flees Lebanon in 1972 after a tragic incident at his home. Ten years later, he is called back to war-torn Beirut by CIA operatives to negotiate for the life of a friend he left behind.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Brad Anderson; Writer: Tony Gilroy; Stars: Jon Hamm, Rosamund Pike, Idir Chender, Shea Whigham, Mark Pellegrino, Dean Norris, Leïla Bekhti, Kate Fleetwood, Douglas Hodge, Jonny Coyne, Alon Aboutboul, Larry Pine, Sonia Okacha, Anton Obeid, Jay Potter,)

Full review

World premiere

Ophelia

A mythic spin on Hamlet through a lens of female empowerment: Ophelia comes of age as lady-in-waiting for Queen Gertrude, and her singular spirit captures Hamlet's affections. As lust and betrayal threaten the kingdom, Ophelia finds herself trapped between true love and controlling her own destiny.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Claire McCarthy; Writer: Semi Chellas, Semi Chellas, Lisa Klein, based on Hamlet by William Shakespeare; Stars: Daisy Ridley, Naomi Watts, Tom Felton, Clive Owen, George MacKay, Daisy Head, Sebastian De Souza, Anna Rust, Dominic Mafham, Devon Terrell, Martin Angerbauer, Adriana Hercigonja, Issy Stewart, Noel Czuczor, Jack Cunningham-Nuttall)

World premiere

Puzzle

Review preview for Puzzle

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.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Agnes, taken for granted as a suburban mother, discovers a passion for solving jigsaw puzzles which unexpectedly draws her into a new world – where her life unfolds in ways she could never have imagined.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Marc Turtletaub; Writer: Oren Moverman, Natalia Smirnoff; Stars: Kelly Macdonald, David Denman, Irrfan Khan, Austin Abrams, Liv Hewson, Annie Pisapia, Daniel Stewart Sherman, Abigail Friend, Helen Coxe, Lori Hammel, Sebastian Chacon, Bubba Weiler, Ronald Scott Maestri, Mandela Bellamy, Myrna Cabello)

Full review See: Marc Turtletaub ‪in conversation on‬ David Denman, Kelly Macdonald, Irrfan Khan, and Mirren Gordon-Crozier's costumes for Puzzle , Kelly Macdonald ‪in conversation on‬ Mirren Gordon-Crozier's costumes, cinematographer Chris Norr, and her character in Marc Turtletaub's Puzzle , Marc Turtletaub ‪in conversation on‬ Mike Leigh, Alfonso Cuarón, the screenplay, and locations for Puzzle , Dustin O'Halloran on composing the score for Puzzle

World premiere

What They Had

Review preview for What They Had

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.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
Bridget returns home to Chicago at her brother’s urging to deal with her mother’s Alzheimer’s and her father’s reluctance to let go of their life together.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Elizabeth Chomko; Writer: Elizabeth Chomko; Stars: Michael Shannon, Hilary Swank, Aimee Garcia, Taissa Farmiga, Blythe Danner, Robert Forster, Jay Montepare, Jennifer Robideau, Isabeau Dornevil, Clarence E. Davis, Eric Ian, Cassie Mann, Annie McKinnie, Gabriella Moore, Ric Morgan)

Full review

World premiere