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Sundance Film Festival · 2018

Sundance Film Festival 2018

US Dramatic Competition

Programme

16 films · 13 reviews

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American Animals

Review preview for American Animals

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

Angus Wolfe Murray · 5 out of 5
Four young men mistake their lives for a movie and attempt one of the most audacious heists in US history.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Bart Layton; Writer: Bart Layton; Stars: Evan Peters, Barry Keoghan, Blake Jenner, Jared Abrahamson, Ann Dowd, Lara Grice, Jane McNeill, Whitney Goin, Udo Kier, Wayne Duvall)

Full review See: Bart Layton, Barry Keoghan, Blake Jenner, Evan Peters and Jared Abrahamson on American Animals

World premiere

Blindspotting

Review preview for Blindspotting

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

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A buddy comedy in a world that won't let it be one.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Carlos López Estrada; Writer: Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs; Stars: Janina Gavankar, Ethan Embry, Daveed Diggs, Wayne Knight, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Tisha Campbell-Martin, Zack Duhame, Kevin Carroll, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Nyambi Nyambi, Kendra Andrews, Jon Chaffin, Dawayne Jordan, Casey Adams, Carlos López Estrada)

Full review

World premiere. Day One

Blaze

A reimagining of the life and times of Blaze Foley, the unsung songwriting legend of the Texas Outlaw Music movement.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Ethan Hawke; Writer: Ethan Hawke, Sybil Rosen; Stars: Alia Shawkat, Sam Rockwell, Steve Zahn, Wyatt Russell, Richard Linklater, Kris Kristofferson, Didi Costine, Josh Hamilton, Ritchie Montgomery, Kevin Wayne, David Kallaway, Charlie Sexton, Jeff Caperton, Mitch Craft, Jency Griffin Hogan)

World premiere

Burden

After opening a KKK shop, Klansman Michael Burden falls in love with a single mom who forces him to confront his senseless hatred. He quits the Klan and is taken in by an African-American reverend.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Andrew Heckler; Writer: Andrew Heckler; Stars: Andrea Riseborough, Garrett Hedlund, Forest Whitaker, Tom Wilkinson, Tess Harper, Anna Colwell, Usher Raymond, Crystal R. Fox, Austin Hébert, Jason Davis, Dexter Darden, Robin Dyke, Tia Hendricks, Michael David Yuhl, Sydney Shea Barker)

World premiere

Eighth Grade

Review preview for Eighth Grade

The movie hangs loose on your bones.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5
Thirteen-year-old Kayla endures the tidal wave of contemporary suburban adolescence as she makes her way through the last week of middle school - the end of her thus far disastrous eighth grade year - before she begins high school.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Bo Burnham; Writer: Bo Burnham; Stars: Elsie Fisher, Daniel Zolghadri, Frank Deal, Marguerite Stimpson, Greg Crowe, Deborah Unger, Natalie Carter, Jake Ryan, Jalesia Martinez, Catherine Oliviere, Phoebe Amirault, Kevin R. Free, Luke Prael, Faith Kelly, Dylan Vonderhorst)

Full review

World premiere

I Think We're Alone Now

Review preview for I Think We're Alone Now

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.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
The apocalypse proves a blessing in disguise for one lucky recluse – until a second survivor arrives with the threat of companionship.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Reed Morano; Writer: Mike Makowsky; Stars: Peter Dinklage, Elle Fanning)

Full review

World premiere

The Kindergarten Teacher

Review preview for The Kindergarten Teacher

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

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
When a kindergarten teacher discovers one of her five-year-olds is a prodigy, she becomes fascinated with the boy, ultimately risking her family and freedom to nurture his talent.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Sara Colangelo; Writer: Sara Colangelo; Stars: Rosa Salazar, Gael García Bernal, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Chernus, Anna Baryshnikov, Ajay Naidu, Daisy Tahan, Haley Murphy, Sam Jules, Samrat Chakrabarti, Douglas Taurel, Carson Grant, Aamira Martinez, Stefaniya Makarova, Nikhil Melnechuk)

Full review

World premiere

Lizzie

Review preview for Lizzie

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.

Owen Van Spall · 3 out of 5
Lays bare the legend of Lizzie Borden to reveal the much more complex, poignant and truly terrifying woman within — and her intimate bond with the family’s young Irish housemaid, Bridget Sullivan.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Craig William Macneill; Writer: Bryce Kass; Stars: Chloë Sevigny, Kristen Stewart, Kim Dickens, Denis O'Hare, Fiona Shaw, Jeff Perry, Jamey Sheridan, Jay Huguley, Jeremy Sykes, Tara Ochs, Darin Cooper, Tom Thon, Zachary Kyle Musten, Jody Matzer, Thomas Mark Higgins)

Full review

World premiere

The Miseducation Of Cameron Post

Review preview for The Miseducation Of Cameron Post

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.

Owen Van Spall · 4 out of 5
1993: after being caught having sex with the prom queen, a girl is forced into a gay conversion therapy center.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Desiree Akhavan; Writer: Desiree Akhavan, Cecilia Frugiuele, Emily M Danforth; Stars: Chloë Grace Moretz, Jennifer Ehle, Sasha Lane, John Gallagher Jr, Quinn Shephard, Forrest Goodluck, Christopher Dylan White, Steven Hauck, Emily Skeggs, Dalton Harrod, McCabe Slye, Isaac Jin Solstein, Melanie Ehrlich, Alexandra Imbrosci-Viera, Seamus Boyle)

Full review

World premiere

Monsters And Men

Review preview for Monsters And Men

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.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
This interwoven narrative explores the aftermath of a police killing of a black man. The film is told through the eyes of the bystander who filmed the act, an African-American police officer and a high-school baseball player.

(Year: 2018; Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green; Writer: Reinaldo Marcus Green; Stars: John David Washington, Anthony Ramos, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Chanté Adams, Nicole Beharie, Rob Morgan)

Full review

World premiere

Monster

Charged with felony murder for a crime he says he did not commit, the film follows a teenager's journey through a complex legal battle that could leave him spending the rest of his life in prison.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Anthony Mandler; Writer: Walter Dean Myers, Janece Shaffer, Colen C Wiley; Stars: Jennifer Ehle, Jeffrey Wright, Jennifer Hudson, Mikey Madison, John David Washington, Tim Blake Nelson, Jonny Coyne, Lovie Simone, Paul Ben-Victor, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Jharrel Jerome, Dorian Missick, Rakim Mayers, Nas, Willie C. Carpenter)

World premiere

Nancy

Review preview for Nancy

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.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A woman becomes increasingly convinced that she was kidnapped as a child.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Christina Choe; Writer: Christina Choe; Stars: Andrea Riseborough, Steve Buscemi, Ann Dowd, John Leguizamo, J. Smith-Cameron, Owen Campbell, Virginia Kull, René Ifrah, Samrat Chakrabarti, Olli Haaskivi, Lorenzo Beronilla, Ann Lucente, T. Sahara Meer)

Full review

World premiere

Sorry To Bother You

Review preview for Sorry To Bother You

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.

Andrew Robertson · 5 out of 5
In a speculative and dystopian not-too-distant future, black telemarketer Cassius Green discovers a magical key to professional success – which propels him into a macabre universe.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Boots Riley; Writer: Boots Riley; Stars: Tessa Thompson, Armie Hammer, Steven Yeun, Terry Crews, Lakeith Stanfield, David Cross, Patton Oswalt, Danny Glover, Omari Hardwick, Jermaine Fowler, Kate Berlant, Marcella Bragio, Tom Woodruff Jr., Teresa Navarro, Michael X. Sommers)

Full review

World premiere

The Tale

Review preview for The Tale

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.

Amber Wilkinson · 5 out of 5
An investigation into one woman's memory as she’s forced to re-examine her first sexual relationship and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Jennifer Fox; Writer: Jennifer Fox; Stars: Elizabeth Debicki, Laura Dern, Jason Ritter, John Heard, Frances Conroy, Common, Ellen Burstyn, Laura Allen, Isabella Amara, Isabelle Nélisse, Chelsea Alden, Matthew Rauch, Jaqueline Fleming, Jodi Long, Tina Parker)

Full review

World premiere

Tyrel

Review preview for Tyrel

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

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Tyler spirals out of control when he realises he’s the only black person attending a weekend birthday party in a secluded cabin.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Sebastián Silva; Writer: Sebastián Silva; Stars: Jason Mitchell, Caleb Landry Jones, Michael Cera, Christopher Abbott, Ann Dowd, Michael Zegen, Philip Ettinger, Roddy Bottum)

Full review

World premiere

Wildlife

Review preview for Wildlife

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

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4.5 out of 5
A portrait of a family in crisis.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Paul Dano; Writer: Paul Dano, Richard Ford, Zoe Kazan; Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Carey Mulligan, Ed Oxenbould, Bill Camp, Lexi Anastasia, Zoe Margaret Colletti, Travis W Bruyer, Mollie Milligan, JR Hatchett, Darryl Cox, Kami King, Cate Jones, Blaine Maye, Laurie Cummings, John Walpole)

Full review

World premiere