Skip to main content

Sundance Film Festival · 2019

Sundance Film Festival 2019

Midnight

Programme

9 films · 4 reviews

Jump to a film

Corporate Animals

Review preview for Corporate Animals

Rarely becoming laugh-out-loud funny to compensate for any sophistication in the conceit, Corporate Animals is at its best when it takes the ludicrous scenario into the craziest, ickiest areas.

Owen Van Spall · 3 out of 5
Disaster strikes when the egotistical CEO of an edible cutlery company leads her long-suffering staff on a corporate team-building trip in New Mexico. Trapped underground, this mismatched and disgruntled group must pull together to survive.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Patrick Brice; Writer: Sam Bain; Stars: Demi Moore, Ed Helms, Jessica Williams, Karan Soni, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Martha Kelly, Dan Bakkedahl, Calum Worthy, Jennifer Kim, Nasim Pedrad, Frank Bond, Wendy Meredith, Courtney Cunningham, LynNita Ellis, Demi Moore)

Full review

World premiere

Greener Grass

Review preview for Greener Grass

A bravura piece of work.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A deliciously twisted comedy set in a demented, timeless suburbia where every adult wears braces on their straight teeth, couples coordinate meticulously pressed outfits, and coveted family members are swapped in more ways than one in this competition for acceptance.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Jocelyn DeBoer, Dawn Luebbe; Writer: Jocelyn DeBoer, Dawn Luebbe; Stars: D'Arcy Carden, Julian Hilliard, Jim Cummings, Dot-Marie Jones, Beck Bennett, Mary Holland, Janicza Bravo, Neil Casey, Jocelyn DeBoer, Lauren Adams, John Milhiser, Santina Muha, Josh Ruben, Will Hines, Asher Miles Fallica)

Full review

World premiere

The Hole In The Ground

One night, Sarah's young son disappears into the woods behind their rural home. When he returns, he looks the same, but his behaviour grows increasingly disturbing. Soon, Sarah realizes that the boy who returned may not be her son at all...

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2019; Director: Lee Cronin; Writer: Lee Cronin, Stephen Shields; Stars: Seána Kerslake, James Quinn Markey, Simone Kirby, Steve Wall, Eoin Macken, Sarah Hanly, James Cosmo, Kati Outinen, Bennett Andrew, David Crowley, John Quinn, Miro Lopperi, David McMahon, Seána Kerslake, James Quinn Markey)

World premiere

Little Monsters

A film dedicated to all the kindergarten teachers who motivate children to learn, instil them with confidence and stop them from being devoured by zombies.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2019; Director: Abe Forsythe; Writer: Abe Forsythe; Stars: Lupita Nyong'o, Josh Gad, Stephen Peacocke, Nadia Townsend, Alexander England, Henry Nixon, Jason Chong, Felix Williamson, Rahel Romahn, Sam Fraser, Ava Caryofyllis, Talayna Moana Nikora, Chris Bunton, Charlie Whitley, David Sinclair-Smith)

World premiere

The Lodge

Review preview for The Lodge

The Lodge hinges on a powerhouse performance from Keough, who inhabits the troubled Grace so completely that we can stay with her even as her ability to distinguish what's real and what isn't breaks down.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A young woman and her reticent new stepchildren find themselves isolated in the family’s remote winter cabin, locked away to dredge up the mysteries of her dark past.

(Country: UK, US; Year: 2019; Director: Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz; Writer: Sergio Casci, Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz; Stars: Richard Armitage, Riley Keough, Alicia Silverstone, Jaeden Lieberher, Lia McHugh, Katelyn Wells, Lola Reid)

Full review

World premiere

Memory: The Origins of Alien

Review preview for Memory: The Origins of Alien

There are some good stories - various myths around the filming of Alien are punctured, but one of the film's central theses is a mythological one.

Andrew Robertson · 3 out of 5
The untold origin story behind Ridley Scott’s Alien – rooted in Greek and Egyptian mythologies, underground comics, the art of Francis Bacon, and the dark visions of Dan O’Bannon and HR Giger.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Alexandre O Philippe; Writer: Alexandre O Philippe; Stars: Mickey Faerch, Linda Rich, Mickey Faerch, Linda Rich)

Full review

World premiere. Day One Film

Mope

Two 'mopes' – the lowest-level male performers in the porn industry – set their sights on an impossible dream: stardom.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Lucas Heyne; Writer: Michael Louis Albo, Lucas Heyne, David C Hill, Zack Newkirk; Stars: Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Kelly Sry, Brian Huskey, Max Adler, David Arquette, Tonya Cornelisse)

World premiere

Sweetheart

Jenn has washed ashore a small tropical island and it doesn’t take her long to realise she’s completely alone. She must spend her days not only surviving the elements, but must also fend off the malevolent force that comes out each night.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: JD Dillard; Writer: JD Dillard, Alex Hyner, Alex Theurer; Stars: Kiersey Clemons, Emory Cohen, Hanna Mangan Lawrence, Andrew Crawford, Kiersey Clemons, Emory Cohen, Hanna Mangan Lawrence, Andrew Crawford)

World premiere

Wounds

Disturbing and mysterious things begin to happen to a bartender in New Orleans after he picks up a phone left behind at his bar.

(Country: US, UK; Year: 2019; Director: Babak Anvari; Writer: Babak Anvari; Stars: Dakota Johnson, Armie Hammer, Zazie Beetz, Karl Glusman, Brad William Henke, Kerry Cahill, Ritchie Montgomery, Jim Klock, Terence Rosemore, Martin Bats Bradford, Alexander Biglane, Lawrence Turner, Xena Zeit-Geist, Luke Hawx, Ben Sanders)

World premiere