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Sundance Film Festival · 2020

Sundance Film Festival 2020

Midnight

Programme

9 films · 6 reviews

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Amulet

Review preview for Amulet

Garai has plenty of ideas and a willingness to embrace both more intellectual horror ideas and gore.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
A homeless ex-soldier gets more than he bargained for when he agrees to help a young woman and her dying mother.

(Country: UK; Year: 2020; Director: Romola Garai; Writer: Romola Garai; Stars: Alec Secareanu, Carla Juri, Imelda Staunton, Paul O'Kelly, Tom Bennett, Louis Jay Jordan, Perry Jaques, Yonah Odoom, Anah Ruddin, Amanda Quach, Anah Ruddin, William E Lester)

Full review

World premiere

Bad Hair

Review preview for Bad Hair

Bad Hair has a fresh and volatile statement of its own to make.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
In this horror satire set in 1989, an ambitious young woman gets a weave in order to succeed in the image-obsessed world of music television. However, her flourishing career may come at a great cost when she realises that her new hair may have a mind of its own.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Justin Simien; Writer: Justin Simien; Stars: Vanessa Williams, Michelle Hurd, Laverne Cox, Corinne Massiah, Judith Scott, Moses Storm, Robin Thede, Steve Zissis, Ashley Blaine Featherson, MC Lyte, Yaani King Mondschein, Madeleine Byrne, Natasha Kojic, Nataliz Jimenez, Kara C. Roberts)

Full review

World premiere. Day One film

His House

Review preview for His House

The film is worth watching for the good work from its two leads.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
A young refugee couple makes a harrowing escape from war-torn South Sudan, but then they struggle to adjust to their new life in a small English town that has an evil lurking beneath the surface.

(Country: UK; Year: 2020; Director: Remi Weekes; Writer: Felicity Evans, Toby Venables, Remi Weekes; Stars: Matt Smith, Javier Botet, Wunmi Mosaku, Cornell John, Emily Taaffe, Vivien Bridson, Sope Dirisu, Andy Gathergood, Robert Ryan, Ty Hurley, Swaylee Loughnane, Kevin Layne, Rene Costa, Gamba Cole, Matt Townsend)

Full review

World premiere

Impetigore

Review preview for Impetigore

Taps into deep, Jungian terrors and turns confusion into an asset.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
An out-of-luck woman decides to go back to her secluded home village in hopes of inheritance. Little does she know, the villagers have been waiting for her because she's got what they needed to lift off a plaguing curse.

(Country: Indonesia; Year: 2019; Director: Joko Anwar; Writer: Joko Anwar; Stars: Tara Basro, Ario Bayu, Marissa Anita, Christine Hakim, Asmara Abigail, Kiki Narendra, Zidni Hakim, Faradina Mufti, Abdurrahman Arif, Mian Tiara, T. Rifnu Wikana, Aghniny Haque, Muhammad Abe Baasyin, Ahmad Ramadhan, Eka Nusa Pertiwi)

Full review

International premiere

The Night House

Review preview for The Night House

Ambiguity lurks in the shadows and there's a doubling up and a doubling down.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A widow struggles with grief as strange things happen in her lake house at night.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: David Bruckner; Writer: Ben Collins, Luke Piotrowski; Stars: Rebecca Hall, Sarah Goldberg, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Stacy Martin, Evan Jonigkeit, Allie McCulloch, Samantha Buck, Patrick Klein, Michael Flores, James W. Meagher, Amy Zubieta, Andy Rich, Laura Austin, Dannielle Rose, Crystal Swann)

Full review

World premiere

The Nowhere Inn

When St Vincent sets out to make a documentary about her music, the goal is to both reveal and revel in the unadorned truth behind her on-stage persona. But when she hires a close friend to direct, notions of reality, identity, and authenticity grow increasingly distorted and bizarre.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Bill Benz; Writer: Carrie Brownstein, St Vincent; Stars: St Vincent, Carrie Brownstein, Ezra Buzzington, Toko Yasuda, Chris Aquilino, Drew Connick, Tema Louise Sall, Erica Acevedo, Sean Liang, Sarah Tither-Kaplan, LaNora Terraé Hayden, Kash Abdulmalik, Michael Bofshever, Rya Kihlstedt, Guy Nardulli)

World premiere

Relic

Review preview for Relic

Director Natalie Erika James, still only in her twenties, draws viewers into her astonishing debut feature by externalising the horrors of a disease that will be all too familiar to many.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
When Edna, the elderly and widowed matriarch of the family, goes missing, her daughter Kay and granddaughter Sam travel to their remote family home to find her. Soon after her return, they start to discover a sinister presence haunting the house and taking control of Edna.

(Country: Australia, US; Year: 2020; Director: Natalie Erika James; Writer: Natalie Erika James, Christian White; Stars: Emily Mortimer, Bella Heathcote, Robyn Nevin, Emily Mortimer, Bella Heathcote, Robyn Nevin)

Full review

World premiere

Run Sweetheart Run

A blind date turns violent and the woman has to get home through Los Angeles, with her date in pursuit.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Shana Feste; Writer: Shana Feste; Stars: Ella Balinska, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Clark Gregg, Pilou Asbæk, Betsy Brandt, Jess Gabor, Aml Ameen, Brandon Molale, Brandon Keener, Briana Lane, Lamar Johnson, Olivia May, Dayo Okeniyi, Peggy Lu, Marco Khan)

World premiere

Scare Me

During a power outage, two strangers tell scary stories. The more Fred and Fanny commit to their tales, the more the stories come to life in the dark of a Catskills cabin. The horrors of reality manifest when Fred confronts his ultimate fear: Fanny is the better storyteller.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Josh Ruben; Writer: Josh Ruben; Stars: Aya Cash, Chris Redd, Josh Ruben, Rebecca Drysdale, Aya Cash, Chris Redd, Josh Ruben, Rebecca Drysdale)

World premiere