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Sundance Film Festival · 2023

Sundance Film Festival 2023

US Dramatic Competition

Programme

12 films · 5 reviews

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The Accidental Getaway Driver

During a routine pickup, an elderly Vietnamese cab driver is taken hostage at gunpoint by three recently escaped Orange County convicts. Based on a true story.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Sing J Lee; Writer: Christopher Chen; Stars: Hiệp Trần Nghĩa, Dustin Nguyen, Dali Benssalah, Phi Vũ, Gabrielle Chan)

World premiere

All Dirt Roads Taste Of Salt

A decades-spanning exploration of a woman’s life in Mississippi and an ode to the generations of people, places, and ineffable moments that shape us.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Raven Jackson; Writer: Raven Jackson; Stars: Charleen McClure, Moses Ingram, Kaylee Nicole Johnson, Reginald Helms Jr., Sheila Atim, Chris Chalk)

World premiere

Fair Play

An unexpected promotion at a cutthroat hedge fund pushes a young couple’s relationship to the brink, threatening to unravel far more than their recent engagement.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Chloe Domont; Writer: Chloe Domont; Stars: Dynevor, Alden Ehrenreich, Eddie Marsan)

World premiere

Fancy Dance

Review preview for Fancy Dance

An emotionally engaging portrait of the struggles of life on a Native American reservation in Oklahoma

Jeremy Mathews · 4 out of 5
Following her sister's disappearance, a Native American hustler kidnaps her niece from the child's white grandparents and sets out for the state powwow in hopes of keeping what is left of their family intact.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Erica Tremblay; Writer: Erica Tremblay; Stars: Lily Gladstone, Isabel Deroy-Olson, Ryan Begay, Shea Whigham, Audrey Wasilewski)

Full review

World premiere

Magazine Dreams

An amateur bodybuilder struggles to find human connection as his relentless drive for recognition pushes him to the brink.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Elijah Bynum; Writer: Elijah Bynum; Stars: Jonathan Majors, Haley Bennett, Taylour Paige, Mike O'Hearn, Harrison Page, Harriet Sansom Harris)

World premiere

Mutt

Review preview for Mutt

Confident enough in its characters to tell its story without sensationalism or stylistic overcompensation.

Jeremy Mathews · 4 out of 5
Over the course of a single hectic day in New York City, three people from Feña's past are thrust back into his life. Having lost touch since transitioning from female to male, he navigates the new dynamics of old relationships while tackling the day-to-day challenges of living life in between.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Vuk Lungulov-Klotz; Writer: Vuk Lungulov-Klotz; Stars: Lío Mehiel, Cole Doman, MiMi Ryder, Alejandro Goic)

Full review

World premiere

The Persian Version

Review preview for The Persian Version

Describing itself as ‘a true story – sort of’, The Persian Version blends comedy and family drama to great effect, showing us a good deal more than its heroine and narrator intends us to see.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
When a large Iranian-American family gathers for the patriarch's heart transplant, a family secret is uncovered that catapults the estranged mother and daughter into an exploration of the past. Toggling between the United States and Iran over decades, mother and daughter discover they are more alike than they know.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Maryam Keshavarz; Writer: Maryam Keshavarz; Stars: Layla Mohammadi, Niousha Noor, Kamand Shafieisabet, Bella Warda, Bijan Daneshmand, Shervin Alenabi)

Full review

World premiere

Shortcomings

Following Ben, Miko, and Alice as they navigate a range of interpersonal relationships and traverse the country in search of the ideal connection.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Randall Park; Writer: Adrian Tomine; Stars: Justin H Min, Sherry Cola, Ally Maki, Debby Ryan, Tavi Gevinson, Sonoya Mizuno)

World premiere

Sometimes I Think About Dying

Review preview for Sometimes I Think About Dying

The film wonderfully captures the dynamics of workplace small talk.

Jeremy Mathews · 4 out of 5
Fran likes to think about dying. It brings sensation to her quiet life. When she makes the new guy at work laugh, it leads to more: a date, a slice of pie, a conversation, a spark. The only thing standing in their way is Fran herself.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Rachel Lambert; Writer: Kevin Armento, Stefanie Abel Horowitz, Katy Wright-Mead; Stars: Daisy Ridley, Dave Merheje, Parvesh Cheena, Marcia DeBonis, Meg Stalter, Brittany O'Grady)

Full review

World premiere. Day One

The Starling Girl

Seventeen-year-old Jem Starling struggles with her place within her Christian fundamentalist community, but everything changes when her magnetic youth pastor Owen returns to their church.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Laurel Akira Parmet; Writer: Laurel Akira Parmet; Stars: Eliza Scanlen, Lewis Pullman, Jimmi Simpson, Wrenn Schmidt, Austin Abrams, Jessamine Burgum)

World premiere

Theater Camp

When the beloved founder of a run-down theatre camp in upstate New York falls into a coma, the eccentric staff must band together with the founder's crypto-bro son to keep the camp afloa

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman; Writer: Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman; Stars: Molly Gordon, Ben Platt, Noah Galvin, Jimmy Tatro, Patti Harrison, Ayo Edebiri)

World premiere

A Thousand And One

Review preview for A Thousand And One

Rockwell’s realist style and sense of history helps keep the story engaging, but the real reward for the viewing comes in the emotional final act.

Jeremy Mathews · 4 out of 5
Convinced it's one last, necessary crime on the path to redemption, unapologetic and free-spirited Inez kidnaps six-year-old Terry from the foster care system. Holding on to their secret and each other, mother and son set out to reclaim their sense of home, identity, and stability in New York City.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: AV Rockwell; Writer: AV Rockwell; Stars: Teyana Taylor, Will Catlett, Josiah Cross, Aven Courtney, Aaron Kingsley Adetola) , Trailer

Full review

World premiere