By Justin Waldman
For someoneâs Feature debut to be so absolutely beautifully twisted and messed up is such a delight and that is exactly what Hanna Bergholm manages with Hatching. It is a rare occurrence to see something that embraces the work of David Cronenberg and Yorgos Lanthimos so perfectly, but that is what gets delivered by Screenwriter Iija Ratusi. Hatching is a haunting, terrifying, creature family movie.
The Mother, Sophia Heikkila, has a blog about the perfect family love with her Finnish family and documents every single aspect of their life to portray the perfect family. The Horror is already set, as no such thing truly exists, and everything seems ideal until Tinja played by Siira Solalinna hands a crow to her mother, that she ends up killing, and Tinja brings its egg into the house and cares for it, as it grows, grows, and turns into something truly horrifying.
Things starts to unfold when the egg hatches and the sinister underbelly of the Film truly gets to shine in this funny, disturbing, and inventive feature debut, Hatching. It is not too gruesome for those that enjoy the Horror aspect without getting too squeamish and delivers the absolute insanity genre fans crave.
Siiri Solalinna and her Co-stars Jonna Aaltonen and Hertta Karen steal the show. Their performances from either hiding the hatchling or being the horror that lurks, truly is exceptional from such young talent. It is captivating, powerful, horrifying, and occasionally hilarious. Hatching is an endless joy that will please the light horror fans and satisfy the itch for those looking for something darker and more sinister.
Hatching screens at Sundance as follows:
Premiere: Jan 23rd at 1:55 am EST
Second Screening: Jan 24th at 10 am EST (available for 24 hours)
By Amanda Gilmore
After learning she has a terminal illness, Sarah (Karen Gillan) decides to participate in a futuristic cloning procedure to help ease her partner and familyâs impending loss. Ten months later, she learns that sheâs in remission and decides to decommission her clone. However, Sarahâs Double files a motion to live and they are set for a duel to the death.
Writer/Director Riley Stearnsâ third Feature is a dark Sci-Fi Comedy with a pair of powerful performances from Gillan. Dual is an often strange film that tells the story of how impending death makes us evaluate our existence. His use of deadpan satire makes for a unique, fun watch. Particularly when it comes to the diverging lives of Sarah and her Double.Â
Gillan is perfectly cast and allows the audience to believe in this odd futuristic world. She excels as both Sarah and her Double, turning in two compelling performances. As Sarah, she effectively portrays her dissatisfaction with the life sheâs found herself living. As the Double, she excels at showing the cloneâs curiosity for life. Out of the Supporting Cast, Aaron Paul (who plays Sarahâs combat trainer) turns in a deadpan comedic performance that impeccably reflects the world Stearns has created.
Overall, Dual is an intriguing high-concept film and its steady pace grips the audience into Sarahâs world. The ending might leave audiences unsatisfied, however, it does leave us with a question: is an unhappy life worth killing for?
Dual screens virtually at Sundance:
Premiere: Jan. 22 at 8PM EST
Second Screening: Jan. 25 at 10AM EST (available for 24hrs)
By Amanda Gilmore
Best friends Mimmi (Aamu Milonoff) and Rönkkö (Eleonoora Kauhanen) spend their days working at a smoothie shop openly contemplating their sex and love lives. Meanwhile, Emma has given her whole life to figure skating with little time for a social life. Over the course of three Fridays, Mimmi and Emma experience first love and Rönkkö goes on a quest to find something she’s never experienced before: pleasure.
Over the years, many films have attempted to capture the themes of identity and sexuality within female teen-hood. Girl Picture exceeds in this endeavour. Screenwriters Ilona Ahti and Daniela Hakulinen never compromise their charactersâ fears and pressures. Therefore, they succeed in creating a story that goes beyond the charactersâ sexuality. Additionally, they create three characters that are authentic and complex.
These characters are brought to screen adeptly by the outstanding Cast. Milonoff is mesmerizing as Mimmi, whose struggling with her family and adjusting to the compromises that come with a long-lasting relationship. Leino captivates as Emma, balancing the pressure she feels to get into the European Championships with the blissful days she spends with her first love, Mimmi. And Kauhanen is exquisite in showing the heterosexual Rönkköâs tireless quest to find someone who can make sex satisfying. Through Rönkkö we get a refreshing take on female sexuality. Is it the men sheâs sleeping with, or is she asexual?
Director Alli Haapasalo shoots with an aspect ratio that creates nostalgia for our teenhood. Further, it frames our characters in moments that feel like snapshots â like âgirl pictures.â The Director, Screenwriters and Cast know that for girls on the cusp of womanhood, every small moment feels earth-shattering. Therefore, making Girl Picture authentic.
Girl Picture screens virtually at Sundance:
Premiere: Jan. 24 at 4:30PM EST
Second Screening: Jan. 26 at 10AM EST (available for 24hrs)
By Amanda Gilmore
AM I OK? is a touching Comedy and an ode to female friendship.
The Film follows inseparable Los Angeles best friends Lucy (Dakota Johnson) and Jane (Sonoya Mizuno). When Janeâs new promotion requires her to move to London, Lucy confesses her long-held secret: She likes women. In the lead up to their impending separation, we follow as Jane prepares for her big move and Lucy searches for her first sexual experience with a woman.
What sets AM I OK? apart is that it depicts the coming-of-age of two women in their 30s. Co-Directors Stephanie Allynne and Tig Notaro along with Screenwriter Lauren Pomerantz have created a brilliant Comedy that flawlessly captures friendship, love and self-discovery.
Itâs refreshing to see a coming-out story for a 30-something. Lucyâs journey is endearing and Johnson knocks it out of the park. She approaches Lucy with a delicate fragility that guides her along in her sexual awakening. She shares a genuine chemistry in scenes with Kiersey Clemons, who plays her romantic interest and co-worker. Clemons gives a strong performance as the indecisive Brittany. And Mizuno gives a superb performance as the compassionate and headstrong Jane, who appears to have it all together, but is harbouring her anxieties within after she is given a opportunity to go overseas on a promotion.
The Screenplay gives us these two separate stories, while keeping Lucy and Jane‘s friendship at the forefront. This works because Johnson and Mizuno have such a palpable chemistry that feels entirely organic. Additionally, the Supporting Cast bring impactful comedic performances. Molly Gordon plays the outgoing Kat, a co-worker of Jane’s, who just irritates Lucy. And Notaro does double duty with a hilarious cameo.
AM I OK? screens virtually at Sundance:
Premiere: Jan. 24 at 4PM EST
Second Screening: Jan. 26 at 10AM EST (available for 24hrs)
By David Baldwin
Ziggy (Finn Wolfhard) is a high school student who performs original Folk tunes online for his worldwide audience of 20,000 people. His overbearing mother Evelyn (Oscar-winner Julianne Moore) runs a shelter for domestic abuse survivors. Despite the greatness of their shared memories, they do not get along and only interact in passing. With Ziggyâs time taken-up trying to become more politically savvy to impress a girl, Evelyn takes to one of the shelterâs new residents who reminds her of Ziggy, and who she desperately wants to help succeed in the future.
First-time Writer/Director Jesse Eisenberg (yes, it is who you are thinking of) adapts his award-winning Audible Original podcast to mixed effect here. It has dashes of humour sprinkled throughout, and a well-composed look that shows how much Eisenberg has learned from his contemporaries over his two plus decades of acting. The characters feel lived in and the performances from just about everyone are good, with Wolfhard standing in as an obvious avatar for his Director (even down to his inflections and mannerisms). Where WHEN YOU FINISH SAVING THE WORLD stumbles is in how inconsequential all of Ziggy and Evelynâs actions feel, and how their narcissistic qualities obscure many of the more interesting things happening in the margins. Why did Eisenberg feel the need to make all of the supporting characters so much more interesting than the two leads? What is he trying to say about these characters and their journeys? I felt like the Film does not answer either of these questions, and just over-convolutes its overarching message and obvious conclusion.
Eisenberg shows promise as a Writer and Director with WHEN YOU FINISH SAVING THE WORLD. I just hope he makes his next project less dry, and have a whole lot more purpose.
WHEN YOU FINISH SAVING THE WORLD screens at Sundance as follows:
PREMIERE Jan 20 7:30PM EST Available Until Jan 20 10:30PM EST
SECOND SCREENING Jan 22 10:00AM EST Available Until Jan 23 10:00AM EST
By Amanda Gilmore
Each year, thousands of missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons, are sent across the world to preach their gospel. The Mission follows four American teens who leave their religious communities and journey to one of the most non-religious countries in Europe: Finland.
Director Tania Anderson, in her first feature-length Documentary, brings us behind the nametags and into the lives of those who knock on our doors and stop us on the street. We are given access to the lives of four missionaries: Elder Pauole, Elder Davis, Sister Field and Sister Bills. We watch as they embark on this emotionally straining journey with limited contact with their families and facing constant rejection. Thus, creating an understanding and connection to these missionaries.
Through their two-year journey in Finland, a portrait is shown of two worlds colliding. A highlight is when Sister Bills is brought into a Finnish familyâs home. The family listens with patience as Sister Bills explains her faith. They respectfully question certain aspects and Sister Bills calmly answers. Anderson has captured a moment where two opposing views come head-to-head. However, they listen and speak with respect and patience. In a time when our polarized society is quick to speak but refuses to listen this moment feels special.
Overall, The Mission gives us an in-depth, empathetic look into a group commonly judged from the outside. As we watch the missionaries come of age, a touching examination of the human condition. In the end, weâre all searching for a purpose within our shared human experience.
The Mission screens virtually at Sundance:
Premiere: Jan. 24 at 4PM EST
Second Screening: Jan. 26 at 10AM EST (available for 24hrs)
By David Baldwin
After premiering at Cannes this past July, celebrated Writer/Director Kogonadaâs second feature AFTER YANG finally makes its North American debut. It takes place in the near future, where families live with sentient AI android helpers and companions. When Yang (Justin H. Min from The Umbrella Academy), the AI helper for Jake (Colin Farrell), Kyra (Jodie Turner-Smith) and young Mika (Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja), malfunctions and breaks down, the family is distraught. Jake bought him âcertified refurbishedâ, so he cannot just get him repaired quickly. When his attempts at fixing Yang uncover that he has been recording memories, it sets Jake off on an existential journey he did not expect.
AFTER YANG is a quiet, contemplative film that examines loss and grief, at the same time as it hones in on joy and humanity. The Science-Fiction elements are a mere conduit for Kogonada (adapting Alexander Weinsteinâs short story) to be able to hop in and out of dreams and memories. There is some feeling hovering around the power of nostalgia in some instances, but it feels more like the kind of heady, introspective material that makes you rethink your own memories. The rhythmic, fever dream nature of the Film will be off-putting to some, and spiritually hypnotic to others. Fair warning to the naysayers though â you will miss out on some of the most majestic production design and incredibly expansive use of colour to hit the screen in a long time.
The entire Cast is magnificent, with Farrell adding another terrific, meditative performance to his on-going career renaissance, and Turner-Smith and Tjandrawidjaja bringing a plethora of emotion and beauty to every scene they appear in. Min is great in his small role, as is Haley Lu Richardson who plays the mysterious Ada. And while I will not give away the circumstances, AFTER YANG contains one of the greatest post-modern dance scenes of the past decade. Maybe of all time. Expect many delightful memes and gifs to appear online once this wonderfully picture sees wide release.
AFTER YANG screens at Sundance as follows:
PREMIERE Jan 21 1:45PM EST Available Until Jan 21 4:45PM EST
SECOND SCREENING Jan 23 10:00AM EST Available Until Jan 24 10:00AM EST
By Amanda Gilmore
Adapted from Annie Ernauxâs Memoir, Golden Lion Winner Happening is set in 1963 France and follows Anne (Anamaria Vartolomei) a promising young university student who learns sheâs pregnant. She wants to terminate but her doctor refuses because of the unsparing laws against abortion. As the week’s pass, Anne seeks any means of ending the pregnancy in hopes of reclaiming her future.
Writer/Director Audrey Diwan brings us Anneâs harrowing journey with empathetic and unflinching honesty. Diwan expertly uses 4:3 aspect ratio which puts the focus on Anne and not the set. This creates a relationship with her instead of the society and its views on terminating the pregnancy. Societyâs view on abortion results in Anne becoming isolated both mentally and physically. Diwan cinematically visualizes this through the use of silence.
Diwanâs direction is beautifully raw. She uses long-takes and unedited scenes, which creates graphic visuals that are difficult to watch but essential to accurately portray the dangers of Anneâs journey. Additionally, these takes effect Anneâs concept of time. Sheâs constantly running against time thatâs passing from within her.
Happening is necessary viewing and one of the best films at Sundance â22. The Film also has one of the best performances from the unwavering Vartolomei. She evokes the turmoil of a young woman desperately wanting an education and experienced life, before helping raise another. Her vulnerability is unparalleled in her fearless performance of the courageous Anne.
Happening screens virtually at Sundance:
Premiere:Â Jan. 22 at 11:15PM EST
Second Screening: Jan. 24 at 10AM EST (available for 24hrs)
By David Baldwin
If you were alive in 1997, chances are you remember where and when you heard that Princess Diana died. Her life was cut short in a car accident in a Parisian tunnel and is the subject of the exhaustive Documentary THE PRINCESS. Academy Award nominee Ed Perkins has crafted a film that takes us through Dianaâs life, from the moment the press found out the 19-year-old was being courted for marriage to Prince Charles (who was 12 years older), through their tumultuous marriage and right up to her funeral.
The sheer amount of archived footage that Perkins and his team sifted through and culled down into a cohesive 106-minute film is staggering to say the least. There are clips from news stories and interviews, and even candid footage from the media and paparazzi (complete with obnoxious commentary they probably wish they were not on the record saying). Perkinsâ aim was to have the story told by the moving images, without the talking head historians offering their canned thoughts and opinions nearly 25 years after her death. It works in many instances, while others are a bit less insightful than they should be. That said, some of the interview footage he has assembled here does give you the kind of âfinger on the pulseâ thinking that you would have only received had you been there to hear and watch it yourself.
For anyone who does not know the whole story (or only knows parts), THE PRINCESS is a captivating look into one of the most important figures of the past century â whose influence has never dissipated, and whose story has become all the more prescient as her children have come of age. For anyone who does know Dianaâs story and all the dirty, salacious details that come with it, THE PRINCESS just feels like a quick refresher that does not stay on one topic for long, and frustratingly slams to black before it really develops many of its ideas. It is an interesting and arresting Documentary either way; it just needed more of an important hook to bring it together for all audiences.
THE PRINCESS screens at Sundance as follows:
PREMIERE Jan 20 8:30PM EST Available Until Jan 20 11:30PM EST
SECOND SCREENING Jan 22 10:00AM EST Available Until Jan 23 10:00AM EST
By Amanda Gilmore
While on holiday in Tuscany, a Danish family becomes friends with a fellow travelling family from the Netherlands. Months later, the Dutch family invites the Danes to visit their countryside home. Once there, the hosts increasingly test the limits of their houseguests. However, the Danes continue to stay out of politeness but will that become their downfall?
Speak No Evil is one of the most twisted films at Sundance ’22. Writer-Director Christian Tafdrup serves-up a chilling Horror that will make you keep a distance from strangers on holiday. He uses the Horror genre to make a terrifying satire on the negative effects of politeness. The houseguests continue to stay following the vegetarian guest being fed meat and the hosts using the bathroom while the guests are taking a shower. These twisted actions escalate making for a deeply disturbing watch.
These escalations become exceedingly strange as most of us wonât find ourselves in this unnerving situation. Yet, Tafdrup manages to make the Film hit close-to-home. He achieves this by including everyday situations where we give the benefit of the doubt to strangers. His two couples are cast perfectly. The Danish couple BjĂžrn (Morten Burian) and Louise (Sidsel Siem Koch) portray the anxiety simmering behind the courteous smiles. While the Dutch couple Patrick (Fedja van HuĂȘt) and Karen (Karina Smulders) are frightening as the eccentric and dangerous hosts.
Overall, Speak No Evil excels in being a bone-chilling examination of the lengths of being polite. After viewing, it might make you reconsider the politeness you extend to strangers.
Speak No Evil screens virtually at Sundance:
Premiere:Â Jan. 22 at 1:55AM EST
Second Screening: Jan. 24 at 10AM EST (available for 24hrs)
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