By David Baldwin
Sarah Jo (Kristine Froseth) is a naïve 26-year-old caregiver with shockingly little knowledge about sex, likely due to a trauma she suffered nearly ten years prior. She begins a sexual relationship with the father of one of her clients, which ends even quicker than it began, but wants to continue learning more about her sexuality and desires. So Sarah Jo makes an alphabetical list of positions and scenarios she wants to experience – and she is dedicated to checking them all off.
In only her second Feature film, Writer/Director/Actor Lena Dunham has crafted another project that is sex-positive and holds nothing back. The dialogue and storyline are exactly what you would expect from the award-winning Artist behind HBO’s Girls, and is just as divisive as you expect too. She is not trying to gain new fans here or change any opinions you might have of her. After so many years in the business, the honesty and frank depiction of sexuality in her work speaks for itself, and she continues to be a true “love it or hate it” icon. I admire that she does not let any of that controversial baggage get the best of her in Sharp Stick, and that she continues to speak for a generation with her graphic and humorous innuendos and flourishes (and really appreciated how natural the Covid integrations were throughout the Film). Yet I feel like she does not fully know what she wants to say here, despite how personal the project obviously is to her. By the time the Film concludes, it feels more like two very different storylines smashed together as opposed to one cohesive picture, and the all-too short runtime does not allow Dunham any time to examine what is really going on with Sarah Jo.
All of that said, Dunham has put together an eclectic ensemble to tell this story, with standout turns from Jon Bernthal, Zola’s Taylour Paige, Jennifer Jason Leigh and an absolutely uninhibited Scott Speedman. They all help prop-up Froseth’s great performance that straddles the line between innocence and maturity. She goes all in here, accurately capturing Dunham’s voice. I wish the Film were as strong as she is.
SHARP STICK screens at Sundance as follows:
PREMIERE Jan 22 8:30PM EST Available Until Jan 22 11:30PM EST
SECOND SCREENING Jan 24 10:00AM EST Available Until Jan 25 10:00AM EST
By David Baldwin
Emily (Aubrey Plaza) has a checkered past and her debts are mounting up. With prior arrests and charges on her record, well-paying jobs are hard to come by. When a friend at her catering job gives her a number to help with money, Emily lands herself in the middle of a credit card scam that proves to be just as lucrative as it is dangerous.
EMILY THE CRIMINAL is one of the most intense and thrilling movies of this year’s Festival. Full stop. First-time feature Writer/Director John Patton Ford has created one hell of a debut Feature, anchored by an unforgettable and unpredictable performance from Plaza. We know how strong and bold of an Actor she is, and she goes all in on that persona with Emily. She knows what she wants, and she will not let anyone stand in the way of her achieving her goals – even when her careless actions put her in immediate danger. The sheer raw brutality on display here will keep you on the edge of your seat, lending a gritty aura that hovers over the Film like a washed out haze. The feeling of dread and fear is palpable, and even with a second half turn slowing things down, you simply cannot look away from the dystopic world Emily inhabits.
Supporting turns from Theo Rossi (of Sons of Anarchy) and scene-stealer Gina Gershon are great, but they stand no chance of competing with Plaza. She is captivating and genuinely electric. You want her to succeed, even when she is or at least should be failing. Her harsh New Jersey accent is still ringing in my ears. I cannot wait for more people to experience this terrifying ride, and am looking forward to this being another stop on Plaza’s road to mega stardom.
EMILY THE CRIMINAL screens at Sundance as follows:
PREMIERE Jan 24 5:15 PM EST Available Until Jan 24 8:15PM EST
SECOND SCREENING Jan 26 10:00AM EST Available Until Jan 27 10:00AM EST
By Amanda Gilmore
Young widow Chloe (Carla Juri) travels to Japan for work where she’s welcomed by an old friend, Toshi (Takashi Ueno). Chloe wanders this unfamiliar landscape and creates bonds with people along the way.
Writer/Director Bradley Rust Gray’s latest Feature is a meditation on grief and learning how to feel again. His Script follows Chloe as she builds relationships with people in Japan, even though there are language barriers involved for all. One of the most touching relationships is shared with Yatsuro (Issei Ogata). He’s an elderly man whose wife is battling breast cancer. It’s a touching relationship as they share a similar yet different experience.
Gray’s long takes capture something beautiful happening with every frame. The unhurried pacing mimics Chloe’s slow process of learning and allowing herself to live and love again. The relationships she builds bring her closer to feeling again, particularly in the bond she shares with Toshi.
blood is concerned with capturing an experience. Due to this, it’s anchored in its lead character. Juri is exquisite in every frame. Most of the time, she’s listening to people speak in a language she doesn’t fully understand. It’s captivating to watch her simply exist in Chloe’s skin as she navigates her new world.
blood screens virtually at Sundance:
Premiere: Jan. 24 at 5PM EST
Second Screening: Jan. 26 at 10AM EST (available for 24hrs)
By Amanda Gilmore
Writer/Director Carlota Pereda’s daring Feature debut is a twisted revenge against bullies tale.
In a small Spanish town, teenager Sara (Laura Galán) spends her summer days working at her parents’ butcher shop. The days are anything but fun, as the teenagers in the town incessantly bully her. Going so far as calling her family the “Three Little Pigs”. When a serial killer arrives in their town and takes a liking to Sara, she has a choice to make: side with the maniac who’s tormenting her bullies, or save them.
Piggy is a cautionary tale for bullies everywhere and doubles as a revenge fantasy for those who have been bullied. Pereda dives us into this world and immediately makes us side with Sara. We feel her pain from the very first spiteful remark laid upon her. In achieving this, Pereda has placed us in Sara’s position. Making us become conflicted as to what Sara will…and should do.
The emotional journey we go on with Sara works thanks to Galán’s fierce performance. She captivates at every turn with each thought conveyed through her eyes. She shows the confusion Sara feels about this sadistic killer and her bullies.
Overall, Piggy is a daring and rare film with a strong lead performance and a story with an impactful message. As a genre film is doesn’t disappoint.
Piggy screens virtually at Sundance:
Premiere: Jan. 24 at 11PM EST
Second Screening: Jan. 26 at 10AM EST (available for 24hrs)
By Amanda Gilmore
Julian Higgins’ Feature debut follows Sandra (Thandiwe Newton) in the direct aftermath of her mother’s passing. Over the course of seven days, the increasing environment of racism and misogyny brings Sandra to a boiling point.
God’s Country is a slow-burn pressure-cooker of a film that will have you on the edge of your seat. Higgins creates tension in every frame as we follow Sandra’s grieving process and determination to be taken seriously in a world against her. The anxiety-inducing music by DeAndre James Allen-Toole adds to this unnerving atmosphere making for one intense viewing experience.
At the heart of the Film is a captivating character study that rests on Newton’s sturdy shoulders. She gives a tour-de-force performance perfectly exposing the grieving process. While Sandra’s mourning, a confrontation with two hunters who trespass on their property increases her grief and anger. Higgins and co-writer Shaye Ogbonna have created a grossly understated character. Newton plays into this understatement allowing for one surprising, riveting performance.
God’s Country screens virtually at Sundance:
Premiere: Jan. 23 at 11PM EST
Second Screening: Jan. 25 at 10AM (available for 24hrs)
By Amanda Gilmore
James Ponsoldt’s latest Feature follows four best friends, Daisy (Lia Barnett), Mari (Eden Grace Red Field), Dina (Madalen Mills) and Lola (Sanai Victoria) on the last weekend of summer before entering middle school. When they arrive at their secret spot in the woods to lay trinkets from their summer together, they find a dead body. They spend the next day finding out who he was and what happened to him.
There’s a lot to love about Summering. It’s a touching examination of childhood friendship and the fear of growing up. This is expressed beautifully through the four young girls who share strong chemistry. It’s fun to watch them wandering through their town talking freely about the world around them.
The Film is at its best when focused on the family lives of these four girls, particularly in the relationships they share with their mothers. The scenes within their homes are poignant and at times heartbreaking. Daisy’s home life is one that stands out. Her father left a year ago resulting in her mother (played by Lake Bell) struggling with daily tasks. These moments are impactful, but sadly we don’t get enough of them.
The main focus in Summering is about the children finding the body and their quest to know more about him. It’s a shocking and dark storyline for a film about children which results in the young characters experiencing emotional and mental distress. Ponsoldt and Co-writer Benjamin Percy show this by adding a paranormal element of the girls seeing the ghost of the man. However, we only scratch the surface of their distress.
Summering screens virtually at Sundance:
Premiere: Jan. 22 at 7PM EST
Second Screening: Jan. 24 at 10AM EST (available for 24hrs)
By Justin Waldman
We Need to talk about Cosby explores how “America’s Dad” went on to be exposed as a monster, a sexual predator for over 40 years. It is hard to separate art from the people who create it, and the Documentary touches on that, but it is a little too soft at times for the exploration of what Bill Cosby has done, and not what he’s done. It will be premiering episodically over four weeks, which may dilute its potency, however it packs the punch that it needs to bring to the forefront.
W. Kamau Bell helms this Documentary, and as he says himself he was a child of Cosby, a black man who grew up in the ’70s, became a stand-up comedian, Cosby paved the way for a lot of people. However, the revelations that came out about Bill Cosby for years that finally garnered more attention, more women coming forward, the question had to be asked, how does one approach talking about Cosby?
The Documentary focuses on what Cosby meant for the community at large, what he became later in his career, and the monster that he truly was being revealed. Can someone’s actions and art be separated from who they are, or are they forever linked? We Need to talk about Cosby holds back a little too much, it needed to be harder on what Cosby has done and not what good he did do for the community. Monsters are monsters, there is no denying that, and he needs to pay for his crimes that spanned forty plus years. Everyone who stood by and let it happen also needs to be held accountable, because there is no way that what he was doing was unnoticed nor undocumented.
We Need to talk about Cosby is a much-needed Documentary that could have dug a bit deeper into the monster he was revealed to be, and not so much the good he did at the beginning of his career.
We need to talk about Cosby screen at Sundance as follows:
Premiere: Jan 22nd at 12:00 pm EST
Secondary screening Jan 24th 10 am EST (available for 24 hours)
By Justin Waldman
For someone’s 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 family’s impending loss. Ten months later, she learns that she’s in remission and decides to decommission her clone. However, Sarah’s Double files a motion to live and they are set for a duel to the death.
Writer/Director Riley Stearns’ 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.
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 she’s found herself living. As the Double, she excels at showing the clone’s curiosity for life. Out of the Supporting Cast, Aaron Paul (who plays Sarah’s 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 Sarah’s 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 characters’ fears and pressures. Therefore, they succeed in creating a story that goes beyond the characters’ 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 Rönkkö’s tireless quest to find someone who can make sex satisfying. Through Rönkkö we get a refreshing take on female sexuality. Is it the men she’s 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 — like “girl pictures.” 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)
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