The new year has begun and that means the Sundance Film Festival is about to go into full swing. It’s that time where independent movies make their shining debut for many new filmmakers, as well as bringing new debuts from A-list directors who dip back into the indie world. From here, there’s usually that one film from the festival that carries itself into the Oscar conversation (Winter’s Bone, Minari), or go all the way and win Best Picture (CODA). But from the start, Robert Redford’s desire was to show off more talent to the masses. Here are a few of those films coming out of Sundance this year.
A Real Pain – Directed By Jesse Eisenberg
Two cousins (Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin) travel to Poland to honor their deceased grandmother. Both have different personalities and they will clash along the trip when their family history unearths secrets. This comedy-drama is Eisenberg’s second film after When You Finish Saving The World, also a Sundance release, and is grounded in giving a human story on family bonding through uncomfortable moments.
DEVO – Directed By Chris Smith
This new music documentary from the director of Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond and Sr. tells the story of a radical band who were unlike any other college-based band. From Kent State, the “de-evolution” of music consisted of experimental music, performance art, and social commentary that has endured for decades. The documentary goes beyond their biggest song, “Whip It,” but shows how far they push their own spectacle to attract a loyal following. It’s going to be one freakishly fun ride through history.
Frida – Directed By Carla Gutierrez
Same title about the same person, but it isn’t another biopic. It is a documentary about the legendary Mexican painter Frida Kahlo told in her own words from archive interviews put together. Made in animation, Gutierrez, who directed the documentary RBG, has an innovative portrait of a unique artist whose work was not internationally renowned until after her death and is arguably of greater status than of her husband, Diego Rivera.
Hit Man – Directed By Richard Linklater
It debuted last year at the Venice Film Festival, but Netflix bought it up for release this year and is part of the Spotlight release. Linklater (Boyhood) wrote the script with his star, Glen Powell, a comedy about a college professor who takes up a role as an undercover hitman who suddenly has to help a woman in serious trouble. It’s that dark humor with a Texas twist that Linklater has a grasp of and, using a true story as its basis, is charming and entertaining.
Rob Peace – Directed By Chiwetel Ejiofor
Making his second film after The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, Ejiofor also wrote this true-story drama about a young man who lives a double life. Coming from the roughest part of Newark, New Jersey, Rob Peace (Jay Will) is a biochemistry student at Yale while also making money as a drug dealer to help out his impoverished mother (Mary J. Blige) while his father (Ejiofor) is in prison. This split in his personal life leads Peace down a dangerous road and to a place beyond saving.
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