It’s that time of year again! Readers of this site know that while others are suffering through the slow movie month of January, this is when I and many other movie fanatics head to Park City for the Sundance Film Festival! Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, Sundance has another strong lineup of movies that will be looking to emerge and be discussed throughout 2024.
Although, I’ll admit to entering this festival with less certainty about the movies I’ll be checking out. Most years I can pick out a few that are extremely high on my list. Last year, those were easy picks such as Flora & Son, Infinity Pool, Cassandro, and Magazine Dreams. While I do have some films that have caught my attention, I’d be lying if I said there was one that stood out above the rest. It feels like I’m going in more blind than ever before, and that’s both a bit scary and kind of exciting. It could mean that I’ll run across more movies that become instant all-time favorites, such as Rye Lane.
So here are my 10 most-anticipated features at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. If all goes according to plan, I’ll have reviews for them in the coming days.
The 2024 Sundance Film Festival runs from January 18th-28th.
Freaky Tales
Directors: Ryan Fleck & Anna Boden
Cast: Pedro Pascal, Jay Ellis, Normandi Kordei Hamilton, Dominique Thorne, Ben Mendelsohn, Ji-Young Yoo, Jack Champion, Angus Cloud, Kier Gilchrist
SYNOPSIS: In 1987 Oakland, a mysterious force guides The Town’s underdogs in four interconnected tales: Teen punks defend their turf against Nazi skinheads, a rap duo battles for hip-hop immortality, a weary henchman gets a shot at redemption, and an NBA All-Star settles the score. Basically another day in the Bay.
Buzz: The duo of Fleck and Boden is Sundance royalty, but they haven’t been to the festival since 2015’s Mississippi Grind, which I saw there and loved. Their track record speaks for itself with their films Half Nelson and Sugar both premiering at the festival. The cast for this one is among the best they’ve put together, and the interconnected plot of such seemingly disparate stories is intriguing.
Love Me
Directors: Sam & Andy Zuchero
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Steven Yeun
SYNOPSIS: Long after humanity’s extinction, a buoy and a satellite meet online and fall in love.
Buzz: It’s Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun. No offense to the filmmakers making their feature debuts here, but they aren’t my reason for wanting to see this. And that they’re playing inanimate objects in some sort of digital romance makes me want to see this even more.
Sasquatch Sunset
Director: David and Nathan Zellner
Cast: Riley Keough, Jesse Eisenberg, Nathan Zellner
SYNOPSIS:A year in the life of a singular family.
Buzz: The synopsis is…well, a bit vague. This is indeed about a family of sasquatches. A Bigfoot movie from the Zellners, who gave us the Fargo-esque weirdness of Kumiko the Treasure Hunter and the dark comedy western Damsel, feels totally on brand. David once directed a short titled Sasquatch Birth Journal 2 and it’s possible this is connected in some way?
The American Society of Magical Negroes
Director: Kobi Libii
Cast: Justice Smith, David Alan Grier, Drew Tarver, An-Li Bogan, Michaela Watkins, Nicole Byer
SYNOPSIS: A young man, Aren, is recruited into a secret society of magical Black people who dedicate their lives to a cause of utmost importance: making white people’s lives easier.
Buzz: Sundance is the place to go for movies that attempt to explore issues of race using humor or horror, and the results are often mixed: see also Get Out (great) and Dear White People (it was alright). Libii makes light of the storytelling trope of the “magical negro” character who shows up to help white people achieve their goal (see also The Legend of Bagger Vance) by pushing the idea to its furthest extent. The trailer is pretty funny, and Focus Features already plans to release it in March. Fingers crossed.
A Different Man
Director: Aaron Schimberg
Cast: Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve
SYNOPSIS: Aspiring actor Edward undergoes a radical medical procedure to drastically transform his appearance. But his new dream face quickly turns into a nightmare, as he loses out on the role he was born to play and becomes obsessed with reclaiming what was lost.
Buzz: This sounds bonkers, with Stan playing a man with neurofibromatosis who gets it corrected, only for his ex-girlfriend to write a play about the man he used to be, leading to his obsession with the actor playing him. Reinsve broke out a couple of years ago with The Worst Person in the World, but she’s still hardly a household name here in the States. It could be this is the movie to change that.
Love Lies Bleeding
Director: Rose Glass
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Katy O’Brian, Ed Harris, Dave Franco, Jena Malone
SYNOPSIS: Reclusive gym manager Lou falls hard for Jackie, an ambitious bodybuilder headed through town to Las Vegas in pursuit of her dream. But their love ignites violence, pulling them deep into the web of Lou’s criminal family.
Buzz: Love, sex, crime, and Kristen Stewart. Yes, please. If I haven’t said it before, I make a beeline to any films K-Stew has here in Park City, because she always delivers and it’s here that she takes on her most challenging roles. Glass is hot after her 2019 debut Saint Maud, band this is probably going to be the most sought-after film at the festival.
Presence
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Cast: Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, Callina Liang, Julia Fox
SYNOPSIS: A family moves into a suburban house and becomes convinced they’re not alone.
Buzz: When you think about filmmakers most closely associated with Sundance, Steven Soderbergh is right at the top of the list. If he’s here with a new movie, it HAS to be seen, and that goes double if it’s a suspenseful haunted house story like this.
The Outrun
Director: Nora Fingscheidt
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Paapa Essiedu, Saskia Reeves, Stephen Dillane
SYNOPSIS: After living life on the edge in London, Rona attempts to come to terms with her troubled past. She returns to the wild beauty of Scotland’s Orkney Islands — where she grew up — hoping to heal. Adapted from the bestselling memoir by Amy Liptrot.
Buzz: The last time Saoirse Ronan was at Sundance was in 2015 with Brooklyn. Not only is that one of my all-time favorite Sundance movies, but it earned Ronan an Oscar nomination for Best Actress she SHOULD’VE WON, while the film earned a nod for Best Picture. I haven’t read Amy Liptrot’s memoir but I’m assuming the best for this adaptation. Director Nora Fingscheidt last directed Sandra Bullock in the 2021 movie The Unforgivable.
In a Violent Nature
Director: Chris Nash
Cast: Ry Barrett, Andrea Pavlovic, Cameron Love
SYNOPSIS: The enigmatic resurrection, rampage, and retribution of an undead monster in a remote wilderness.
Buzz: Everybody knows horror isn’t really my thing, but I do love a good slasher movie. And I’m intrigued by this one which turns the tables by putting the focus on the killer, rather than the prey. It’s a novel approach, and if Nash, who is making his feature debut after a string of popular shorts including a segment in The ABCs of Death, can pull this off then we could be on the groundfloor of a new horror maestro.
Exhibiting Forgiveness
Director: Titus Kaphar
Cast: Andre Holland, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, John Earl Jelks, Andra Day
SYNOPSIS: Utilizing his paintings to find freedom from his past, a Black artist on the path to success is derailed by an unexpected visit from his estranged father, a recovering addict desperate to reconcile. Together, they learn that forgetting might be a greater challenge than forgiving.
Buzz: Renowned artist Titus Kaphar wrote and directed this film, pulling together an all-star cast that includes the vastly underrated and underutilized Andre Holland (he should be in everything), Origin star Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, and Andra Day who I feel I haven’t seen since her role as Billie Holliday. Movies set in the art world scene are frequent, especially at Sundance, but so rarely from the Black perspective and I want to be there for it.
