I covered (virtually) the 2023 Sundance Film Festival for AwardsWatch.com.
Even though I only officially reviewed three films, I saw a total of nineteen in seven days.
Here’s a brief wrap-up, sorted in order of my preference:
POLITE SOCIETY
Directed by Nida Manzoor
Starring Ritu Arya and Priya Kansara
Comedy/Action/Fantasy
Hands-down the most colorful and energetic film of the festival, Polite Society is an off-the-wall, hugely entertaining film that is what you get when you mix Booksmart, Bend It Like Beckham and any Quentin Tarantino movie with Crazy Rich Asians and Get Out. It is a wicked, broad comedy, a martial arts movie, a fantasy and a teen buddy movie all rolled into one and it is so much fun. Ritu Arya plays a Pakistani-British teen who dreams of being a stuntwoman and becomes so desperate to stop the arranged marriage of her sister that she enlists the help of her friends to pull off a wedding sabotage worthy of Danny Ocean. But it’s not the plot that makes Polite Society the experience that it is (especially when it gets way too silly at the end), it’s the style, as director Nida Manzoor imbues every second of this film with infectious charm. You literally won’t stop smiling from start to finish.
Will be released April 28 in theaters
BAD BEHAVIOUR
Directed by Alice Englert
Starring Jennifer Connelly, Alice Englert, Ben Whishaw
Dark Comedy
If seeing Jennifer Connelly again in Top Gun: Maverick last year reminded you how good she is, just wait until you see Bad Behaviour. She plays a narcissistic, passive-aggressive, and mean-spirited former child star who goes to a spiritual retreat, looking for enlightenment. But she’s not really into it and ends up clashing with everyone, especially a vapid model who seemingly is there just for the Instagram posts. This is a dark comedy with all kinds of wickedness, mainly from Connelly, who gives the performance of her career—and that includes her Oscar-winning role in A Beautiful Mind. Ben Whishaw is also terrific as the leader of the retreat, who may or may not be a con artist. This one is weird, but so good. The director, Alice Englert, also wrote it and co-stars as Jennifer Connelly’s character’s emotionally bankrupt daughter. A triple threat, indeed.
Read my full review here.
No release date yet.
SQUARING THE CIRCLE (THE STORY OF HIPGNOSIS)
Directed by Anton Corbijn
Documentary
Documentarian/photographer Anton Corbijn’s love of music runs deep, and in this documentary about the premier record sleeve artists of rock and roll’s (and vinyl’s) heyday, he basks in the very things that make rock-and-roll so magical. Chock full of interviews with some of the greatest rock musicians who ever lived, Corbijn not only tells the story of a little company that made it big by designing artwork for some of the greatest records ever, but it is the story of the lost medium of vinyl. For those of us who ever spent whole evenings sitting on the floor in front of a giant speaker, listening to records while staring at album artwork, this is for you.
No release date yet.
STILL: A MICHAEL J. FOX MOVIE
Directed by Davis Guggenheim
Documentary
This film feels so much more than a simple documentary about the actor Michael J. Fox and his struggle with Parkinson’s Disease. While it is all of that, the way director Davis Guggenheim crafts it, using footage from Fox’s extensive television and film career as a visual companion to the story, is ingenious, clever, and wholly effective. Most of the story is told by Fox himself, either through voiceover narration or on-camera interview. Combined with the vault of publicity footage from the forty-plus years Fox has been a celebrity, it makes for both a loving and honest look at a man we think we all know and love. While he is everything we know (and love), there is so much more to him, not the least of which is his strength and honesty in confronting his debilitating disease in such a public way. This one is everything a profile documentary should be and more.
No release date yet.
GOING VARSITY IN MARIACHI
Directed by Alejandra Vasquez and Sam Osborn
Documentary
Who knew that Texas had state-wide high school mariachi competitions? Not me! This totally engrossing documentary takes us deep into the competitive and community-building world of high school mariachi and it is fantastic. Think football and band blended together, but with much more flair and cultural resonance, and you’ve got competitive mariachi, a musical tradition brought over from Mexico, but embraced by kids in Texas high schools with the fervor of any other high school club or sport. The documentary focuses on one specific school and its underdog team, and we follow them all the way to their competing in the state finals. You can’t help but fall in love with these kids and this music and it makes you wonder: why don’t more people know about this? It’s truly awesome.
No release date yet.
MAGAZINE DREAMS
Directed by Elijah Bynum
Starring Jonathan Majors
Drama
Jonathan Majors is incendiary as an amateur bodybuilder who is obsessed with being a champion. The only problem is, he’s taken too many steroids and ‘roid rage has turned him into a volatile and violent psychopath. Think Taxi Driver without any of Scorsese’s artistry, Magazine Dreams is a pretty depressing watch, but so worth it to see Majors, who was already one of the best actors around, totally commit and deliver a performance that will stay with you long after this film is over. And if you think you’ve seen actors physically transform themselves before, just wait.
No release date yet.
SOMETIMES I THINK ABOUT DYING
Directed by Rachel Lambert
Starring Daisy Ridley, Dave Merheje
Dark Comedy
Daisy Ridley plays a lonely, quiet, shy woman whose only break from her monotonous daily existence is to daydream about the myriad ways she could die. It’s not as morbid as it sounds, as she doesn’t actively want to kill herself, she just views death as the most interesting way to inject some excitement into her life. Life does get a little more interesting, however, when she forges a strange friendship with her new co-worker, played by Dave Merheje, who brings her out of her shell just a little bit. Ridley is great in a very quiet, subtle performance which proves she’s much more than Star Wars. Overall, it’s a strangely satisfying film, even though it does remind you how soul-killing office life can be.
No release date yet.
PASSAGES
Directed by Ira Sachs
Starring Franz Rogowski, Ben Whishaw, Adele Exarchopoulos
Drama
We’ve all known a toxic narcissist, but what happens when you fall in love with one? Passages centers its story on Tomas, played by Franz Rogowski, a film director who is married to Martin, played by Ben Whishaw. When Tomas has an affair with a woman, it sends three people’s lives into turmoil, with Tomas, a manipulative, selfish man-child, at the center. The performances are great, but it’s the sex scenes people will be talking about, especially one featuring Whishaw as you’ve never seen him before.
No release date yet.
DEEP RISING
Directed by Matthieu Rytz
Documentary
Narrated by Jason Momoa, this documentary describes the incredible discovery that, when properly harnessed, would provide enough electric batteries to eliminate the need for oil altogether, erasing a major cause of climate change and provide cheap and accessible energy to every man, woman and child on the planet. The only downside? This discovery is at the bottom of our oceans and, in order to harvest it, we would have to sacrifice the most bio-diverse region on Earth, with potential devastation to all life as we know it. This compelling documentary does a good job explaining both sides of the argument, but, by the end, will more than likely make you think twice about buying that Tesla.
No release date yet.
FAIRYLAND
Directed by Andrew Durham
Starring Scoot McNairy, Emilia Jones, Geena Davis
Drama
A pretty generic, paint-by-numbers nostalgia piece about a girl growing up with her gay, single father in bohemia San Francisco in the ‘70s and ‘80s. There’s nothing here you haven’t seen before, but Scoot McNairy is great as the father and Emilia Jones is warm as the daughter. It just can’t rise above being much more than a nostalgic look at gay life before and during AIDS in San Francisco.
Read my full review here.
No release date yet.
YOU HURT MY FEELINGS
Directed by Nicole Holofcener
Starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tobias Menzies, David Cross
Comedy
Julia Louis-Dreyfus reunites with writer/director Nicole Holofcener in this comedy about a Manhattan novelist who gets upset when she finds out her therapist husband, played by Tobias Menzies, has been lying to her about liking her new book. While this ensemble comedy, which features a who’s who of name actors in bit parts, is funny in moments, it doesn’t sustain and ends up just seeming tone-deaf. While the Nora Ephron vibe is warmly nostalgic, a whole movie dedicated to rich white people complaining about their trivial first-world problems just doesn’t feel as interesting in 2023 as it did in 1989.
Read my full review here.
No release date yet.
Directed by Alexandria Bombach
Documentary
A documentary about Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, better known as The Indigo Girls, a folk-rock duo who are as much known for their political activism as they are their music. Director Alexandria Bombach makes the most of a deep catalog of home videos, mostly shot by Ray over the course of her life and career, giving an honest behind-the-scenes look at the duo’s rise to becoming one of the top indie acts of the ‘90s. Much is made of their activism, both as openly gay artists (before it was cool to be so) and as self-proclaimed “bleeding heart liberals,” their activism is fierce and passionate for a wide-ranging group of causes, including the protection of indigenous lands, climate change and, of course, LGBTQ+ rights. Hardcore fans will wish there was more music, but it still presents a pretty complete picture of two artists who have stayed true to who they are and are continuing to fight the good fight.
No release date yet.
Directed by Anthony Chen
Starring Cynthia Erivo, Alia Shawkat
Drama
Cynthia Erivo is a marvel. There’s nothing she can’t do. She is so good, in fact, that she manages to sustain an entire movie that really only has about fifteen minutes of real story. Erivo plays a refugee from the civil war in Liberia, who is homeless in a resort town on the Greek coast. Through flashbacks, we learn that she is educated, and comes from an upper-class family, wiped out during the revolution. She managed to flee to Greece, but she has nothing and manages to keep going through her wits. She makes friends with an American tour guide, played by Alia Shawkat, but she’s too proud or scared to tell her truth. The movie really doesn’t go anywhere, but the performances from Erivo and Shawkat are indelible, as is the languid pace and gorgeous setting. But there’s really not enough here to sustain a full movie.
No release date yet.
LANDSCAPE WITH INVISIBLE HAND
Directed by Cory Finley
Starring Kylie Rogers, Tiffany Haddish, Asante Blackk
Sci-fi dark comedy
An alien invasion movie set long after the invasion—that’s one you haven’t seen before. Planet Earth has settled into a new relationship with its alien overlords, who quietly and discreetly alter human life on Earth to suit their own likes, needs and agenda. Tiffany Haddish plays the mother of two kids who have found a way of existing and keeping their family together, but it’s a constant struggle. When her son has an opportunity to take advantage of an offer the aliens make them, but it would involve him selling out his soul, he has a big decision to make. This film takes some big swings, most of them missing, but I loved the vibe and the originality. It doesn’t quite know what it is, but at least it’s quite entertaining.
No release date yet.
FAIR PLAY
Directed by Chloe Domont
Starring Phoebe Dynevor, Alden Ehrenreich
Drama Thriller
Gender politics seems to be a hot button topic at this year’s festival, and this one is getting a lot of buzz, as Phoebe Dynevor (Bridgerton) and Alden Ehrenreich (Solo) play a sexy couple who work at the same high-stress financial trading company on Wall Street. Their jobs are cutthroat and ultra-competitive, so they have chosen to keep their romantic relationship secret (in addition to it being against company policy), but when one of them gets an opportunity to be the other one’s boss, things get super complicated, not only for their work life, but for their personal life as well. This one has sexy thriller vibes, but it goes a little off the rails in the final act. Still, it holds your interest and does raise some interesting issues—but really, nobody is watching this movie for a deep discussion.
No release date yet.
CAT PERSON
Directed by Susanna Fogel
Starring Emilia Jones, Nicholas Braun
Drama Thriller
The most talked-about film at the festival, Cat Person is another gender politics movie that is trying to spark a conversation about gender roles in our society. Emilia Jones plays a 20-year-old college student who flirts with a 30-something regular, played by Nicolas Braun, who comes to her movie theater, where she works at the concession stand. As soon as they start dating, she starts to realize that she might have made a mistake, but has a hard time figuring out how to let him down gently. What starts out as a nice boy-meets-girl story devolves into a social commentary that is trying to make the point about how perception of a situation is often based on gender, but it just doesn’t work as well as it thinks it does. As a huge fan of Succession, it pains me to say this, but Braun feels totally miscast and it forces me to wonder how much different—and better—it could have been with a different actor. Jones, however, is astoundingly good, and continues to cement her new role of Queen of Sundance.
No release date yet.
EILEEN
Directed by William Oldroyd
Starring Thomasin McKenzie, Anne Hathaway
Drama thriller
Thomasin McKenzie plays a naïve and curious young woman who works as a secretary in a men’s prison in Massachusetts in the ‘50s. Her whole life changes when the new prison psychologist, played by Anne Hathaway, arrives, as she is a progressive, confident and rule-breaking woman who inspires her to make her mark on the world. What starts out feeling like Carol ends up more like Last Night in Soho—and that’s not a compliment. It’s trying to be a thriller, but the final act is so bad it’s laughable. McKenzie and Hathaway deserve better.
No release date yet.
Directed by Laura McGann
Documentary
I really tried to get invested in this documentary about the extreme sport of free diving, but I just couldn’t. For anyone who doesn’t know, free diving is the sport of diving down into the ocean as far as you can go on a single breath of air. There are actual competitions for this, and this film is a look at the most famous female free diver in the world, Italian Alessia Zecchini. While there have been other films about pointless and dangerous pursuits that I’ve loved, like Man on Wire and Free Solo, there was just something about this film that irritated me to no end. I just didn’t care nearly as much as the filmmakers counted on me to be emotionally invested in these stories. The only interesting scenes are the ones underwater, and there’s far too few of them.
No release date yet.
Directed by Toby Genkel and Florian Westermann
Animated adventure
I was looking forward to this one, as it stars Hugh Laurie in a voiceover performance as a cat, Maurice, who roams the countryside, running a con with a group of talking rats. The film is based on the popular book by Terry Pratchett, but none of that makes this film any better of an experience. It doesn’t know what tone to land on, as you can tell the filmmakers are resisting greatly to letting the film get as dark as the source material demands. As a result, the film tries to be disturbing AND cute, and doesn’t really succeed in being either. But mostly, and sadly, it’s the voice performance by Emilia Clarke as a talkative know-it-all girl that ruined the whole experience for me. No matter how good Laurie is, even he can’t save this one.
In theaters February 3.