Sundance’s best: The movies we can’t wait to see on Kiwi screens
Saturday, 3 February 2024
Back in full flight in its natural home on the often snow-flecked streets of Utah’s Park City after three years of partial, or fully virtual, screenings, the recent Sundance Film Festival certainly didn’t disappoint when it came to offering a taste of the exciting cinema to come over the next 12 months.
There was something for everyone among the around 80 feature-length projects and smattering of TV series on show, with Ukrainian documentary Porcelain Wars, the New Mexico-set drama In the Summers, Mexican crime-drama Sujo and emotion-filled Norwegian doco A New Kind of Wilderness among the prize winners.
Some titles have already been picked up for proposed cinema or streaming service release, with Netflix reportedly forking out US$17m for horror-comedy It’s What’s Inside, Amazon MGM Studios handing over US$15m to secure the Aubrey Plaza and Maddie Ziegler-starring comedy My Old Ass and American distributors Neon taking home Steven Soderbergh’s latest flick Presence.
Stuff to Watch had the opportunity to check out 18 films during the festival and has come up with this list of 10 terrific tales we can’t wait for Kiwis to see on a screen near them as soon as possible.
A Real Pain
Offering ample proof that recent Emmy Award-winner Kieran Culkin can do more than just play Roman Roy, this bittersweet and hilarious dramedy showcases terrific performances from both the Succession star and writer-director Jesse Eisenberg (Zombieland).
The pair play estranged cousins who embark on a tour of Poland in order to honour their beloved grandmother. But will travelling together help them bond, or drive them even further apart?
Black Box Diaries
A harrowing, rage-inducing intimate documentary that has just gained even more resonance thanks to US writer E.Jean Carroll’s court battles with Donald Trump.
Japanese journalist Shiori Ito chronicles her seven-year battle for justice after an unwanted encounter with a senior reporter with strong links to powerful friends.
Eventually going public in 2017, after police failed to prosecute her alleged rapist, she received both public support and condemnation, as she highlighted the flaws in her country’s laws and judicial and political systems.
Daughters
Like Garrett Bradley’s Academy Award-nominated 2020 documentary Time, Natalie Rae and Angela Patton take us on a heartrending journey inside the American prison system.
The focus here is on a group of inmates at a Washington D.C. jail who are taking part in a unique fatherhood programme. With in-person “touch” visits increasingly prohibited, the Date With Dad dance offers a rare chance for those incarcerated to bond with their girls.
Tear-inducing and uplifting in equal measure.
Frida
Just when you thought you knew all there was to know about the Mexican artist, along comes this vibrant and vital portrait from Emmy-nominated editor-turned-director Carla Gutierrez (RBG).
Using Frida Kahlo’s own words, taken from letters, diaries, essays and interviews, as well as archival footage and animation inspired by her iconic painting style, Gutierrez details her triumphs and tragedies in sometimes raw and intimate detail.
It is scheduled to debut on Prime Video on March 15.
Girls Will Be Girls
A deserved winner of an audience award at the festival, Indian writer-director Shuchi Talati’s coming-of-age tale features a stunning turn from teen actor Preeti Panigrahi.
She plays Mira, a 16-year-old high-achieving student at a boarding school in the foothills of the Himalayas. When her friendship with the worldly Sri (Kesav Binoy Kiron) threatens to blossom into something more, she finds herself increasingly frustrated by her mother Anila (Kani Kusruti), who also takes a shine to the young man.
Kneecap
A potent mix of Derry Girls, Trainspotting, 24 Hour Party People and The Commitments, British writer-director Rich Peppiatt dramatises the controversial rise of the eponymous Irish hip-hop group.
Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara and DJ Próvai play themselves in this – sometimes–- outrageously anarchic tale that also offers a resonant clarion call for the preservation of indigenous languages.
Look out for Michael Fassbender in an ethereal, but key role.
Skywalkers: A Love Story
Fans of thrilling documentaries like Man on Wire should definitely check out this intimate, vertigo-inducing look at “rooftopping” couple Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus.
As well as detailing some of their more dramatic “stunts”, it also chronicles the highs and lows of their increasingly intertwined professional and personal relationship, culminating in their daring attempt to scale what has been billed as the globe’s “last super skyscraper” while the 2022 World Cup Final was taking place.
Expect this to debut on Netflix later this year.
Suncoast
The Third Day and The Last of Us’ Nico Parker finally gets the leading role her impressive talents deserve in Laura Chinn’s mid-noughties-set semi-autobiographical teen drama.
She plays Doris, a young woman whose childhood has been dominated by her older brother’s incapacitating illness and the toll it has taken on her widowed mother Kristine (Laura Linney). As his last days loom, Doris tries to establish her own identity, much to her ma’s despair.
Kiwis can view this on Disney+ from February 9.
Thelma
Ninety-four-year-old June Squibb (About Schmidt, Nebraska) is the star of this fabulous Mission: Impossible-inspired action-comedy.
When 93-year-old Thelma Post gets duped by a phone scammer pretending to be her grandson, she sets out on a treacherous quest across the city to reclaim what was taken from her.
Filled with memorable moments and colourful characters, writer-director Josh Margolin’s feature debut (whose own grandmother Thelma nearly fell for a similar confidence trick) also features Richard Roundtree, Parker Posey, Fred Hechinger, Clark Gregg and Malcolm McDowell.
Veni Vidi Vici
If you enjoyed The White Lotus or Triangle of Sadness, then you’ll definitely get a kick out of this Austrian black comedy.
It’s the story of the Maynards, a billionaire family for whom there seem to be no consequences for their increasingly outrageous behaviour. Patriarch Amon’s (Laurence Rupp) passion for hunting is well-known, but even though he never seems to catch any animals and his nefarious behaviour is well-known, no-one can categorically link him to a string of sniper “murders” plaguing the city and its surrounds.