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Source: Deadline
Award season may still be in full swing as it continues to commemorate the films released throughout the previous year, but that doesn’t mean the film festival circuit has been put to a standstill. In fact, it’s still carrying out business as usual, with one festival after another taking place and exhibiting whatever cinematic fare it has deemed worthy of being seen on the big screen. As far as film festivals held within the United States go, few are as prestigious as the Sundance Film Festival, which usually runs for a brief period throughout the month of April of each year and serves as a starting point for those eager to see what could stand out most in the coming year. The 2024 Sundance Film Festival, which took place between Thursday, January 18th and Sunday, January 28th, was no exception, showcasing a wide variety of unique cinematic creations over the course of its eleven-day duration, many of which were fortunate enough to receive the backing of a major distributor (one that would allow for them to be more easily accessed by the general public) and/or at least one of Sundance’s many awards, the most notable being the festival’s Grand Jury Prizes. Regardless of how well a film fared at this year’s Sundance however, it’s safe to say that there are quite a few noteworthy titles that will hopefully continue to build a respectable reputation in the time following the festival’s end. There are plenty of impressive films featured in this year’s Sundance line-up that are worthy of discussion, but here are some that somehow have managed to stand out just a little bit more than others:
“Between the Temples” – directed by Nathan Silver (who has co-written the script alongside C. Mason Wells), this comedy stars Jason Schwartzman as a cantor who finds himself assisting his newest student – ironically, his music teacher from elementary school (played by Carol Kane) – in preparing for her late-in-life bat mitzvah. While this premise may sound delightfully bizarre, Silver finds a way to give it an abundance of heart and weight, with many festival-goers praising the chemistry between Schwartzman and Kane and its ability to embed humanity into, as one reviewer put it, “the midlife reawakening many eventually face en route to self-acceptance”.
“Black Box Diaries” – there are personal films, and then there are films that intend to reveal the most harrowing experiences of a person’s recent history. Shiori Ito’s documentary is very much one of those latter films, one that explores the investigation of her sexual assault that seeks to expose the systemic barriers that prevent someone from receiving the justice they deserve. What Ito chooses to include in this film is a scathing indictment of institutions that somehow end up protecting abusers more so than they are willing to punish them, one that forces the audience to consider just how prevalent this anti-mentality truly is in a world that sees itself as civilized.
“Freaky Tales” – filmmakers Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, the writer/director team behind 2019’s “Captain Marvel”, have assembled an all-star cast for this latest cinematic endeavor of theirs, one that contains such notable names as Pedro Pascal, Ben Mendelsohn, Dominique Thorn, and Tom Hanks among many others. In telling four interconnecting stories set in 1987 Oakland (many of which revolve around actual historical events that occurred at this time and place), the film may be a little lacking in narrative substance, but the charisma of its exceptional cast should prove at least somewhat compelling as the film lays out one plot twist after another.
“In the Summers” – the Grand Jury Prize winner of this year’s U.S. Dramatic Competition, this drama may not be a direct recreation of the life of filmmaker Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio, but there is just enough of her real-life history on display here for one to get a decent sense of what growing up was like for her. Focusing primarily on two sisters spending the summer with their father, Samudio, in taking inspiration from her own summers in Colombia, certainly takes her time to explore the joy and tension that come with living an ordinary life, but with a cast that includes such actors as Sasha Calle and Leslie Grace, that time ultimately proves well spent.
“Love Lies Bleeding” – speaking of queer love stories, writer/director Rose Glass (who had previously attracted much attention with her 2019 debut feature “Saint Maud”) has brought together actors Katy O’Brien and Kristen Stewart for this chilling romantic thriller about a gym manager and a bodybuilder whose growing feelings cause them both to become entangled in a violent criminal conspiracy. While the likes of Jena Malone and Ed Harris make for a strong supporting cast, this is O’Brien and Stewart’s film above all else, and their chemistry shines in a film that maintains an exhilarating energy as it dives deeper into its gritty and suspenseful story.
“Stress Positions” – any film that has the word “stress” in its title is probably not going be a particular pleasant viewing experience, and while there may be some humor to be found in this dramedy from filmmaker Theda Hammel, its setting during the earliest months of the COVID-19 pandemic should be enough give the viewer a sense of how stressful this story will feel. On top of the aforementioned plague, protagonist Bahlul (played by Qaher Harhash) must also contend with a broken leg and the company of his uncle Terry (played by John Early), a predicament that, perhaps to a fault, may be an experience just as overwhelming to the audience as it is to Bahlul.
