If you’re planning to “attend” the online-only version of the Sundance Film Festival, why not sample these 10 films? Each has piqued my interest.
Tickets are $20 for individual films; festival packages range $50-$750; festival.sundance.org
“Hatching”: A prevailing Sundance misconception is that the festival is out of touch when it comes to genre filmmaking. Wrong. The fest features a dynamite Midnight section where you can catch out-there delights. Finland filmmaker Hanna Begholm’s bizarre horror/thriller revolves around a camera-ready blogging family and a bird’s egg that hatches something unsavory. Available through Jan. 25.
“Happening”: In looking to the past, we learn about the potential hazards of our future. That concept echoes throughout Audrey Diwan’s unsparing second feature, a painfully relevant 1963 tale about a pregnant French university student (Anamaria Vartolomei) who endures a nightmarish ordeal in trying to get an abortion. Available through Jan. 25.
“Master”: I’ll see anything with Regina Hall in it, and this genre hybrid sounds like it could be “Get Out” good. Set at a hoity-toity New England University, it finds Hall’s dean of students encountering racism and sexism that haunts the corridors. This pointed horror/thriller film directed and written by first-time filmmaker Mariama Diallo looks like it could haunt our dreams as well. Available through Jan. 24.
“After Yang”: Colin Farrell and Jodie Turner-Smith anchor this trippy effort from talented director and screenwriter Kogonada. True, ethical debates about AI are all the rage right now, but Kogonada’s A24 feature is said to make us feel like the future is now as it plumbs how a human tries to better understand an android. Available through Jan. 24.
“Lucy and Desi”: Did you feel a little let down by Aaron Sorkin’s yakity-yakity “Being the Ricardos”? Try Amy Poehler’s first documentary, which delves into the key points in the lives and careers of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Available through Jan. 25.
“Dos Estaciones”: Tequila factory owner Maria Garcia weathers hard times as her small-time operation stares at corporation competition, huge debts and other business calamities. Director and co-writer Juan Pablo Gonzalez is gaining buzz, and this drama likely won’t hurt his reputation one bit. Available through Jan. 27
“Framing Agnes”: Filmmaker Chase Joynt continues to drive the documentary into unconventional and exciting directions. His latest features an all-trans cast re-enacting moments in the life of a 1958 trans woman who joined a UCLA program so she could get the proper gender-affirming care she sought. Joynt’s inventive take on singer Billy Tipton’s story, 2020’s “No Ordinary Man,” adopted a similar approach. Available through Jan. 25.
“Speak No Evil”: Another blood-curdler in the Midnight section that holds creepy promise is director/writer Christan Tafdrup’s family vacation nightmare. Two couples and their children hit it off in Italy, so much so that one family invites the other for a weekend stay at their place, a journey that takes a dark, twisted turn. Available through Jan. 24.
“Nothing Compares”: A vastly talented yet polarizing figure in the pop music world, Sinead O’Connor has generated a slew of headlines. Director Kathryn Ferguson, largely focusing on the singer’s career between the late 1980s and early ’90s, offers context and a feminist overview to the controversial performer who stands up for what she believes. Available through Jan. 24.
“Cha Cha Real Smooth”: Cooper Raiff follows up his delightful college romance “Sh@#$house” with this dramedy with Dakota Johnson, Raul Castillo, Brad Garrett, Leslie Mann and Raiff. It’s about a bar mitzvah host who forms a bond with a mother and her autistic daughter. Available through Jan. 26.
