January 20th at Sundance Film Festival
A quick glimpse into some of the most anticipated films playing on the third day (January 20th) at the Sundance Film Festival.
A Real Pain
(January 20th at Sundance Film Festival)
From Sundance:
Mismatched cousins David and Benji reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. The adventure takes a turn when the pair’s old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history.
Writer-director Jesse Eisenberg (When You Finish Saving the World, 2022 Sundance Film Festival) returns to the Festival with a poignant, funny exploration of the unexpected permutations of intergenerational trauma. Eisenberg’s intimate, resonant script complements the tension and humor of the two very different cousins’ tumultuous road trip with a sensitively drawn reckoning of the legacy of World War II among the survivors of survivors.
While Benji’s irreverent charm only partially masks his deep melancholy, David’s frustration with and genuine love for his cousin become achingly clear. Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin give devastating, funny performances as characters grappling with their grandmother’s history and the ways their own lives have diverged. Michał Dymek’s eloquent cinematography and a Chopin-driven score bind the tour group’s complicated, emotional reaction to the Polish setting into the texture of the film.
Meet Jesse Eisenberg
Director(s): Jesse Eisenberg
Key Cast:
Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin
On the Film:
A Real Pain is Jesse Eisenberg‘s directorial followup to his debut feature When You Finish Saving The World. This first feature had a somewhat polarized response upon its release but nonetheless established Eisenberg’s capability as both a writer and director. In A Real Pain, Eisenberg still serves in these roles, but this time, he is also in front of the camera, starring alongside Kieran Culkin in a film rooted in his own familial experiences. As Eisenberg has expressed, A Real Pain intends to explore the intergenerational impacts of trauma, even on individuals who may not be consciously aware of these effects. In this sense, A Real Pain is a real film about real people coming to terms with real pain (wow… I wrote that sentence without even realizing what I was doing – bravo, for the title). There are many brilliant films willing to explore trauma from WWII and the Holocaust from the perspective of those experiencing it directly, but there is enormous space for a project wanting to examine this trauma in a modern context. Eisenberg’s co-star here, Kieran Culkin, is currently riding a high of success, with wins at the Golden Globes and Critic Choice Awards for his role in “Succession”, and this may very well be the film that allows Culkin to transcend his television stardom and reach similar heights on the big screen.
Exhibiting Forgiveness
(January 20th at Sundance Film Festival)
From Sundance:
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.
This soulful, sophisticated, and beautifully crafted debut feature blossoms a hard-to-tell story about destructive parenting, the seasons of angst weathered by an abused child becoming a successful human being, and the deep meaning and salve of creative practice.
Oscar-shortlisted filmmaker and celebrated painter Titus Kaphar turns his attention again to cinema to innovate a fresh cinematic language that incorporates the language of paint and canvas to tells the story of Tarrell (André Holland), an art star reckoning with his own traumatic childhood by creating powerful and transcendent paintings.
At the radiant heart of Exhibiting Forgiveness is Tarell’s artistic process, which illuminates how a creative practice can redeem illnesses of the soul, forge pathways toward regaining power over one’s own destiny, and forgive and transform despite the spiritual damage.
Meet Titus Kaphar
Director(s): Titus Kaphar
Key Cast:
André Holland, John Earl Jelks, Andra Day, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor
On the Film:
I’m going to stop you where you are right now. If you haven’t clicked on the video above, “Meet Titus Kaphar“, I implore you to do so. What Kaphar is able to do in only two minutes of speaking about himself and this film is astounding, and if it doesn’t leave you dying to see his first feature film, I’m not sure what help I can offer. Kaphar is an artist, and I mean that in so many definitions of the word. He is a world-renowned painter, with his work being shown at some of the world’s most prestigious galleries, including the MoMA, the Whitney, and the Met. Adding to this, upon listening to him speak, you are immediately confronted with the words of a poet and a filmmaker with a singular vision. Exhibiting Forgiveness is rooted in Kaphar’s own experience as a black artist attempting to centre black subjects in a world in which they are consistently excluded. Beyond this, though, Exhibiting Forgiveness explores the relationship between art and trauma and the use of a creative outlet to give agency to oneself after it has been taken away. This project is bound to provide a powerful voice for those who have been marginalized and for those who struggle every day to integrate their trauma and create something beautiful. Oh, and it has one of the strongest casts of the festival, with André Holland, John Earl Jelks, Andra Day, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor all capable of delivering tremendous performances on screen.
Winner
(January 20th at Sundance Film Festival)
From Sundance:
Reality Winner is a brilliant young misfit from a Texas border town who finds her morals challenged while serving as an NSA contractor. A sarcastic, gun-lovin, vegan, yogi, and CrossFit fanatic, Reality is an unconventional whistleblower who ends up being prosecuted for exposing Russia’s hacking of the 2016 election.
At once heartwarming and hard-hitting, Winner captures a depth of character, nuance of ideology, and historical detail that brings Reality Winner’s story to the screen with vibrancy and emotional thrust. Rarely can a true story be adapted so cinematically and with such fidelity to its subject matter. Weaving together the story of one unique family and a political landscape that has abandoned truth, Winner is a refreshing ode to people who have conviction and are willing to sacrifice to prove it.
Writer-director Susanna Fogel returns to the Premieres section with this tender political drama after bringing Cat Person to the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Sundance regular Emilia Jones (star of CODA, Fairyland, and Cat Person) once again leads up Fogel’s terrific cast including Connie Britton, Zach Galifianakis, Kathryn Newton, and Danny Ramirez.
Director(s): Susanna Fogel
Key Cast:
Emilia Jones, Connie Britton, Zach Galifianakis, Kathryn Netwon, Danny Ramirez
On the Film:
With a bit of a tonal shift from our previous piece, we have the film Winner, which will almost certainly generate raucous laughter in the theatre. This film comes from Susanna Fogel, perhaps most well-known for co-writing the hilarious Booksmart. Still, Fogel is not solely a comedic writer, as evidenced by her 2023 Sundance Film Cat Person, which saw her direction veer into psychological and thriller territory. Winner appears set on providing a happy medium of thrills, heart, and laughs along the way and sees Fogel reuniting with the star of Cat Person, Emilia Jones. The film is based on the real-life story of Reality Winner, who leaked an intelligence report concerning Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential Election and was consequently sentenced to five years in federal prison for the unauthorized release of government information to the media. This sentencing was controversial then, and Winner remains a polarizing figure, so it will be interesting to see how she is portrayed on screen. Also, as a Canadian, I feel the need to shout out Winnipeg, as it was the primary shooting location for the film (I just hope they got out before winter really hit…) At the end of the day, Winner will act as a significant marker in Fogel’s career and may very well show us whether her direction can live up to her strong writing chops.
My Old Ass
(January 20th at Sundance Film Festival)
From Sundance:
The summer before college, bright-yet-irreverent Elliott comes face-to-face with her older self during a mushroom trip. The encounter spurs a funny and heartfelt journey of self-discovery and first love as Elliott prepares to leave her childhood home.
Writer-director Megan Park’s tender, surprising sophomore feature cleverly uses its high-concept premise of a visit from one’s future self to launch a refreshing, nuanced exploration of the uncertainties of young romance and coming of age. My Old Ass is a sweet teenage love story, a lively contemporary comedy, and a quirky riff on time-travel films all in one.
Maisy Stella and Aubrey Plaza have a terrific unlikely chemistry, as the sass and self-assuredness of the young Elliott, as played by Stella, blends and overlaps with Plaza’s sardonic humor as a more mature Elliott. The care and affection shown in the film’s depiction of Elliott’s rural hometown in her last days before taking off for adulthood visually highlights her emotional journey, evoking a nostalgia for days that haven’t even ended yet.
Director(s): Megan Park
Key Cast:
Maisy Stella, Percy Hynes White, Maddie Ziegler, Kerrice Brooks, Aubrey Plaza
On the Film:
Canadian director Megan Park is premiering her second feature film, My Old Ass, at this year’s festival. She premiered her first film, The Fallout, at SXSW in 2021 after an acting career spanning the previous two decades. Like Susanna Fogel, Park’s film also serves as an opportunity for her to prove to the world that she belongs behind the camera, rather than “just” as an actor. Like her previous film, My Old Ass has the potential to reach younger audiences while simultaneously providing a deep and thought-provoking exploration of coming-of-age struggles. The “visit from a future self” premise is certainly not unique, but the fact that this occurs during a psilocybin-fueled mushroom trip shows Park’s willingness to ground her stories in the lived experience of many young people struggling to find themselves. That being said, balancing comedy, romance, and science-fiction is an ambitious task and will require strong performances from the “young” and “old” Elliots, played by Maisy Stella and Aubrey Plaza, respectively. I, for one, have always seen Plaza as an actress deserving of more credit, but given this is Stella’s feature film debut, one can only cross their fingers and hope that she can match Plaza’s presence on-screen.
Love Lies Bleeding
(January 20th at Sundance Film Festival)
From Sundance:
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.
Following her critically acclaimed first feature Saint Maud, Rose Glass makes her Sundance Film Festival debut with a bombastic, larger-than-life sophomore effort. An off-the-wall, rambunctious lesbian love story crashes into a family drama of the darkest ilk in this muscular thriller. As a small-town gym and a ravine just outside city limits become the playground for all flavors of mischief and mayhem, a heightened Americana sensibility and Glass’ deliciously distinctive, bold style create a world that is at once familiar and entirely fresh. Helmed by Sundance regular Kristen Stewart (Speak, Adventureland, Certain Women) and Katy O’Brian, Love Lies Bleeding is somehow as sweetly romantic about loyalty as it is doggedly hedonistic. With a vaulting imagination and its roots in deeply human places, this film packs a gut punch unlike any other.
Trailer
Director(s): Rose Glass
Key Cast:
Kristen Stewart, Katy O’Brian, Ed Harris, Dave Franco, Jena Malone, Anna Baryshnikov
On the Film:
A nominee for the most-anticipated film of the entire festival, Rose Glass’ follow-up to her late 2019 indie darling Saint Maud already has the eyes and ears of millions across the globe, with 1.8 million views on the trailer in only its first three weeks. Like Saint Maud, Love Lies Bleeding is also an A24 film, which brings tremendous credibility (and pressure) within the indie film scene. Of course, Sundance Queen Kristen Stewart is owed some credit for this film’s anticipatory response, but it is also a testament to Glass’ and co-writer Weronika Tofilska’s truly unique story. We have a queer love story. A family drama. A dark thriller. From the trailer alone, it is evident that Love Lies Bleeding will lead us in directions that we didn’t even know existed and will likely give us equally unexpected heart and heartbreak along the way. After Saint Maud (one of my favourite films of the year it was released), I have the utmost confidence in Glass to guide me to where I need to go.
