The legendary Sundance Film Festival 2019 has finally arrived, and what an amazing selection of films to see for those lucky enough to be visiting Park City, Utah over the next week and a half. We like a movie full of weird twists, and these thirteen showcases certainly have that essential "WTF" factor.
Rene Russo and Jake Gyllenhaal in Velvet Buzzsaw / Photo Credit: Netflix
1. Velvet Buzzsaw
Category: Premieres
Director: Dan Gilroy
The Nightcrawler director re-teams with Jake Gyllenhaal for another bizarre thriller which sees the actor play an art critic who finds himself and his money-focused associates being violently attacked by the artwork of a deceased old man after it is discovered by his curious neighbour Josephina (Zawe Ashton).
2. Judy & Punch
Category: World Cinema Dramatic Competition
Director: Mirrah Foulkes
Punch & Judy has been traditional puppet entertainment for centuries, but this satirical drama turns their story on its head as puppeteers Punch (Damon Herriman) and Judy (Mia Wasikowska) end up in a violent altercation where Judy is left seeking revenge after almost being beaten to death.
3. Greener Grass
Category: Midnight
Director: Jocelyn DeBoer, Dawn Luebbe
Based on their award-winning short film of 2016, this filmmaking duo return with this bizarre comedy which follows two suburban housewives whose lives spiral out of control when one of them selflessly gives the other her baby. If it's anything like the short film, it's sure to be a wild ride.
4. Wounds
Category: Midnight
Director: Babak Anvari
A bartender named Will (Armie Hammer) finds himself targeted by some sinister messages when he pockets a kid's cell phone that was left behind after a bar fight. His girlfriend Carrie (Dakota Johnson) becomes obsessed with trying to get to the bottom of the communication, and uncovers some horrific secrets along the way.
5. The Hole in the Ground
Category: Midnight
Director: Lee Cronin
When a mother comes across an enormous sinkhole in the woods by her new rural home while looking for her missing son, she assumes the worst for a moment. But soon he's back safe in her arms - or is he? As the days go by, she notices that his behaviour is becoming less and less like the angelic little boy she once knew. Even her disturbed neighbour doesn't believe he's really her son.
6. Honey Boy
Category: U.S. Dramatic Competition
Director: Alma Har'el
With a screenplay by Shia LaBeouf, there's bound to be some twists and turns in this drama about a child star named Otis who is forced to juggle his life in the spotlight with an abusive homelife at the hands of his tyrannical father, a former rodeo clown. The film follows Otis' attempts to mend this toxic relationship over the course of his adolescence.
7. Them That Follow
Category: U.S. Dramatic Competition
Director: Britt Poulton, Dan Madison Savage
Pentecostal snake handling may sound like a made up practice, but in the wilderness of Appalachia in the US it's a real religious ritual, the idea being that handling venomous snakes without getting hurt is proof that the Holy Spirit is within you. Them That Follow explores this concept with Walton Goggins as Pastor Lemuel, Alice Englert as his daughter Mara and Olivia Colman as Hope.
8. The Sound of Silence
Category: U.S. Dramatic Competition
Director: Michael Tyburski
Peter (Peter Sarsgaard) works in New York as a "house-tuner"; a profession he has invented which involves treating minor mental health issues by adjusting various sonic combinations within the house. As mad as it sounds, it seems to work - that is until he meets Ellen (Rashida Jones) who is suffering from fatigue. After his "treatment" fails, he digs deep determined to find the flaw in his unusual work.
9. Koko-di Koko-da
Category: World Cinema Dramatic Competition
Director: Johannes Nyholm
It doesn't get more surreal than this Swedish thriller, which comes across as something of a modern-day Alice in Wonderland. Elin and Tobias attempt to mend their struggling relationship with a secluded camping trip, only to find their adventure terrifyingly disrupted by a variety of nursery-rhyme villains intent on tormenting them.
10. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
Category: Premieres
Director: Joe Berlinger
A true story thriller based on the exploits of charming serial killer Ted Bundy (played by Zac Efron). We see his journey into savagery from the view of his girlfriend Liz Kloepfer (Lily Collins); a single mother forced to look on as the love of her life is charged with a series of some of the most shocking murders in American history.
11. I Am Mother
Category: Premieres
Director: Grant Sputore
Upon the inevitable extinction of the human race, a robot in a bunker buried deep underground is activated to re-populate the Earth with lab embryos. Upon raising one of these embryos to adolescence, she is faced with an unforeseen difficulty when a survivor (Hilary Swank) throws into question the teenager's (Clara Rugaard) knowledge of the fate of the Earth.
12. Relive
Category: Premieres
Director: Jacob Estes
In this unusual conspiracy thriller, time is not linear. An LA detective named Jack Radcliff (David Oyelowo) gets a terrified phone call from his niece, but by the time he has made it to her family's apartment to help, he finds them all dead. But then he gets another call from her and he realises that his past is her present, and he has one last chance to save her.
13. Little Monsters
Category: Midnight
Director: Abe Forsythe
A field trip turns into quite the unexpected excursion when down-and-out Dave (Alexander England) decides to chaperone a school event. As he advances on the attractive teacher Miss Caroline (Lupita Nyong'o), he is forced to suffer the annoying children's entertainer Teddy McGiggle (Josh Gad), while simultaneously protecting the children from a sudden zombie invasion.
Tagged in Sundance Film Festival