I came to Sundance this year with no expectations, just waiting to discover new movies and talent. I can honestly say it proved to be the strongest Sundance I’ve witnessed in my five years of covering it. This makes me really excited for the year ahead, because not only will you get to see all the Sundance movies I loved, but if these were so great, imagine how great the ones I missed were!
Keep your eye out for these ten Sundance movies I think you HAVE to see this year, and let me know if you saw anything great that I should look for when it comes around again. And then, see you at SXSW!
Check Out: William Bibbiani & Alonso Duralde’s Picks for the Best Sundance Movies in 2015
Slideshow: Ten Sundance Movies You Need to See This Year
Fred Topel is a staff writer at CraveOnline. Follow him on Twitter at @FredTopel.
Ten Sundance Movies You Need to See in 2015
-
10. Grandma
Grandma definitely had the best abortion jokes of Sundance. Lily Tomlin plays a sassy cantankerous grandmother whose daughter needs an abortion. So they go around trying to wrangle the $600 they need for the clinic, having wacky encounters with each person who might help them. Writer/director Paul Weitz is back to About a Boy form with a blend of scathing comedy and heart. We meet the whole family tree in a roundabout path, and Tomlin hasn’t been funnier since All of Me.
Rating: 8 out of 10
-
9. Don Verdean
Don Verdean is Jared Hess’s funniest movie, and most fast-paced. I enjoyed the lingering, awkward comedy of Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre and even Gentlemen Broncos, but his latest is rapid fire, three jokes a minute territory. The buddy shenanigans between Sam Rockwell and Jemaine Clement alone are enough for a hilarious movie, as they play two biblical archaeologists making a mess of faith-based excavating. They have great chemistry and Clement is playing Israeli by way of Borat, but of course with his own unique flair for idiotic bravado. Desecrating sacred burial sites is just hilarious.
Rating: 8 out of 10
-
8. Knock Knock
Knock Knock sold to Lionsgate, which makes sense for Eli Roth to reunite with his Hostel studio, so you will definitely be able to see it. With Knock Knock, Roth delves deeper into a sexual manipulation than a violent aggression, which you can already tell is even more messed up than killing people. Two girls (Lorenza Izzo and Ana de Armas) show up on an architect’s (Keanu Reeves) door, seduce him and then terrorize him. So it’s a cautionary tale, but it’s not too hard on Reeves’ character. This was a setup so if anything, it’s about our own vulnerability to temptation, even if we’re basically good people. But, the games they play are more horrifying to your heart and soul than any of the brutal violence in Hostel, and that’s saying a lot!
Read my interview with Knock Knock director Eli Roth.
Rating: 8 out of 10
-
7. Slow West
You had me at “Western with Michael Fassbender and Ben Mendelsohn,” but Slow West hit me even closer to home with its unusual take on the all-American genre. The classic horseback quest has several tonal differences, ranging from heartbreaking whimsy to over the top literal visual jokes, and they each work equally. Shot with a keen eye by first time director John Maclean, Slow West offers a new take on a tried and true genre that seems like the next evolution of an American classic.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
-
6. Unexpected
Kris Swanberg, Joe’s wife, just moved herself onto the list of filmmakers I have to watch for. She’s got two others that I can watch now that I’m back, my post-Sundance homework if you will. I was really impressed with her take on a pregnancy dramedy, mainly because she didn’t play the Nine Months schtick of couples bickering and freaking out. It’s also got a poignant subplot about a pregnant teen (Gail Bean) in a very different circumstance to the lead (Cobie Smulders). Sure to get released given the names attached, keep an eye out for it and know that it’s a step above the usual VOD release.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
-
5. People, Places, Things
Jemaine Clement stars in an anti-romantic comedy. Will (Clement) is a graphic novel artist who catches his girlfriend Charlie (Stephanie Allyne) with another man. They split up, and they have kids so he tries to put his life back together and get quality time with them. It’s an anti-romantic comedy because there’s no meet-cute and Will doesn’t make nice about any of the awkward situations in which he’s placed. There are some poignant moments about art (the stories between the panels) and adults trying to find themselves (hey, taking improv classes isn’t going to fix you). But look, it’s a Jemaine Clement vehicle. There can never be enough of those. His reactions to traditional rom-com situations are a welcome commentary on the genre.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Read my interview with People, Places, Things star Jemaine Clement.
-
4. Me & Earl and the Dying Girl
There was really no danger that you wouldn’t see this movie in theaters, but Fox Searchlight has sealed the deal. Rightful winner of the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award, Me & Earl and the Dying Girl touched my heart and tickled my film nerd fancy. I guess movies about grief have gotten more popular, particularly among teens with last year’s The Fault in Our Stars. I find this healthy and productive, especially when we can find the humor in tragedy. But half of Me & Earl applies to general high school, which is tragic enough itself.
Rating: 9 out of 10
Read my interview with Me & Earl and the Dying Girl director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon.
-
3. Dope
Dope got a lot of buzz after its first screening and throughout the rest of the week, and it was all deserved. It is hilarious, smart, energetic, sexy fun. Malcolm (Shameik Moore) is a good kid living in Inglewood just trying to navigate around drug dealers and gangs, let alone high school and impending college. What a wonderful take on the hood movie, satirizing some of its conventions without sacrificing any of its poignancy. It’s funny about the dangers of the hood and the appropriation of black culture in general, and clever with observations like how Amazon.com actually replicates the drug trade. After a Sundance bidding war, you will see Dope courtesy of Open Road in the U.S. and Sony worldwide.
Rating: 9 out of 10
-
2. Zipper
Zipper was my favorite movie of Sundance until I saw one movie on the last day that tied for first, essentially. I was captivated by Zipper’s exploration of a family man lawyer/politician (Patrick Wilson) using an escort service and spiraling out of control into obsession and desire. It gave me that complicated feeling of disapproving morally but wanting to see it play out all the way. While it would be best for the marriage if he cut off his affairs and apologized to his wife, that wouldn’t be very honest and wouldn’t make for a very interesting movie.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10
Read my interview with Zipper writer/director Mora Stephens.
-
1. Seoul Searching
Nothing like being blown away on the last day of Sundance, all but erasing the memories of 35 other movies. Seoul Searching is really on par with Zipper but since it doesn’t have the name cast, we’ll need to be extra vigilant to encourage a distributor to let the rest of the world see this wonderful film. The ensemble comedy about a teenage summer camp in 1986 South Korea takes a very specific facet of Korean culture and makes it universal. Many of us have been to summer camp, or we’ve certainly seen summer camp movies, and each character brings a relatably human drama to their character.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10
