With another year of Sundance Film Festival at home in the books, we are delivering our annual recap of capsule reviews of all the films that we took in from the comfort of our home.
We already shared Part 1 and now find the second part of all the films that we saw during the festival.
Cat Person (director Susanna Fogel)
Susanna Fogel’s Cat Person is an uncomfortable look at modern dating, with many moments that will make you want to sink into your couch. Michelle Ashford’s screenplay is adapted from a short story from Kristen Roupenian, which shows the development of a seemingly innocent new relationship brewing between characters played by Margot (Emilia Jones) and Robert (Nicholas Braun). It’s always entertaining, but relies too much on fantasy/dream sequences and becomes clumsy during its final act that felt like a letdown. But it’s likely to go on to a be a hit for Gen Z in the streaming era with plenty of memeable content.
Rating: 6.3/10
Fair Play (director Chloe Domont)
With Fair Play, writer/director Chloe Domont delivers the first great film that I took in at the festival. An absolute knockout that is deliciously tense and chilling. Captures the best of 90s erotic thrillers with a modern voice. A razor-sharp screenplay that provides plenty of terrain for Phoebe Dynevor & Alden Ehrenreich to navigate, both of which are dynamite. A rare film that sticks the landing and provides a perfect coda to everything that led up to that moment.
Rating: 8.5/10
Birth/Rebirth (director Laura Moss)
Birth/Rebirth is a rather smart horror film from director Laura Moss and co-writer Brendan J O’Brien, which is simultaneously creepy and smart. It poises questions about having a hand in life + death and motherhood. Honestly surprised by how much I vibed with it and its atmosphere and tone. The performances from Marin Ireland & Judy Reyes elevate what I thought was going to be a brainless predictable run-of-the-mill horror picture, but is much more than advertised. Was happy to be proven wrong.
Rating: 6.9/10
Mamacruz (director Patricia Ortega)
Patricia Ortega’s Mamcruz, features a delightfully strong performance from Kiti Mánver is delightful in a role of an old woman who reconnects with her sexuality. It’s got a simple but effective charm to it, which could’ve been fleshed out deeper, but it still is an enjoyable look at sexual exploration from a demographic that isn’t seen nearly at all – which is an admirable aspect in itself.
Rating: 6.4/10
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie (director Davis Guggenheim)
Director Davis Guggenheim gives us a loving look at the career of the beloved star Michael J. Fox which is equally as entertaining and life-affirming as it is heartbreaking. The standard documentary format works because of the nature of the subject and the genuine honesty in the interviews. As much of a career rundown as a look at the struggle from being at the top of the world to dealing with the young onset of a life-altering disease.
Rating: 7.8/10
Cassandro (director Roger Ross Williams)
Cassandro is an intimate and well-crafted portrayal of a gay luchador wrestler in Juárez, Mexico portrayed by Gael García Bernal from director Roger Ross Williams. It flies high thanks to Bernal’s towering performance, as sensitive as the film. Which is subtle and paints his story with deliberate nuance and care. Enhanced by a fitting score and time-shaping cinematography. Some may find it too slow but its speed is part of what made this land in such an effective manner.
Rating: 8.1/10
Magazine Dreams (director Elijah Bynum)
Elijah Bynum’s Magazine Dreams is a harrowing look at obsession, mental illness & masculinity. Featuring a stunning career-defining performance from Jonathan Majors, who plays a socially awkward and troubled man with unrealistic dreams as a bodybuilder. Bynum doesn’t shy away from making the audience uncomfortable during our journey with this character, part Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver, part Andrew Neiman from Whiplash.
Majors is truly its engine, giving a towering, bone-chilling performance for the ages, maybe the first possibly Oscar-worthy performance in this insanely early race.
Rating: 7.3/10
Fairyland (director Andrew Durham)
Director Andrew Durham adapts Alysia Abbott’s 2013 memoir about the journey of a single father and his daughter. Emotionally poignant and sensitively told in a smart manner, featuring a never-better Scoot McNairy and another lovely festival performance from Emilia Jones. Not many surprises here, its first act is a bit overlong and pushes its overall runtime a bit past overlong, but you’ll be hard-pressed to not be moved when the credits roll and forgive any of its slight shortcomings.
Rating: 7.5/10
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