Top Movies I Want to See at Sundance
by keithsim | created - 3 months ago | updated - 3 months ago | PublicIt's Sundance's 40th Anniversary (don't look into the math at how they got to 40, it's festival math) and here are my top films to see in the snow at Park City. According to the press release the programming team looked at over 4,000 (!!) features to come up with the short list of 200+. Of course, I'll gnash my teeth this time next year as I look at the films I overlooked, like PAST LIVES but salve myself with the inclusion of FAIR PLAY. - Keith Simanton, Senior Film Editor, IMDb
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1. Love Lies Bleeding (2024)
R | 104 min | Action, Adventure, Crime
Gym manager Lou falls for Jackie, a bodybuilder who is passing through town en route to a competition in Las Vegas.
Director: Rose Glass | Stars: Anna Baryshnikov, Kristen Stewart, Dave Franco, Katy O'Brian
Votes: 10,162
Pros: That trailer! That poster! Stewart. O'Brian. Feels all very "kiss-kiss, bang-bang." Cons: It's programmed in the Midnight Madness section, not Premieres or Dramatic Competition. Is something rotten in the state of Utah? Regardless, it's the one to watch, or watch immolate.
2. Love Me (2024)
92 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
A love story between a satellite and a buoy.
Directors: Andrew Zuchero, Sam Zuchero | Stars: Kristen Stewart, Steven Yeun
Votes: 245
Stewart again, who has been a welcome fixture in the Eccles Theatre for 15 years (the much overlooked, excellent 2009 ADVENTURELAND) and Yeun, dragging his BEEF awards around because when would he have had time to put them down?
3. Freaky Tales (2024)
R | 106 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Four interconnected stories set in 1987 Oakland, CA. will tell about the love of music, movies, people, places and memories beyond our knowable universe.
Directors: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck | Stars: Tom Hanks, Pedro Pascal, Angus Cloud, Ben Mendelsohn
Votes: 136
Writers/directors Boden and Fleck made two near-miss great films with MISSISSIPPI GRIND (Ryan Reynolds and Ben Mehdelsohn, who's also in FREAKY) in 2015 and IT'S KINDA OF A FUNNY STORY in 2010. Then they got to play with the big toys with 2019's CAPTAIN MARVEL. "Interconnected" Sundance movies give me the willies but let's hope for the best here.
4. A Different Man (2024)
112 min | Comedy, Horror, Thriller
After undergoing a facial reconstructive surgery, Edward becomes fixated on an actor in a stage production based on his former life.
Director: Aaron Schimberg | Stars: Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve, Adam Pearson, Miles G. Jackson
Votes: 273
Anything that can attract Renate Reinsve (go find THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD if you haven't seen it) & the ever-surprising Sebastian Stan is worth investing time in.
5. Girls State (2024)
TV-14 | 95 min | Documentary
Follows 500 adolescent girls from all across Missouri as they come together for a week-long immersion in a sophisticated democratic laboratory, where they organize a Supreme Court to consider the most contentious issues of the day.
Directors: Amanda McBaine, Jesse Moss | Stars: Emily Worthmore, Cecilia Bartin, Faith Glasgow, Brooke Taylor
Votes: 479
From the team that brought you BOYS STATE....
6. The Outrun (2024)
118 min | Drama
After living life on the edge in London, Rona attempts to come to terms with her troubled past. She returns to the wild beauty of Scotland's Orkney Islands (where she grew up) hoping to heal. Adapted from Amy Liptrot's bestselling memoir.
Director: Nora Fingscheidt | Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Saskia Reeves, Stephen Dillane, Lauren Lyle
Votes: 181
Ronan has good radar and good taste, even if the last several movies she's made have fallen under the detectors of the public at large.
7. My Old Ass (2024)
R | 88 min | Comedy
Elliott Labrant, who has been advised by her future self not to fall in love, is sure she can do so after being given the advice. That is, until she meets the boy her older self warned her about.
Director: Megan Park | Stars: Maisy Stella, Aubrey Plaza, Percy Hynes White, Maddie Ziegler
Votes: 179
Plaza has a great track record at Sundance (PS: if you haven't seen EMILY THE CRIMINAL do so as soon as you can) & it's a title to kill for. Not familiar with Park's earlier work but that's my fault.
8. Presence (2024)
R | 85 min | Horror, Thriller
Showcases a suburban house inhabited by a mysterious entity.
Director: Steven Soderbergh | Stars: Lucy Liu, Julia Fox, Chris Sullivan, Daniel Danielson
Votes: 82
The guy who helped make Sundance a discussion topic outside of Utah and L.A.? Soderbergh, thank God, was kidding us with the retirement thing...but he's always deft with suspense.
9. Sasquatch Sunset (2024)
R | 88 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
A year in the life of a unique family. It captures the daily life of the Sasquatch with a level of detail and rigor that is simply unforgettable.
Directors: David Zellner, Nathan Zellner | Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Riley Keough, Christophe Zajac-Denek, Nathan Zellner
Votes: 923
The Sundance programmers, pardon my French, see a lot of weird shit. So when they call a film "unique" it's time to prick up your ears. Plus, these are the filmmakers of Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
10. A Real Pain (2024)
90 min | Comedy, Drama
Mismatched cousins David and Benji reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. The adventure takes a turn when the odd-couple's old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history.
Director: Jesse Eisenberg | Stars: Kieran Culkin, Jesse Eisenberg, Olha Bosova, Banner Eisenberg
Votes: 248
We will either want to gouge our eyes out and stuff our ears with sackcloth OR love this thing to pieces.
11. Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (2024)
PG-13 | 106 min | Documentary, Biography
Reeve's rise to becoming a film star, follows with a near-fatal horse-riding accident in 1995 that left him paralyzed from the neck down. After which he became an activist for spinal cord injury treatments and disability rights.
Directors: Ian Bonhôte, Peter Ettedgui | Star: Christopher Reeve
Votes: 43
Heard great things about this doc from someone who'd seen it and expected great things already. Reeve made an interesting career for himself before fate stepped in.
12. Will & Harper (2024)
R | 114 min | Documentary
In this intimate portrayal of friendship, transition, and America, Will Ferrell and his close friend of thirty years decide to go on a cross-country road trip to explore a new chapter in their relationship.
Director: Josh Greenbaum | Stars: Will Ferrell, Harper Steele
Votes: 74
Will Ferrell in a road movie about his transitioning, real-life dear friend? One of the most intriguing setups at the festival, at the very least.
13. Thelma (2024)
PG-13 | 97 min | Action, Comedy
When 93-year-old Thelma Post gets duped by a phone scammer pretending to be her grandson, she sets out on a treacherous quest across the city to reclaim what was taken from her.
Director: Josh Margolin | Stars: June Squibb, Fred Hechinger, Richard Roundtree, Parker Posey
Votes: 215
Little birds said this was a lot more fun than it might let on. Squib carried off a tough role (and a tough monologue or two in NEBRASKA) and it's one of Richard Roundtree's last films.
14. Winner (I) (2024)
103 min | Biography, Comedy
Winner is a brilliant young misfit from Texas who finds her morals challenged while serving in the U.S. Air Force and working as an NSA contractor.
Director: Susanna Fogel | Stars: Kathryn Newton, Connie Britton, Emilia Jones, Zach Galifianakis
Votes: 47
As a big fan of the underappreciated REALITY, with Sydney Sweeney, I'm skeptical but optimistic as it's based on the same true story
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