Col Needham’s Top Sundance Picks for 2024
by Col Needham | created - 3 months ago | updated - 3 months ago | PublicI am the Founder and CEO of IMDb and these are the movies which I am most looking forward to seeing at the Sundance Film Festival 2024. The list is in alphabetical order.
The scope of the festival and the quality makes it difficult to pick a subset and these are all taken from my longer Sundance Interest List which contains over 60 movies and the festival is only 11 days long!
The titles I have seen from Sundance 2024 are on this list, which will be updated as the festival progresses.
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1. The American Society of Magical Negroes (2024)
PG-13 | 104 min | Comedy, Fantasy
A young man, Aren, is recruited into a secret society of magical Black people who dedicate their lives to a cause of utmost importance: making white people's lives easier.
Director: Kobi Libii | Stars: Justice Smith, Zachary Barton, Anthony Coons, Robbie Troy
Votes: 7,550
2. As We Speak (2024)
96 min | Documentary, Music
Bronx rap artist Kemba explores the growing weaponization of rap lyrics in the United States criminal justice system and abroad - revealing how law enforcement has quietly used artistic creation as evidence in criminal cases for decades.
Director: J.M. Harper | Stars: Kemba, Killer Mike, Mac Phipps, Alexandra Kazarian
Votes: 100
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
4. Good One (2024)
R | 89 min | Drama
During a weekend backpacking trip in the Catskills, 17-year-old Sam navigates the clash of egos between her father and his oldest friend.
Director: India Donaldson | Stars: Lily Collias, Sumaya Bouhbal, Valentine Black, Diana Irvine
Votes: 65
5. Girls Will Be Girls (2024)
118 min | Drama, Romance
Follows the journey of 16 year old Mira, whose sexy, rebellious coming of age is disrupted by her young mother who never got to come of age herself.
Director: Shuchi Talati | Stars: Preeti Panigrahi, Kani Kusruti, Kesav Binoy Kiron, Kajol Chugh
Votes: 152
6. Hit Man (2023)
R | 115 min | Action, Comedy
A professor moonlighting as a hit man of sorts for his city police department, descends into dangerous, dubious territory when he finds himself attracted to a woman who enlists his services.
Director: Richard Linklater | Stars: Adria Arjona, Glen Powell, Retta, Austin Amelio
Votes: 1,071
I have already seen this (at TIFF) but recommending here since I loved it so much.
7. I Saw the TV Glow (2024)
PG-13 | 100 min | Drama, Horror
Two teenagers bond over their love of a supernatural TV show, but it is mysteriously cancelled.
Director: Jane Schoenbrun | Stars: Justice Smith, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Ian Foreman, Helena Howard
Votes: 365
8. How to Have Sex (2023)
91 min | Drama
Three British teenage girls go on a rites-of-passage holiday - drinking, clubbing and hooking up, in what should be the best summer of their lives.
Director: Molly Manning Walker | Stars: Anna Antoniades, Mia McKenna-Bruce, Lara Peake, Enva Lewis
Votes: 13,784
I have already seen this (at The FilmBath Festival) but recommending here since I loved it so much.
9. In the Summers (2024)
95 min | Drama
On a journey that spans the formative years of their lives, two sisters navigate their loving but volatile father during their yearly summer visits to his home in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Director: Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio | Stars: Residente, Sasha Calle, Lio Mehiel, Dreya Castillo
Votes: 119
10. Little Death (2024)
110 min | Comedy, Drama
A middle-aged filmmaker on the verge of a breakthrough. Two kids in search of a lost backpack. A small dog a long way from home.
Director: Jack Begert | Stars: David Schwimmer, Gaby Hoffmann, Talia Ryder, Dominic Fike
Votes: 161
11. Layla (I) (2024)
100 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A drag queen longs for love. Their act at a Pride event attracts a marketing executive. Ensuing romance forces the performer to confront their identity.
Director: Amrou Al-Kadhi | Stars: Bilal Hasna, Louis Greatorex, Darkwah, Tim Bowie
Votes: 57
12. 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: 9,973
13. Love Machina (2024)
96 min | Documentary
Futurists Martine and Bina Rothblatt create humanoid AI Bina48 to transfer Bina's consciousness into a robot, aiming to perpetuate their extraordinary love affair across eternity.
Director: Peter Sillen
Votes: 23
14. 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
15. 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
16. 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
17. Ponyboi (2024)
103 min | Drama
Unfolding over the course of Valentine's Day in New Jersey, a young intersex sex worker must run from the mob after a drug deal goes sideways, forcing him to confront his past.
Director: Esteban Arango | Stars: River Gallo, Dylan O'Brien, Victoria Pedretti, Murray Bartlett
Votes: 157
18. 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
19. Rob Peace (2024)
119 min | Biography, Drama
The story of an inner-city Newark kid who attends Yale yet ultimately succumbs to harsh economic realities and the demons of his past.
Director: Chiwetel Ejiofor | Stars: Jay Will, Mary J. Blige, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Camila Cabello
Votes: 159
20. 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: 919
21. Sebastian (2024)
110 min | Drama
Max, a 25-year-old aspiring writer living in London, begins a double life as a sex worker in order to research his debut novel.
Director: Mikko Makela | Stars: Ruaridh Mollica, Hiftu Quasem, Jonathan Hyde, Ingvar Sigurdsson
Votes: 63
22. Seeking Mavis Beacon (2024)
102 min | Documentary
Investigates the disappearance and reexamines the legacy of one of the most influential Black women in technology.
Director: Jazmin Jones | Stars: Jazmin Jones, Olivia McKayla Ross
Votes: 31
23. Stress Positions (2024)
95 min | Comedy
Terry, in strict quarantine in his ex-husband's Brooklyn home, cares for his injured nephew, a 19-year-old Moroccan model named Bahlul, drawing attention from everyone in his life.
Director: Theda Hammel | Stars: John Early, Qaher Harhash, Elizabeth Dement, Theda Hammel
Votes: 95
24. Suncoast (2024)
R | 109 min | Drama
While caring for her brother along with her audacious mother, a teenager strikes up a friendship with an eccentric activist who is protesting one of the most landmark medical cases of all time.
Director: Laura Chinn | Stars: Nico Parker, Laura Linney, Woody Harrelson, Daniella Taylor
Votes: 5,020
25. Tendaberry (2024)
115 min | Drama, Romance
As her boyfriend returns to Ukraine to care for his ailing father, 23-year-old Dakota faces the challenges of a precarious new reality, navigating the complexities of survival in New York City on her own.
Director: Haley Elizabeth Anderson | Stars: Sarae Adams, Mike Donovan, Kota Johan, Yuri Pleskun
Votes: 27
26. 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
27. 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
28. Your Monster (2024)
98 min | Comedy, Horror, Romance
After her life falls apart, soft-spoken actress Laura Franco finds her voice again when she meets a terrifying, yet weirdly charming Monster living in her closet. A romantic-comedy-horror film about falling in love with your inner rage.
Director: Caroline Lindy | Stars: Melissa Barrera, Meghann Fahy, Edmund Donovan, Tommy Dewey
Votes: 141
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