The 2016 edition of the Sundance Film Festival is upon us. In just about a week, the industry and film press around the country will flock to the mountainous Park City, UT to either introduce their films or to discover new names and movies before everyone else.
Will this year’s line up launch the next Beasts of the Southern Wild, Boyhood or The Diary of a Teenage Girl? How about the next Brooklyn or Tangerine? It’s tough to tell with Sundance, which is truly a festival where the buzz builds on the ground; usually with titles no one saw coming early on. But it is still possible to look at its rich line up any year –this year, with works from Anne Fontaine, Kelly Reichardt, Asif Kapadia, Kenneth Lonergan and several other filmmakers/storytellers we can’t wait to get acquainted with- and get reasonably excited. So we vetted this year’s line up carefully and extracted 30 titles we’re looking forward to seeing the most across different sections of the festival. Of course, personal priorities and tastes play a big role while making lists of this sort; but we tried to be inclusive of several sections across the 2016 slate as much as possible.
Without further ado, here are our 30 most anticipated titles of Sundance 2016! Safe travels to all heading there next week. Have a great festival!
Viggo Mortensen in ‘Captain Fantastic’
31 (Rob Zombie) – MIDNIGHT
Carnies and “psychobilly fascists” collide in the latest film from Zombie that once again promises pain, blood, and poor choices. It’s odd for me to have one of his films on a list of the most anticipated as I strongly disliked his four first films, but it only takes one — and 2012’s The Lords of Salem was it. That last feature showed more wit and restraint than his previous work as well as a hint of character. Granted, the logline for 31 suggests it’s closer to the grueling, grim, and ultimately dull likes of House of 1000 Corpses, but I’ll keep my fingers crossed all the same. – Rob Hunter
AGNUS DEI (Anne Fontaine) – PREMIERES
Anne Fontaine (Adore, Coco Before Chanel) graces this year’s Premieres section with a thrilling drama set in Warsaw at the end of WWII. As a young French Red Cross doctor discovers that a holy sister is about to deliver a baby, the film exposes deeply buried secrets at the intersection of religion and modernism. Inspired by true events, Agnus Dei sounds instantly gripping and risk-ridden, ripe with potential for fierce discussions around faith and resulting traditions that extend to contemporary times. – Tomris Laffly
ALI & NINO (Asif Kapadia) – PREMIERES
With two excellent documentary features under his belt –2012’s Senna and 2015’s gut-wrenching, deservingly acclaimed Amy– Asif Kapadia is undoubtedly a name to watch with his latest film Ali & Nino. Blending a documentarian style with fictional story telling and following the love story between a Muslim boy and Christian girl right at the start of WWI, Ali & Nino is billed as a politically charged love story. And even on paper, the timeliness of its themes around cultural clashes and basic freedoms is impossible to ignore. – Tomris Laffly
THE BLACKOUT EXPERIMENTS (Rich Fox) – MIDNIGHT
Part narrative, part faux-documentary, this feature explores a recent trend in “extreme” haunted houses and promises to be as close as I’ll ever come to the real thing. To be clear, I’m not worried about being scared, but I have a thing about agreeing to let strangers restrain, touch, and torment me without the option to fight back. But I digress. The film is an unknown talent-wise, but a premise that sees Fox finding survivors of various experiences and exploring what they gained and lost is extremely appealing. – Rob Hunter
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC (Matt Ross) – PREMIERES
Ben (Viggo Mortensen) calls the rugged Pacific Northwest home, and it’s there, removed as much as possible from society, that he raises his multiple children to respect nature, themselves, and hard work. The family’s situation changes though when they’re forced to integrate alongside everyone else, and suddenly the challenges they prepared for seem far less pressing. The premise teases the likes of The Mosquito Coast, and that’s never a bad thing. Add in the always fantastic Mortensen and the director of the sexy, raw, and intimate 28 Hotel Rooms, and you have a film guaranteed to explore humanity’s strengths and flaws in engaging ways. – Rob Hunter
Michelle Williams in ‘Certain Women’
CARNAGE PARK (Mickey Keating) – MIDNIGHT
Two crooks take a hostage and go on the run, but the night holds far more frightening elements than simple robbers. The trio run afoul of a a truly malevolent and psychotic man who proceeds to torment them at every turn. Keating has been quickly making a name for himself in the wold of indie terror with the likes of Pod and Darling — both 2015 releases — but I have yet to catch any of his films. I’m hoping to change that with his latest, and as a sucker for tales about bad guys coming face to face with even worse guys I’m expecting good things here. – Rob Hunter
CERTAIN WOMEN (Kelly Reichardt) – PREMIERES
Ensemble dramas about the intersecting lives of strangers are something of an art-form that many filmmakers attempt but so few succeed at, but I’m thinking Reichardt will land with the latter. Her films explore women as — get this — human beings who aren’t defined by their gender. Longtime collaborator Michelle Williams joins Kristen Stewart and Laura Dern in what promises to be a beautifully-acted look at some of life’s meaningful moments. – Rob Hunter
CHRISTINE (Antonio Campos) – U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION
As his directorial follow-up to the critically acclaimed titles Simon Killer and Afterschool, Antonio Campos’ newest intrigues with a period journalism story set in the 70s, featuring an attractive cast with the likes of Rebecca Hall, Michael C. Hall, and Tracy Letts. Said to be inspired by the real-life story of a 1970s Florida anchorwoman (also an inspiration behind the 1976 film Network), Christine signals a taste of signature sensibilities of the Campos universe, where a sense of unsettling anxiety meets unique humor. – Tomris Laffly
COMPLETE UNKNOWN (Joshua Marston) – PREMIERES
A man (Michael Shannon) out celebrating with his wife meets a stranger (Rachel Weisz) he swears he knows, and when she takes off into the night he can’t help but follow. A setup like this can go any number of ways from thriller to madcap comedy to an evening of dangerous romance, and with Shannon and Weisz front and center I’m game for any one of those paths. Hell, I’d down with a mix of all three. He continues to be one of our most interesting actors, and it’s exciting to see him tackle a romantic encounter with the equally talented and intriguing Weisz. – Rob Hunter
EQUITY (Meera Menon) – U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION
Billed as the first female-driven Wall Street movie, Equity stands out in the Sundance Dramatic Competition line up with an all-female team including director Meera Menon, Broad Street Pictures producers Alysia Reiner and Sarah Megan Thomas, as well as screenwriter Amy Fox. With male-driven films like Margin Call and The Wolf of Wall Street still fresh in memories, and Adam McKay’s The Big Short making the awards rounds, Equity promises to offer a new perspective into the world of finance and (as a bonus), stars “Breaking Bad”’s Anna Gunn as an investment banker in the post financial crisis world. – Tomris Laffly
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