Marti Noxon – “To The Bone”
After years as one of the most prolific writer/producers in TV (she began her career with “Buffy The Vampire Slayer,” and has since had key credits on “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Mad Men” and “Glee” as well as co-creating “UnREAL”), Marti Noxon might have just cracked the movies. She’s written for film before (most notably penning the “Fright Night” remake), but directorial debut “To The Bone” is something different, a semi-autobiographical look at a young woman with anorexia (Lily Collins) that finds humor and warmth in its difficult subject matter, as well as bringing strong performances out of its cast, which also includes Carrie Preston and Keanu Reeves. It won good reviews in Park City, and sold for one of the festival’s highest prices, to Netflix for $8 million, a fee that could well mean an awards push is in the cards. Noxon has lots more in the works — she penned upcoming Brie Larson starrer “The Glass Castle” and Amy Adams’ 2018 HBO drama “Sharp Objects” — but expect her to be directing again very soon.
Josh O’Connor & Alec Secareanu – “God’s Own Country”
In recent years, queer love stories at film festivals have provided plenty of talent, from “Weekend” star Tom Cullen and “Pariah”’s Adepero Oduye to the breakout cast of “Moonlight.” On that front, this year, Sundance didn’t just provide “Call Me By Your Name” (see above), but also British indie “God’s Own Country,” which looks likely to launch its two leads to bigger things. Francis Lee’s film stars Josh O’Connor as a young man working on his family farm in Yorkshire, who falls for a Romanian migrant worker, played by Alec Secareanu. O’Connor’s popped up here and there in recent years, with recurring roles in “Ripper Street” and “Peaky Blinders” and mostly notably a supprting turn in “Florence Foster Jenkins,” while Secareanu has a host of credits back in Romania. But with performances that Greg called “grounded, real and… heartbreaking,” expect to see them booking plenty more gigs in the near future.
Jordan Peele & Daniel Kaluuya – “Get Out”
“Get Out” wasn’t one of our most anticipated films of the festival, but only because we didn’t know it was at the festival — the Jason Blum-produced horror was the festival’s secret screening. But it was one of our most anticipated movies of the entire year after the killer trailer that dropped late last year, and from the sounds of it (our men in Park City unfortunately weren’t able to make the screenings), it seems like our expectations will be more than met. And that’s great news for its director and leading man, who’ll likely be about to reinvent their careers. Peele should obviously be a familiar name as one half of Key & Peele, but his racially charged horror-comedy reportedly shows his credentials as both a cinephile and a genre fan, and suggests we’ll be seeing him helm more than act in future, given how well-received this has been. Meanwhile, actor Daniel Kaluuya has been a familiar face across the pond since he starred with Nicholas Hoult and Dev Patel in the original cast of “Skins,” but here builds on his supporting turn in “Sicario” with a leading-man turn that could make him bigger than either (particularly given that his next job is in Ryan Coogler and Marvel’s “Black Panther”).
Abby Quinn – “Landline”
“Obvious Child,” the brilliant abortion-themed rom-com from writer-director Gillian Robespierre, was one of the biggest hits at Sundance three years ago. Her ’90s-set follow-up “Landline” probably can’t quite claim the same: It’s been one of the more divisive films of the festival, with some adoring it; some being sorely disappointed; and some, like our verdict, falling right in the middle (“yet another indie dramedy that seems to think that ‘being a responsible adult is hard’ is some kind of profound revelation,” Noel wrote). But however you’ll end up feeling about the film when Amazon releases it later in the year, it seems like you’ll be adding newcomer Abby Quinn to your one-to-watch list. Quinn, who has a few small credits, including TIFF premiere “The Journey Is The Destination,” has won raves for her performance as the younger daughter of the New York family the film centers on, who discovers her father (John Turturro) is having an affair, and starts experimenting with drugs. Given that Robespierre’s last film helped launch Jenny Slate and Jake Lacy, expect this to be just the beginning for the young actress.
Dee Rees & Jason Mitchell – “Mudbound”
We’re still a few days away from the announcement of the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the festival, but it’s already pretty clear that the big winner in Park City this year was Dee Rees’ “Mudbound.” A post-WW2 melodrama about (among other things) rural racism in Mississippi, it won rapturous reviews (ours said it “will likely haunt you for hours or days to come”) and became immediately talked about as an Oscar contender. Rees has, in some ways, already broken out of Sundance — her gorgeous directorial debut “Pariah” was a big talking-point at the festival six years ago. But she didn’t quite get the same boost as other directors who emerged around the same time, with her only film in the meantime being the well-liked HBO film “Bessie.” “Mudbound,” though, looks certain to put her on top of a lot of lists. The movie also reportedly features revelatory performances from Garrett Hedlund (who knew?) and Mary J. Blige (who you should probably put down for a Supporting Actress nod in 2018 already), but the cast member who might get the biggest boost is Jason Mitchell, who played Eazy-E in “Straight Outta Compton,” and will likely ride this along with a big year ahead (he’s also in “Kong: Skull Island” and Kathryn Bigelow’s latest) to A-list status.
Matt Spicer & O’Shea Jackson Jr. – “Ingrid Goes West”
Obviously, the two stars of well-regarded Instagram-stalker comedy-drama “Ingrid Goes West,” which sold in a big deal to new distributor Neon, aren’t really breakouts — Elizabeth Olsen and Aubrey Plaza are already familiar faces, and indeed had big movie breakthroughs at previous Sundances with “Martha Marcy May Marlene” and “Safety Not Guaranteed,” respectively. But their director and co-star will undoubtedly benefit from the buzz behind the movie. It’s the baby of writer-director Matt Spicer, who’s worked a couple of times with “Ceremony” director Max Winkler (co-writing Winkler’s upcoming “Flower” and Disney comedy “Magic Camp” together), and the warm reviews for the movie certainly make him one to watch. Also attracting glowing notices is O’Shea Jackson Jr., who first turned heads playing his dad, Ice Cube, in “Straight Outta Compton,” but here gets to show his talents with a less nepotistic role, as the Batman-loving landlord and occasional hook-up of Plaza’s character. The apple certainly didn’t fall far from the tree.
Jessica Williams – “The Incredible Jessica James”
As has often been the case for the films of writer-director Jim Strouse (“Grace Is Gone,” “The Winning Season,” “People Places Things”), reviews are mixed for his latest Sundance premiere, “The Incredible Jessica James” (it is, after all, a Sundance movie about a playwright in Brooklyn struggling with their love life). But even the less-convinced notices are united in their love for the film’s star, Jessica Williams. You likely know her already: She became “The Daily Show“’s youngest-ever correspondent at the age of 23, and was tipped by many to succeed Jon Stewart when he left the show (she took herself out of the running and left the show last year). But she’s also an actress, and, after a supporting turn in “People Places Things,” graduates to leading lady status here, and by most accounts kills it (“full of fiery energy, snappy quips and childlike playfulness,” wrote Erin Whitney at Screencrush). Williams could turn out to be the rom-com lead that we need in 2017.
There are other movies that are picking up buzz or that our reviewers enjoyed that we couldn’t quite find room for here but are worth keeping an eye on. Noel’s review of Yiddish-language pic “Menashe” hasn’t landed yet, but he loved it and picked out star Menashe Lustig as a highlight of the film. “Cooties” directors Cary Murnion and Jonathan Milott take a step up with Dave Bautista-starring modern-day civil-war single-take actioner “Bushwick,” while our reviewer enjoyed “Family Life” from Chilean duo Alicia Scherson and Cristián Jiménez.
Halston Sage, Liv Hewson and Elena Kampouris, supporting players in Ry Russo-Young’s YA pic “Before I Fall,” all won praise, while people seem more split on director Gerard McMurray’s “Burning Sands” and Matt Ruskin’s “Crown Heights.” Steve Ellison, aka the great Flying Lotus, made a reportedly insane directorial debut with “KUSO;” while genre fans should look out for Chris Baugh’s Irish western “Bad Day For The Cut” and Damien Power’s Australian horror “Killing Ground;” and comedy fans will likely dig Dave McCary’s “Brigsby Bear,” co-written by and starring SNL-er Kyle Mooney. And Amanda Lipitz is one to keep an eye on — her documentary “Step,” about a high-school step-dance team, sold to Fox Searchlight in one of the biggest-ever deals for a non-fiction film.
Any other Sundance tips? Shout out your favorites in the comments.
Click here for our complete coverage of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival