Sundance Archives - The Playlist

Fran Kranz Talks His Drama ‘Mass,’ Impossible Grief, And The Power Of Ann Dowd [Sundance Interview]

February 6, 2021 1:20 pm

Fran Kranz’s “Mass” is likely one of the most emotionally pulverizing films ever made about America’s gun-violence epidemic – but across its 110-minute runtime, not a single shot is fired. READ MORE: ‘Mass’...

Dash Shaw Talks ‘Cryptozoo,’ Animation Influences & Dream Politics [Sundance Interview]

Isaac Feldberg

February 4, 2021 1:30 pm

Festivals, Interviews, News

It’s remarkably rare that anyone makes a hand-drawn animated feature for adults, let alone one as strikingly surreal and seriously minded as Dash Shaw’s “Cryptozoo.” READ MORE: 25 Most Anticipated 202...

‘Mayday’: Grace Van Patten Shines In A Dreamy Fairy Tale Of Escape & Feminist Revenge [Sundance Review]

Rodrigo Perez

February 3, 2021 1:52 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

Female trauma’s been given a serious workout in cinema, liberally exercised in the fantasy genre of late. The celebrated “Promising Young Woman,” while dark satire, uses hot pink revenge fantasy to acerbically...

‘Mayday’ First Look: Mia Goth Teaches Grace Van Patten To Put The Boys In The Crosshairs [Sundance Exclusive Clip]

Rodrigo Perez

February 3, 2021 8:00 am

News, Video

S.O.S distress calls, fantasy escape from trauma, and forever wars that need to be fought all swirl together in “Mayday,” a dreamy and surreal new feminist fairy tale and revenge film that debuted at the Sunda...

‘The Blazing World’ Treats Female Trauma Like An Amusement Park Funhouse [Sundance Review]

Beatrice Loayza

February 2, 2021 10:24 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

Curious is the current emphasis on women’s trauma in American genre film—the way it’s discussed online, marketed, singled out in the headlines—as if trauma were not already deeply embedded in the historical fa...

‘Marvelous And The Black Hole’: An Angsty Teenager Finds Solace In Magic & An Unlikely Friendship [Sundance Review]

Beatrice Loayza

February 1, 2021 5:04 pm

News, Reviews

13-year-old Sammy Ko (Miya Cech) is a problem child. Prone to skipping class, smoking cigarettes, and mouthing off to her teachers, she’s the opposite of the meek model student Hollywood typically imagines whe...

‘Wild Indian’: Unfocused Saga of Generational Violence Features A Strong Michael Greyeyes Performance [Sundance Review]

Carlos Aguilar

January 31, 2021 7:35 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

Abuse leaves scars unseen but permanent in director Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr.'s debut “Wild Indian,” a character study wrapped in larger observations on the generational effects of violence and religious guilt...

‘Superior:’ A Stylish, Droll Noir That Explores Identity [Sundance Review]

Beatrice Loayza

January 31, 2021 7:19 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

With her frayed blonde hair and moody coal-black eye makeup, rock band singer Marian (Alessandra Mesa) doesn’t immediately appear to resemble her identical twin sister. Practically a Stepford wife with her dem...

‘The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet’: A Visually Rich Exploration Of Economic Inequality [Sundance Review]

Christian Gallichio

January 31, 2021 6:27 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

Literally opening, as the title implies, with “The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet,” Argentinian director Ana Katz’s melancholic rumination on the life of Sebastian (Daniel Katz, the filmmaker’s brother), a languish...

‘The Sparks Brothers’: Edgar Wright Transforms Ride Or Die Fandom Into A Moving Dedication To The Kinship Of Eccentric Visions [Sundance Review]

Rodrigo Perez

January 31, 2021 5:34 pm

Features, Festivals, News, Reviews

To call a portrait documentary an “affectionate tribute” to its lesser-known subject is usually redundant. That’s the whole point of adoring acknowledgment docs of this ilk— “shining a brighter spotlight” on ....

‘Prime Time’: A Hostage Flick Shrinks In The Spotlight [Sundance Review]

Robert Daniels

January 31, 2021 1:56 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

“Prime Time,” initially, opens with a beguiling premise. It’s New Year’s Eve in Poland, and the world is mere hours from the year 2000, a new millennium. In a television station, amidst the glamorous bystander...

‘Glitch In The Matrix’: Rodney Ascher Makes A Computer-Haunted Doc About Those That Believe ‘The Matrix’ Is Real [Sundance Review]

Chris Barsanti

January 31, 2021 1:15 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

Rodney Ascher’s computer-haunted documentary “A Glitch in the Matrix” is not the most insightful recent examination of boredom-born foggy Internet delusions. That honor likely goes to Arthur Jones’ antic “Feel...

Robin Wright Talks Her Directorial Debut ‘Land,’ Grief, Survival & Renewed Hopefulness [Sundance Interview]

Tomris Laffly

January 31, 2021 12:53 pm

Features, Interviews, News

After a renowned career of nearly four decades in both film and TV, actor Robin Wright makes a confident feature directorial debut with “Land,” screening this year as part of Sundance Film Festival’s Premieres...

‘Passing’: Rebecca Hall’s Debut Is A Delicate, Tension-Filled Acting Showcase [Sundance Review]

Robert Daniels

January 31, 2021 10:37 am

Features, Festivals, News, Reviews

Irene (Tessa Thompson) rarely passes for white. She fears for her safety too much to do so. When she does, white people, from cab drivers to store clerks, treat her with deference. See, passing is an act by wh...

‘Mass’: An Impressively Depressing Four-Way Powerhouse, Until the Walls Close In [Sundance]

Jessica Kiang

January 30, 2021 8:28 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

It's hard to say if the excoriating debut film written, produced, and directed by Fran Kranz, in being an extraordinarily depressing chamber piece dealing with the long-after fallout of a school shooting, is t...

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