Gallery: There Are No Big Movies at Sundance—And That's a Good Thing
courtesy Sundance Institute01Sleight
*Sleight* — When a magic-loving high-schooler finds himself the sole caretaker of his young sister, he uses his powers of illusion to become a player in the drug game. Once he realizes he’s in too deep, though, he turns to those same powers to make his escape—and rescue his family. Sounds like an intriguing mix of David Copperfield and *David Copperfield*. — Brian Raftery
courtesy of Sundance Institute02Dark Night
*Dark Night* — *Dark Night* follows six suburban-Florida strangers—nearly all of them played here by first-time actors—as they go about their day: Running errands, bullshitting with friends, and loping around their town’s sun-baked parking lots. What they don’t realize as they meander through their afternoon’s mundane tasks is that they’re headed for tragedy. Loosely inspired by the 2012 movie-theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado, *Dark Night* promises to be a tense and troubling drama from *Memphis* writer-director Tim Sutton. — Brian Raftery
courtesy of Sundance Institute03SwissArmyMan
*Swiss Army Man* — This movie is about a guy on a deserted island who befriends a corpse. (It’s better than a volleyball, I guess?) It also has Paul Dano (probably the lonely guy), Daniel Radcliffe, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and it’s written and directed by the music video duo known as DANIELS (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), who you might remember from their batshit work on DJ Snake and Lil Jon’s video for “Turn Down for What.” Expect weirdness. — Angela Watercutter
courtesy of Sundance Institute04TheFits
*The Fits* — This seems like a cute coming-of-age tale—an 11-year-old tomboy boxer becomes fascinated with joining the dance team—but it takes a turn when the members of the team start shaking uncontrollably. Filmmaker Anna Rose Holmer apparently used real-life tales of mass hysteria to craft her tale, which sounds like a nice twist on the dancing-teens trope. — Angela Watercutter
courtesy of Sundance Institute05OperationAvalanche
*Operation Avalanche* — In this 1967-set conspiracy thriller, two CIA operatives are sent undercover to expose a Russian mole they believe has infiltrated the US Apollo program. Posing as documentary filmmakers, they begin digging deep—only to find out their own government is harboring a terrible secret. Maybe it has [something to do with Stanley Kubrick](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u4A5tJ2j3o)? — Brian Raftery
courtesy of Sundance Institute06TheLure
*The Lure* — Two mermaid sisters who work at a nightclub. That's all you need to know. — Angela Watercutter
courtesy of Sundance Institute07Resilience
*The Blackout Experiments* — This movie claims it’s a “narrative-driven documentary” about a popular horror experience called Blackout that “has become essential to an obsessive audience that hungers to test the very limits of the dark unknown.” (Uh, OK!) But it’s also playing in the Midnight section of the festival, not one of the documentary categories, so we’re not sure what to believe here. We’re quite certain, however, that it will be wonderfully weird. — Angela Watercutter
courtesy of Sundance Institute08Antibirth
*Antibirth* — *Orange Is the New Black* star Natasha Lyonne stars in this very weird movie about a pair of hard-partying young women, one of whom starts having psychosomatic visions. Apparently something “otherworldly” has infected her body—and we’re ready to find out what, exactly, that is. — Angela Watercutter
