Gallery: The 25 Movies We're Most Excited to See at Sundance
courtesy of Sundance Institute01LoAndBehold
*Lo & Behold: Reveries of the Connected World* — The Internet loves [Werner Herzog](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sHk75RqEmE), to be sure—but how does the 73-year-old director of such humanist docs as *Grizzly Man* and *My Best Fiend* feel about the Internet age? Herzog's latest, which features interviews with first-to-the-party digital pioneers like Elon Musk and hacker Kevin Mitnick, is an interrogation of how mankind has been transformed by the web. Based on [the trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pv8Qj0Vkbo), we expect not only some probing questions about connectivity and community, but also some baud-y footage of what the wild web was like in the ‘90s. — Brian Raftery
courtesy of Sundance Institute02Resilience
*Resilience* — The latest from documentary filmmaker James Redford (*The D Word: Understanding Dyslexia*) looks at whether conditions like heart disease can be linked to childhood trauma (aka “adverse childhood experiences” or ACEs). You read that right. It sounds a little hard to believe, but Redford promises to look at all the latest research and lay out just how much “toxic stress” is affecting our health. — Angela Watercutter
courtesy of Sundance Institute03OtherPeople
*Other People* — None of the promotional materials indicate such, but if this movie gets its title from the phrase “hell is other people” then we’re all in. Actually, considering it comes from *Saturday Night Live* writing supervisor Chris Kelly, stars Fargo’s Jesse Plemons and *SNL* alum Molly Shannon, and is a comedy about a gay young man who goes home to Sacramento to help his dying mother, we’re all in anyway. — Angela Watercutter
courtesy of Sundance Institute04Tallulah
*Tallulah* — Think of the new movie from writer/director Sian Heder (*Orange Is the New Black*) as an alternate-universe *Juno*. In it, a van-dwelling free spirit named Lu (Ellen Page) “rescues” a baby from a negligent mother and finds herself turning to her ex-boyfriend’s mother Margo (fellow *Juno* alum Allison Janney) for help. The cops are on Lu’s tale and the laughs are just starting. — Angela Watercutter
courtesy of Sundance Institute05WeAreX
*We Are X* — You may have never heard of rock legends X—that would be the Japanese glam-metal act, not the LA punk outfit—but in the group’s home country, the hard-charging, tragedy-touched band has been legendary since the early '80s. This doc chronicles X's seesawing career, and follows its members as they prepare for a long-awaited headlining gig at Madison Square Garden. — Brian Raftery
courtesy of Sundance Institute06UnitedShadesofAmerica
*United Shades of America* — OK, so this one really isn’t a movie, but the first episode of a new CNN series. But its premise—political comedian W. Kamau Bell goes to a small town in Arkansas to interview a local Ku Klux Klan chapter about the PR tactics they’re using to keep minorities out—is just too compelling to miss. Will Bell figure out if this “new KKK” is really onto something? We can’t wait to find out. — Angela Watercutter
courtesy of Sundance Institute07TheLure
*The Lure* — Two mermaid sisters who work at a nightclub. That's all you need to know. — Angela Watercutter
courtesy of Sundance Institute08TheLoversAndTheDespot
*The Lovers and the Despot* — The late Kim Jong-il had a lot of passions—basketball, nukes, human-rights violations—but he was also a huge movie nerd, one who dreamed of starting his own film empire. To that end, he kidnapped beloved South Korean director Shin Sang-k and his leading lady (and long-time love) Choi Eun-hee, forcing them to make movies at his pleasure. *Lovers* brings together archival clips and rare audio of the Supreme Leader to tell a story so crazy, not even Hollywood could have dreamt it up. — Brian Raftery
courtesy of Sundance Institute09TheFits
*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 Institute10RichardLinklaterDreamIsDestiny
*Richard Linklater — Dream Is Destiny* — This doc—co-directed by one of the founders of alt-weekly *The Austin Chronicle*, Louis Black, and former PBS producer Karen Bernstein—looks at director Richard Linklater and his journey from *Slacker* to *Boyhood*. It also chronicles Austin's devoted film community and how it influenced Linklater’s career. — Angela Watercutter
courtesy of Sundance Institute11MichaelJacksonDoc
*Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to Off the Wall* — The latest Spike Lee Joint takes us back to a more innocent time: when Michael Jackson’s solo career took a whole new direction with the seminal *Off the Wall*. (Millennials: It’s kind of like what happened when Justin Timberlake left \*NSYNC behind and released *Justified*, but a much bigger deal.) Built from archival footage and interviews with contemporary artists and family members, we’re hoping this one helps us remember the time when we first met grown-up Michael Jackson — Angela Watercutter
courtesy of Sundance Institute12SwissArmyMan
*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 Sundance Institute13Sleight
*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 Institute14OJ-MadeInAmerica
*O.J.: Made in America* — It’s been more than 20 years since Simpson took off in his white Bronco—the high-water mark of low-brow cable news, and the inadvertent beginning of the reality-TV era. This nearly eight-hour documentary, which will be broadcast by ESPN this summer, aims to be a panoramic, decades-spanning look at not only Simpson’s career and downfall, but also the history of race relations in Los Angeles. With new interviews with the likes of Mark Furhman and Marcia Clark, *Made in America* promises to be both in-depth and appropriately juicy. — Brian Raftery
courtesy of Sundance Institute15Resilience
*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 Institute16OperationAvalanche
*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 Institute17Dark 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 Institute18CertainWomen
*Certain Women* — This one is riding high on its cast. Laura Dern, *Mad Men'*s Jared Harris, Michelle Williams, Kristen Stewart—it’s a murderer’s row of talent. Beyond that, *Certain Women* presents itself as a relationship drama about “a handful of intersecting lives across America.” But often, it’s those slightly vague descriptions that are hiding much more interesting films. We’re willing to take that gamble. — Angela Watercutter
courtesy of Sundance Institute19Equity
*Equity* — *Breaking Bad'*s Anna Gunn, *Orange Is the New Black'*s Alysia Reiner, *and* it’s about women breaking the glass ceiling on Wall Street? Count us in. There’s been a lot of talk this year about the struggles of women in the tech world, and director Meera Menon’s second feature promises to show just how cutthroat that world can be for the women trying to take those companies public. *Equity* also comes from Broad Street Pictures, a production company co-founded by Reiner and Sarah Megan Thomas (who also stars here) that aims to make more movies with female protagonists. Their latest, which stars Gunn as a senior investment banker caught up in a particularly tricky IPO, is can’t-miss. — Angela Watercutter
courtesy of Sundance Institute20Mapplethorpe
*Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures* — Few photographers in the late 20th century were as talented and controversial as Robert Mapplethorpe. Whether it was plants or S&M reconstructions of religious imagery, everything came to life in his chiaroscuro photos. The latest documentary from Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato (*The Eyes of Tammy Faye*) traces Mapplethorpe from his Queens, New York roots to his time as America’s premiere genius/pornographer (depending on who you asked, he was either). This doc, which will premiere on HBO later this year, is sure to be—if nothing else—a crazy ride through the life of one of our most gifted visual artists. — Angela Watercutter
courtesy of Sundance Institute21Hunt for the Wilderpeople
*Hunt for the Wilderpeople* — Truth time: What caught our eye with this film is that its directed by the guy who is lined up to helm *Thor: Ragnarok*. But considering that guy, Taika Waititi, also was behind 2014’s wonderful vampire mockumentary *What We Do in the Shadows* and involved with the similarly wonderful *Flight of the Conchords*, there’s a lot more going for Waititi than just his future with the god of thunder. Also, the story of a hip-hop-loving city kid named Ricky who starts over with a foster family in the New Zealand countryside sounds like a really nice time. — Angela Watercutter
courtesy of Sundance Institute22Antibirth
*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
courtesy of Sundance Institute23YogaHosers
*Yoga Hosers* — The latest movie from Sundance graduate Kevin Smith is, according to its write-up, “an intoxicatingly silly pop tale for the Instagram age.” Whatever. It’s Smith making a movie about two young clerks, so it shows promise. And it’s about a secret evil that threatens to destroy everything good and polite about Canada. Sold. — Angela Watercutter
courtesy Sundance Institute24ForEveryone.Net
*ForEveryone.Net* — The various movements that have arisen online—Anonymous, Demand Progress, etc.—have gotten a bit of attention from documentary filmmakers over the last few years, but few have actually tackled the development of the web itself. Documentarian Jessica Yu tackles that very subject with *ForEveryone.Net*, which goes back to Tim Berners-Lee’s building of the World Wide Web. But lest you think this doc is just here to party like it’s 1989, it’s not. Yu also spent time asking the man who insisted his creation be free and open to all what he sees as the biggest threats to freedom on the Internet right now. — Angela Watercutter
courtesy Sundance Institute25Kate Plays Christine
*Kate Plays Christine* — For the last few years, actress Kate Lyn Sheil has been an eye-drawing, always-morphing presence in everything from low-budget horror flicks (*You’re Next*) to swampy neo-noirs (*Sun Don’t Shine*). This documentary-biopic hybrid follows the actress as she prepares to star in a film Christine Chubbuck, a Florida newscaster who committed suicide on-air in 1974. The more Sheil looks into Chubbuck’s life and death, the more she questions her ability to play a woman who’s just as mysterious today as she was forty years ago. — Brian Raftery
