Gallery: The 20 Movies We'll Wait in the Cold to See at Sundance
courtesy Sundance Institute01Last-Days-in-the-Desert
__*Last Days in the Desert*__ In the New Testament, Jesus went to the desert for 40 days of fasting and during that time he was often tempted by Satan. This film is a twist on that story where Ewan McGregor plays both Christ and the Devil. You had us at "Obi-Wan Kenobi pays Jesus *and* Satan." (Expand gallery to full screen to find out why we're looking forward to each film.)
courtesy Sundance Institute02Advantageous
__*Advantageous*__ Gwen Koh lives in a near-future metropolis where she’s the spokesperson for the Center For Advanced Health and Living, a company that offers solutions to people who want to “overcome their natural disadvantages and begin life anew.” When Gwen’s position is jeopardized, she must decide if she'd use that service herself.
courtesy Sundance Institute03Experimenter
__*The Experimenter*__ In 1961, a social psychologist named Stanley Milgram conducted “obedience experiments” at Yale University that entailed participants administering electric shocks to strangers on command. Considering Milgram is played here by Peter Sarsgaard, we’re sure he will be brought to life with chilling effect.
Sundance Institute04It-Follows.jpg
courtesy Sundance Institute05Knock-Knock
__*Knock Knock*__ Eli Roth may have made his name upping the stakes in torture porn, but gore-play a la *Saw* is so tired. Roth knows this, and so his inaugural collaboration with Keanu Reeves (indeed!) promises psychological thrills instead of gag-reflex ones.
courtesy Sundance Institute06Missippi-Grind
__*Mississippi Grind*__ This road trip movie about a journey to New Orleans for some high-stakes gambling sounds like our kind of mix of humor and darkness. It's also from the team that made the fantastic Ryan Gosling flick *Half Nelson*. Jackpot.
courtesy Sundance Institute07PeoplePlacesThings
__*People, Places, Things*__ *Flight of the Concords'* Jemaine Clement plays a teacher and graphic novelist who is newly single and trying to balance being a father with, like, dating. While this could be another "lost dude finds his way" film, something tells us this might be more to our liking than we would've initially expected.
courtesy Sundance Institute08Reversal
__*Reversal*__ A young woman being held captive by a sexual predator breaks free only to discover there are many others just like her being kept prisoner. She vows to save them, and turns her attacker into her prisoner so that he can lead her to his victims. Feminist revenge fantasy, anyone?
courtesy Sundance Institute09Seoul-Searching
__*Seoul Searching*__ Set in the 1980s, *Seoul Searching* is about a bunch of Korean teenagers sent from far and wide to South Korea for a summer to learn about their heritage. But, according to the film's synopsis, "they’re on a crash course to bring shame to their families, their ancestors, and their hosts." Sounds like fun.
courtesy Sundance Institute10StanfordPrisonExperiment
__*The Stanford Prison Experiment*__ Based on the real-life research of Dr. Philip Zimbardo at Stanford University in the early 70s, this story focuses on the psychology of imprisonment and follows 24 male undergrads who volunteer for an experiment to be either prisoners or guards. The study turns dark when its participants get swept up in their roles.
courtesy Sundance Institute11Z-for-Zachariah
__*Z for Zachariah*__ This is a post-disaster flick where Margot Robbie plays a woman who believes she is the last human on Earth. Things get tricky when two men (Chris Pine and Chiwetel Ejiofor) end up vying for her attention. Pretty sure we've seen this one before and Captain Kirk gets the girl, but whatever. We're in.
courtesy Sundance Institute12Ten-Thousand-Saints
__*Ten Thousand Saints*__ This New-York-in-the-1980s flick is packed with stars like Ethan Hawke and Emily Mortimer. But it's the reunion of *Ender's Game* co-stars Asa Butterfield and Hailee Steinfeld that we're excited to see.
courtesy Sundance Institute13The-Bronze
__*The Bronze*__ Olympic figure skater Hope Ann Greggory's (Melissa Rauch) star has been steadily fading since winning bronze in 2004. She lives in her dad’s basement and lost her America’s sweetheart title long ago, but that doesn’t stop her hackles from rising when a local gymnast rises to prominence and threatens her "celeb status" at home.
courtesy Sundance Institute14The-Overnight
__*The Overnight*__ Not going to lie, we'd wade through hip-deep snow for hours to see our girl Taylor Schilling (*Orange Is the New Black*) in just about anything. Luckily, *The Overnight* also sounds like a fun head trip about coupledom and sexual frustration—and it stars *Parks and Recreation'*s Adam Scott.
courtesy Sundance Institute15The-Tribe
__*The Tribe*__ This is a Ukranian movie about a new student, Sergey, struggling to fit in at his boarding school for deaf students. The main clique on campus is a gang specializing in crime and prostitution, and once Sergey gets initiated he takes on pimp responsibilities for a pair of best friends. We're in.
courtesy Sundance Institute16Turbo-Kid
__*Turbo Kid*__ We’ve seen a lot of post-apocalyptic worlds lately, but this one’s got a twist. The year is 1997, and the setting is a drought-stricken wasteland. Our hero is Kid, who survives by trading scavenged supplies for water. When a henchman of "Zeus" kidnaps Kid's best friend Apple, he has to fight Zeus and his masked army to get her back.
courtesy Sundance Institute17Unexpected
__*Unexpected*__ Agent Maria Hill (OK, Cobie Smulders) plays a high school science teacher who finds her self knocked up. The pregnancy is, yes, unexpected. It sounds like *Juno* for grown ups, but we at WIRED HQ believe Smulders can do no wrong.
courtesy Sundance Institute18I-Smile-Back
__*I Smile Back*__ Sarah Silverman goes dark as Laney, a disillusioned suburban wife and mother whose disillusionment leads to a lot of self-destructive behavior that could threaten her seemingly pristine life. This could be the start of a whole new career for Silverman, and we can't wait to see it begin.
courtesy Sundance Institute19Dope
__*Dope*__ *Dope* is about a bunch of outcasts obsessed with '90s hip-hop. It also stars A$AP Rocky and music from Pharrell Williams. If that wasn't enough, the movie's synopsis promises that the crew gets "swireled into a hilarious blender of offbeat characters and bad choices where redemption can only be found in Bitcoin. OK!
courtesy Sundance Institute20Western
__*Western*__ Documentarian brothers Bill and Turner Ross’ latest film looks at two towns on either side of the Mexico/Texas border. I’ve known the Ross Bros. for years—their doc *45365* is about our shared home zip code—so I’m a bit biased, but this film about the effects of cartel violence looks stunning.
