The Egyptian Theatre in Park City, Utah. Credit: Sebastian Griffith | Arts & Life Reporter
The Sundance Film Festival — held in the ski resort town of Park City, Utah — is considered one of the most high-profile film festivals in the world.
The event is a jumping-off point for indie filmmakers, especially those who want their movies picked up for theatrical release. Notable festival entries of the past include the 2021 Academy Award for Best Picture winner “Coda,” “Whiplash” (2014), “Napoleon Dynamite” (2004) and “American Psycho” (2000).
This year’s edition was headlined by numerous flicks already claimed by production studio A24, including “A Different Man,” “I Saw the TV Glow” and “Love Lies Bleeding.” Still, part of Sundance’s fun is encountering breakout films, and there was no shortage this time around.
Across genres, four features that stood out most were “The Outrun,” “Hitman,” “Presence” and “Frida.”
“The Outrun”
An emotionally riveting drama, “The Outrun” will prove to be one of the best films of the year. Directed by Nora Fingscheidt and starring Saoirse Ronan (“Little Women,” “Ladybird”), it follows a young Scottish woman named Rona who fights her alcohol addiction to stop her life from crumbling away. It’s one of the most brilliant displays of pure talent ever put on screen, from acting to directing to cinematography to sound design.
Ronan delivers a career-defining performance, bringing brutal rawness to a traumatizing story and making audiences feel as if they’ve known her character their whole lives. Her sheer range of emotions as viewers accompany her along the journey to pick up the pieces of her broken life is a rarity seen most often in Best Actor/Actress winners.
The direction and script are nothing short of superb. Watching “Outrun” is like being raked across shards of glass, waiting with bated breath to see if Rona can overcome her heartbreaking obstacles. Emotion crashes over the filmgoers like waves, with dialogue so real it’s almost uncomfortable.
The story is told non-linearly, a choice that beautifully fills in the pieces of the puzzle of Rona’s life, from a tragedy surrounding her father to failed relationships. It’s perfectly paced to the point where blinking would be doing the film a disservice. The sound design and cinematography are awe-inspiring, from the sea churning on the coast to the audio-visual effects used to glean a glimpse into Rona’s psyche.
“The Outrun” has not yet been picked up by any major distributors, but whichever one wins the auction will be getting a film for the ages. It’s imperative that this film be released in theaters, as its immersive story quality and sound design demand nothing less. If it goes to streaming, put on a pair of headphones and turn the volume up.
“The Outrun” is unapologetically sensitive, fiercely tender and utterly phenomenal.
Rating: 5/5
“Hit Man”
Director Richard Linklater returned to Sundance almost 29 years after screening his feature “Before Sunrise” (1995) to show “Hit Man,” a film he co-wrote and directed with Glen Powell (“Top Gun: Maverick,” “Anyone But You”).
Powell acts as Gary Johnson, a professor turned police agent who poses as a fake hit man to apprehend dangerous individuals around the city of New Orleans. Though loosely based on a true story, the plot is mostly fictional, especially at the turning point of the film where Johnson catches feelings for a client and strays away from his duties so as to protect her from an abusive spouse.
Linklater is widely considered one of the greatest screenwriters of this generation, and “Hit Man” doesn’t deviate from his standard. He weaves an intricate web of lies that traps the audience in the story, waiting for the next twist and turn.
Beyond its suspense, “Hit Man” has excellent comedic timing thanks to Powell’s elaborate costumes and an excellent supporting cast featuring Adria Arjona and Retta. While it does drag a bit at the end as it attempts to lay every card on the table, “Hit Man” is predominantly captivating and an entertaining thrill.
“Hit Man” was officially picked up by Netflix during Sundance and will be released on the streaming service June 7. If the movie does enjoy a limited theatrical run, seeing it live would certainly be worth the extra steps, as it’s a delight to hear viewers react to Johnson digging himself deeper and deeper into a vast canyon of deceit.
Rating: 4/5
“Presence”
Steven Soderbegh (“Ocean’s Eleven,” “Kimi”) is known for pushing the technical boundaries of film with distinct camera techniques and complicated narrative structures, and his latest film “Presence” is no different.
Led by Callina Liang and Lucy Liu, “Presence” is a horror film shot from an uncommon point of view: a curious spirit that haunts a suburban house and unnerves the dysfunctional family that has just moved in.
This strategy yields a profoundly unique viewing experience. Every scene goes completely uncut as the camera smoothly floats around the house, venturing close to characters and then ducking into ceiling or closet corners.
This eccentric camera movement is enough to leave viewers satisfied, but the story alone is eerily reminiscent of any average horror flick. It centers around a young girl named Chloe, who feels neglected by her mother in comparison to her “golden-boy” brother. On top of that, she must grapple with grief following the death of her best friend Nadia.
The story does just enough to keep the audience in a state of suspense and fully engaged throughout the short 87-minute run-time. That’s another point in the film’s favor — it knows when it’s stayed its welcome and stops the film before the technical mystique wears off.
“Presence” may be an exercise in style, but the style is so fresh that showing it off does not feel tedious. It’s a modern spin on the classic haunted house story and an excellent example of a bottle story. It’s also a film unlikely to be forgotten, no matter a viewer’s opinion on it. The packed Eccles Theater in Park City erupted with fiery debate the second the credits rolled.
“Presence” was sold to distributor Neon but currently has no set release date.
Rating: 4/5
“Frida”
Documentaries often get stereotyped as monotonous or uncreative, but that cannot be said for “Frida.” Following the life of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, the film is told entirely through archived footage of Kahlo’s life, deriving narration from her own letters and the first-person accounts of those close to her.
Interlaced with the pictorial story of Kahlo’s life are her beautifully animated artworks, masterfully given motion without sacrificing the original pieces’ integrity.
“Frida” is directed by Carla Gutierrez, who admitted post-screening that she is an editor by trade and had very little directing experience prior to making the film. But she and the rest of the crew did a wonderful job whisking watchers away into Kahlo’s surreal art style and tragic life story alike.
While the film has already drawn criticism for its animated components, with some suggesting that it doesn’t trust audiences to let Kahlo’s art speak for itself, it’s a brand-new look into her work that translates well into the visual medium of film.
Kahlo’s story is told with intense care to the truth of her life, and audiences get to learn more about her complicated personal story, from her communist ideology to the catastrophic bus crash that left her partially disabled to her tumultuous relationship with painter and unfaithful husband Diego Rivera.
The animation may not be for everyone, but it would be difficult to argue that “Frida” doesn’t depict Kahlo’s life with evident passion and vivid attention to detail.
“Frida” will be released via Prime Video on March 15.
Rating: 4/5
