As always, the Sundance Film Festival kicks off the movie new year, and this edition, which concludes today, maintained both the in-person and online options. Like any film festival, the quality of the films tend to be uneven and largely dependent on personal taste, but it captures the sense of adventure and excitement in discovering new films before acquisition and forming your own thoughts and critiques before the critics, Rotten Tomatoes, and movie trailers begin to ossify public opinion. As usual, here is the list of Sundance films I saw, ranked.
5. Ponyboi
Directed by Esteban Arango; staring River Gallo, Dylan O’Brien, Victoria Pedretti, and Murray Bartlett
Ponyboi, written by and starring up-and-comer River Gallo, is a bit of a tale of two films: the first act is a great setup, in the seedy underbelly of New Jersey, with a portrayal of an intersex sex worker that starts out as incredibly down-to-earth and feels fleshed out. It’s well-paced and gets the viewer to buy in, especially with Dylan O’Brien’s character. Unfortunately, the wheels almost completely come off in the second half – the lighting gets progressively terrible, and the story feels hazy and dreamlike and loses some of the sharp focus of the first act. Even more disappointingly, it succumbs to a number of stereotypes and tropes. Ponyboi is kind of a twisted Valentine’s Day that deserves its flowers, but ultimately fails to quite come together.
4. Skywalkers: A Love Story
Directed by Jeff Zimablist and Maria Bukhonina; starring Ivan Beerkus and Angela Nikolau
Who needs circus performers and tightrope walkers when you have the internet? This is a fascinating look at “rooftopping” – an increasingly popular urban, social-media driven version of free-soloing, and the humanity of two individuals undertaking such astonishing feats. Russian rooftopping stars Angela and Ivan embark on their unique careers and they learn to face their physical fears before overcoming their personal ones in falling in love with each other, through the literal exhilarating highs of the honeymoon phase and the precipitous comedown of the daily challenges of a long-term relationship. The last act provides the emotional, visual and narrative climax of a heist as the couple scales the peak of the Merdeka, an 118-story skyscraper in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The film being acquired by Netflix is a quagmire – it is heartening that it will be available to millions through the comfort of their living rooms, but it would have been interesting to see some of these dizzying drone and iPhone shots on the big screen.
3. Handling the Undead
Directed by Thea Hvistendahl; starring Renate Reinsve and Anders Danielsen Lie
“I love you whether you like it or not.” Handling the Undead is a deliberately paced, atmospheric film that sets itself up with a horror premise (with a foreboding, award-winning score) but with the execution of an intimate drama. Reinate Reinsve and Anders Danielson Lie are the big names here but the film functions as a set of disparate storylines and characters stemming from a place of loss and grief. Rather than take an apocalyptic approach to a zombie film, Hvinstendahl asks, from an emotional place, what would you do if your loved ones came back to life? He ultimately makes the case that life is to be celebrated as much as death is to be mourned, and begs us to spend a little more time with our loved ones while we can and while we should. The ending is incredibly effective – both unexpected and inevitable at the same time.
2. Brief History of a Family
Directed by Jianjie Lin; starring Xilun Sun, Muran Lin, Feng Zu, and Ke-Yu Guo
This was my most unexpected viewing of the festival. Brief History of a Family is a modern, sleek film that stylistically doesn’t feel like an indie and feels even further removed from my conception of a typical mainland Chinese film, determined to show us a new era of sociopolitics in a post One-child policy era of the country and examine both new and traditional parenting and family values in light of these social policies. Yan Shuo (Sun) is a mysterious high school classmate of his upper-class friend Tu Wei (Lin) who begins to ingratiate himself in Wei’s family, resulting in the uncovering of apparent pretenses and hidden tensions. The viewing experience is as visceral as it is intellectual, as Lin channels Emerald Fennell vibes (#soysauceburn) in blurring familial lines with each beautifully and hauntingful composed frame. The wonderfully ambiguous ending works because Lin carefully balances the film on a tightrope for most of the runtime, and will leave you with questions to ponder long after the film concludes.
1. Didi (弟弟)
Directed by Sean Wang; starring Izaac Wang, Joan Chen, and Chang Li Hua
Sean Wang’s deeply personal story is, in his words, a “thank you, I’m sorry, and I love you” to his family and friends of his 13 year old self. This is a picture perfect mid-aughts teenage coming-of-age movie, with Asian American cultural touchstones and incredible period detail, from the technology (AIM, MySpace, Youtube, and texting on dumbphones) to the dialogue. Powered by authentic child performances and anchored by the gravitas of Joan Chen, this immensely nostalgic feature directorial debut combines the awkward honesty of Eighth Grade, interpersonal dynamics of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, the timeless accessibility of Stand By Me, and the raw authenticity of Minding the Gap. It was one of the breakthrough hits of the festival, being recognized by both the Sundance Jury for best ensemble as well as garnering the audience award in the U.S. dramatic category. Didi isn’t perfect, but it has that rough texture of real life, while maintaining the lightness and deftness of touch that keeps it relatable and memorable, and also reminding you to be grateful that you aren’t a teenager anymore.
