“On the Count of Three”
Director: Jerrod Carmichael
Screenwriters: Ari Katcher, Ryan Welch
Cast: Jerrod Carmichael, Christopher Abbott, Tiffany Haddish, J.B. Smoove, Lavell Crawford, Henry Winkler
Sundance Synopsis: “Two guns. Two best friends. And a pact to end their lives when the day is done.”
Category: U.S. Dramatic Competition
Pay Attention: Carmichael is a talent (if you never watched “The Carmichael Show” you missed out) and that cast? Who said you can’t have an acquisition battle during a virtual film festival?
“Passing”
Director and Screenwriter: Rebecca Hall
Cast: Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga, André Holland, Alexander Skarsgård, Bill Camp
Sundance Synopsis: “Two African-American women who can “pass” as white choose to live on opposite sides of the color line in 1929 New York in an exploration of racial and gender identity, performance, obsession and repression. Based on the novella by Nella Larsen.”
Category: U.S. Dramatic Competition
Pay Attention: Simply, a must-see.
“Philly D.A.”
Directors: Ted Passon, Yoni Brook
Sundance Synopsis: “A groundbreaking inside look at the long-shot election and tumultuous first term of Larry Krasner, Philadelphia’s unapologetic District Attorney, and his experiment to upend the criminal justice system from the inside out.”
Category: Premieres
Pay Attention: Timely.
“Pleasure”
Director and Screenwriter: Ninja Thyberg
Cast: Sofia Kappel, Revika Anne Reustle, Evelyn Claire, Chris Cock, Dana DeArmond, Kendra Spade
Sundance Synopsis: “A 20-year-old girl moves from her small town in Sweden to LA for a shot at a career in the adult film industry.”
Category: World Cinema Dramatic Competition
Pay Attention: Another film originally intended to premiere at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival and, oh, yes, “provocative.”
“Prisoners of the Ghostland”
Director: Sion Sono
Screenwriters: Aaron Hendry, Reza Sixo Safai
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Sofia Boutella, Nick Cassavetes, Bill Moseley, Tak Sakaguchi, Yuzuka Nakaya
Sundance Synopsis: “A notorious criminal is sent to rescue an abducted woman who has disappeared into a dark supernatural universe. They must break the evil curse that binds them and escape the mysterious revenants that rule the Ghostland, an East-meets-West vortex of beauty and violence.”
Category: Premieres
Pay Attention: We’re sure Nicolas Cage‘s name popped, but it’s the fact Cage is teaming up with Sono, a legendary Japanese director that should really get you excited. The fact Cage referred to it as “his wildest film yet” shouldn’t be ignored. The fact the film is in the Premieres category instead of Midnight is even more intriguing.