25 Most Anticipated Films At the 2020 Sundance Film Festival

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“Bad Hair”
Director: Justin Simien
Cast: Elle Lorraine, Vanessa Williams, Jay Pharoah, Lena Waithe, Blair Underwood, Laverne Cox
Lowdown: “Dear White People” creator Simien returns to Park City with a horror thriller set in 1989 about a weave that might just have a mind of its own. And primiary roles for Vanessa Williams, Lena Waithe and Laverne Cox? And after this tease? That’s what we want in a Day One premiere.
[Midnight]

“Relic”
Director: Natalie Erika James
Cast: Emily Mortimer, Robyn Nevin, Bella Heathcote
Lowdown: This Australian thriller might not seem like a title to pop on your radar, but when you look closer you see Jake Gyllenhaal is a full fledged producer and the Russo Brothers are executive producers.  And it might just be the directorial debut of Natalie Erika James, but we’re thinking its going to be at the center of an impressive acquisition fight.
[Midnight]

“Shirley”
Director: Josephine Decker
Cast: Elisabeth Moss, Michael Stuhlbarg, Odessa Young, Logan Lerman
Lowdown: Josephine’s Decker’s follow up to the challenging yet wonderous “Madeline’s Madeline” is unexpected because it’s, of all things, a biopic.  Elisabeth Moss plays real life horror author Shirley Jackson and her husband (played by Michael Stuhlbarg) hires a young couple (Logan Lerman and Odessa Young) to help take care of her. The period drama promises conflict and eccentricity in a “fresh” manner that only Decker could bring to life. An acquisition title assuming this is a Decker production that warrants commercial attention.
[U.S. Dramatic Competition]

“Promising Young Woman”
Director: Emerald Fennell
Cast: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Connie Britton, Adam Brody, Jennifer Coolidge
Lowdown: Margot Robbie is one of the producers on what might be a surprise Spring hit for Focus Features. Carey Mulligan stars in her first non-period drama role in nine years (!) as Cassie, a woman who appears to be intent on revenge after an event derailed a once, um, promising medical career. We’re not saying Focus must really have tremendous confidence in this one to debut it at Sundance four months before its release but we’re not not saying that either.
[Premieres]

“Downhill”
Director: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
Cast: Will Ferrell, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Miranda Otto, Zach Woods, Zoe Chao, Kristofer Hivju
Lowdown: It feels more than safe to say that “Downhill” is one of Sundance 2020’s most high-profile releases: it’s an American remake of Ruben Östlund’s superb, Oscar-nominated cringe comedy “Force Majeure,” with two iconic, revered comic performers in the lead roles. Filmmakers Nat Faxon and Jim Rash have cemented their interest in the squirmy particulars of manhood and the modern family unit in sad-funny indies like “The Descendants” (which they wrote for Alexander Payne) and their directorial debut “The Way Way Back,” making them ideally suited for this tricky material. If “Downhill” enjoys a rapturous reception later this month, it could stand to be a dark horse Oscar player come 2021.
[Premieres]

“Horse Girl”
Director: Jeff Baena
Cast: Alison Brie, Debby Ryan, Molly Shannon, John Ortiz, Paul Reiser,
Lowdown: Jeff Baena has forged a small but distinct filmography with idiosyncratic character studies like “Joshy” and oddball outliers like “The Little Hours,” his comedy about blaspheming nuns. Baena’s latest, “Horse Girl,” looks to be another memorably unusual outing – one that will reunite him with his “Little Hours” star, Alison Brie. Brie will play Sarah: a craft store employee obsessed with horses and “supernatural crime T.V.” whose sense of reality begins to slowly unravel. This sounds like the kind of unsettling, unclassifiable work we can expect from Baena. Netflix releases the picture on February 7. – Nicholas Laskin
[Premieres] 

“Lost Girls”
Director: Liz Garbus
Cast: Amy Ryan, Thomasin McKenzie, Lola Kirke, Oona Laurence, Gabriel Byrne
Lowdown: If you haven’t read Robert Kolker’s “Lost Girls” yet, you are truly missing out. For those who haven’t found the time, worry not – acclaimed documentary filmmaker Liz Garbus (“What Happened, Miss Simone?”) will be venturing into the world of fictional big-screen storytelling with her upcoming adaptation of Kolker’s text. The subject material in “Lost Girls” is bleak, often grim stuff, and yet it’s hard to deny that this hard-hitting tale of gender inequality and police negligence is nothing if not brutally prescient. With a cast that includes Amy Ryan, Thomasin McKenzie and Lola Kirke, this serious-minded drama –  which is set to arrive in Netflix in late March – could be one of the unexpected breakouts of this year’s festival. – NL
[Premieres]