Sundance Archives - The Playlist

‘Something In The Dirt’ Review: Benson & Moorhead Land A Darkly Funny Sci-Fi Gem About Galaxy-Brained Paranoia & Conspiracies [Sundance]

January 23, 2022 5:00 pm

Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead work in such a specific, sui generis key and style, producing such exciting results on a small scale, that it’s genuinely shocking they haven’t been sw...

‘Summering’ Review: James Ponsoldt Makes A Pleasant But Lightweight Coming-Of-Age Tale Return [Sundance]

Jason Bailey

January 22, 2022 10:30 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

James Ponsoldt is having the kind of career that future students of the business of film may study with some confusion. He made his name by turning out three indie dramas in four years – “S...

Fran Kranz Talks His Drama ‘Mass,’ Impossible Grief, And The Power Of Ann Dowd [Sundance Interview]

Isaac Feldberg

February 6, 2021 1:20 pm

Interviews, News

Fran Kranz’s “Mass” is likely one of the most emotionally pulverizing films ever made about America’s gun-violence epidemic – but across its 110-minute runtime, not a single shot is fired. READ MORE: ‘Mass’...

Dash Shaw Talks ‘Cryptozoo,’ Animation Influences & Dream Politics [Sundance Interview]

Isaac Feldberg

February 4, 2021 1:30 pm

Festivals, Interviews, News

It’s remarkably rare that anyone makes a hand-drawn animated feature for adults, let alone one as strikingly surreal and seriously minded as Dash Shaw’s “Cryptozoo.” READ MORE: 25 Most Anticipated 202...

‘Mayday’: Grace Van Patten Shines In A Dreamy Fairy Tale Of Escape & Feminist Revenge [Sundance Review]

Rodrigo Perez

February 3, 2021 1:52 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

Female trauma’s been given a serious workout in cinema, liberally exercised in the fantasy genre of late. The celebrated “Promising Young Woman,” while dark satire, uses hot pink revenge fantasy to acerbically...

‘Mayday’ First Look: Mia Goth Teaches Grace Van Patten To Put The Boys In The Crosshairs [Sundance Exclusive Clip]

Rodrigo Perez

February 3, 2021 8:00 am

News, Video

S.O.S distress calls, fantasy escape from trauma, and forever wars that need to be fought all swirl together in “Mayday,” a dreamy and surreal new feminist fairy tale and revenge film that debuted at the Sunda...

‘The Blazing World’ Treats Female Trauma Like An Amusement Park Funhouse [Sundance Review]

Beatrice Loayza

February 2, 2021 10:24 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

Curious is the current emphasis on women’s trauma in American genre film—the way it’s discussed online, marketed, singled out in the headlines—as if trauma were not already deeply embedded in the historical fa...

‘Marvelous And The Black Hole’: An Angsty Teenager Finds Solace In Magic & An Unlikely Friendship [Sundance Review]

Beatrice Loayza

February 1, 2021 5:04 pm

News, Reviews

13-year-old Sammy Ko (Miya Cech) is a problem child. Prone to skipping class, smoking cigarettes, and mouthing off to her teachers, she’s the opposite of the meek model student Hollywood typically imagines whe...

‘Wild Indian’: Unfocused Saga of Generational Violence Features A Strong Michael Greyeyes Performance [Sundance Review]

Carlos Aguilar

January 31, 2021 7:35 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

Abuse leaves scars unseen but permanent in director Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr.'s debut “Wild Indian,” a character study wrapped in larger observations on the generational effects of violence and religious guilt...

‘Superior:’ A Stylish, Droll Noir That Explores Identity [Sundance Review]

Beatrice Loayza

January 31, 2021 7:19 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

With her frayed blonde hair and moody coal-black eye makeup, rock band singer Marian (Alessandra Mesa) doesn’t immediately appear to resemble her identical twin sister. Practically a Stepford wife with her dem...

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