Sundance 2021 Archives - The Playlist

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

February 6, 2021 1:20 pm

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’...

‘Cusp’: A Beautiful And Bruised Teenage Summer Fling [Sundance Review]

Jessica Kiang

February 4, 2021 2:25 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

A sun-flared and bong-addled tumble into a teenage Texan summer rife with bombshells and boyfriend problems, "Cusp," from debut directors Parker Hill and Isabel Bethencourt is one of those fractal-style docume...

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...

‘Philly D.A.’ Is A Fascinating Profile Of Progressive Politics In Action [Sundance Review]

Kevin Jagernauth

February 3, 2021 12:18 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews, Television

What does dismantling the American carceral state look like? How can meaningful and radical police reform actually be enacted? After years of tireless work by activists, acting upon decades of injustice agains...

‘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...

‘Coda’ Dominates 2021 Sundance Film Festival Awards

Gregory Ellwood

February 2, 2021 10:24 pm

Awards, Awards Campaign, Festivals, News

For the first time in recent memory, the Sundance Film Festival recruited just three members each for its competition juries. Even in the context of a virtual festival, that might have been a mistake after one...

Kelly Reilly & Boyd Holbrook Talk The Joys of Working With Animatronic Wolves For Gothic Horror ‘Eight For Silver’ [Interview]

Valerie Thompson

February 2, 2021 2:08 pm

Festivals, Interviews, News

Reinventing a popular monster myth is central to Sean Ellis’ new horror film “Eight for Silver.” In this adaptation, the creature feature points a jagged mirror back to humanity and establishes itself on Hamme...

‘Son of Monarchs’: A Biologist Looks For Tranquillity In His Life Work [Sundance Review]

Gregory Ellwood

February 1, 2021 6:55 pm

Awards, Awards Campaign, Festivals, News, Reviews

As a child, Mendel explored the nearby forests of Michoacán, a state in Mexico, with his older brother Vicente. The trees there are filled with massive, beautiful clusters of monarch butterflies. Their metamor...

‘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...

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