Sundance 2020: Reactions and Reviews
https://instagram.com/p/B74EA13AeYZ
The 2020 Sundance Film Festival has been going on for a few days now, and a ton of upcoming films have already screened. Here, I've gathered some of the reaction and review highlights for a few of those films. Click the film title to get more information from the Sundance page about each film, and check out my anticipation and sales posts for more info.
Minari
Stars: Steven Yeun, Yeri Han, Youn Yuh Jung, Will Patton, Alan Kim, Noel Kate Cho
Director: Lee Isaac Chung
Plot: It’s the 1980s, and David, a seven-year-old Korean American boy, is faced with new surroundings and a different way of life when his father, Jacob, moves their family from the West Coast to rural Arkansas. His mother, Monica, is aghast that they live in a mobile home in the middle of nowhere, and naughty little David and his sister are bored and aimless. When his equally mischievous grandmother arrives from Korea to live with them, her unfamiliar ways arouse David’s curiosity. Meanwhile, Jacob, hell-bent on creating a farm on untapped soil, throws their finances, his marriage, and the stability of the family into jeopardy.
Distributor: A24
Reactions & Reviews
The dedication at the end of Lee Isaac Chung’s MINARI is perfect: “To all our grandmas.”
You’ll feel that and so much more. Alan Kim, as 7-year-old David, is a STAR. Noel Kate Cho, who plays his older sister Anne, is a discovery.
What a beautiful film. #Sundance pic.twitter.com/MhqufrJ5fD
- jen yamato (@jenyamato) January 27, 2020
Jen Yamato, LA Times
MINARI: Steven Yeun stars in a warm, funny, and enormously poignant Flannery O’Connor-inflected story of Korean-American assimilation. i can’t overstate how much i loved this.
…but my exhausted brain can try. my #Sundance2020 review: https://t.co/WnJFlrrBkh pic.twitter.com/LhtzHTloIm
- david ehrlich (@davidehrlich) January 27, 2020
David Ehrlich, Indiewire
Steven Yeun spends half of MINARI in a tank top
- Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) January 27, 2020
Kyle Buchanan, NY Times
MINARI: Steven Yeun’s good as a patriarch with agricultural dreams, but the actors playing him family might be even better? Especially Youn Yuh-jung - who’s funny and affecting - as the grandmother #Sundance pic.twitter.com/w0NYdxKcHr
- Alison Willmore (@alisonwillmore) January 27, 2020
Alison Willmore, Vulture
Black Bear
Stars: Aubrey Plaza, Christopher Abbott, Sarah Gadon
Director: Lawrence Michael Levine
Plot: At a remote lake house in the Adirondack Mountains, a couple entertains an out-of-town guest looking for inspiration in her filmmaking. The group quickly falls into a calculated game of desire, manipulation, and jealousy, unaware of how dangerously convoluted their lives will soon become in the filmmaker’s pursuit of a work of art, which blurs the boundaries between autobiography and invention.
Distributor: N/A
Reactions & Reviews
BLACK BEAR: There we go. A daring, sharp look at how much we use ourselves and those we love in art. Great performances and a fascinating structure in a movie that’s going to baffle some but has a ton to unpack and discuss.
- Brian Tallerico (@Brian_Tallerico) January 24, 2020
Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com
BLACK BEAR is a wild ride in the best way, engaged with big, thorny questions about art and love but mostly a vivid, intensely emotional experience. My #Sundance fave so far, by far. Aubrey Plaza is *amazing*. Review for @EW: https://t.co/0YNCzfWkfQ
- David Canfield (@davidcanfield97) January 25, 2020
David Canfield, Entertainment Weekly
‘Black Bear’ #Sundance Review: Aubrey Plaza Leads a Witty and Razor-Sharp Genre-Bending Riot https://t.co/aNLuvKByNe pic.twitter.com/xknbbi5eK4
- IndieWire (@IndieWire) January 25, 2020
Kate Erbland, Indiewire
The Last Thing He Wanted
Stars: Anne Hathaway, Willem Dafoe, Ben Affleck
Director: Dee Rees
Plot: Journalist and single mother Elena McMahon has rigorously investigated Contra activity in Central America for years. Frustrated when her coverage is censored, relief comes in an unexpected package: her acerbic father falls ill and leaves her a series of unfinished and unsavory arms deals in that very region. Now a pawn in a risky and unfamiliar game, surrounded by live ammunition in more ways than one, and alongside a U.S. state official with whom she has a checkered past, Elena needs to parse her own story to survive. With her disenchanting life awaiting her back home, she is forced to consider what she really wants.
Distributor: Netflix
Reactions & Reviews
I regret to inform you that despite its noble ambitions & visual panache, Dee Rees’ political thriller THE LAST THING HE WANTED is impossible to follow. A misfire that either needed another hour or should’ve become something episodic. My #Sundance review: https://t.co/k6Mlsh8tm1
- Tomris Laffly (@TomiLaffly) January 28, 2020
Tomris Laffly, Variety
I'm not writing a full review, so I'll elaborate a little more:
I'm all for making smart movies requiring me to pay attention to details, but this was messy, convoluted, poorly edited, and just plain boring at times.
- Brittany @ Sundance (@BB18180) January 28, 2020
Brittany Witherspoon, FilmThreat
it's trying to do a lot at once, and it doesn't feel lazy or unloved. it feels like it was supposed to be eighteen hours long and someone whittled it down to 115 minutes.
- Angiejhan the Sundance Cat (@ajhan) January 28, 2020
Angie Han, Mashable
The 40-Year-Old Version
Stars: Radha Blank, Peter Y. Kim, Reed Birney, Oswin Benjamin
Director: Radha Blank
Plot: Radha, a once-promising playwright, is barreling toward the stigma of being single and a struggling artist at the age of 40. Facing nonstop rejections from the theatre community while teaching a motley group of teens, she becomes creatively re-invigorated when she returns to rapping, her long-forgotten passion. When her play finally gets going, however, she puts recording a rap demo on the back burner and must navigate the awful tension of compromising her voice for career success.
Distributor: N/A
Reactions & Reviews
THE 40-YEAR-OLD VERSION is EASILY the best film of my Sundance so far and will likely be one of my favorites of the year. WOW what a film. Radha Blank....is.....everything. I need more from her ASAP. I love love love this. #Sundance2020
- Trey Mangum @ Sundance (@treymangum) January 26, 2020
Trey Mangum, Shadow and Act
It's far from perfect, but #The40YearOldVersion is one of the most honest portrayals of black female artist in a white world barreling toward 40 and reeling from a lack of personal and professional success. My #Sundance review for @TheWrap: https://t.co/BXz2Y7Pbgq
- Candice Frederick (@ReelTalker) January 26, 2020
Candice Frederick, The Wrap
'The 40-Year-Old Version': Film Review - "The gestation may have been long, but [in @RadhaMUSprime] a star is born!" says @AskDebruge https://t.co/M6W10qZSkQ
- Variety (@Variety) January 26, 2020
Peter DeBruge, Variety
Shirley
Stars: Elisabeth Moss, Michael Stuhlbarg, Logan Lerman, Odessa Young
Director: Josephine Decker
Plot: Fred and Rose move to a small Vermont college town in pursuit of a job for Fred as an assistant professor of literature. The young couple receives an offer for free room and board from professor Stanley Hyman, as long as Rose agrees to spend time cleaning up the home and looking after his wife, acclaimed horror author Shirley Jackson. At first Fred and Rose detest the rocky household of the eccentric couple, but they eventually establish deep bonds with their counterparts, which will test the limits of their young love.
Distributor: N/A
Reactions & Reviews
“Sound can tell the story in a way that visuals are catching up to. Subjectivity is experienced through sound.” @JosephineJambox on the sound design in #Shirley.
It puts you in Shirley Jackson’s head, pulls you closer to the characters in ways the camera can’t.
- Mallory Yu (@mallory_yu) January 25, 2020
Mallory Yu, All Things Considered
SHIRLEY is incredible, and so is Elisabeth Moss. Here's my #Sundance2020 review: https://t.co/gQRmxAjA88
- Chris Evangelista @ Sundance (@cevangelista413) January 26, 2020
Chris Evangelista, SlashFilm
Elisabeth Moss and Michael Stuhlbarg play horror author Shirley Jackson and her professor husband in Josephine Decker's unusual biographical portrait https://t.co/8tqhLYCppw
- The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) January 25, 2020
Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter
Palm Springs
Stars: Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti, J.K Simmons, Camila Mendes
Director: Max Barbakow
Plot:Stuck in Palm Springs for her younger sister Tala’s destination wedding, family black sheep and reluctant maid of honor Sarah meets carefree Nyles, the date of a vapid bridesmaid. After Nyles bails Sarah out of giving a wedding toast, she quickly realizes that he is actually not a sentimental fool at all and feels drawn to his offbeat nihilism. After their impromptu tryst is thwarted by a surreal, unexpected interruption, Sarah joins Nyles in embracing the idea that nothing really matters, and they begin wreaking spirited havoc on the wedding celebration.
Distributor: Neon/Hulu
Reactions & Reviews
#PalmSprings is an absolute riot! It's another stuck-in-a-time-loop premise, but it's executed in such a unique way. Andy Samberg & Cristin Milioti rule together + the script is aces. A terrific crowdpleaser; reminds me of how I felt after seeing 500 DAYS OF SUMMER here #Sundance pic.twitter.com/wcQqYfjlKB
- Erik Davis (@ErikDavis) January 27, 2020
Erik Davis, Fandango
I loved PALM SPRINGS far more than I thought I would. Andy Samberg is probably at his best here. My #Sundance2020 review via @ThePlaylist: https://t.co/o7rYjnPrJu
- Robert Daniels @ Sundance (@812filmreviews) January 27, 2020
Robert Daniels, The Playlist
PALM SPRINGS won me over with its well acted, very clever spin on an old trope. But it also won me over with a @conner_omalley appearance. #Sundance2020
- Esther Zuckerman (@ezwrites) January 27, 2020
Esther Zuckerman, Thrillist
Zola
Stars: Taylour Paige, Riley Keough, Nicholas Braun, Colman Domingo
Director: Janicza Bravo
Plot: Zola meets Stefani at a restaurant where Zola waitresses, and the two immediately click over pole dancing. Only a day after they exchange numbers, Stefani invites Zola on a cross-country road trip, where the goal is to make as much money as possible dancing in Florida strip clubs. Zola agrees, and suddenly she is trapped in the craziest, most unexpected trip of her life.
Distributor: A24
Reactions & Reviews
Second review of #Sundance2020! I dug a lot of Zola, one of the first films to successfully translate Twitter to cinema, but I think the ending is a little lacklustre https://t.co/PbywYazzzS
- Hannah Woodhead (@goodjobliz) January 25, 2020
Hannah Woodhead, Little White Lies
The movie I wanted Spring Breakers to be!!!
- Kerensa Cadenas (@kerensacadenas) January 24, 2020
Kerensa Cadenas, The Cut
Zola’s story entertained us when we were glued to our screens reading the drama of two strippers in Florida unfold.
Now that story is making its way to your screens! https://t.co/ShzIHg6qpv pic.twitter.com/uPAP9hLgcT
- The Root (@TheRoot) January 27, 2020
Tonja Renée Stidhum, The Root
Source 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Obviously there are a ton more, and please add any other reviews you find illuminating!
The 2020 Sundance Film Festival has been going on for a few days now, and a ton of upcoming films have already screened. Here, I've gathered some of the reaction and review highlights for a few of those films. Click the film title to get more information from the Sundance page about each film, and check out my anticipation and sales posts for more info.
Minari
Stars: Steven Yeun, Yeri Han, Youn Yuh Jung, Will Patton, Alan Kim, Noel Kate Cho
Director: Lee Isaac Chung
Plot: It’s the 1980s, and David, a seven-year-old Korean American boy, is faced with new surroundings and a different way of life when his father, Jacob, moves their family from the West Coast to rural Arkansas. His mother, Monica, is aghast that they live in a mobile home in the middle of nowhere, and naughty little David and his sister are bored and aimless. When his equally mischievous grandmother arrives from Korea to live with them, her unfamiliar ways arouse David’s curiosity. Meanwhile, Jacob, hell-bent on creating a farm on untapped soil, throws their finances, his marriage, and the stability of the family into jeopardy.
Distributor: A24
Reactions & Reviews
The dedication at the end of Lee Isaac Chung’s MINARI is perfect: “To all our grandmas.”
You’ll feel that and so much more. Alan Kim, as 7-year-old David, is a STAR. Noel Kate Cho, who plays his older sister Anne, is a discovery.
What a beautiful film. #Sundance pic.twitter.com/MhqufrJ5fD
- jen yamato (@jenyamato) January 27, 2020
Jen Yamato, LA Times
MINARI: Steven Yeun stars in a warm, funny, and enormously poignant Flannery O’Connor-inflected story of Korean-American assimilation. i can’t overstate how much i loved this.
…but my exhausted brain can try. my #Sundance2020 review: https://t.co/WnJFlrrBkh pic.twitter.com/LhtzHTloIm
- david ehrlich (@davidehrlich) January 27, 2020
David Ehrlich, Indiewire
Steven Yeun spends half of MINARI in a tank top
- Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) January 27, 2020
Kyle Buchanan, NY Times
MINARI: Steven Yeun’s good as a patriarch with agricultural dreams, but the actors playing him family might be even better? Especially Youn Yuh-jung - who’s funny and affecting - as the grandmother #Sundance pic.twitter.com/w0NYdxKcHr
- Alison Willmore (@alisonwillmore) January 27, 2020
Alison Willmore, Vulture
Black Bear
Stars: Aubrey Plaza, Christopher Abbott, Sarah Gadon
Director: Lawrence Michael Levine
Plot: At a remote lake house in the Adirondack Mountains, a couple entertains an out-of-town guest looking for inspiration in her filmmaking. The group quickly falls into a calculated game of desire, manipulation, and jealousy, unaware of how dangerously convoluted their lives will soon become in the filmmaker’s pursuit of a work of art, which blurs the boundaries between autobiography and invention.
Distributor: N/A
Reactions & Reviews
BLACK BEAR: There we go. A daring, sharp look at how much we use ourselves and those we love in art. Great performances and a fascinating structure in a movie that’s going to baffle some but has a ton to unpack and discuss.
- Brian Tallerico (@Brian_Tallerico) January 24, 2020
Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com
BLACK BEAR is a wild ride in the best way, engaged with big, thorny questions about art and love but mostly a vivid, intensely emotional experience. My #Sundance fave so far, by far. Aubrey Plaza is *amazing*. Review for @EW: https://t.co/0YNCzfWkfQ
- David Canfield (@davidcanfield97) January 25, 2020
David Canfield, Entertainment Weekly
‘Black Bear’ #Sundance Review: Aubrey Plaza Leads a Witty and Razor-Sharp Genre-Bending Riot https://t.co/aNLuvKByNe pic.twitter.com/xknbbi5eK4
- IndieWire (@IndieWire) January 25, 2020
Kate Erbland, Indiewire
The Last Thing He Wanted
Stars: Anne Hathaway, Willem Dafoe, Ben Affleck
Director: Dee Rees
Plot: Journalist and single mother Elena McMahon has rigorously investigated Contra activity in Central America for years. Frustrated when her coverage is censored, relief comes in an unexpected package: her acerbic father falls ill and leaves her a series of unfinished and unsavory arms deals in that very region. Now a pawn in a risky and unfamiliar game, surrounded by live ammunition in more ways than one, and alongside a U.S. state official with whom she has a checkered past, Elena needs to parse her own story to survive. With her disenchanting life awaiting her back home, she is forced to consider what she really wants.
Distributor: Netflix
Reactions & Reviews
I regret to inform you that despite its noble ambitions & visual panache, Dee Rees’ political thriller THE LAST THING HE WANTED is impossible to follow. A misfire that either needed another hour or should’ve become something episodic. My #Sundance review: https://t.co/k6Mlsh8tm1
- Tomris Laffly (@TomiLaffly) January 28, 2020
Tomris Laffly, Variety
I'm not writing a full review, so I'll elaborate a little more:
I'm all for making smart movies requiring me to pay attention to details, but this was messy, convoluted, poorly edited, and just plain boring at times.
- Brittany @ Sundance (@BB18180) January 28, 2020
Brittany Witherspoon, FilmThreat
it's trying to do a lot at once, and it doesn't feel lazy or unloved. it feels like it was supposed to be eighteen hours long and someone whittled it down to 115 minutes.
- Angiejhan the Sundance Cat (@ajhan) January 28, 2020
Angie Han, Mashable
The 40-Year-Old Version
Stars: Radha Blank, Peter Y. Kim, Reed Birney, Oswin Benjamin
Director: Radha Blank
Plot: Radha, a once-promising playwright, is barreling toward the stigma of being single and a struggling artist at the age of 40. Facing nonstop rejections from the theatre community while teaching a motley group of teens, she becomes creatively re-invigorated when she returns to rapping, her long-forgotten passion. When her play finally gets going, however, she puts recording a rap demo on the back burner and must navigate the awful tension of compromising her voice for career success.
Distributor: N/A
Reactions & Reviews
THE 40-YEAR-OLD VERSION is EASILY the best film of my Sundance so far and will likely be one of my favorites of the year. WOW what a film. Radha Blank....is.....everything. I need more from her ASAP. I love love love this. #Sundance2020
- Trey Mangum @ Sundance (@treymangum) January 26, 2020
Trey Mangum, Shadow and Act
It's far from perfect, but #The40YearOldVersion is one of the most honest portrayals of black female artist in a white world barreling toward 40 and reeling from a lack of personal and professional success. My #Sundance review for @TheWrap: https://t.co/BXz2Y7Pbgq
- Candice Frederick (@ReelTalker) January 26, 2020
Candice Frederick, The Wrap
'The 40-Year-Old Version': Film Review - "The gestation may have been long, but [in @RadhaMUSprime] a star is born!" says @AskDebruge https://t.co/M6W10qZSkQ
- Variety (@Variety) January 26, 2020
Peter DeBruge, Variety
Shirley
Stars: Elisabeth Moss, Michael Stuhlbarg, Logan Lerman, Odessa Young
Director: Josephine Decker
Plot: Fred and Rose move to a small Vermont college town in pursuit of a job for Fred as an assistant professor of literature. The young couple receives an offer for free room and board from professor Stanley Hyman, as long as Rose agrees to spend time cleaning up the home and looking after his wife, acclaimed horror author Shirley Jackson. At first Fred and Rose detest the rocky household of the eccentric couple, but they eventually establish deep bonds with their counterparts, which will test the limits of their young love.
Distributor: N/A
Reactions & Reviews
“Sound can tell the story in a way that visuals are catching up to. Subjectivity is experienced through sound.” @JosephineJambox on the sound design in #Shirley.
It puts you in Shirley Jackson’s head, pulls you closer to the characters in ways the camera can’t.
- Mallory Yu (@mallory_yu) January 25, 2020
Mallory Yu, All Things Considered
SHIRLEY is incredible, and so is Elisabeth Moss. Here's my #Sundance2020 review: https://t.co/gQRmxAjA88
- Chris Evangelista @ Sundance (@cevangelista413) January 26, 2020
Chris Evangelista, SlashFilm
Elisabeth Moss and Michael Stuhlbarg play horror author Shirley Jackson and her professor husband in Josephine Decker's unusual biographical portrait https://t.co/8tqhLYCppw
- The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) January 25, 2020
Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter
Palm Springs
Stars: Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti, J.K Simmons, Camila Mendes
Director: Max Barbakow
Plot:Stuck in Palm Springs for her younger sister Tala’s destination wedding, family black sheep and reluctant maid of honor Sarah meets carefree Nyles, the date of a vapid bridesmaid. After Nyles bails Sarah out of giving a wedding toast, she quickly realizes that he is actually not a sentimental fool at all and feels drawn to his offbeat nihilism. After their impromptu tryst is thwarted by a surreal, unexpected interruption, Sarah joins Nyles in embracing the idea that nothing really matters, and they begin wreaking spirited havoc on the wedding celebration.
Distributor: Neon/Hulu
Reactions & Reviews
#PalmSprings is an absolute riot! It's another stuck-in-a-time-loop premise, but it's executed in such a unique way. Andy Samberg & Cristin Milioti rule together + the script is aces. A terrific crowdpleaser; reminds me of how I felt after seeing 500 DAYS OF SUMMER here #Sundance pic.twitter.com/wcQqYfjlKB
- Erik Davis (@ErikDavis) January 27, 2020
Erik Davis, Fandango
I loved PALM SPRINGS far more than I thought I would. Andy Samberg is probably at his best here. My #Sundance2020 review via @ThePlaylist: https://t.co/o7rYjnPrJu
- Robert Daniels @ Sundance (@812filmreviews) January 27, 2020
Robert Daniels, The Playlist
PALM SPRINGS won me over with its well acted, very clever spin on an old trope. But it also won me over with a @conner_omalley appearance. #Sundance2020
- Esther Zuckerman (@ezwrites) January 27, 2020
Esther Zuckerman, Thrillist
Zola
Stars: Taylour Paige, Riley Keough, Nicholas Braun, Colman Domingo
Director: Janicza Bravo
Plot: Zola meets Stefani at a restaurant where Zola waitresses, and the two immediately click over pole dancing. Only a day after they exchange numbers, Stefani invites Zola on a cross-country road trip, where the goal is to make as much money as possible dancing in Florida strip clubs. Zola agrees, and suddenly she is trapped in the craziest, most unexpected trip of her life.
Distributor: A24
Reactions & Reviews
Second review of #Sundance2020! I dug a lot of Zola, one of the first films to successfully translate Twitter to cinema, but I think the ending is a little lacklustre https://t.co/PbywYazzzS
- Hannah Woodhead (@goodjobliz) January 25, 2020
Hannah Woodhead, Little White Lies
The movie I wanted Spring Breakers to be!!!
- Kerensa Cadenas (@kerensacadenas) January 24, 2020
Kerensa Cadenas, The Cut
Zola’s story entertained us when we were glued to our screens reading the drama of two strippers in Florida unfold.
Now that story is making its way to your screens! https://t.co/ShzIHg6qpv pic.twitter.com/uPAP9hLgcT
- The Root (@TheRoot) January 27, 2020
Tonja Renée Stidhum, The Root
Source 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Obviously there are a ton more, and please add any other reviews you find illuminating!