Another year, another virtual Sundance Film Festival experience! I’m so thankful that this festival still finds benefits in offering a virtual component to this festival that I cannot attend in person. I hope it continues, but if I’m lucky, next year this festival might be A LOT closer to home. Fingers crossed!
As the years have gone by since the start of the pandemic, the offerings for the virtual component are certainly a lot less than those attending in person, but I still got to watch several high quality films and a full television series from the comfort of my living room. I’m thankful to the filmmakers who allow their projects to be available to the virtual audience and I hope that piracy doesn’t become a major future issue so I can keep enjoying this festival no matter where it finds its new home. Anyway, here are the films, and one TV show, that made the cut this year. It’s also worth noting that the viewing window seemed exceptionally short this year, but I made it work!
Twinless – Apparently I watched this at the right time! Word on the street is that this film got taken down after some piracy threats. Thank goodness this is the first thing I pulled up on Friday evening! Roman and Dennis meet at a support group for individuals who have lost their twin. As a twin myself, this tragically caught my attention. Add Dylan O’Brien on top of that and I knew I was in from the get-go. What sells itself as a bromance film takes a wild turn fairly early on and it totally changed my expectations for the trajectory of this film. It was brazen and weird, and I really enjoyed it! It won the audience award at the festival, so I hope it finds some weird little distributor soon.
By Design – I knew to watch this one early in the day because it seemed like it would be just strange enough to not hold my attention. Sadly, I was right. Truthfully, this was one film I was really on the fence about buying a ticket for, but with such an incredible cast and from the director that brought Please Baby Please to the screen, I bit the bullet. Juliette Lewis plays Camille, a women so fed up and hollow, decides she wants to be beholden by people, much like this “one of a kind” chair on display in a goofy furniture store. Her wish comes true and the rest of the film is so, so bizarre. There’s a feminism point woven in there somewhere, but I really think this could have been a short film instead.
Bunnylovr – I suppose this was another film that I came back to a time or two when looking through the Sundance program this year. The cast was interesting and the plot seemed interesting enough. Rebecca is a cam girl just trying to make enough money for her New York apartment rent when she connects with a particular patron. The film is focused on Rebecca and her many, tangled relationships. There’s her relationship with her questionable client, her estranged and dying father, her best friend, and now a new bunny rabbit. Rebecca’s life seems aimless, but it’s good to see her make an attempt to take back control of those destructive relationships. Not the best drama I’ve ever seen, but it definitely very “Sundance.”
Omaha – Local talent John Magaro is a Sundance darling, so I can always count on him to give me something good at this festival. Especially a drama. This particular drama was heart-wrenching. He plays a father at the peak of the 2008 financial crisis and it’s clear he’s at the end of his rope. It’s early morning when he loads his two young kids and their dog in his unreliable car and hits the road for good. It’s obvious that his home is getting foreclosed, and it seems like he doesn’t have much else to live off of. The kids are led to believe they’re going on a trip to Omaha, but it soon becomes obvious to his eldest daughter that something is not right. There are two sick and heartbreaking twists in this film that even the most stone-cold people should at least have some tears well for. A well-crafted drama that I’m sure will find a distributor soon.
Sorry, Baby – I’m always pleased when I land on festival winners, and that was the case with this particular drama. We meet Agnes and her best friend from college in the same sleepy college town. She’s never left, but her job is here, and as we learn, so are some other tainted memories. It’s revealed that while in grad school she’s sexually assaulted by her English advisor. This film is one specific look at how Agnes copes with this horror, but it’s really a sight to be seen. It’s a testament that we don’t even have to see parts of this heinous crime to know how horrible it was. It also shows how many of these monsters get to move on without even a slap on the wrist. Incredible.
Plainclothes – This film actually surprised me! It’s premise was tempting but it seemed like something that would deliver something subpar. I was wrong! Andrew is a young cop assigned to entrap and apprehend gay men in the early 90s. He does his job diligently until one particular mark really catches his eye. In a bold move, he begins a secret relationship with the man that really turns his outlook on his life around. It was still extremely difficult being gay in the 90s, but his family drama adds to the difficulty. Especially when he’s trying to appease his mother shortly after his father’s death. It’s clandestine nature lends a certain romantic element, but it’s a shame that this story is still so relevant in the present day.
Hal & Harper – Cooper Raiff is back with another hit! This kid proves himself again! This time with an eight episode series with a stacked cast of actors along for the ride. Hal is played by Raiff, while his older sister is played by Lily Reinhart, and their father by Mark Ruffalo. The series revolves around the insanely close Hal and Harper and how their life had been shaped by having to grow up too fast in thanks to their father. Uniquely, this show features Raiff and Reinhart as both the adult and nine and seven year old versions of themselves. There’s plenty to laugh out here, but the dramatic parts really hit you. To me, Raiff just proves that he’s a master of the craft. What a talent! I hope this series is able to reach a wide audience soon. I know that I was lucky enough to get to see all eight episodes.