The 10-day Sundance Film Festival has ended for the year and, like I say every year, I’m burned out. I watched a total of 20 movies in that time and that’s with taking a couple days off in between. By rumored accounts, this marks the penultimate year in the festival’s time in Park City and even now, it’s feeling like a swan song. All that said, let’s get right to the movies that marked some high and low points with a full ranking of what I saw below.
Omaha
After a family tragedy, siblings Ella and Charlie are woken up by their dad and taken on a cross-country journey, experiencing a new world. As their adventure unfolds, Ella begins to understand that things might not be what they seem.
Omaha is a movie that you should go in without knowing anything much, so I’ll be vague. For better and worse, the ending of the movie is an absolute gut punch and may hurt its rewatchability. Omaha largely focuses on three characters for nearly the entire runtime and it had me judging, sympathizing, and wanting to do everything I could to support the three of them. John Magaro, who plays the father, is quickly becoming one of my favorite character actors. Molly Belle Wright, as his daughter, floored me with her gravitas as a kid who must grow up far too early. Also, the cinematography by Paul Meyers is constantly stunning. B+
Train Dreams
Robert Grainer, an average man living in extraordinary times, worked as a day laborer in the American West at the beginning of the 20th century. We see him work on the railroads and logging industries in a new frontier of the American West. Along the way, he has to grapple with tragedy and his memories.
I will watch Joel Edgerton in anything (even Obi-Wan Kenobi). It doesn’t hurt that he’s in a quiet methodical film dripping with atmosphere. His character, Robert, is someone that would be happy with a simple life as long as he can provide for his family. Through his eyes we see a developing nation and a people that seem only to exist in history textbooks. He carries with him a deep somberness as he is haunted by dreams and even reminders from the past. Train Dreams put a spell on me. I could complain about the arc and decisions I wanted Robert to make, but it all felt so genuine. B+
Sorry, Baby
Writer/director/star Eva Victor has crafted a film that snuck up on everyone. In Sorry, Baby we follow Agnes, a young woman at several points in her life, ranging from college to her personal and career pursuits. Yet, in the middle of it all, she suffers something horrible, which affects every decision she makes from then on. Thankfully, she has the temporary help of her roommate/life-long friend, Lydie (Naomi Ackie) to support her.
Victor has crafted a movie that has an all-too-familiar story for so many people and how that kind of trauma can affect each day after. Somehow, she also subverts the sympathy of the audience and caught me off guard with some genuinely funny moments. Sorry Baby plays in chapters, but out of sequence, so we see the reasons for her reactions early in the movie. While Agnes feels stuck in her environment, I couldn’t help but feel that she was going to be okay. My criticism comes with the characters’ delivery. It may be that many in the cast are playing character types rather than getting development, as much of the acting comes off as intentionally stiff and one-note. All that said, this hits hard I’ll remember the final scene for a very long time. B
Predators
Predators explores the controversial NBC series “To Catch a Predator” starring Chris Hansen, that caught potential child predators in sting operations, leading to arrests, and its eventual cancellation.
We all know the memes of Chris Hansen asking creeps to take a seat. Predators goes into the public’s fascination with that televised justice, but also goes deeper into the consequences of it. There is an interesting story to tell in regards to the background of instant justice and shame, but this suffers from my biggest pet peeve of documentaries. I tune out as soon as the documentarian takes center stage and it becomes their narrative and Predators does just that. There is so much here, but it loses focus and steam quickly. C-
Twinless
Two young men meet in a twin bereavement support group and form an unlikely bromance.
Dylan O’Brien is a standout as a twin who recently lost his brother and has to learn to grieve, feel betrayal, and move on. He is a very serious character in a near-sitcom style plot. Writer/director/star James Sweeney creates a story that is tonally amiss, but creates depth for each of the main characters. Aisling Franciosi steals each scene she’s in. She seems to be such a bit part in the beginning, but her character ends up with so much substance. I liked Twinless overall, but the more time passes, the more I forget about it. B-
The Perfect Neighbor
A minor disagreement between neighbors in Florida takes a lethal turn, with police body camera footage and interviews probing the aftermath of the state’s controversial “stand your ground” laws.
True crime docs are big business. Netflix has made an industry of stretching out true stories and trying to create an atmosphere of surprises and cliffhangers. The Perfect Neighbor is a huge step up from the docu-tainment we normally see. It literally only pulls footage from police body cams, doorbell cams, and police interrogation rooms to tell a very recent harrowing story. I ran through the emotions for this one, from dismay, annoyance, actual tears, and disgust. It was my own little Inside Out. Serious documentaries are at their best when they have you question a status quo, and Perfect Neighbor does just that. B+
Ranking
20 – Obex
19 – The Dating Game
18 – Predators
17 – DJ Ahmet
16 – The Virgin of Quarry Lake
15 – Sunfish (& Other Stories on Green Lake)
14 – Oh, Hi!
13 – Atropia
12 – Sukkwan Island
11 – The Things You Kill
10 – Twinless
9 – Opus
8 – Sorry, Baby
7 – The Perfect Neighbor
6 – Rebuilding
5 – The Ugly Stepsister
4 – Train Dreams
3 – Omaha
2 – Together
1 – The Ballad of Wallis Island
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