- We Got This Covered – Sundance Review: ‘Something in the Dirt’ requires some heavy lifting
This lo-fi indie effort from Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead makes for a dense watch. On the surface, Something in the Dirt concerns itself with supernatural phenomena, Los Angeles planning grids, and Pythagoras’ theorems. Numerous segues between Benson’s John and Moorhead’s Levi also concern discussions on gravity and geographical ratios, which in turn naturally revolve around their … - We Got This Covered – Sundance Review: ‘Emily the Criminal’ offers up another slick turn from Aubrey Plaza
Emily The Criminal is a showcase for Aubrey Plaza from director John Patton Ford that begs the question why she is not a bigger star. It feels dynamically structured, features a lead performance of note, and will keep audiences intrigued throughout. In the title role, Plaza excels as a strung-out twenty-something, with vast amounts of student debt and … - We Got This Covered – ‘TikTok, Boom’ offers a terrifying insight into the most downloaded app in the world
With an algorithm that intuitively learns everything about an individual user by cherry-picking information on their viewing habits, TikTok has courted controversy and continues to make headlines. In TikTok, Boom director Shalim Kantayya resists the pace of the platform to pull back the curtain on how this multimedia sensation is rapidly overtaking every other media platform in the world … - We Got This Covered – Sundance Review: ‘When You Finish Saving The World’ reveals Jesse Eisenberg to be a writer-director with promise
Actor Jesse Eisenberg has made his mark in front of the camera for over two decades, either as the eponymous creator of Facebook in The Social Network or in more mainstream fare that saw him go bald as DC’s Lex Luthor. Although his career has tended to plough its own furrow, he has periodically deviated into commercial territory, most … - We Got This Covered – Sundance Review: ‘Call Jane’ is a contentious call to arms
America in the 1960s was a time of civil unrest, cultural upheaval, and political oversight, which saw this would-be superpower undergo fundamental change. A president was gunned down and activists were assassinated, all while a nation burned through billions of tax dollars going to war. On the domestic front, gender roles remained restrictive, constrained, and …Continue reading “We Got This Covered – Sundance Review: ‘Call Jane’ is a contentious call to arms”
- We Got This Covered – Sundance Review: ‘Living’ is a reflective fable on the joy of second chances
Director Oliver Hermanus’ Living, which relocates Akira Kurosawa’s Ikiru from 1950s Japan to an equally restrictive London during the same time period, is an absolute joy. Filmed in an over-saturated and intentionally dated post-war style, it follows the fortunes of Mr. Williams, played with stoic resignation by Bill Nighy. Trapped behind his desk pushing meaningless papers around in … - We Got This Covered – Sundance Review: ‘After Yang’ explores the grieving process with compassion
After Yang, writer-director Kogonada’s brooding meditation on the grieving process, could be accused of lacking a satisfying sense of pace. Set in an indeterminate future, Kogonada’s sci-fi drama documents the fallout that follows when an artificial life form ceases to function in a family home. Colin Farrell, Jodie Turner-Smith and Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja form the emotional core of … - We Got This Covered – Sundance Review: ‘Resurrection’ is propelled by a staggering central performance
Resurrection is a psychological horror from the mind of writer-director Andrew Semans, who never lets his audience disembark the film’s rollercoaster 103-minute ride, which is kept on track by a spectacular performance from central cast member Rebecca Hall. As a survivor of domestic abuse, Hall plays Margaret, who, on the surface, seems fully in control of her … - We Got This Covered – Sundance Review: ‘Am I OK?’ offers up a refreshing take on the rom-com dramedy hybrid
Married couple Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allynne make their directorial debut at Sundance with Am I OK?, a sharply written dramedy on the trials of same sex relationships. Penned by Lauren Pomerantz, it features solid performances from Dakota Johnson and Sonoya Mizuno as best friends. In its handling of the central premise, Am I OK keeps the focus on this central pairing … - We Got This Covered – Sundance Review: ‘God’s Country’ features a central performance of visceral intensity
In God’s Country, director Julian Higgins has gifted actor Thandiwe Newton a role of rare intensity, in this slow burn melodrama of escalating miscommunication. Set in the frozen wastes of Montana, where isolated homesteads and overbearing mountain ranges dominate a barren landscape, relationships are precious things. As Sandra Guidry, audiences are introduced to Newton in the aftermath of … - We Got This Covered – Sundance Review: ‘The Worst Person In The World’ is an instant classic
The Worst Person in the World is a staggering achievement, if only for introducing audiences to Renate Reinsve, who carries this film effortlessly. As a result, she burst onto the international stage winning Best Actress at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, and ensured that Hollywood paid attention. Much of that success also comes down to writer … - We Got This Covered – Sundance Review: ‘Fresh’ takes a scalpel to contemporary dating with surgical precision
Guilty pleasures rarely come more deviant than Mimi Cave’s Fresh, which takes Sebastian Stan and makes him bury Bucky Barnes forever. In his place, we have Steve, who has a large bank balance, a suave bachelor pad and appetites which require one special woman. Noa turns out to be precisely what he is looking for in his ladies, … - We Got This Covered – ‘Alice’ embraces blaxploitation and emancipation in a search for identity
Featuring a powerful performance from Keke Palmer in the title role, Alice is an exercise in narrative subversion, which merges conflicting genres, blindsides expectant audiences and rarely lets up. It features a heady concoction of Southern Gothic slave fable and ’70s grindhouse pastiche, and oozes blaxploitation chic reminiscent of the independent films of that genre. Writer-director Krystin Ver Linden …