Everybody clap your hands.
"Cha Cha Real Smooth," Cooper Raiff’s coming-of-age dramedy about a charismatic party starter, was a big winner at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, which pivoted from an in-person to all-virtual event because of COVID-19 concerns for the second year in a row. The film, which co-stars Dakota Johnson and sold to Apple for $15 million, was given the festival’s U.S. dramatic audience award Friday.
"Nanny," from first-time feature filmmaker Nikyatu Jusu, took home the fest's other top award, the U.S. dramatic Grand Jury Prize. The atmospheric horror movie, which is still seeking distribution, follows a Senegalese immigrant (Anna Diop) who accepts a job with a wealthy New York couple and is haunted by supernatural visions.
Sundance Film Festival:Ranking the best movies we saw, including 'Am I OK?'
Other major winners include "Navalny," a gripping documentary thriller about Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, which earned both the U.S. documentary audience award and the audience-voted festival favorite award. "The Exiles," tracing three exiled dissidents from the Tiananmen Square massacre, took the U.S. documentary Grand Jury Prize.
Nearly seven dozen features premiered at Sundance 2022, which launched late last week and runs through Sunday. USA TODAY’s team of film lovers covered the festival from their couches, and picked eight exceptional movies that we’ll be talking about all year long.
'After Yang': The movie that makes the case for a best opening credits Oscar
Yes, Kogonada's "After Yang" is a gorgeous meditation on identity and grief, set in a near-future where families can have humanlike robots to help them with housekeeping and childcare. Along with being an Architectural Digest spread come to life, the film also features the most mesmerizing opening credits we've seen in a very long time. Backed by glitchy, pulsating music, Colin Farrell and his family virtually "compete" against other groups from their living room in a "Dance Dance Revolution"-style Wii game, complete with matching jumpsuits and flashing lights. It's an explosion of sound and color that immediately jolts you into Kogonada’s vividly realized world, and will undoubtedly inspire many Halloween costumes later this year. – Patrick Ryan
'Am I OK?': The movie that made me want to reach out to an old friend
The feature directorial debut of married couple Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allynne tells the story of Lucy (Dakota Johnson) and Jane (Sonoya Mizuno), two best friends thrown for a loop when Jane gets a job offer in London and Lucy realizes she likes women. Jane's all for Lucy's realization but Lucy's confusion and hesitance in diving into a new world causes a rift. What could easily be a dreary, dramatic dissolution of a relationship becomes a nuanced look at how friendships flourish and falter like changing seasons – and the importance of being there for your friend, no matter what. – David Oliver
'Cha Cha Real Smooth': The movie that made me want to dance again
Raiff catapulted me right quick into the world of bar and bat mitzvahs in "Cha Cha Real Smooth," a not-so-subtle nod to DJ Casper's 2000 hit (and party favorite/eyeroll) "Cha Cha Slide." Raiff plays 22-year-old post-grad Andrew, who becomes a bar mitzvah party-starter and befriends a young mother (Johnson) and her daughter with autism. Andrew's confidence and encouragement of young teenagers – and standing up to middle-school bullies – healed my teenage self and rejiggered my interest in, well, doing a jig the next chance I get. – Oliver
'Good Luck to You, Leo Grande': A movie about sex I actually wanted to watch with my mom?
It's also the only movie I watched twice at this year's virtual Sundance. Rooted in a tour de force performance from an always effervescent Emma Thompson, "Leo Grande" (purchased by Searchlight for $7.5 million and streaming on Hulu at a later date) sees Thompson as Nancy Stokes, a retired schoolteacher daring herself to a night of passion with a handsome young sex worker (Daryl McCormack). The repressed widow has spent her life adhering to a strict set of principles, but yearns to discover what lies behind a satisfying sexual experience. Enter the chiseled Leo, as adept at banter as he is in navigating Nancy's cheeky to-do list. Expect to see an Oscar campaign for Thompson, who made headlines for appearing in the nude, but more impressively lays bare the arc of a woman resolved to white knuckle her quest for pleasure. - Andrea Mandell
'Master'/'Emergency': The movies that make an Amazon Prime subscription worth it
Streaming services don't mess around gobbling up Sundance movies, and Amazon Prime Video is soon going to be the digital home for two of the fest's best. The excellent "Master" (streaming March 18) is "Get Out" at college with witches, with Regina Hall headlining a social horror thriller that uses scary-movie tropes to examine institutional racism and white supremacy. And the charming and thought-provoking comedy "Emergency" (in theaters May 20 and on Amazon Prime May 27) centers on three university students of color weighing the optics of calling the police when they find an unconscious white girl mysteriously passed out in their house. – Brian Truitt
'Resurrection': The movie with the most bonkers moments in 1 hour and 45 minutes
The nightmarish vision of a charred, screaming baby in an oven might be the craziest thing you'll see in most films but not Andrew Semans' nutty psychological thriller, which was picked up for an IFC Films theatrical release and a digital window on the Shudder streaming service. Those drawn to Sundance creep shows like "The Witch" and "Hereditary" will live for the story of Margaret (Rebecca Hall), a businesswoman and single mom living an ordinary life when she absolutely bugs out seeing a man (Tim Roth) from her past. Suffice it to say, revelations are had (through one knockout eight-minute monologue by Hall), Margaret becomes paranoid to the point of feral, and oh, yeah, there's some cannibalism, toxic sadism and a blood-drenched climax for the cherry on top. – Truitt
'Sharp Stick': The movie that polarized Sundance but is actually super sweet
Would it really be a Lena Dunham project if it didn't make people uncomfortable? Critics have been unduly harsh on "Sharp Stick," the "Girls" creator's offbeat yet unexpectedly moving exploration of a young woman learning to love herself. Sarah Jo (Kristine Froseth) is a sheltered 26-year-old caregiver to a child with disabilities who pursues a married man nearly twice her age (Jon Bernthal). But their messy affair is a mere jumping off point for Sarah Jo to discover what it is that she truly wants from sex and relationships, as well as heal from the emotional and physical scars of a radical hysterectomy. Dunham peppers this modern fairy tale with audacious wit and gentle insights about overcoming heartbreak, and Scott Speedman's cameo as a wholesome porn star is one for the ages. – Ryan
Source link
