Sundance Film Review: Midnight Short Film Program

Film Reviews

Midnight Short Film Program
Premiere: 01.26

 

The Things We Keep
Director: Joanna Fernandez

Rebecca Holopterappears in The Things We Keep by Joanna Fernandez, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Daeil Kim
Rebecca Holopter appears in The Things We Keep by
Joanna Fernandez, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Daeil Kim

Generational trauma, who doesn’t love (or have) it? In The Things We Keep, we follow Kate (Rebecca Holopter) as she starts the daunting task of cleaning out the house of her hoarder mother Sheila (Jenny O’Hara), whose mental state is rapidly declining, before moving her into an assisted living center. Following a violent outburst from her mother, Kate kicks into overdrive, trying to get the house cleared out as fast as possible. After peeling back old wallpaper, Kate slowly unleashes whatever entity is responsible for her mother’s current mental state in a manner that feels reminiscent of the iconic wallpaper ghosts from The Frighteners. This short has everything going for it and the makings of an A24-like film: talented cast, a creepily clever storyline about the tradition of familial mental illness and incredible VFX for a 14-minute short film. Joanna Fernandez, you might just be the next Ari Aster

 

 

Bunnyhood
Director: Mansi Maheshwari

A still from Bunnyhood by Mansi Maheshwari, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance FilmFestival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Mansi Maheshwari
A still from Bunnyhood by Mansi Maheshwari, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Mansi Maheshwari

I’ll be the first to say it: Normalize lying to children. You might just get great art out of it. Bunnyhood, which we learn through the opening title card that this is based on a true story, follows young Bobby (Mansi Maheshwari) who loves her bunny first-person shooter video game and the fast food chain Big Patty’s. One night Bobby’s mom (Nina Wadia) decides to go out to Big Patty’s for dinner without informing Bobby they have to first stop at the hospital. While Bobby’s mom talks to the receptionist, Bobby is attacked and abducted by a group of evil bunny doctors and nurses who want to steal her appendix. Maheshwari’s humor and art direction made me feel like a kid who stayed up late watching Adult Swim again — though Bunnyhood feels like a much darker episode of Home Movies. 

 

 

Em & Selma Go Griffin Hunting
Director: Alexander Thompson

Milly Shapiro and Pollyanna McIntoshappear in Em & Selma Go Griffin Hunting by Alexander Thompson, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
Milly Shapiro and Pollyanna McIntosh appear in Em & Selma Go Griffin Hunting by Alexander Thompson, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute.

Womanhood looks different for every type of woman in all walks of life. In Em & Selma Go Griffin Hunting, we watch as becoming a woman, in an alternate Great Depression-era America, is defined by the mythical creature you kill on your first hunt with your mother.  But Em (Milly Shapiro) is different than her mother Selma (Pollyanna McIntosh), and her appreciation for the beautiful mythical creatures that surround her means she can’t quite bring herself to follow in her family’s footsteps. Em & Selma Go Griffin Hunting is a beautiful and haunting 18 minutes filled with wildly impressive, and wildly dark, VFX mythical creatures. Think of fairies in the vein of the Guillermo del Toro-produced, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (or really any of del Toro’s works). It’s also an interesting depiction of matriarchy that we see very little of in modern cinema. Do yourself a favor and check out all that Em & Selma Go Griffin Hunting has to offer. 

 

 

Swollen
Director: Roxy Sophie Sorkin

Roxy Sophie Sorkin appears in Swollen byRoxy Sophie Sorkin, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Shane Bagwell
Lily Rosenthal and Roxy Sophie Sorkin appears in Swollen by Roxy Sophie Sorkin, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Shane Bagwell

Roxy Sophie Sorkin, daughter of Academy Award-winning filmmaker Aaron Sorkin, isn’t like other girls. She’s like if Quentin Tarantino was a girl and had extensive knowledge of gay Twitter. In Swollen, two best friends awaken to a botched robbery in their Airbnb they rented to recover from their recent facial plastic surgery. They debate on whether they should call the hot, young (and definitely straight, insert winky face here) policemen in the city to come save them. It’s filled with dialogue Ryan Murphy could only dream of, SamRaimi-meets-WesAnderson cinematography, campy set design and excellent delivery from actress Sorkin and Lily Rosenthal. I walked out of the theater thinking to myself, “Damn, do I actually like Roxy Sophie Sorkin more than her father?” The answer? Yes. 

 

 

Jesus 2
Director: Jesse Moynihan

A still from Jesus 2 byJesse Moynihan, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
A still from Jesus 2 by Jesse Moynihan, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute.

“We are the crystal gems and we’ll help you save the day…” Oh wait, this isn’t a Steven Universe reboot? Two pirate brothers, Sunday and Monday, must fight off this strange entity who calls himself “Jesus 2” on their ship Gran Madre. I poke fun only because I really wanted to like Jesus 2, and I really do — for the most part. I love Moynihan’s absurdist comedy that’s delivered by interesting side characters and how fun his storyline is once you read through the short film’s website, jesus-2.com. My main issue is: If you can’t convey the most important key plot points due to a restraining 8-minute run time, the viewers don’t really know what’s going on. We know your animation and Pendleton Ward cameo are cool, but that’s about it. Hopefully Jesus 2 gets picked up as a series and gets to deliver its potentially interesting story to us someday — until then, I can’t say with confidence that it was one of my favorites from the Midnight Short Film Program

 

Platanero
Director: Juan Frank Hernandez

A still from Plataneroby Juan Frank Hernandez, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Les Films du 3 Mars/Camera Oscura
A still from Platanero by Juan Frank Hernandez, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Les Films du 3 Mars/Camera Oscura

“If you really want to kill a werewolf, you have to shoot its shadow.” Tell me that’s not one hell of a bar to open a short film with. Platanero follows two Haitian brothers living in a Dominican shantytown. Desperate for food, the brothers, along with two of their friends, decide to sneak onto a plantation that, rumored by the locals, is supposedly haunted. We quickly learn that this plantation is not haunted in the traditional sense of specters and spirits, but by a giant fur-covered, man-eating beast. It’s a beautiful and riveting 25 minutes that not only deals with outlandish monsters, but also reflects on how human beings are no different than the monsters of local legend. With standout acting, direction and creature design, Platanero is not one to miss from the Midnight Short Film Program

 

 

Read more of SLUG’s coverage of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.