Sundance
Sundance Film Review: Carnage Park
Writer/director Mickey Keating has tried his hand at many different horror subgenres, including sci-fi body horror with Pod and slow descents into madness with Darling. Carnage Park demonstrates his knack for imagining uniquely terrifying scenarios and then inflicting them upon his characters. … read more
Sundance Film Review: The Lobster
In a dystopian future, David must find a partner in 45 days, or else he will be transformed into an animal of his choice. Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Lobster bears witness to the process by which David seeks a mate against this impending consequence. Mind-warping twists abound in this film—The Lobster does not disappoint. … read more
Sundance Film Review: Antibirth
A film like Antibirth is the reason that I’m willing to take a gamble on Sundance’s Midnight section. It strikes a rare balance in that it portrays a visually arresting and bizarre story while bringing relevant subtext and spot-on character acting along for the ride. … read more
Sundance Film Review: 31
There was something oddly comforting about my experience with Rob Zombie’s psychobilly horror film. After so many of my film choices this year took me into territory that I wasn’t necessarily prepared for, 31 was exactly what I was hoping it would be—a heavily stylized jaunt into Rob Zombie’s carnival of carnage. … read more
Sundance Film Review: The Eyes of My Mother
My mouth was agape for much of The Eyes of My Mother. Borrowing from horror yet far from it, this film by director Nicolas Pesce disturbs the emotions that accompany our love for our family—our mothers, our fathers and our children—with violence and morbidity. … read more
Sundance Film Review: Wild
Dog may be man’s best friend, but Ania’s lover is a wolf. Director Nicolette Krebitz’s Wild shows Ania (Lilith Stangenberg) in a state of apathy toward her surroundings. She puts up with patriarchal men at her office job and must suffer through her sister’s boyfriend who rudely interrupts their video chats. … read more
Sundance Film Review: Trash Fire
The horror/comedy is a tricky genre to blend. While it seems like the two fit hand in hand, very few directors have been able to actually make it work. The problem with Trash Fire is that director and screenwriter Richard Bates, Jr. tried to make a horror/comedy that was also a family drama, a treatise on mental illness and a critique of religious conservatism. … read more
Sundance Film Review: The Greasy Strangler
Amid tableaus that fixate on cartoonish gore, ungainly sex, feral pubic hair and lurid sausage consumption, The Greasy Strangler does tell a story—I think. … read more
Sundance Film Review: First Girl I Loved
Anne finds herself to be attracted to Sasha, a girl on their high school’s softball team. When Anne tries to tell her bestie, Clifton, though, he reveals his feelings for her, which compromise Anne’s simple intention to woo the girl she has a crush on. First Girl I Loved provides alternatively styled narration as to how Anne navigates her desire for Sasha. … read more
Sundance Film Review: Plaza de la Soledad
Plaza de la Soledad examines the lives of sex workers in Mexico City. The women that director Maya Goded features in this documentary provide enduring sisterhood for each other amid a lifestyle in which they maintain volition over their own destinies. Each woman speaks for herself about her experience in this insightful film. … read more
Sundance Film Review: NUTS!
NUTS! tells the story of Dr. Brinkley and his bizarrely successful attempt to build an empire on a foundation of trans-species testicular transplants. … read more
Sundance Film Review: Mapplethorpe: Look At the Pictures
Whether you’re an avid follower of Robert Mapplethorpe’s career or just now hearing about him, Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures offers a comprehensive look at his controversial oeuvre. … read more
