20 Best Movies Of Sundance 2012
Indie love stories and magical oddities
Beasts Of The Southern Wild
The Grand Jury Prize dramatic competition winner and TF’s film of the day on Day 8. A gripping, entirely unique creation, Beasts is part childhood fairytale, part enviro-drama, and wholly enchanting. It stars a cast of unknowns, and is the debut feature of director Benh Zeitlin, whose true grit visuals – paired with dreamy narration – are both whimsically arresting and grubbily unpretentious.
Six-year-old Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis, remarkable) lives in a Delta community known as ‘The Bathtub’, because it’s in constant threat of flooding. When Hushpuppy’s father falls ill, the end of the world seems nigh – especially when the melting icecaps unleash deadly monsters called aurochs. Wonderfully weird and flush with atmosphere, Beasts is a beautifully-lensed, s🍬urprisingly savage lulꦬlaby.
Celeste & Jesse Forever
A sort of romcom-in-reverse, this engaging drama follows the eponymous Celeste and Jesse ( I Love You Man ’s Rashida Jones and Hot Rod ’s Andy Samberg), a married couple who’ve separated but remain best friends, as they struggle to get out of their comfortable routine and move on.
Sweet, slick and very, very funny, t🐽he film proved to be a breezy breath of fresh air a✤fter eight days of solid filmgoing. There are some brilliant visual gags and an on-form supporting cast - particularly Elijah Wood as an awkward gay best friend.
My Brother The Devil
Our film of the day on Day 9 of the fest was the only British film that made it into the World Dramatic competition strand. Shot on location in Hackney, My Brother The Devil tells the story of two Egyptian brothers – older gang member Rashid (James Floyd) and the younger, impressionable Mo (newcomer Fady Elsayed).
But as Rashid tries to turn his back on drugs and postcode wars, Mo is drawn deeper in the opposite direction. What begins as a familiar story features a curveball-throwing script and some assured direction from El Hosaini. Sidesteps the sort of Kidulthood c🍃aricatures and clichés you might fir෴st expect.
Indie Game: The Movie
Super Meat Boy , Fez and Braid are the name of the game in this enlightening documentary – so-called ‘indie games’ created by fanboy joystick-twiddlers who do their stuff outside of the system.
It’s revealed to be a perilous occupation as we get to know the four developers behind those three games, all of whom are variously reclusive, eccentric and super-creative. Thanks to the four developers’ surprisingly frank input, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Indie Game works as bo𓂃th an exposé of the booming under♌ground game industry and the tortured creatives behind their conception.
Simon Killer
As emotionally volatile as its title suggests, Simon Killer comes from the same creative team behind the phenomenal Martha Marcy May Marlene . It’s not hard to see the through-line. Killer is just as darkly bewitching, presenting a troubled, inscrutable protagonist in Brady Corbet’s Simon, who gets lost in the seedy underbelly of modern day Paris.
Killer pulses with seedy clinches and queasy camerawork as director Antonio Campos explores the darkside of voyeurism with unflinching grit. It’s also got one of the coolest synth-pop soundtracks since Drive . Damn near a modern day Vertigo , Killer will be🌌 studied, analysed and discussed for years to come.
Safety Not Guaranteed
Winner of the fest's Dramatic Screenwriting award, Safety Not Guaranteed is an eccentric dramedy starring Scott Pilgrim ’s Aubrey Plaza as Darius, a disenfranchised twenty-something who investigates a guy who claims to know how to time travel.
Though she's best known for her caustic wit, Plaza softens off the rough edges while delivering an excess of deadpan goodness. The film's final act tonal shift will divide audiences, but in general Safety i🅠s a hilarious, character-driven film that never takes the easy route. It’ll be interesting to see how they market this one.
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Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributi🐻ng Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.