Together Together - SPOILER-FREE Review | Sundance 2021

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Together Together - SPOILER-FREE Review | Sundance 2021

Directed by: Nikole Beckwith

Written by: Nikole Beckwith

Starring: Ed Helms, Patti Harrison, Tig Notaro, Julio Torres, Anna Konkle

Runtime: 90 min

Synopsis: When 26-year-old Anna (Patti Harrison) becomes a gestational surrogate to a single, middle-aged app designer named Matt (Ed Helms), she expects only a transactional bit of good karma and the payday that will allow her to finish her college degree. But as Matt’s unbridled enthusiasm for impending parenthood leads him to persistently insert himself into her life and invite her into his, the initially annoyed Anna finds herself reluctantly charmed. The pair of self-described loners gradually open up to each other, give in to the intimacy of their admittedly finite shared experience, and forge an unlikely friendship.

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Marvelous and the Black Hole - SPOILER-FREE Review | Sundance 2021

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Marvelous and the Black Hole - SPOILER-FREE Review | Sundance 2021

Directed by: Kate Tsang

Written by: Kate Tsang

Starring: Miya Cech, Rhea Perlman, Leonardo Nam, Kannon Omachi, Paulina Lule, Keith Powell

Runtime: 81 min

Synopsis: Thirteen-year-old Sammy (Miya Cech) is struggling to cope with the death of her mother. After she is caught vandalizing one of her school’s restrooms, her father, fed up with her wild behavior, enrolls her in a summer course - if she fails, she’ll be sent to a boot camp for delinquent youth. After storming out of her first class, Sammy meets Margot (Rhea Perlman), a surly magician. Margot forces Sammy to be her assistant for a performance, and although Sammy seems uninterested, she seeks Margot out after the show and asks to become Margot’s pupil. Margot agrees, and as their unlikely friendship grows, we learn that she and Sammy understand each other more than they expected.

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Mass - SPOILER-FREE Review | Sundance 2021

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Mass - SPOILER-FREE Review | Sundance 2021

Directed by: Fran Kranz

Written by: Fran Kranz

Starring: Jason Isaacs, Ann Dowd, Martha Plimpton, Reed Birney

Runtime: 110 min

Synopsis: Imagine the most dreaded, tense, and emotionally draining interaction you could find yourself in and multiply it by 10. That is exactly what two sets of parents - Richard (Reed Birney), Linda (Ann Dowd), Jay (Jason Isaacs), and Gail (Martha Plimpton) - are facing. Years after a tragedy caused by Richard and Linda’s son tore all their lives apart, Jay and Gail are finally ready to talk in an attempt to move forward.

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Prime Time - SPOILER-FREE Review | Sundance 2021

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Prime Time - SPOILER-FREE Review | Sundance 2021

Directed by: Jakub Piątek

Written by: Jakub Piątek, Łukasz Czapski

Starring: Bartosz Bielenia, Magdalena Popławska, Andrzej Kłak, Małgorzata Hajewska-Krzysztofik, Dobromir Dymecki, Monika Frajczyk

Runtime: 93 min

Synopsis: New Year’s Eve 1999. Twenty-year-old Sebastian (Bartosz Bielenia), armed with a gun, hijacks a TV studio and takes two hostages—a famous TV presenter and a security guard. His plan? No one seems to know, including Sebastian himself. His demand to deliver his message, whatever that may be, via live broadcast is repeatedly thwarted by an uncertain police force and an egotistical network chairman. As the night wears on, Sebastian and the hostages bond in unexpected ways, while those in power fumble to restore order.

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Passing - SPOILER-FREE Review | Sundance 2021

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Passing - SPOILER-FREE Review | Sundance 2021

Directed by: Rebecca Hall

Written by: Rebecca Hall

Starring: Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga, André Holland, Alexander Skarsgård, Bill Camp

Runtime: 98 min

Synopsis: Irene Redfield (Tessa Thompson), a refined, upper-class 1920s woman, finds breezy refuge from a hot summer day in the grand tearoom of New York City’s Drayton Hotel. Across the room, she spots a blond woman staring her down. Irene wants to steal away, but before she can, Clare Kendry (Ruth Negga) rushes over to stop her. It turns out the two were in high school together, and while both are African American women who can “pass” as white, they have chosen to live on opposite sides of the color line. Now, their renewed acquaintance threatens them both.

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Wild Indian - SPOILER-FREE Review | Sundance 2021

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Wild Indian - SPOILER-FREE Review | Sundance 2021

Directed by: Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr.

Written by: Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr.

Starring: Michael Greyeyes, Chaske Spencer, Jesse Eisenberg, Kate Bosworth, Phoenix Wilson, Julian Gopal

Runtime: 87 min

Synopsis: Makwa, a young Anishinaabe boy, has a rough life. He often appears at school with bruises he says he got falling down, but no one believes him. He and his only friend, Ted-O, like to escape by playing in the woods, until the day Makwa shockingly murders a schoolmate. After covering up the crime, the two boys go on to live very different lives. Now, as adult men, they must face the truth of what they have done and what they have become.

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On the Count of Three - SPOILER-FREE Review | Sundance 2021

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On the Count of Three - SPOILER-FREE Review | Sundance 2021

Directed by: Jerrod Carmichael

Written by: Ari Katcher, Ryan Welch

Starring: Jerrod Carmichael, Christopher Abbott, Tiffany Haddish, J.B. Smoove, Lavell Crawford, Henry Winkler

Runtime: 84 min

Synopsis: Val (Jerrod Carmichael) has reached a place where he feels the only way out is to end things. But he considers himself a bit of a failure—his effectiveness lacking—so he figures he could use some help. As luck would have it, Val’s best friend, Kevin (Christopher Abbott), is recovering from a failed suicide attempt, so he seems like the perfect partner for executing this double suicide plan. But before they go, they have some unfinished business to attend to.

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John and the Hole - SPOILER-FREE Review | Sundance 2021

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John and the Hole - SPOILER-FREE Review | Sundance 2021

Directed by: Pascual Sisto

Written by: Nicolás Giacobone

Starring: Charlie Shotwell, Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Ehle, Taissa Farmiga

Runtime: 103 min

Synopsis: While exploring the neighboring woods, 13-year-old John (Charlie Shotwell) discovers an unfinished bunker - a deep hole in the ground. Seemingly without provocation, he drugs his affluent parents (Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Ehle) and older sister (Taissa Farmiga) and drags their unconscious bodies into the bunker, where he holds them captive.

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In The Earth - SPOILER-FREE Review | Sundance 2021

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In The Earth - SPOILER-FREE Review | Sundance 2021

Directed by: Ben Wheatley

Written by: Ben Wheatley

Starring: Joel Fry, Ellora Torchia, Hayley Squires, Reece Shearsmith

Runtime: 107 min

Synopsis: As the world searches for a cure to a disastrous virus, a scientist and park scout venture deep in the forest for a routine equipment run. Through the night, their journey becomes a terrifying voyage through the heart of darkness, the forest coming to life around them.

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