‘Twas the night before Sundance, a gentle snow falls on a quiet Park City and visions of kick-ass genre films dance in this journalist’s head. Yes, when you think Sundance you think immigrant families overcoming adversity through an uncharacteristic activity (i.e. Farewell Amor; Minari), middle aged women going on an unexpected journey of self discovery (i.e. The 40 Year Old Version; This is Not A Burial, It’s a Resurrection; Dream Horse), documentaries about the erosion of democracy and the evils of capitalism (i.e. A Thousand Cuts; Coded Bias; The Cost of Silence) and a disproportionate number of movies about oppressed/underserved peoples finding escapism through dance (Farewell Amor again; Cuties; And We Danced; Ema), but there are still plenty of films that make a bloody, genre-loving heart go pitter pat. Carefully tucked into each Sundance Category is a film that should peak the curiosity of the depraved After Movie Diner reader. Whether your predilection leans sci-fi, supernatural thrillers, horror, or action, there is a goody for you wrapped in the shiny, crinkly guise of high-art, and I cannot wait to rip these films wide open.

Save Yourselves!

Written and Directed by Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson

Category - United States Dramatic Competition

Logline - “A young Brooklyn couple head upstate to disconnect from their phones and reconnect with themselves. Cut off from their devices, they miss the news that the planet is under attack.”

It sounds like a hipster couple thinking they’re too good for social media being attacked by aliens. One of the greatest hurdles of the modern genre-flick is the ubiquity of cellphones. Slasher in the neighborhood? I’ve already called the police. Zombie apocalypse? It’s trending on Twitter. Kaiju on the loose? Got my selfies with it on my Instagram! The only thing that’s going to get the computers out of our sweaty palms is pretension. The cast is populated with comedic actors including Sunita Mani, John Early, Jo Firestone, and one of my all-time faves Amy Sedaris. With all of these silly gooses sharing a screen, it is sure to be hilarious.

Be Water

Directed by Bao Nguyen

Category - United States Documentary Competition

Logline – “Rejected by Hollywood, Bruce Lee returned to Hong Kong to complete four films. Charting his struggles in two worlds, BE WATER explores questions of identity and representation through rare archive, intimate interviews, and his writings.”

A rube might think, another documentary about Bruce Lee? At this point there has to be more documentaries about him than he had films in his tragically truncated life, but Lee is more than a celebrity – he is an icon and philosopher who contains multitudes. Rather than trying to summarize his life as a whole, which is impossible, director Bao Nguyen chooses to meditate on the burned Bruce Lee after Warner Brother’s pillaged his intellectual property to make David Carradine’s Kung Fu who returned to Hong Kong to make The Big Boss (1971), Fists of Fury (1972), Way of the Dragon (1972), and Enter the Dragon (1973) – the films that would propel him to international stardom.

Possessor

Written and Directed by Brandon Cronenberg

Category - World Cinema Dramatic Competition

Logline – “Possessor follows an agent who works for a secretive organization that uses brain-implant technology to inhabit other people's bodies - ultimately driving them to commit assassinations for high-paying clients.”

Like creepy father, like weirdo son – Brandon Cronenberg is daring to follow in his dad’s enormous, bleedy body-horror footsteps. According to the plot synopsis, a female assassin (Andrea Riseborough) gets trapped in a dude’s body and identity crisis ensues. The screenshot of the blond with the melt-y face gives me the kind heebie-jeebies my amygdala is thirsting for.  Also in the cast - Sean Bean. Need I say more? Okay. Also Jennifer Jason Leigh.

Into The Deep

Directed by Emma Sullivan

Category - World Cinema Documentary Competition

Logline -  “A Swedish journalist disappears near Copenhagen and is discovered to have been brutally murdered by Danish inventor Peter Madsen aboard his homemade submarine.”

Did you not read the logline? It’s a true crime documentary where someone is murdered in a homemade submarine. Sold.

Spree

Directed by Eugene Kotlyarenko

Category - Next

Logline – “Thirsty for a following, Kurt Kunkle is a rideshare driver who has figured out a deadly plan to go viral.”

The lil’ sweetie from Stranger Things (Joe Keery) is murdering people in his uber. Scoops ahoy, indeed. It comes down to a comedian, played by Saturday Night Live alum Sasheer Zamata, to stop the mayhem. This twistedly pessimistic look at rideshares plays right into my basest suspicions that all of these gig economy apps – uber, lyft, postmates, taskrabbit – are just a means to invite a murderer over so they can end your life. “Delivering your groceries is just my side hustle, ma’am – my main thing is killing you with a hammer.”  No, thank you. Zero stars. David Arquette plays Kurt’s dad. Kyle Mooney and Mischa Barton are also in the cast.

Horse Girl

Directed by Jeff Baena, Written by Jeff Baena and Alison Brie

Category - Premieres

Logline - “A socially awkward woman with a fondness for arts and crafts, horses, and supernatural crime shows finds her increasingly lucid dreams trickling into her waking life.”

Alison Brie wears no make-up and then goes certifiably crazy. I know I’m not a professional, but I’ve watched enough movies to recognize all of the telltale signs in the trailer – intense showers, people asking her if she’s okay, blurry close ups of her crying face, more showering, all scored with menacing strings. Sure, she’s a woman in her twenties with a family history of unusual behavior, but here’s hoping it’s less the un-fun schizophrenia type heredity and more like the Ari Aster type Hereditary. She gets a nosebleed and there are claw marks in the plaster of her walls, so fingers crossed. Molly Shannon plays her co-worker and only friend and Paul Reiser plays her dad. If you’re not at Sundance, you don’t have to wait long for this one – it’s on Netflix February 7th.

Watch the TRAILER below:

Assassins

Directed by Ryan White

Category - Documentary Premieres

Logline – “An account of the two women convicted of assassinating Kim Jong-un's half-brother, Kim Jong-nam. The film follows the women's trials in an attempt to understand whether they are trained killers or simply pawns.”

The exiled half-brother of Kim-Jong Un is assassinated via nerve agent, probably at the behest of North Korea, and the two women on trial for his murder claim that they thought they were taking part in a television prank show. Sometimes the truth is just more fascinating than fiction. The director Ryan White was at Sundance last year for Ask Dr. Ruth and is also behind the Emmy-Nominated Netflix Series The Keepers.

Bad Hair

Written and Directed by Justin Simien

Category - Midnight

Logline – “In 1989 an ambitious young woman gets a weave in order to succeed in the image-obsessed world of music television. However, her flourishing career may come at a great cost when she realizes that her new hair may have a mind of its own.”

A weave “with a mind of its own,” eh? Cursed objects always get my horror-loving imagination spinning. Is it haunted like Christine? Is it demonic like The Mangler? My guess is that it’s a Devil and Peter Tork situation. You know that episode of The Monkees where Peter wants to play the harp and accidentally signs a deal with the devil and Mike Nesmith represents him in Satan’s court? What, you don’t get that reference? It seems that for a woman to get a modicum of success in this image-obsessed world, especially a woman of color,  she has to sacrifice something of herself. Something painful and costly that keeps the glass ceiling high and self-esteem low. His follow up to Dear White People, Justin Simien is bound to give us some biting satire with this psychological thriller. The cast boasts Vanessa Williams and Lena Waithe.

Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made

Director Tom McCarty, Screenwriters Tom McCarthy and Stephan Pastis (who also wrote the novel)

Category - Kids

Logline - “An 11-year old boy who believes that he is the best detective in town runs the agency Total Failures with his best friend, an imaginary 1,200 pound polar bear.”

After co-writing and directing the Best Picture winner Spotlight, Tom McCarthy must’ve been exhausted. Emotionally drained. Spent. What type of follow-up feature could possibly refill that well? How about an optimistic heart-string puller about a boy, his 1,200 pound polar bear, and their detective agency? Well, where are you going to set it? Portland. Well played, sir. Well played.

Hipster-mom-with-purple-hair’s Segway is missing - Timmy and his massive partner are on the case in Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made. How is this supposed to appeal to the hardcore AMD reader? Um… stealing a Segway is a crime. Crime is a genre. Shut up and watch the trailer. Craig Robinson plays a guidance counselor and Wallace Shawn is there. I dare you not to be charmed. It’ll be on Disney+ on February 7th.

Watch the TRAILER below: