Get ready, film fans! The 2023 Sundance Film Festival is just around the corner, and this year’s lineup will be an unforgettable celebration of independent film and diverse storytelling. Sundance allows emerging filmmakers to share their work with a larger audience each year. This year’s selection of thought-provoking documentaries and heart-wrenching dramas will appeal to all cinematic tastes.
“The program for this year’s Festival reiterates the relevancy of trailblazing work serving as an irreplaceable source for original stories that resonate and fuel creativity and dialogue,” said Kim Yutani, Sundance Film Festival Director of Programming, in a press release. “In so many ways, this year’s slate reflects the voices of communities around the world who are speaking out with urgency and finally being heard. Across our program, impactful storytelling by fearless artists continues to provide space for the community to come together to be entertained, challenged, and inspired.”
But the Sundance Film Festival isn’t just for film buffs — it’s a unique and immersive cultural experience everyone should try to attend. We’ll be in the mix, and with in-person and online access available, it’s easy for you to join in on the fun. Check out the 2023 festival program here and grab your tickets before they’re all gone.
Still on the fence? Check out 20 (of the many) films we’re excited to see at this year’s festival.
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
Raven Jackson’s feature debut immerses viewers in the life of Mack, a Black woman in Mississippi. Produced by Barry Jenkins, the film follows Mack’s life experiences as she journeys through anticipation, love, and heartbreak from childhood to adulthood. It’s an ode to connection to both loved ones and place. Available in person and online.
You Hurt My Feelings
Julia Louis-Dreyfus stars as New York novelist Beth who has been working on a follow-up to her semi-successful memoir. Beth unravels when she hears her supportive husband, Don (Tobias Menzies), tell his brother-in-law that he doesn’t like her new book. Meanwhile, Don has his own problems as a professional therapist who has lost the ability to care about or even recall his unhappy patients’ issues. Available in person and online.
Fancy Dance
After her sister’s disappearance, Jax (Lily Gladstone) assumes caring for her niece Roki (Isabel Deroy-Olson). She’s barely scraping by on the Sececa-Cayuga Reservation in Oklahoma. She spends her days balancing between caring for Roki and searching for her sister. What starts as a simple search for a missing person evolves into a deeper investigation into the complexities of Indigenous women in a colonized world at the mercy of a failed justice system. Available in person and online.
The Stroll
The history of New York City’s Meatpacking District is told through the transgender women of color who established its history. The neighborhood’s now corporate, flush façade was plastered over the world of transgender sex workers who lived, worked, loved, and died there. “The Stroll” was where trans women of color turned to for survival. Through their perspective, we gain insight into how heavy policing, violence both threatened and realized, and mass gentrification combined to create Manhattan’s built environment today. Available in person and online.
Shortcomings
Ben is a Bay Area filmmaker struggling to make it in the industry. He lives with his girlfriend Miko, who works for a local Asian American film festival. When he’s not working, Ben spends his time fixating on blond women who are out of his reach, watching Criterion Collection DVDs, and eating in diners with his best friend Alice, a grad student with a tendency to date multiple people at once. When Miko leaves for an internship in New York, Ben is forced to fend for himself and starts questioning what he truly wants. Available in person and online.
Little Richard: I Am Everything
We all know the originator — the legendary, the evolutionary Richard Wayne Penniman, aka Little Richard. Little Richard was the architect of rock and roll in the 1950s. The doc explores his legacy through testimonials from legendary musicians and cultural figures, Black and queer scholars, Penniman’s family and friends, and interviews with the artist himself; all exuberantly reclaim a history that white artists and institutions willfully appropriated. We’ll also see a treasure trove of rarely-seen archival footage, including scenes with icons like Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who gave Little Richard his first break at 14 years old. Available in person and online.
Magazine Dreams
Killian Maddox (Jonathan Majors) dreams of becoming a bodybuilder. He obsessively works out at every chance between caring for his ailing grandfather, going to his court-mandated therapy and working part-time job at the grocery store. He struggles to read social cues and has a hot-headed temper. But he’s determined to let nothing stand in the way of his dreams, even though his dream might cause irreparable harm to his body. Available in person and online.
Infinity Pool
James (Alexander Skarsgård) and Em Foster go on a beach getaway to break James out of his writer’s block. There, they run into Gabby and her partner Al. Gabby (Mia Goth) is a fan of James’ last novel and wants to spend time with the Fosters. A fatal accident derails the trip, and James is to blame. But, for a hefty price, he can escape persecution for this crime. The price, however, introduces him to the subculture of hedonistic tourism. Available in person and online.
Run Rabbit Run
On Mia’s seventh birthday, strange events begin to unfold, and Sarah’s carefully controlled world starts to change. Mia becomes more and more unlike herself, causing Sarah’s nerves to fray with her bizarre tantrums. As Sarah realizes that Mia’s behavior may be pointing towards her own dark past, a ghost from her past resurfaces, and she struggles to keep hold of her distant young daughter. Available in person and online.
Cat Person
While working concessions at a college art house theater, Margot, a student, meets Robert, a frequent filmgoer who is significantly older than her. They flirt across the counter and eventually start texting each other. As their relationship progresses, Margot becomes increasingly hesitant due to awkward moments and red flags that pile up. She feels both attached and reticent, with vivid daydreams of Robert acting out his most threatening potential. As Margot’s mistrust and uncertainty grow, one evening leads to the unraveling of their relationship and possibly their lives. Available in person and online.
Rye Lane
When Dom (David Jonsson) is crying in a toilet stall, preparing for an uncomfortable meal with his ex, who cheated on him with his best friend, Yas’ path crosses his at the worst possible time. Nursing her own heartbreak, Yas impulsively decides to join Dom for the awkward date to take the edge off. What follows is a wild and joyful day as these two 20-somethings from London roam through karaoke bars and playgrounds in Peckham, considering the possibility of opening their hearts again. Available in person and online.
Sometimes I Think About Dying
Fran, lost and isolated on the gloomy Oregon coast, spends her days working in a cubicle and occasionally daydreaming to pass the time. When Robert, a naturally friendly new colleague, starts trying to chat with her, Fran must consider giving him a chance, even though it goes against her nature. Available in person and online.
Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields
Discover the rise of ’80s icon Brooke Shields in this two-part documentary. Before becoming a household name, Shields was a child model who gained prominence in Louis Malle’s controversial film Pretty Baby at 12. Her early career was defined by sexualized roles, including provocative Calvin Klein jeans ads and leading roles in 1980s teensploitation hits The Blue Lagoon and Endless Love, which she wasn’t yet old enough to fully understand. Available in person and online.
Landscape With Invisible Hand
Adam is a teenage artist coming of age after an alien takeover. The extraterrestrials are called the Vuvv. They brought excellent technology, but naturally, only the richest people could afford it. The rest of society is left to scrape money in the tourism industry. For Adam, that means livestreaming his courtship with his love interest Chloe because the Vuvv finds human love exotic and interesting. But, when their scheme goes sideways, they must find another way out of this alien bureaucracy. Available in person and online.
Bad Behaviour
A former child actress, Lucy tries to find enlightenment on a silent retreat at a beautiful mountain resort with her guru Elon Bello. Before disconnecting from the world, she reaches out to her daughter Dylan, a stunt person, and announces that she might extend her stay, causing co-dependent and unhealthy behavior. When a young model is paired with Lucy for a mother-daughter role-playing exercise, things escalate to a shocking low. Available in person and online.
Girl
Grace and Ama, a mother-daughter duo, have always had a strong bond that has kept them safe from outside influences. However, things start to shift as they begin a new life in Glasgow. Ama’s curiosity and puberty bring up memories of Grace’s painful past, causing their sheltered world to crumble from within. The comforting fairytale-like origin story that Grace has been telling Ama for years is interrupted by flashbacks of her past, revealing the truth about their history. Available in person and online.
The Pod Generation
Emilia Clarke and Chiwetel Ejiofor are Rachel and Alvy, a New York couple living in the not-so-distant future where technology is even more advanced. Rachel is a rising tech executive who lands a spot at the Womb Center, which offers couples a convenient (and shareable) maternity via detachable artificial wombs, known as pods. As a botanist, Alvy prefers natural pregnancy, which opens discourse on what is “natural” in a tech-filled society.
Shayda
Shayda, an Iranian woman living in Australia, takes refuge in a women’s shelter with her young daughter Mona after fleeing her abusive husband Hossein and filing for divorce. Despite her efforts to maintain a sense of normalcy, the approach of Nowruz (Persian New Year) brings new and unfettered freedoms that Shayda hopes will mark a fresh start. However, when a judge grants Hossein visitation rights, he reenters their lives, and Shayda fears that he will try to take Mona back to Iran. Available in person and online.
Drift
Award-winning Singaporean director Anthony Chen’s English language debut is a refugee drama that stars Cynthia Erivo as Jacqueline, a former wealthy daughter of a government loyalist who has fled from war-torn Liberia. She struggles to survive on a Greek island, scavenging for food, offering massages to tourists, and squatting in caves and abandoned buildings. She meets an American tour guide and takes the risk of investing in a new friendship. Amidst her challenges, Jacqueline is visited by haunting memories of her homeland and the uprising that caused her to escape. Available in-person and online.
Fairyland
Writer and director Andrew Durham’s debut feature, Fairyland, is based on Alysia Abbott’s 2013 memoir. The film tells the story of a family who may have been considered unique in their time but whose experiences will be instantly relatable to modern audiences. Set in the 1970s, Fairyland follows Alysia and her father, Steve, as they move to San Francisco for a fresh start after the death of Alysia’s mother. Steve fully embraces the bohemian lifestyle, delving into poetic and personal writing and openly dating men. Along the way, Alysia and Steve must navigate this new way of life and figure out the rules of their evolving father-daughter relationship. Available in-person and online.
The 2023 Sundance Film Festival runs from January 19–29, in-person and online. Find more information on the schedule and buy tickets here.
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