Sundance 2021: ‘Mass’ addresses healing in the wake of tragedy in an intimate space

Mass, the feature film debut of writer-director Fran Kranz, is a brutally honest exploration of the people who are affected (and often forgotten) in the aftermath of a school shooting. Mass tackles the raw emotions of its characters and works…

Sundance 2021: ‘Superior’ explores the duality and influences behind identity

Back at the Sundance Film Festival with her feature film debut, director and co-writer Erin Vassilopoulos expands upon her 2015 short film of the same name. Superior tantalizes in its study of identity, employing real-life identical twins Alessandra Mesa (who…

Sundance 2021: ‘Passing’ is a complex exploration of racial identity

In her debut as a writer-director, Rebecca Hall chose to adapt Nella Larsen’s celebrated 1929 novel. Passing draws from Larsen’s personal experiences as a biracial woman and Hall (who is also biracial) presents a drama fraught with explorations of identity…

Sundance 2021: ‘Knocking’ depicts the horrors that happen when no one is listening

Director Frida Kempff delivers a simple yet powerful horror film about gas-lighting and processing grief in Knocking, her debut feature length film. Relying heavily on the lead performance by Cecilia Milocco, the actress depicts the horrors and frustration that comes…

Sundance 2021: ‘How it Ends’ tackles the end of the world with only some success

There is no shortage of films about the end of the world, but Daryl Wein and Zoe Lister-Jones’ How it Ends offers a bright, somewhat optimistic spin on the tired trope. No one is running or panicking about the approach…

Sundance 2021: ‘Flee’ is a beautifully animated documentary about the traumas we can’t escape

What does the word “home” mean to you? Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s new documentary Flee—which was executive produced by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Riz Ahmed—isn’t just unique for its blending of animated storytelling and first-person narration. It’s also impressively thrilling for a…

Sundance 2021: ‘Censor’ sacrifices story for gory genre aesthetics

Director Prano Bailey-Bond creates an ode to the 1980s and horror films of the era with Censor. Fans of the video nasties, as they were called, will certainly love the visual references and call outs of the genre. However, the…