Sundance Film Festival 2019
by Col Needham | created - 18 Dec 2018 | updated - 15 May 2020 | PublicThis is a list of all the movies I have seen from Sundance 2019, in chronological viewing order (see also the titles on my pre-festival interest list and my Top Picks list). Film #1 was seen before the festival; #2-#23 seen in Park City; and #24 onwards afterwards elsewhere.
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1. Birds of Passage (2018)
Not Rated | 125 min | Crime, Drama
During the marijuana bonanza, a violent decade that saw the origins of drug trafficking in Colombia, Rapayet and his indigenous family get involved in a war to control the business that ends up destroying their lives and their culture.
Directors: Cristina Gallego, Ciro Guerra | Stars: Carmiña Martínez, José Acosta, Natalia Reyes, Jhon Narváez
Votes: 13,127 | Gross: $0.51M
2. After the Wedding (2019)
PG-13 | 112 min | Drama
A manager of an orphanage in Kolkata travels to New York to meet a benefactor.
Director: Bart Freundlich | Stars: Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, Billy Crudup, Abby Quinn
Votes: 8,616 | Gross: $1.45M
3. Native Son (2019)
TV-MA | 104 min | Drama
A young African-American living in Chicago enters into a seductive new world of money and power after he is hired as a chauffeur for an affluent businessman.
Director: Rashid Johnson | Stars: Ashton Sanders, Margaret Qualley, Nick Robinson, KiKi Layne
Votes: 2,803
4. Apollo 11 (I) (2019)
G | 93 min | Documentary, History
A look at the Apollo 11 mission to land on the moon led by commander Neil Armstrong and pilots Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins.
Director: Todd Douglas Miller | Stars: Neil Armstrong, Mike Collins, Buzz Aldrin, Deke Slayton
Votes: 27,202 | Gross: $9.04M
5. The Farewell (I) (2019)
PG | 100 min | Comedy, Drama
A Chinese family discovers their grandmother has only a short while left to live and decide to keep her in the dark, scheduling a wedding to gather before she dies.
Director: Lulu Wang | Stars: Shuzhen Zhao, Awkwafina, X Mayo, Hong Lu
Votes: 71,090 | Gross: $16.88M
6. Late Night (2019)
R | 102 min | Comedy, Drama
A late night talk show host suspects that she may soon lose her long-running show.
Director: Nisha Ganatra | Stars: Emma Thompson, Mindy Kaling, John Lithgow, Hugh Dancy
Votes: 40,809 | Gross: $15.50M
7. To the Stars (2019)
Not Rated | 109 min | Drama
Under small town scrutiny, a withdrawn farmer's daughter forges an intimate friendship with a worldly but reckless new girl in 1960s Oklahoma.
Director: Martha Stephens | Stars: Kara Hayward, Jordana Spiro, Tina Parker, Shea Whigham
Votes: 2,045
8. The Report (I) (2019)
R | 119 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Idealistic Senate staffer Daniel J. Jones, tasked by his boss to lead an investigation into the CIA's post 9/11 Detention and Interrogation Program, uncovers shocking secrets.
Director: Scott Z. Burns | Stars: Adam Driver, Annette Bening, Jon Hamm, Ted Levine
Votes: 50,792
9. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019)
R | 110 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A chronicle of the crimes of Ted Bundy from the perspective of Liz, his longtime girlfriend, who refused to believe the truth about him for years.
Director: Joe Berlinger | Stars: Lily Collins, Zac Efron, Angela Sarafyan, Sydney Vollmer
Votes: 103,346
10. Photograph (I) (2019)
PG-13 | 110 min | Drama, Romance
A struggling street photographer in Mumbai, pressured to marry by his grandmother, convinces a shy stranger to pose as his fiancée. The pair develop a connection that transforms them in ways they could not expect.
Director: Ritesh Batra | Stars: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanya Malhotra, Sachin Khedekar, Denzil Smith
Votes: 5,860 | Gross: $0.34M
11. The Sound of Silence (I) (2019)
Unrated | 88 min | Drama
A successful "house tuner" in New York City, who calibrates the sound in people's homes in order to adjust their moods, meets a client with a problem he can't solve.
Director: Michael Tyburski | Stars: Peter Sarsgaard, Rashida Jones, Tony Revolori, Austin Pendleton
Votes: 1,536
12. Blinded by the Light (2019)
PG-13 | 118 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
In England in 1987, a teenager from an Asian family learns to live his life, understand his family and find his own voice through the music of American rock star Bruce Springsteen.
Director: Gurinder Chadha | Stars: Billy Barratt, Ronak Singh Chadha Berges, Viveik Kalra, Lee Barnett
Votes: 27,303 | Gross: $11.90M
13. Official Secrets (2019)
R | 112 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The true story of a British whistleblower who leaked information to the press about an illegal NSA spy operation designed to push the UN Security Council into sanctioning the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Director: Gavin Hood | Stars: Keira Knightley, Matt Smith, Matthew Goode, Rhys Ifans
Votes: 54,543 | Gross: $0.40M
14. Brittany Runs a Marathon (2019)
R | 104 min | Comedy, Drama
A young woman decides to make positive changes in her life by training for the New York City Marathon.
Director: Paul Downs Colaizzo | Stars: Jillian Bell, Jennifer Dundas, Patch Darragh, Alice Lee
Votes: 22,219 | Gross: $0.22M
15. Little Monsters (2019)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
A washed-up musician teams up with a teacher and a kids'-show personality to protect young children from a sudden outbreak of zombies.
Director: Abe Forsythe | Stars: Lupita Nyong'o, Alexander England, Josh Gad, Kat Stewart
Votes: 19,265
16. The Souvenir (2019)
R | 120 min | Drama, Romance
A young film student in the early '80s becomes romantically involved with a complicated and untrustworthy man.
Director: Joanna Hogg | Stars: Neil Young, Tosin Cole, Jack McMullen, Frankie Wilson
Votes: 14,481 | Gross: $1.04M
17. Them That Follow (2019)
R | 98 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Set deep in the wilds of Appalachia, where believers handle death-dealing snakes to prove themselves before God, a pastor's daughter holds a secret that threatens to tear apart her community.
Directors: Britt Poulton, Dan Madison Savage | Stars: Olivia Colman, Kaitlyn Dever, Alice Englert, Jim Gaffigan
Votes: 3,903 | Gross: $0.16M
18. The Nightingale (I) (2018)
R | 136 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Set in 1825, Clare, a young Irish convict woman, chases a British officer through the rugged Tasmanian wilderness, bent on revenge for a terrible act of violence he committed against her family. On the way she enlists the services of an Aboriginal tracker named Billy, who is also marked by trauma from his own violence-filled past.
Director: Jennifer Kent | Stars: Aisling Franciosi, Maya Christie, Baykali Ganambarr, Addison Christie
Votes: 35,607 | Gross: $0.39M
19. The Tomorrow Man (2019)
PG-13 | 94 min | Drama, Romance
Ed Hemsler spends his life preparing for a disaster that may never come. Ronnie Meisner spends her life shopping for things she may never use. These two people will try to find love.
Director: Noble Jones | Stars: John Lithgow, Blythe Danner, Derek Cecil, Katie Aselton
Votes: 2,371 | Gross: $0.35M
20. Top End Wedding (2019)
TV-14 | 113 min | Comedy, Romance
Lauren and Ned, in love and engaged, have just ten days to find Lauren's mother who has gone AWOL somewhere in the remote far north of Australia, reunite her parents, and pull off their dream wedding.
Director: Wayne Blair | Stars: Brooklyn Doomadgee, Helena Johnson, Dan Collins, Antonio Tipiloura
Votes: 2,341
21. Hala (2019)
R | 94 min | Drama
Muslim teenager Hala copes with the unraveling of her family as she comes into her own.
Director: Minhal Baig | Stars: Geraldine Viswanathan, Jack Kilmer, Gabriel Luna, Purbi Joshi
Votes: 3,017
22. Honey Boy (2019)
R | 94 min | Drama
A young actor's stormy childhood and early adult years as he struggles to reconcile with his father and deal with his mental health.
Director: Alma Har'el | Stars: Shia LaBeouf, Lucas Hedges, Noah Jupe, Byron Bowers
Votes: 40,792
23. The Mustang (2019)
R | 96 min | Drama
While participating in a rehabilitation program training wild mustangs, a convict at first struggles to connect with the horses and his fellow inmates, but he learns to confront his violent past as he soothes an especially feisty horse.
Director: Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre | Stars: Matthias Schoenaerts, Jason Mitchell, Bruce Dern, Gideon Adlon
Votes: 14,475 | Gross: $5.04M
24. Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)
R | 113 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A thriller about the contemporary art scene of Los Angeles, where big money artists and mega-collectors pay a high price when art collides with commerce.
Director: Dan Gilroy | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Zawe Ashton, Tom Sturridge
Votes: 66,036
25. Troop Zero (2019)
PG | 94 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
In rural 1977 Georgia, a misfit girl dreams of life in outer space. When a competition offers her a chance to be recorded on NASA's Golden Record, she recruits a makeshift troop of Birdie Scouts, forging friendships that last a lifetime.
Directors: Bertie Ellwood, Amber Templemore | Stars: Mckenna Grace, Viola Davis, Jim Gaffigan, Allison Janney
Votes: 12,134
26. Paddleton (2019)
TV-MA | 89 min | Comedy, Drama
An unlikely friendship between two misfit neighbors becomes an unexpectedly emotional journey when the younger man is diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Director: Alex Lehmann | Stars: Christine Woods, Mark Duplass, Ray Romano, Jen Kuo Sung
Votes: 15,402
27. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (2019)
TV-PG | 113 min | Biography, Drama, History
Against all the odds, a thirteen-year-old boy in Malawi invents an unconventional way to save his family and village from famine.
Director: Chiwetel Ejiofor | Stars: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Maxwell Simba, Felix Lemburo, Robert Agengo
Votes: 44,347
28. Animals (I) (2019)
109 min | Comedy, Drama
Best friends Laura and Tyler fellow deviants, enablers and co-dependents. Laura is getting married and their booze and drug-fuelled Thelma and Louise life is in jeopardy and finds herself suspended between the two unable to give either up.
Director: Sophie Hyde | Stars: Holliday Grainger, Alia Shawkat, Amy Molloy, Kwaku Fortune
Votes: 2,295
29. The Brink (2019)
Not Rated | 91 min | Documentary
A fly-on-the-wall chronicle of embattled former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon's global mission to spread extreme nationalism.
Director: Alison Klayman | Stars: Steve Bannon, Sean Bannon, Raheem Kassam, Andy Surabian
Votes: 861 | Gross: $0.11M
30. The Last Tree (2019)
98 min | Drama
After a happy childhood in the countryside, a teenager moves to London, where he must navigate an unfamiliar environment on his road to adulthood.
Director: Shola Amoo | Stars: Nicholas Pinnock, Denise Black, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Samuel Adewunmi
Votes: 1,248
31. Greener Grass (2019)
Unrated | 95 min | Comedy
Suburban soccer moms find themselves constantly competing against each other in their personal lives as their kids settle their differences on the field.
Directors: Jocelyn DeBoer, Dawn Luebbe | Stars: Jocelyn DeBoer, Dawn Luebbe, Beck Bennett, Neil Casey
Votes: 5,613
32. Ask Dr. Ruth (2019)
Not Rated | 100 min | Documentary, Biography
Charting the incredible life of Dr. Ruth Westheimer, a Holocaust survivor who became America's most famous sex therapist.
Director: Ryan White | Stars: Ruth Westheimer, Pierre Lehu, Cliff Rubin, John Lollos
Votes: 1,098 | Gross: $0.30M
33. Hail Satan? (2019)
R | 95 min | Documentary
A look at the quick rise and influence of the controversial religious group known as The Satanic Temple.
Director: Penny Lane | Stars: Jex Blackmore, Chalice Blythe, Nicholas Crowe, Sal De Ciccio
Votes: 7,804 | Gross: $0.42M
34. I Am Mother (2019)
TV-14 | 113 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
In the wake of humanity's extinction, a teenage girl is raised by a robot designed to repopulate the earth. But their unique bond is threatened when an inexplicable stranger arrives with alarming news.
Director: Grant Sputore | Stars: Luke Hawker, Rose Byrne, Maddie Lenton, Hazel Sandery
Votes: 99,294
35. Monos (2019)
R | 102 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
On a remote mountaintop, eight kids with guns watch over a hostage and a conscripted milk cow.
Director: Alejandro Landes | Stars: Sofia Buenaventura, Julián Giraldo, Karen Quintero, Laura Castrillón
Votes: 18,910
36. The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019)
R | 121 min | Drama
A young man searches for home in the changing city that seems to have left him behind.
Director: Joe Talbot | Stars: Jimmie Fails, Jonathan Majors, Rob Morgan, Tichina Arnold
Votes: 21,954 | Gross: $4.52M
37. The Biggest Little Farm (2018)
PG | 91 min | Documentary, Family
Documentarian John Chester and his wife Molly work to develop a sustainable farm on 200 acres outside of Los Angeles.
Director: John Chester | Stars: John Chester, Molly Chester, Todd, Alan York
Votes: 8,879 | Gross: $4.37M
38. Honeyland (2019)
Unrated | 89 min | Documentary, Drama
The last female bee-hunter in Europe must save the bees and return the natural balance in Honeyland, when a family of nomadic beekeepers invade her land and threaten her livelihood.
Directors: Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir Stefanov | Stars: Hatidze Muratova, Nazife Muratova, Hussein Sam, Ljutvie Sam
Votes: 19,399 | Gross: $0.82M
39. The Edge of Democracy (2019)
TV-14 | 121 min | Documentary, History
Political documentary and personal memoir collide in this exploration into the complex truth behind the unraveling of two Brazilian presidencies.
Director: Petra Costa | Stars: Dilma Rousseff, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Marisa Letícia Lula da Silva, Sergio Moro
Votes: 15,722
40. Shooting the Mafia (2019)
94 min | Documentary
Italian photographer Letizia Battaglia spends her career documenting the life and crimes of the Mafia.
Director: Kim Longinotto | Stars: Letizia Battaglia, Mariachiara di Trapani, Eduardo Rebulla, Santi Caleca
Votes: 715
41. Give Me Liberty (2019)
110 min | Comedy, Drama
In this freewheeling comedy, medical transport driver Vic risks his job to shuttle a group of rowdy seniors and a Russian boxer to a funeral, dragging clients like Tracy, a young woman with ALS, along for the ride.
Director: Kirill Mikhanovsky | Stars: Chris Galust, Lauren 'Lolo' Spencer, Maksim Stoyanov, Steve Wolski
Votes: 2,208 | Gross: $0.14M
42. American Factory (2019)
TV-14 | 110 min | Documentary
In post-industrial Ohio, a Chinese billionaire opens a factory in an abandoned General Motors plant, hiring two thousand Americans. Early days of hope and optimism give way to setbacks as high-tech China clashes with working-class America.
Directors: Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert | Stars: Junming 'Jimmy' Wang, Robert Allen, Sherrod Brown, Dave Burrows
Votes: 23,864
43. Clemency (2019)
R | 112 min | Drama
As she prepares to execute another inmate, Bernadine must confront the psychological and emotional demons her job creates, ultimately connecting her to the man she is sanctioned to kill.
Director: Chinonye Chukwu | Stars: Alfre Woodard, Richard Schiff, Aldis Hodge, Wendell Pierce
Votes: 5,416
44. Dirty God (2019)
104 min | Drama
A young British mother struggles to reclaim her life after a brutal acid attack leaves her severely scarred.
Director: Sacha Polak | Stars: Vicky Knight, Katherine Kelly, Eliza Brady-Girard, Rebecca Stone
Votes: 1,846
45. The Hole in the Ground (2019)
R | 90 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A single mother living in the Irish countryside with her son begins to suspect he may not be her son at all, and fears his increasingly disturbing behavior is linked to a mysterious sinkhole in the forest behind their house.
Director: Lee Cronin | Stars: Seána Kerslake, James Quinn Markey, Kati Outinen, David Crowley
Votes: 22,344 | Gross: $0.02M
46. Judy & Punch (2019)
105 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Seaside (nowhere near the sea), puppeteers Judy and Punch are trying to resurrect their marionette show in an an anarchic town on the brink of mob rule.
Director: Mirrah Foulkes | Stars: Daisy Axon, Don Bridges, Michael Papas, Joshua Gerosa
Votes: 3,025
47. Knock Down the House (2019)
PG | 87 min | Documentary
A look at the people involved with various political campaigns during the 2018 U.S. congressional election.
Director: Rachel Lears | Stars: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Cori Bush, Joe Crowley, Paula Jean Swearengin
Votes: 12,960
48. Luce (I) (2019)
R | 109 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A married couple is forced to reckon with their idealized image of their son, adopted from war-torn Eritrea, after an alarming discovery by a devoted high school teacher threatens his status as an all-star student.
Director: Julius Onah | Stars: Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Tim Roth
Votes: 15,104 | Gross: $1.78M
49. Paradise Hills (2019)
TV-14 | 95 min | Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Uma is a young woman who wakes up in an apparently idyllic reform school for young ladies. But a dark secret lies within its walls.
Director: Alice Waddington | Stars: Emma Roberts, Danielle Macdonald, Awkwafina, Eiza González
Votes: 17,537
50. Don't Let Go (2019)
R | 103 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Detective Jack Radcliff and his recently murdered niece race against time to solve the crime before it happens.
Director: Jacob Estes | Stars: David Oyelowo, Storm Reid, Mykelti Williamson, Alfred Molina
Votes: 12,832 | Gross: $4.69M
51. Wounds (2019)
R | 95 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Disturbing and mysterious things begin to happen to a bartender in New Orleans after he picks up a phone left behind at his bar.
Director: Babak Anvari | Stars: Armie Hammer, Zazie Beetz, Karl Glusman, Christin Rankins
Votes: 21,568
52. The Great Hack (2019)
TV-MA | 114 min | Documentary, Biography, History
The Cambridge Analytica scandal is examined through the roles of several affected persons.
Directors: Karim Amer, Jehane Noujaim | Stars: Brittany Kaiser, David Carroll, Paul-Olivier Dehaye, Ravi Naik
Votes: 25,016
53. Premature (2019)
Unrated | 90 min | Drama, Music, Romance
Seventeen year-old Ayanna meets handsome and mysterious Isaiah in her path toward self-discovery. Her entire world is turned upside down as she travails on the rigorous terrain of young love in the summer before she leaves for college.
Director: Rashaad Ernesto Green | Stars: Zora Howard, Joshua Boone, Michelle Wilson, Alexis Marie Wint
Votes: 952
54. The Lodge (2019)
R | 108 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A soon-to-be stepmom is snowed in with her fiancé's two children at a remote holiday village. Just as relations begin to thaw between the trio, some strange and frightening events take place.
Directors: Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz | Stars: Riley Keough, Jaeden Martell, Lia McHugh, Richard Armitage
Votes: 57,797
55. Selah and the Spades (2019)
R | 97 min | Drama
Five factions run the underground life of Haldwell School, a prestigious East Coast boarding school. At the head of the most powerful faction, The Spades, sits Selah Summers, walking the fine line between being feared and loved.
Director: Tayarisha Poe | Stars: Lovie Simone, Celeste O'Connor, Jharrel Jerome, Jesse Williams
Votes: 1,349
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