[Sundance ’22] What we are looking forward to at the Sundance Film Festival

The Sundance Film Festival is going all virtual this year and there are plenty of strong offerings on the line up.. As usual, there will be something for every type of movie fan as horror, comedies, and mockumentaries are just some of the genres that will be represented.. This is the third straight year AIPT will be covering Sundance. Here are some of the films we are most excited about.

Lisa Gullickson (Host of Comic Book Couples Counseling)

Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.

Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. is writer/director Adamma Ebo’s answer to growing up in the Southern Baptist mega-church culture and the resulting disillusion. It started as a satirical mockumentary short film about a pastor’s wife determined to help her disgraced husband rebuild their congregation following a scandalous lawsuit. Now that gem has been glowed up to feature-length, starring Regina Hall and Sterling K. Brown, and here’s hoping that the expanded idea still contains the biting intensity of the original. 

Calendar Girls 

It’s been a rough couple of years, and my heart is in dire need of an uplift. Tucked into the World Cinema Documentary Competition is Calendar Girls, and my tear ducts are brimming in anticipation. Swedish directors Maria Loohufvud and Love Martinsen present a cinematic portrait of a Florida dance team that puts the ‘sexy’ in sexagenarian. The preview images show these beautiful, golden women in their sixties in hot pink fringe and fuzzy boots just beaming, and I am eager to get to know them.

Regina Chavez Muir 

blood

blood takes us to Japan as we follow Chloe who meets with her friend Toshi. Recently widowed, Chloe finds comfort and solace navigating a new country with a familiar and friendly face. blood is directed by Bradley Rust Gray and stars Carla Juri and Takashi Ueno.

Speak no Evil

Speak No Evil is a satirical horror form that seems to be a cautionary tale about befriending strangers. While on vacation, a Dutch family befriends a Danish family. Finding unexpected fun together, the Danish family is excited when they are invited to visit the Dutch family. Inhibitions drop and true personalities emerge in this film by Christian Tafdrup. 

Nathaniel Muir

Dual

Writer-director Riley Stearns returns with a story about a woman who has been diagnosed with an incurable disease. In order to make things easier for her family and friends, she takes part in a cloning procedure. Her last days will be spent teaching her double on to live on in her place. Unfortunately, things do not go as planned. 

Summering

There is something special about movies that deal with the “one last summer” together. Summering is about about a group of friends who are about to start middle school. This means they will also probably end up going their own separate ways. Their plan to spend on last weekend together leads to a mystery that will change their lives. A tried and true premise everyone can relate to.

The Sundance Film Festival is online January 20- January 30. Tickets can be purchased and a full lineup can be found here.