Marvel and Star Wars stars will shine at Sundance 2023.
6 new films you can watch online at home Jan 24-29.
When I was going through the program for The Sundance Film Festival this year, I noticed that a lot of my favorite actors from recent Star Wars and Marvel films and series have new projects at the festival. I’ve compiled a ranked list (from least anticipated to most anticipated) here.
During the pandemic, the Sundance Film Festival shifted to online screenings. They’re now going back to an in-person event in Park City, Utah, but, thankfully they’re still offering most films online as well. On January 12th, interested at-home viewers can buy individual tickets for $20 a pop. The film will then be available on demand to watch at home within a specified window during the festival. Some of the online screenings will even show a recording of the Q & A with the cast and crew after the credits roll, which could be fun if you enjoy watching interviews with your favs.
If any of these pique your interest, I’ve included more information about how to buy tickets at the end of the post. I’m also happy to answer any questions about the process.
Pelli Motto goes into a coma.
If you are or ever were a theater kid, this one is probably for you. The directors, Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman, draw from their own experiences as students of the arts to make Theater Camp. Amy Sedaris plays the founder of the titular camp, but the plot synopsis says she goes into a coma, leaving her “crypto-bro” son to run the place and save it from financial ruin. So I can’t guarantee she’s actually in that much of the movie. Still, it seems like a fun mockumentary-style “let’s save the show” musical comedy.
Reva grows up?
If you’ve been wondering what Moses Ingram has been up to after her brilliant work as Reva on Obi-Wan Kenobi, look no further than Raven Jackson’s All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt. While I couldn’t find any information about what role Ingram plays in this film, the story follows Mack, a Black Woman in Mississippi, from adolescence to adulthood, so I would guess that Ingram plays Mack during one of her life stages. Academy Award-winning director Barry Jenkins has a producer credit here; that’s a huge endorsement. The description calls the narrative non-traditional, and the style sounds very impressionistic with some stretches without any dialogue. If that’s not for you, keep reading because there are definitely some thrillers and more traditional dramas ahead.
The stakes get too high for Han Solo.
Solo’s Alden Ehrenreich and Bridgerton’s Phoebe Dynevor play a power couple whose competitiveness interferes with their relationship in the financial world thriller, Fair Play. The director, Chloe Domont, is best known for being the first female director on HBO’s Ballers, and this is her first feature film. The description sounds a little bit like Wall Street with a steamy turned sour relationship drama in the middle. I’m excited to see what these two actors can do with darker roles.
Agent Woo gets behind the camera.
I’ve loved him in WandaVision and the Antman films, and now Randall Park will make his directorial debut at Sundance with Shortcomings, an adaptation of the graphic novel with the same name. The film stars Justin H. Min, who many will know from The Umbrella Academy and fewer will know from one of my favorite Sundance films from last year, After Yang. He plays Ben, a struggling filmmaker in Berkeley, CA, who tries to figure out what he really wants in life. When I read the description, this film sounded like the perfect mix of indulging film nerd neuroses and exploring issues facing Asian American identity.
Rey scavenges for love and happiness.
Daisy Ridley stars in Sometimes I Think About Dying. She also has a producer credit on it, so it stands to reason she had a hand in the project outside of her role as Fran, an office worker whose life is so boring that she daydreams about dying. The description of this one makes me think it will be part dark comedy and part romantic comedy, as a part of the plot description involves Fran meeting and dating someone who could make her happy. I haven’t seen Daisy Ridley in anything since The Rise of Skywalker, and am excited to see her take on what looks like a very different role.
Kang gets even more ripped.
You may have assumed Jonathan Majors has been bulking up just for Creed III, but before he gets the eye of the tiger or intimidates Paul Rudd in Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania, he’ll appear as as an obsessive amateur body builder named Killian in Magazine Dreams. This seems to be the marquee film of the festival, highly anticipated by critics. The director, Elijah Bynum, has made one other film before: Hot Summer Nights (2017) with Timothy Chalamet. Dan Gilroy, who helped his brother, Tony Gilroy, make a little show called Andor, is a producer. This one will sell out fast.
Interested in buying tickets? Here’s what you need to do:
Step 1:
Before January 12, create a Sundance account here. This will make check-out faster and will make it more likely that you’ll get tickets to the buzzier films like Magazine Dreams. You can also keep track of films you’re interested in by “favoriting” them as you browse the program.
Step 2:
A few minutes before 10AM MT on January 12, log into your account.
Step 3:
At 10AM MT in January 12, go to the ticketing page and scroll all the way down to the online single ticket sales. You’ll have to scroll past a lot of sold out in-person options and online passes. Click on the buy tickets button. You will then be able to select the films you want and purchase tickets for them.
Step 4:
Enjoy the films! You can access screenings through your account, using a web browser or by downloading the Sundance App on a device (it works great on my Apple TV). According to the Sundance website, “Films will be available starting at 8:00 a.m. MT on January 24, and you can start your screening at any time until 11:55 p.m. MT on January 29.” So you can START watching a movie anytime in those six days, but…you will only have 5 hours to finish watching it. So plan ahead: check the run time, and make sure you’ll be able to finish it in that 5-hour window. You can start and stop all you want as you watch, but 5 hours after you hit play, the film basically expires.
Selfishly, I’d love for Sundance to keep offering these online screenings because it’s unlikely I’ll be able to make it to Park City anytime soon, so I encourage you to check out some of these films or browse the program for more amazing selections. There’s usually a few big documentaries that come out of Sundance. There’s one on Little Richard, for example, that seems to be getting a lot of buzz. The world cinema entries are always amazing as well. Happy watching!