The 10 Films We Can’t Wait to Watch at Sundance

New films by Anne Hathaway, Emilia Clarke and Chiwetel Ejiofor. A documentary about women’s fight for justice. Another about two fishermen in Bombay. The Sundance Film Festival 2023, which runs between January 19 and 29, has a captivating lineup, and these are 10 films we’re looking forward to the most: 

Against the Tide

In Sarvnik Kaur’s Against the Tide, two fishermen from the Koli community are driven to despair by a dying sea. Their close friendship begins to fracture as they take distinct paths to provide for their struggling families.

birth/rebirth

Directed and written by Laura Moss, birth/rebirth is about a single mother and a childless morgue technician tied together by their relationship with a girl they have revived from the dead. birth/rebirth is inspired by Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

Cat Person

Based on The New Yorker short story by Kristen Roupenian, the film follows college student Margot who meets 33-year-old Robert at the movie theatre where she works. Later, they carry on their conversations through texts. As their idea of each other fractures, things get out of hand.

Eileen 

Starring Anne Hathaway, Eileen is set during a harsh 1964 Massachusetts winter. The titular character (Thomasin McKenzie), a secretary, is taken by the new counsellor at the prison where she works. Their friendship takes an unexpected turn when Rebecca (Hathaway) reveals a dark secret — throwing Eileen onto an ominous path. Based on Ottessa Moshfegh’s award-winning novel.

Infinity Pool

James and Em are enjoying a beach holiday when a fatal accident exposes the resort's depraved subculture of hedonistic tourism, brash violence, and uncanny horrors. The film is directed by Brandon Cronenberg.

Magazine Dreams

Directed by Elijah Bynum, Magazine Dreams follows an amateur bodybuilder who struggles to encounter human connection while his unwavering desire for glory propels him to the brink.

The Accidental Getaway Driver

Based on a true story, the film is about an aged Vietnamese cab driver who, during a routine pickup, is held hostage at gunpoint by three recently escaped Orange County prisoners.

The Pod Generation 

The film stars Emilia Clarke and Chiwetel Ejiofor and is set in the near future, in a society enchanted by technology. Tech giant Pegazus presents couples with the chance to share their pregnancies via detachable artificial wombs or pods. And thus ensues Rachel and Alvy's journey of parenthood in a bold new world.

Victim/Suspect

Investigative journalist Rae de Leon travels nationwide to study a startling pattern: Young women tell the police they’ve been sexually assaulted, but rather than encountering justice, they’re charged with the offence of making a false report, arrested, and even imprisoned by the system they trusted would protect them. 

You Hurt My Feelings 

A writer’s longstanding marriage is abruptly upended when she overhears her husband giving his candid reaction to her latest book. The film is a Nicole Holofcener directorial.