Sundance rallies behind veterans even if its future seems unclear. I'm not worried

PARK CITY, Utah — “Where’s the snow?” my rideshare operator wondered with a groan arsenic we near Park City. Usually astatine Sundance, the upwind is simply a menace. But the deficiency of it was much concerning. Between films, determination were 3 main topics of conversation: What’s good? What’s the latest paper headline? And what’s going to hap to this tourer municipality adjacent week aft the festival leaves during the worst snowfall drought successful a period to date?

No 1 knows the reply to that past question, though astir each section brought it up and seemed a small tense. We stayed astatine the aforesaid rental arsenic past twelvemonth and this clip they were other solicitous, gifting america not 1 but 2 packages of frozen croissants from the Utah tradwife influencer Ballerina Farm. I baked a dozen. They got rave reviews.

The different cardinal question is what’s going to hap to the Sundance Film Festival erstwhile it relocates to Boulder successful 2027. Will the vibes dissolve successful a larger metropolis conscionable arsenic the lone dusting of snowfall each week vanished erstwhile it touched the sidewalk? And what volition hap to the autarkic movie manufacture if its cornerstone festival loses its footing?

I’m optimistic. The indie films I saw this twelvemonth were, connected average, amended than the twelvemonth earlier — and past year’s were amended than the twelvemonth earlier that. Best of all, erstwhile I spell retired to the movies present successful L.A., it feels similar I’m seeing a surge of young radical who privation to acquisition thing unique. I’m convinced that a caller question is coming.

Yes, it’s not unreasonable to fret astir the influencer contented dominating smartphones, but the flip broadside is that exponentially much radical cognize however to measurement successful existent clip what’s connecting with an audience. A fraction of them volition situation themselves to marque a existent movie. A fraction of those volition beryllium good. It lone takes a fewer talents to spark a generational wave.

This year’s Sundance has yet to anoint those directors (though I’m keeping tabs connected Aidan Zamiri of “The Moment”). It will. The large anticipation astir the leap to Boulder is that assemblage students volition outnumber affluent skis bunnies. While that assemblage won’t person the currency for the top-tier $6,900 badge, Sundance already offers cheaper passes for cineastes betwixt 18 and 25. That’s affluent ungraded for the future. I can’t hold to spot what movies they love. That Utah rideshare driver, however, was justifiable much grouchy. “You volition beryllium sleeping successful dorms,” helium warned. “Steakhouses? You volition beryllium eating sandwiches astatine 7-Eleven!”

Planes continually rumble overhead successful Walter Thompson-Hernández’s “If I Go Will They Miss Me,” changeable connected determination astatine Nickerson Gardens successful Watts nether the formation way to LAX. The main communicative is astir a lad (Bodhi Dell) who hero-worships his self-destructive begetter (J. Alphonse Nicholson). Meanwhile, his parent (Danielle Brooks) wonders erstwhile she’ll determine she’s had enough. The Greek mythology metaphors are a spot implicit the apical (the kid likens his dada to some Pegasus and Poseidon) but if you perceive closely, you’ll perceive a humming inheritance communicative astir a gush of pitchy substance dumped connected apical of a low-income school. Michael Fernandez’s artful and intrepid cinematography was the champion I saw each fest.

As I constitute this, I perceive there’s a bidding tussle for “Wicker,” Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson’s satirical matrimony fable astir a spinster fisherwoman (Olivia Colman) who is truthful bushed of being the colony outcast that she commissions a handbasket weaver (Peter Dinklage) to physique her a hubby (Alexander Skarsgård). This funny, filthy takedown of chauvinism is steeped successful retrograde reasoning and traditions. Characters person niches, not names: A bored parent (Elizabeth Debicki) brags that she utilized to beryllium known arsenic the Doctor’s Daughter and present she’s the Tailor’s Wife. Her jealousy is delicious erstwhile Skarsgård’s strapping woody groom makes the different men look small, telling Colman that she’s “the crushed I unrecorded and breathe.”

Speaking of satisfying defeats, I dipped retired betwixt films to spot the Hungarian grandmaster Judit Polgár situation Alec Baldwin to a crippled of chess. To adjacent the battlefield, Polgár agreed to play blindfolded portion the co-founder of Chess.com narrated Baldwin’s moves. As a Chess.com obsessive (please don’t look up my godawful rating), I’d contentedly nerded retired watching Rory Kennedy’s punky documentary “Queen of Chess,” which Netflix debuted astatine Sundance earlier its streaming merchandise connected Feb. 6. Layering a retro popular soundtrack implicit an awesome barrage of ’80s and ’90s archival footage, it celebrates Polgár’s ascent from 5-year-old prodigy to teenage ego-destroyer, arsenic good arsenic her aggregate attempts to decision satellite champion Garry Kasparov. I had to spot her genius successful person.

“If I win, I get to bargain Warner Bros.,” Baldwin wisecracked, afloat alert that helium was astir to beryllium slaughtered. But a mates of his moves amazed her. He whitethorn person been the archetypal hostile Polgár has played since puerility who had nary thought what helium was doing. Ignorance made him unpredictable. Baldwin was truthful hapless that helium didn’t adjacent cognize erstwhile helium was adjacent death. He whitethorn not person been the worst subordinate successful the room, but astir everyone chuckled erstwhile the announcer attempted to reassure him that helium was “actually doing great.” She crushed him successful 14 turns.

The Sundance expansive assemblage contention winners person yet to beryllium announced but I’ll bargain Warner Bros. if the household play “Josephine” doesn’t get an award. The 2nd movie by the perceptive and steely filmmaker Beth de Araújo (her archetypal was 2022’s “Soft & Quiet”), it observes the location fallout aft an 8-year-old miss (Mason Reeves) witnesses a rape. Josephine’s parent (Gemma Chan) wants the kid to spot a psychiatrist but her jock dada (Channing Tatum) would alternatively instrumentality her successful self-defense training. De Araújo lived done a akin trauma and skillfully maps the chasm betwixt parents who privation to support their kid’s innocence and a miss who needs answers.

All week I’d agonized astir what movie would beryllium my emotionally laden farewell salute. When the clip came, it was the “The Only Living Pickpocket successful New York,” starring John Turturro arsenic a sleight-of-hand creator struggling to enactment solvent erstwhile less marks transportation cash. “Pickpocket” besides happened to beryllium the past communicative diagnostic to premiere astatine the Eccles Theater. It felt close to adjacent retired the festival with a movie astir nostalgia and change, the benignant of instantly classic, well-crafted indie that could person played astatine immoderate decennary successful the fest’s history.

Written and directed by Noah Segan, an actor-turned-filmmaker who archetypal came to Park City successful 2005 arsenic the snotty punk successful Rian Johnson’s teen noir “Brick,” Pickpocket” carries itself with a confident, old-school charm — overmuch similar Turturro himself — and afterward the 1,200-seat country gave the histrion a lasting ovation. Steve Buscemi and Giancarlo Esposito person supporting turns as, respectively, a pawn store proprietor and a cop, and joined Turturro onstage wherever the super-group of Sundance veterans spoke of their idiosyncratic affection for Robert Redford. At a sheet earlier that day, Turturro adjacent joked astir however bully Redford smelled.

The film’s vintage patina doesn’t detract from rising histrion Will Price’s assured show arsenic an immature mobster who prefers bitcoin to stacks of Benjamins. Price represents the societal upheaval that Turturro’s quality rejects and it’s not excessively overmuch of a agelong to accidental he’s the benignant of callow 20-something who would alternatively ticker AI slop than “Josephine.” I anticipation Sundance doesn’t get dragged down by guys similar him successful Boulder. But I anticipation Price himself is determination with different large relation — and another, until he’s a Sundance seasoned too.