It’s true: We’re finally putting a bow on our Sundance 2024 coverage. But while the annual festival has now wrapped, that doesn’t mean our work has quite concluded just yet. If nothing else, a review of our top stories from the annual event feel like a road map for the cinematic year to come, a quick trip into the obsessions and interests that guided 11 days in snowy Park City, Utah and seem destined to carry over throughout the rest of 2024.
Check out our full critics survey to see which films over 160 (!!) critics deemed the best of the fest, watch our full run of in-studio interviews with some of the biggest names of festival, and check out every piece of key Sundance news (from reviews to interviews and so much more) right here. Until next year!
As is often the case with IndieWire’s readership, first-look reviews were our hottest tickets. By a wide — and, let’s be real, an expected — margin, our review of Rose Glass’ Kristen Stewart- and Katy O’Brian-starring “Love Lies Bleeding” was our biggest story of the festival. Good news for all interested parties, the blood-soaked, hot-blooded crime thriller is coming soon: A24 releases it on March 8.
Stewart’s other acting effort at the festival, Sam and Andy Zuchero’s debut feature “Love Me,” was also of interest to readers. In the film, Stewart stars as a smart buoy (yes) with Steven Yeun serving as her paramour, a satellite (also yes). With that in mind, our interview with the Zucheros was also a popular choice for readers, even as the festival wound down.
Films that proved to be favorites on the ground at the fest, like the Saoirse Ronan-starring drama “The Outrun,” Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain” (which he co-stars in alongside Kieran Culkin), and Jane Schoenbrun’s “I Saw the TV Glow,” were of wide interest to readers, no matter their location. It seems like good buzz translates far and wide, and we’re expecting these films to remain a big part of the cinematic conversation for the rest of the year.
And there were even a few surprises in the review world: people wanted to read about the Zellner brothers’ secret Bigfoot film, David Schwimmer as a depressed TV writer (plus Talia Ryder and Dominic Fike), and TV (yes, TV at Sundance!), in the form of Richard Linklater’s series “God Save Texas.”
One thing that’s always top of mind for us when it comes to festival coverage: how do we bring all the excitement to readers everywhere? That’s why we research, curate, and write so many stories making the case for the kind of stuff we feel you need to know, even if you’re not at the fest. And you like them! You really like them! Top hits include a pre-festival look at which films might prove to be big sellers, some very early Oscar prognostications, and a post-festival bit of stumping for some films we still think should sell big.
No big surprise: our list of the breakouts of the festival and our look at the best films of the event (and how to see them) were also winners.
Sundance isn’t just for film fans, cinephiles, and avid readers either, it’s also a hell of a proving ground for filmmakers and creators. As such, it seems many of them flocked to our behind-the-scenes survey of the cameras and lenses behind 20 docs at the festival, plus an in-depth look at how 37 cinematographers shot their narrative features.
And celebrities! You wanted to see them! How lucky then that so many of the festival’s biggest names came through our studio, presented by Dropbox, for a series of interviews about their Sundance offerings (and more). Top hits included the “A Real Pain” team, Glen Powell and Richard Linklater chatting “Hit Man,” an exploration of how the heck they made Steven Soderbergh’s “Presence,” and a conversation about the seemingly very popular “Love Me.” It’s like you were there!
