Quite a few strong debuts this year – most of them,
as you might expect, were more of the “I cannot wait to see what this person
does next” rather than the “oh my god, that was brilliant variety. Here are all
the debuts O saw this year:
Breathe
(Andy Serkis) does not prove that Serkis is as good a director as
an actor – this is one dull movie, even by British biopic standards. Rough Night (Lucia Aniello) wasn’t a
great debut from a veteran TV writer/producer/director – wasting a talented
cast, and a premise that should had guaranteed laughs. We Are The Flesh (Emiliano Rocha Minter) is the type of empty provocation
that novice directors think are profound – but this one decidedly is not.
Dig
Two Graves (Hunter Adams) has atmosphere to spare, which
makes me want to see the next film Adams directs – but a narrative that doesn’t
work, which makes me hope he doesn’t write it. The House (Andrew Jay Cohen) gets a chance to direct after writing
a few hit comedies – and does a competent job, but not much more. To the Bone (Marti Noxon) doesn’t show
the same smarts that Noxon has so often shown on TV in shows like Unreal – even
if the intentions here are good. Woodshock
(Kate & Laura Mulleavy) looks great, but is dramatically inert – I want
to see what they do next, because the images are so good – but they need work
on the screenwriting part.
Band
Aid (Zoe Lister-Jones) is a kind of quirky romantic
comedy/drama about a struggling marriage, which is a little more honest than
many of its Sundance brethren. Brigsby
Bear (Dave McCary) is a weird, unconventional comedy, that doesn’t quite
work, but gets points for sheer originality. A Dark Song (Liam Gavin) is a stylish, thoughtful, religious horror
movie – which is unique enough that I really looking forward to see what Gavin
does next (come up with a better ending next time though). The Greatest Showman (Michael Gracey) is a charming, big budget
musical than is cheesy and earnest – and most of all, fun. Hello Destroyer (Kevan Funk) is a fascinating Canadian character
study, which is perhaps too morose, but shows a real flair for location and
tone. The Lure (Agnieszka Smoczynska) is pure insanity, combing all sorts of wild genres
into one weird package – I’m not sure it works, but I’m very interested to
seeing the director’s next film. Manifesto
(Julian Rosefeldt) is the type of film you would expect a talented
visual artist to make – without Blanchett, who knows if this works, but I’m
still curious to see what’s next. Patti
Cake$ (Geremy Jasper) is about as clichéd as Sundance debuts can come – and
yet, it has winning performances and genuine heart. Prevenge (Alice Lowe) has a brilliant central idea – which Lowe,
who also wrote it and stars as the pregnant woman killing because her fetus
tells her to, shows that Lowe is a multi-talented director to watch. Werewolf (Ashley Mackenzie) is a very
typical junkie film – but done with real style, and observational skills that
marks Mackenzie as someone to watch. The
Wound (John Trengove) is a fascinating film from South Africa, about toxic
masculinity and homophobia.
The
Blackcoat’s Daughter (Oz Perkins) is an intelligent,
visually great horror film – I know what he did next, since it actually came
out first (and was a little disappointing) – but this is a good sign of a
future horror auteur. Donald Cried (Kris
Avedisian) is a surprisingly heartfelt comedy about a guy coming back to his
hometown – and being stuck with his insufferable former best friend. God’s Own Country (Francis Lee) is a
heartfelt drama about a young British farmer who falls in love with the
Romanian farm hand they hire – and has to come to grips with his identity. Hounds of Love (Ben Young) is a
disturbing, realistic horror film about a couple who kidnap and torture a
teenage girl – it’s not for everyone, but it’s very well made. I Don’t Feel At Home in the World Anymore
(Macon Blair) is the very promising debut of wonderful actor Blair – with
this dark, twisted crime comedy that tries (and doesn’t quite reach) Coen
territory. Menashe (Joshua Z. Weinstein)
is a sensitive look inside the Hasidic Jewish community – through one
widower, who wants to get custody of his son back – but cannot, unless he gets
remarried. Most Beautiful Island (Ana
Asensio) is a wonderful calling card movie – a slow burn thriller, with two
brilliant scenes. Super Dark Times
(Kevin Phillips) has some problems with its screenplay – but this Kevin
Phillips guy has it – he’ll make a great film as soon as he gets a screenplay
worthy of his immense talent.
Top
10
10.
Ingrid Goes West (Matt Spicer)
Ingrid Goes West is a bizarre, disturbing black
comedy – a kind of King of Comedy for the social media generation – with Aubrey
Plaza in a brilliant lead performance, as an internet stalker, who sets her
sites on an Instagram star she thinks has the perfect life (Elizabeth Olsen),
and then conspires to become a part of it. The sunbaked, beach setting is the
perfect visual antidote to just how dark this film runs, as Plaza’s behavior
becomes more and more deranged. Some of the observations may be a little pat
(Olsen, of course, doesn’t have the perfect life she projects on social media),
but the film shows real talent by Spicer – a filmmaker I want to see more from
in the future.
9.
The Transfiguration (Michael O’Shea)
The play. Blackbird, on which Una is based is
(reportedly) just two characters in a room talking for the entire runtime. A
part of me wishes that more of Una was like that as well – the playwright,
David Harrower, has added characters and locations, and the film features
flashbacks all in an attempt to open up the play – some of which works, some
doesn’t. Still, it’s hard to argue that most of Una – is a terrific film,
featuring top notches performances by Rooney Mara as a woman now in her late
20s, confronting the man she was “in a relationship with” when she was 12 – and
he was 40, and Ben Mendelsohn, as that man. And director Benedict Andrews, in
his feature film debut (he has been a theater director before – including this
play) has stripped much of the dialogue down to its core, and replaced it with
haunting scenes of the past, and terrific finale that – like the film as a
whole – tests and challenges its audience. I would love to see Blackbird
performed on stage one time – I think it would be an entirely different
experience than the film – but this film, unto itself, is pretty terrific – and
I think Andrews deserves a lot of that credit.
Many first time filmmakers end up making a film
that is little more than a collection of their influences in one package – and
then, hopefully, those filmmakers mature at some point and make something
better the next time. In its best moments, Michael O’Shea’s The Transfiguration
is already there. This is a vampire film – and you can see the influence of
nearly 100 years of vampire films on it – and yet, he takes it in different
directions, connects it to a current political moment (without being so
connected that it will grow dated) – and crafted one of the strangest vampire
films you will ever see. This film flew too far under the radar this year – and
didn’t get nearly the attention it deserved – hopefully, O’Shea’s next film
does.
8.
Molly’s Game (Aaron Sorkin)
Sorkin has for a long time been a great writer of
flashy dialogue – and his screenplay for Molly’s Game is no exception. His direction
matches that whip smart dialogue as well – it’s flashy, but not overly flashy,
and he gets great performances out of Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba and Kevin
Costner. The film is long – at two hours and twenty minutes, but it moves like
gangbusters, and is entertaining every single minute of its runtime. Yes,
Sorkin is still learning – the film could have been tighter, and someone like
Fincher was able to make The Social Network more than the dialogue, which
Sorkin hasn’t quite figured out. Still, this is great work for a first time
filmmaker, and I want to see if Sorkin keeps directing, and what he does.
7.
Una (Benedict Andrews)
The play. Blackbird, on which Una is based is
(reportedly) just two characters in a room talking for the entire runtime. A
part of me wishes that more of Una was like that as well – the playwright,
David Harrower, has added characters and locations, and the film features
flashbacks all in an attempt to open up the play – some of which works, some
doesn’t. Still, it’s hard to argue that most of Una – is a terrific film,
featuring top notches performances by Rooney Mara as a woman now in her late
20s, confronting the man she was “in a relationship with” when she was 12 – and
he was 40, and Ben Mendelsohn, as that man. And director Benedict Andrews, in
his feature film debut (he has been a theater director before – including this
play) has stripped much of the dialogue down to its core, and replaced it with
haunting scenes of the past, and terrific finale that – like the film as a
whole – tests and challenges its audience. I would love to see Blackbird
performed on stage one time – I think it would be an entirely different
experience than the film – but this film, unto itself, is pretty terrific – and
I think Andrews deserves a lot of that credit. 
6.
Novitiate (Margaret Betts)
This drama, about young nuns who commit themselves
to a convent, unaware that new rules from Vatican II is going to radically
change the lives of Catholic nuns forever. It is also a movie about young
women, searching for love and a sense of belonging – and who see that in
becoming a Nun. For a first time filmmaker, Betts has bite a lot off for
herself here – and at times, it almost does feel like she’s making two
different movies – one, a subdued, respectful coming of age story, about girls
struggling with many things (including their sexuality) – and one in which
Melissa Leo (brilliant as the Reverend Mother) chews the scenery as a cruel disciplinarian
– but amazing, she ends up pulling them both off, and bringing them together.
Hopefully the start of a great career here.
5.
Columbus (Kogonada)
Kogonada’ s Columbus is a very strange film – a
romantic film, in the way that Lost in Translation is romantic, that is set in
the title town in Indiana – which is known the world over as an architects
dream. Kogonada lovingly captures all the strange buildings in town – which
gives the film much of its visual beauty – but it’s the low-key relationship
between the middle aged Korean American (John Cho) in town because his distant,
architect father fell into a coma there, and the recent high school graduate
(Haley Lu Richardson – in what should be a star making performance) share that
makes the film special. It’s not a creepy, sexual vibe they have, but something
deeper than that. The film is quiet – perhaps too quiet – but it sneaks up on
you, and once inside, you aren’t likely to forget it. A quietly remarkable
debut.
4.
Lady Macbeth (William Oldroyd)
Lady Macbeth is a remarkably assured directorial
debut for William Oldroyd – who has already figured out that often, less is
more. That isn’t to say that Lady Macbeth isn’t a stylized film – it is
incredibly stylized – just that Oldroyd knows enough on when to keep quiet, and
when to push. The film is basically a Hitchockian thriller disguised as a costume
drama – about a young woman – a remarkable Florence Pugh – forced into
marriage, and then doing everything she can to get out of it – including
murder. We start out with her, but gradually, the film ratchets up the tension,
and her own horrible behavior – until we cannot still be with her. This is an
assured debut, a film that sneaks up on you, and a tense thriller. I cannot
wait to see what he does next.
3.
Lucky (John Carroll Lynch)
In many circles, Lucky is seen as little more than
a tribute to the late, great Harry Dean Stanton – giving one of the greatest
character actors in history one last hurrah – and one of the only lead roles of
his career. It is no doubt that – this film joins Stanton’s very best work as
what he’ll be remembered for – but I do want to say that I think character
actor turned director John Carroll Lynch (who is not like Stanton at all as an
actor – except for the fact that no matter what part he plays, you know he’s
going to be great in it) does with the film. It isn’t easy to make a film like
this, and make it feel genuine – trust me, I watch a couple dozen, small town,
quirky comedy dramas a years out of Sundance, and they rarely get it right.
What Lynch does here is in no way flashy – but it is perfect for the film he is
making. Whether or not Lynch goes on to direct more or not, he was an odd and
unexpected choice for this film – but undeniably the right one.
2.
Raw (Julia Ducournau)
Julia
Ducournau’ s Raw is one of the great horror films of the year – and also, a
brilliant exploration of female coming of age – sexually, yes, but more than
that. Yes, the movie churned stomachs on the festival circuit – someone passed
out at TIFF watching it during Midnight Madness – but I think it’s unfortunate
that the film has gotten a reputation as a gross out movie, when it’s far more
than that. It’s not unlike the great Canadian werewolf film Ginger Snaps – but
this one is even better. Docournau’s visual command is great, she gets great
performances from all involved, and she keeps what could be an insane premise
on the tracks all the way until the end (the final scene may be too much – but
just maybe). I have no idea what she’s going to do next – but I cannot wait to
see it.
1.
Get Our (Jordan Peele)
It is not uncommon for director’s debut films to be
more about the films that influenced them, than the film they are making – they
want to show you that they have good taste in movies when they make theirs.
Great filmmakers eventually move on from that – and find ways to take what
inspired them and turn it into something altogether original and different.
Jordan Peele’s debut film Get Out is already there. Yes, you can see the films
that inspired him in there – from Rosemary’s Baby to The Stepford Wives, etc. –
but he’s taken that all, and made an entirely original film, about the smiling
face of liberal racism – a film that is petrifying to everyone in the audience,
in different ways. Yet, Peele isn’t making a treatise here – he isn’t
delivering a sermon – the film works on every level he chooses to – as a horror
movie, as a social drama, as a satire, etc. It is one of the best debuts in
recent memory – and even as it continues a long line of movies hiding their
messages in a horror film (that stretches back to the genre’s origins) – he has
made something wholly different. I cannot wait to see Peele’s next film.
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