Sundance 2023: Previewing the movies we’re excited to see

After only two years of being online only, the Sundance Film Festival is again happening in Park City, Utah. As usual, JoBlo is going to be there to check out all of the coolest movies to emerge from the indie scene. I’m excited to get my boots on the ground and watch some movies. While the online edition was fun, nothing beats discovering these movies with an audience. I almost got to attend the festival in person last year, only for a late Covid surge to result in the fest being canceled at the last minute. Nevertheless, the fest is back in full swing this year, with an impressive lineup with a few genre heavy-hitters mixed in among more high-brow fare.

Here are some of the titles we’re most excited to see:

Infinity Pool

Brandon Cronenberg’s Possessor was a big hit at the last in-person Sundance in 2020. The film established him as a genre auteur in his own right, with a style distinctly his own compared to the more austere work of his father, the great David Cronenberg. Infinity Pool stars Alexander Skarsgard as a man on vacation who accidentally kills someone and is sentenced to death. But, there’s a way out – as the law in the place he’s visiting allows him to commission a clone who can suffer the punishment he’s been given and walk free. Like Possessor, the film is notoriously violent, and was slapped with an NC-17 before Cronenberg cut it down for a theatrical release via Neon. Mia Goth co-stars.

Magazine Dreams

Jonathan Majors is about to have a big year, with him playing the antagonist in Creed III and beginning his run as Kang in Marvel Phase 5, starting with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania next month. In Magazine Dreams, he plays an aspiring bodybuilder (taking advantage of his jacked physique for Creed III) in a movie that counts Nightcrawler’s Dan Gilroy as one of its producers. This one will undoubtedly be high on everyone’s list of must-see titles, and if it’s good, expect it to be one of the priciest acquisitions.

Landscape With Invisible Hand

Cory Finley is a pretty exciting up-and-coming director. He first made a splash at Sundance with Thoroughbreds (which offered Anya Taylor-Joy an early role and was one of Anton Yelchin’s final films) and followed it up with the excellent Bad Education starring Hugh Jackman. In this one, he takes a detour into sci-fi, with the film centering around a group of kids coming of age in the aftermath of an alien takeover. This one is co-produced by Megan Ellison of Annapurna, who’s known for her taste in movies, so I’m expecting big things from this.

Flora and Son

Eve Hewson (The Knick) and Joseph Gordon Levitt star in this music-driven romance helmed by the great John Carney. This is a genre Carney is a master at, having directed Once, Begin Again, and the fabulous Sing Street. I count the screening of that last film as among the best experiences I’ve ever had at the festival, and he excels in making accessible crowdpleasers that stand the test of time. This could be a star-making role for Hewson and something of a comeback for JGL, who’s been focusing more on TV lately with Super-Pumped and Mister Corman.

Onyx and the Fortuitous Talisman of Souls

Say what? That title is a mouthful, but writer-director-star Andrew Bowser’s Onyx has become a viral sensation to some. The fact that it’s getting a high-profile midnight debut at Sundance makes me think there’s something special about this partly crowdfunded epic. Is this the next Kung Fury? Time will tell.

Of course, that’s just a sampling of movies at the festival. Part of the joy of Sundance is the sense of discovery, so make sure to keep an eye on the site over the next ten days for all of our latest reviews from the festival!