Top 10 Films of Sundance 2022 (and Where to Stream Them)
Here’s a list of ten standout films—nine narrative and one documentary—that I reviewed during the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. In addition to my reasons why you should watch each film, I’ve included where to stream them now (or when and where to anticipate their wide release).
10. Nanny
Dir: Nikyatu Jusu
Program: U.S. Dramatic Competition
Amazon Studios
Nikyatu Jusu’s assured feature film debut Nanny translates the emotional horrors of the immigrant experience into a supernatural, spiritual fable. Aisha (a brilliant Anna Diop) is a Senegalese woman working as the titular childminder for an upper-crust New York couple, in hopes of paving the way to a better future for her son back home. An all-too-common choice, this motherly sacrifice soon morphs into dreamlike aquatic visions: a mix of real-world anxiety and subconscious yearning that would delight Guillermo Del Toro. More emotionally fraught than scary, Jusu’s film is a plea for empathy. Historically, we’re unkind to immigrants; cinematically, we’re tokenistic, reductive, sensationalist. Nanny is none of those things. This sensitively precise film creates an alchemical reaction, transporting the viewer into Aisha’s slowly-suffocating heart. Nanny taps into collective grief by widening perspectives and, ultimately, lifting spirits.
Now streaming on Amazon Prime.
9. Emergency
Dir: Carey Williams
Program: U.S. Dramatic Competition
Amazon Studios
Carey Williams’ Emergency: at once hilarious, painful, and deeply challenging, this “one crazy night in college” comedy has enough gravitas to turn a familiar genre into a haunting racial parable. The film follows Sean and Kunle, two Black college seniors who attempt the “Legacy Tour”—a bacchanalian quest to hit seven frat parties in one night. Then it happens: an unconscious white girl winds up on their apartment floor. Do they call 911, or take her to a hospital to avoid a potentially fraught encounter with police? Emergency breaks with convention—gleefully—by mixing humor with drama, by offering multiple perspectives rather than taking sides. Central to this deft tonal balance is the film’s stellar cast, who deliver truly surprising three-dimensional characters. I interviewed one of the lead actors, RJ Cyler, linked here.
Now streaming on Amazon Prime.
8. Cha Cha Real Smooth
Dir. Cooper Raiff
Program: U.S. Dramatic Competition
Apple TV+
For Writer/Director/Actor Cooper Raiff, personal taste IS mainstream appeal. Following up his SXSW-winner Shithouse, Raiff’s sophomore flick Cha Cha Real Smooth confirms his knack for pop sensibilities and channels a tour-de-force turn from Dakota Johnson. Raiff plays Andrew, a hopeless romantic college-grad stuck at home in Jersey, victim of the economic recession … and his own goofy ideas. When chance lands him a gig as the hypeman for local Bar Miztvahs, Andrew meets Domino (Johnson), a circumspect single mother to an autistic daughter (Vanessa Burghardt). Johnson is seriously great here—she finds depth in restraint, balancing Raiff’s buoyant optimism with world-hardened wariness—while Burghardt holds her own as the grounding force between two spirits-in-motion. At first, it feels like a set-up for mawkish romcom, but the bond formed by this trio is so unapologetically earnest that it’s hard to resist. Even though cutesy and by-the-books, this film makes simple feel fresh: in a time when culture relentlessly pushes art into top-this extremism—from self-serious activism to too-cool-for-school irony—Raiff finds a happy medium. The voices, instincts and heart that shape Cha Cha Real Smooth are enough to chip away at the most hardened cynic.
Now streaming on Apple TV+.
7. Speak No Evil
Dir: Christian Tafdrup
Program: Midnight
Nordisk Film, September Film
Christian Tafdrup’s Dutch-set Speak No Evil is already infamous for its disturbing ending. But while the film’s payoff is indeed depraved—akin to psychological thriller brethren Funny Games and The Vanishing—the true genius of Tafdrup’s chilling film is the buildup. For most of its duration, Speak No Evil presents a Ruben Östlund-style social satire of conventional ‘adult’ etiquette: two couples meet on vacation in Italy; one invites the other to their Dutch countryside home; something feels slightly off, but never entirely sinister. As we second guess our intuition, mixing nervous laughter with gut-twisting nausea, suspense coils like a tightly-wound spring. Tafdrup’s four leads Sidsel Siem Koch, Morten Burian, Fedha van Huêt and Karina Smulders capture human nature with such honesty that reality becomes horror. While definitely not for the faint of heart, Speak No Evil is both a balancing act worthy of praise and a gift to anyone tired of traditional nightmares.
Now Streaming on Amazon Prime.
6. The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future
Dir: Francisca Alegria
Program: World Cinema Dramatic Competition
Bord Cadre Films, Sovereign Films, Wood Producciones
Francisca Alegria’s The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future is unlike any other experience offered by Sundance ’22: a deeply moving onscreen poem of unshakeable, dreadful beauty. In collaboration with lead actors Mia Maestro and Leonor Varela, Chilean writer/director Alegria paints a visually rich, emotionally layered fable about motherhood, where two troubled humans symbolize Mother Earth and the threats posed by our species. Told entirely through lush imagery and subtle exchanges—yet never overwrought—their story is more sermon than narrative: morally challenging, spiritually inspiring, potentially life-changing … if only we can open ourselves to its much-needed poetry. Check out my interview with writer/director Alegria and leads Leonor Varela and Mia Maestro linked here.
Sovereign Film will release The Cow in theaters in UK and Ireland on March 24th, 2023.
5. Living
Dir. Oliver Hermanus
Program: Premieres
Ross Ferguson, Number 9 Films, Sony Pictures Classics
Director Oliver Hermanus and Screenwriter Kazuo Ishiguro took on an uphill battle: they chose to reset Akira Kurosawa’s Ikiru in 1950’s London, starring Bill Nighy as the terminally-ill bureaucrat. Westernized remakes of Kurosawa are a dime-a-dozen, but to adapt Ikiru, one of the legendary auteur’s most personal and poignant pieces, treads on hallowed ground. Nonetheless, this effort is justified. Bill Nighy shines as Mr. Williams in an heart-winning turn. Gorgeous visuals, commanding performances and sensitive touches add up to a wholly moving experience. Sure, many of Living’s strengths are derived from Kurosawa’s timeless work—but even though Hermanus and Isiguro pay homage to their mentor, they bring their own sensitivities … and to naysay their achievement would reflect the same cynicism that Kurosawa decries in his original screenplay. And besides: to punish a new film for riding the coattails of a classic would render much of modern cinema inert. Not only will this new iteration inspire new audiences to revisit Kurosawa’s masterpiece, but it will inspire younger generations to embody the film’s life-affirming call-to-action. Give Living a chance.
Update: Living is nominated for two Oscars: Bill Nighy is up for Best Actor, and Kazuo Ishiguro’s script for Best Adapted Screenplay. Both well-deserved.
Limited Theatrical Release in the U.S. Streaming news likely pending Oscar results.
4. A Love Song
Dir. Max Walker-Silverman
Program: NEXT
Bleecker Street, Stage 6
Max Walker-Silverman’s minimalist, unexpectedly poignant character study A Love Song proves that less is more. Loosely centered around the meeting of two childhood sweethearts, both now widowed, this storytelling approach feels so old-fashioned, it’s fresh. Many films try to make time stand still; few actually pull it off. Beginning with an understated mix of Wes Anderson whimsy and Chloe Zhao western realism, A Love Song soon evolves into something even more distilled. Dale Dickey’s standout performance is central to its essence: her weather-beaten, wind-washed features conjure hope despite age, like resilient bits of green snaking through cracks in the desert. By its end, Walker-Silverman’s Song offers bittersweet affirmation: love is as perennial as the grass; however long it blooms in your life is long enough. This powerfully restrained, beautifully tender narrative stands out amidst the cacophony of our lives. How sweet it is to feel cradled by a film.
Now streaming on Amazon Prime, Hulu and Paramount+.
3. God’s Country
Dir. Julian Higgins
Program: Premieres
IFC Films
Julian Higgins’ thriller-western hybrid God’s Country is astonishingly powerful and entertaining as hell. The film delivers biting of-the-moment commentary on inequity, resilience and attempted reconciliation, all while keeping the audience on tenterhooks. It’s also a much-needed response to whitewashed racial reparations movies like The Green Book—and yet, despite its hard-hitting themes and starkly serious tone, it remains light-footed and nimble, getting under our skin before we know it. In the wrong hands, this incendiary call for social justice might fall on deaf ears. Not God’s Country. Credit is surely due to writer-director Higgins and co-writer Shaye Ogbonnagive, but this film could not exist without Thandie Newton. In a career highlight performance as Sandra Guidry—a black university professor beset by the politics of her backwater mountain town—Newton toes a fine line between simmering indignation and saintly forgiveness, turning a potentially sanctimonious lecture into a resounding battle cry … and her own primal scream.
Now streaming (rental or purchase) on Amazon and Apple TV+.
2. Navalny
Dir. Daniel Roher
Program: U.S. Documentary Competition
HBO Max
Daniel Roher’s must-see doc Navalny feels like fiction—Bourne-style thriller meets Armando Iannucci satire—while doling out history-in-the-making. Roher’s engrossing film is a character study of Alexei Navalny, Russian oppositionist leader, man-of-the-people and Putin’s worst rival. Even the least politically-invested viewers will find this elemental conflict exciting: a charming, truth-telling family man rises up against Oligarchs, is poisoned for his free speech politics, survives, identifies his would-be assassins, and is labeled extremist and imprisoned for the act of survival. The true events recounted here are indeed astounding, but most compelling of all is Navalny himself: intimidatingly smart, darkly mordant, and persistent beyond all reason. Even better, Roher reveals the earnest everyman: a Harvey Dent-tier political martyr who juggles fighting autocracy, being a father, posting TikToks and playing Call of Duty. This film is both worthy and entertaining.
[N.B. This list is primarily narrative-only, but I couldn’t resist adding Navalny—and frankly, it plays more like fiction than some of my other favorites. Sundance has always been known for its excellent slate of documentaries, and this inclusion does NOT represent any lack of quality—fiction or non-fiction—at Sundance 2022. Rather, it indicates my strong opinion that regardless of whether you want entertainment or education, Navalny will not disappoint.]
Update: Navalny has been nominated for Best Documentary Feature Film. Well-deserved.
Now streaming on HBO Max, select screenings on CNN and in-person at Sundance Film Festival 2023.
1. After Yang
Dir: Kogonada
Program: Spotlight
A24, Showtime
Of all fiction films in Sundance 2022, Kogonada’s quietly profound After Yang rewards us the most. This wryly funny, subtly emotional, well-acted domestic drama offers philosophical food-for-thought with a sci-fi twist. More life-affirming than dystopian, more Yasujiro Ozu than Blade Runner (but no less intense), this film gives us a glimpse of our own possibilities … and continues to simmer long after the credits. Set in the near future—perhaps after a great and humbling cataclysm, only hinted at here—humanity has found tranquility alongside “technosapiens.” One such example is the beyond-human Yang (an endearingly soulful Justin H. Min): more son than Alexa, his presence holds the family together; when he suddenly crashes, it’s devastating for them. Then, when Jake (an understated Colin Farrell) takes Yang in for repair—a sequence sure to trigger genius bar regulars—and the andro-techies reveal that this au-pair’s malfunction is more than just a cracked screen, the real journey begins. One of the film’s central questions is asked by a clone (the incisive Haley Lu Richardson): “Why assume other beings would want to be human?” Read my full review here.
Now streaming on Amazon Prime, Hulu and Paramount+.