PARK CITY, Utah — For the seasoned Sundance-goer, returning to this film festival for the first time since January 2020 can feel like a half-comforting, half-disorienting resumption of familiar rituals. Aside from the occasional masked face peeking out from the usual parka-and-beanie ensemble, you almost might be able to convince yourself that nothing has really changed, that a three-year pandemic blip didn't really happen.
Here we are, after all, lining up as always in the same crowded lobby of the Eccles Theatre, a 1,269-seat high-school auditorium that serves as the festival's largest venue. And there we go again, shuttling off to Main Street for a midnight movie at the Egyptian Theatre, because that's what you do at Sundance, damn it, and who doesn't want to see Sarah Snook go on a scream-queen rampage in an Australian mommy-dearest freakout called "Run Rabbit Run"?
That movie, which delivers a succession of initially effective frights before devolving into "Run Rabbit Run Rinse Repeat," might not have been the second coming of "Hereditary." But I was glad to see it in a packed Park City house regardless, happily sandwiched between two friends whose nervous giggles, along with Snook's characteristically arresting performance, were more than enough to keep me in my seat. But will you stay in yours? Shortly before "Run Rabbit Run's" first screening Thursday night, a programmer announced that the movie had been acquired by Netflix. Which means you'll get to see it soon enough in the comfort of your own home, though with the luxury of skipping ahead or even turning it off if you find it too scary or derivative or boring.
