Sundance London is back this June, with a line-up of funny, freaky and provocative movies screening long before many of them hit general release.
Tickets are on sale now for the four-day event, which runs from 9 June until 12 June, and is held at London’s Picturehouse Central cinema. Kicking off the festival in style is the unconventional Emma Thompson romcom Good Luck to You, Leo Grande.
Among the festival’s other highlights include Lena Dunham’s coming-of-age dramedy Sharp Stick, which immediately sparked conversation when it premiered at the US version of Sundance in January. Also in the line-up is a dramatic documentary about Princess Diana, a satire about American megachurches, as well as tales of voyeurism and teenage trauma.
Yet to be announced, meanwhile, is the festival’s surprise film, which will remain under wraps until it literally appears on the screen.
Below are our key picks from the festival, along with everything you need to know about how to get tickets.
Brian and Charles
This quiet British comedy has “future cult classic” emblazoned upon it, revolving around a lonely inventor whose robotic creation springs to life. It’s both an odd-couple story and a refreshingly gentle take on Frankenstein, while its writers and stars David Earl and Chris Hayward look set to have huge careers.
Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.
Sterling K Brown and Regina Hall star in an Adamma and Adanne Ebo-directed, Daniel Kaluuya-produced satire of a Southern Baptist megachurch, whose congregation has disintegrated following a sex scandal. The film also looks to be another long overdue showcase for Hall following her leading roles in Support the Girls and Master, with the Scary Movie star bringing hilarious pathos to her role of the potentially delusional wife of a disgraced pastor.
The Princess
While it’s easy to feel Diana-d out in the wake of The Crown and Spencer, Ed Perkins’ Princess of Wales documentary does take a very different approach to one of the world’s most famous women. Entirely made up of historical news footage from the day of Diana’s first public appearance to her tragic death, the film explores how her image was crafted, distorted and immortalised by the media.
Resurrection
Rebecca Hall has carved out a brilliant niche as an actor, often playing compellingly multi-faceted women haunted by ghosts both literal and metaphorical. Following on from her criminally underseen horror movie The Night House is Resurrection, in which she plays a woman terrorised by a figure from her past (Tim Roth). Hall’s performance, by all accounts, is mesmerising.
Sharp Stick
Lena Dunham has always enjoyed knuckling down into the most uncomfortable of subject matters, and her return to filmmaking is no different. Starring Kristine Froseth in what will undoubtedly be her breakout role, it revolves around a teenage girl who underwent an emergency hysterectomy at the age of 17. Now 26, she decides to embark upon a sexual odyssey involving married men, porn stars and carnal self-discovery.
You can buy tickets for Sundance London and see the rest of the line-up at picturehouses.com/sundance. Single tickets as well as festival passes are available.
