We watched a lot in Park City, so you didn’t have to — and these are the films worth talking about.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Directed by: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Written by: Jesse Andrews
Starring: Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler, Olivia Cooke, Connie Britton, Nick Offerman
With that title and one of the most twee descriptions in this year's Sundance catalogue — the film, it promised, "will tickle your funny bone and tug at your heart" — Me and Earl and the Dying Girl was positioned to be a manipulative quirkfest. But it turned out instead to be the best surprise of the festival. The YA tearjerker is a vibrantly directed ode to the power of movies and to how opening yourself up to someone is worth the hurt it can bring. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl ended up dazzling crowds, winning over resistant critics, sparking a heated bidding war, and earning both the audience and grand jury awards in the U.S. dramatic competition. It's a trick that Whiplash, now a Best Picture nominee, pulled off last year, so expect to be hearing a lot more about Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. —Alison Willmore
Distribution: Fox Searchlight and the film's production company, Indian Paintbrush, teamed up for one of the festival's heftier acquisition deals, and while there's no exact date yet, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl will be reaching theaters in 2015.
Chung Hoon Chung
Dope
Directed by: Rick Famuyiwa
Written by: Rick Famuyiwa
Starring: Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons, Zoë Kravitz, AS$P Rocky, Chanel Iman, Blake Anderson, Quincy Brown
Dope features a smart, fantastic young cast and introduces newcomer Moore, who gives an inspired performance as a nerdy black kid trying to navigate the unsavory streets of his Los Angeles neighborhood. In his most Sundance-y feel of a film yet, Famuyiwa aptly tells the story of a teen who feels like an outsider, and, eventually, discovers who he really is. —Kelley L. Carter
Distribution: Open Road/Sony will release the film on June 12.
David Moir
The Wolfpack
Directed by: Crystal Moselle
The Wolfpack is stranger than fiction, especially in the ways it collides with fiction. Moselle's movie, which won Sundance's documentary Grand Jury Prize, follows the six Angulo brothers, who have lived their lives trapped inside their apartment by their paranoid, unhinged father. They are movie fanatics who have constructed their identities and gotten their ideas about how people interact by watching, acting out, and filming scenes from popular films. It's an insane story, but, as we watch the boys age and come into their own, it's also a riveting, funny, and tragic one. You would think that these kids would barely be human — but instead, they're articulate, emotionally present, and charismatic. Their mother, and, yes, their father, are also fascinating characters. You will leave with questions — there are no talking heads here — but more than that, you will root for these kids. —Kate Aurthur
Distribution: Magnolia has acquired the movie and will release it in the second quarter of 2015.
Crystal Moselle
Tangerine
Directed by: Sean Baker
Written by: Sean Baker and Chris Bergoch
Starring: Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, Karren Karagulian, Mickey O'Hagan, Alla Tumanian, James Ransone
Tangerine pulses with frenetic energy from start to finish: Shot primarily on an iPhone 5s, the film follows two transgender prostitutes, Sin-Dee (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez), fresh out of prison and looking to reunite with her pimp boyfriend Chester (James Ransone), and Alexandra (Mya Taylor), Sin-Dee's more level-headed best friend. Tangerine captures a side of Los Angeles rarely seen on-screen, and the seedy underbelly of the city has never looked better. The film excited audiences by being one of the most vibrant and offbeat offerings of the festival, but it's fully grounded in real human emotion. And that's all the more impressive given that the characters at its center — transgender women of color and sex workers — are so seldom given the opportunity to portray their own stories. —Louis Peitzman
Distribution: Magnolia Pictures acquired Tangerine with a deal reportedly "in the high six figures." No release date has been set.
Augusta Quirk
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