Spotlighting some of the standout movies from this year's Sundance Film Festival

click to enlarge Spotlighting some of the standout movies from this year's Sundance Film Festival
Zodiac Killer Project subverts true crime and streaming culture.

The first big movie event of 2025, the Sundance Film Festival, is fast fading in the rearview mirror. This means, after navigating the colds of Park City, Utah, for what may be one of the last times (as the festival is considering changing cities), we can all look ahead to the year ahead of moviegoing with our first sense of what we should keep an eye out for later in the cinematic calendar.

This year's slate featured what is certain to be one of the most striking works of art this year, a film that feels like a two-hour panic attack, a magnificent Washington-shot and set film about life itself, a diabolical dramedy about men who would rather go to a Seattle Kraken hockey game than therapy, and a dynamic documentary that deconstructs the manipulative modern true crime phenomena. These were the Sundance films that rose to the very top.

APRIL
There are some films that mark a turning point between the person you were before you saw it and the one you were after, rewiring your very brain as it expands what your conception of cinema can be. Part of a long tradition of thoughtful, slow and evocative works, Dea Kulumbegashvili's astounding April is absolutely one such film.

Profoundly yet delicately constructed, it follows the caring yet troubled Nina (played with immense power by Ia Sukhitashvili) as she works as an obstetrician in rural Georgia and performs abortions in secret. It's a formally audacious work whose stunning visuals are given that much more life by its stellar sound design. Though grounded in painfully terrifying truths, namely surrounding a sham of an investigation into whether Nina was negligent with a pregnant patient (that is really about the judgment some have about her performing abortions), it's also about the sensory parts of nature that we navigate in long drives and sweeping sequences where the camera floats along through the landscape. Juxtaposed alongside several extended sequences of medical care, it is all about the way pain takes hold and agony that can come even amid the beauty of the world. It's certain to be not just one of the year's best, but one of the best works of the 21st century.

Releasing in select theaters on April 25.

click to enlarge Spotlighting some of the standout movies from this year's Sundance Film Festival
Rose Byrne is at her best in If I Had Legs I'd Kick You.

IF I HAD LEGS I'D KICK YOU
Another painful yet essential work, Mary Bronstein's If I Had Legs I'd Kick You was the true knockout of the festival. While it may be tough for many to go for a full eight rounds with it, it's all the more impactful because of that. Immersing us in the life of Linda (played by a riveting Rose Byrne in her best role to date), we follow her as everything seems to be completely falling apart.

Her child, who we almost never see, has some sort of illness that requires a feeding tube. Her apartment has suddenly developed a giant hole which forces them to temporarily move to a motel. Her husband is a complete asshole who just yells at her on the phone. And, worst of all, her therapist/colleague is Conan O'Brien. As she navigates this nightmare of an existence almost entirely alone, the film essentially becomes a nearly two-hour panic attack with surreal flourishes throughout. It's uncompromising, darkly funny, a completely devastating must-see.

Releasing in theaters later this year.

TRAIN DREAMS
The most Washingtonian of all the films at Sundance this year, Clint Bentley's Train Dreams captures the beauty of the state as few ever have (including by shooting in Spokane). It's one of the most truly transcendent films you'll ever be lucky enough to see. Based on the novella of the same name by Denis Johnson, it stars a never-better Joel Edgerton as the laborer Robert Grainier, who moves from Idaho to remote Washington in order to build a life with Gladys (a fantastic Felicity Jones) while the country continues to rapidly change before his eyes.

The story itself is best left to the film, as tragedy looms over Robert and threatens to destroy all that he has built, though the vast chasm of agony that comes is matched only by the boundless beauty of the way it is all captured. Bringing the same care and attention to the textures of nature as the best Terrence Malick films, cinematographer Adolpho Veloso creates an experience that rips the air right from your lungs before leaving you adrift in the woods, wandering with Robert to find connection that may remain forever just out of reach. What is eternal is the breathtaking experience it creates, making it one of the best films to ever come out of the Evergreen State. One hopes Train Dreams will lead to many more down the track.

Expected to release on Netflix (and hopefully some theaters) later this year.

TWINLESS
Time for a fun one that also happens to be one of the more unexpectedly nuanced, yet still chaotic, explorations of modern loneliness. Twinless, written, directed and starring an excellent James Sweeney, requires being rather coy about what it has in store as it is not what you expect it to be.

The initial hook involves the grieving Roman who has recently lost identical twin Rocky (both of whom are played by a delightful Dylan O'Brien at his very best) and is struggling to carry on. When he begins attending a support group for those who have lost their identical siblings, he meets Dennis (Sweeney) who says he also lost his twin. The two then begin to grow close, doing menial tasks like grocery shopping and just being there for each other.

However, not all is what it seems and soon the rug will be pulled out from under the film, sending us on a journey that is as humorous as it is surprisingly insightful. What this is can't be spoiled, but let's just say someone is deceiving someone. Also a PNW film, it's not only set but shot in Portland, but the duo attend multiple Seattle Kraken games.

It's a terrific little flick to see with your best friend who you can totally trust about everything that he tells you as he would never, ever lie to you.

Expected to release in theaters later this year.

ZODIAC KILLER PROJECT
Last but definitely not least, Charlie Shackleton's Zodiac Killer Project is the true discovery of the festival that takes a scalpel to the modern state of true crime with sharp wit while doubling as a fascinating deconstruction of how one makes a movie. It takes no prisoners, poking fun at streamers like Netflix and also itself.

Without tipping off too much, it opens with Shackleton narrating over footage of where he would have shot his film about a man who claimed to know who the Zodiac Killer was. However, the project fell apart due to rights issues, and he now is making a film about what he would have done. It not only becomes far better than whatever he would have made before, but it is one of the most simple yet refreshing takes on the form to show at the festival. Just don't expect to see this one on Netflix (even if that would be very funny).

Expected to release in theaters later this year.

Spokane Comedy Film Festival @ Garland Theater

Fri., Feb. 21, 7-9:30 p.m. and Sat., Feb. 22, 7-9:30 p.m.
  • or

Chase Hutchinson

Chase Hutchinson is a contributing film critic at the Inlander which he has been doing since 2021. He's a frequent staple at film festivals from Sundance to SIFF where he is always looking to see the various exciting local film productions and the passionate filmmakers who make them. Chase (or Hutch) has lived...