by Rosalie Kicks, Old Sport & Editor in Chief

This year I was fortunate enough to catch twenty-seven flicks at Sundance. It was quite surprising to me that a lot of the films I watched were of the horror genre and many of them being feature debuts from female filmmakers.

If you’re the type that enjoys sitting on the edge of your seat and doesn’t easily scare from a bump in the night, here are six flicks that I recommend seeking out.

Resurrection
Written and Directed by Andrew Semans

“Do you think you could kill someone?”

This is one of those types of movies that is going to be rattling around in my brain for a while.

Margaret (Rebecca Hall) is a put together corporate executive of sorts who lives an existence of order and control. The only thing that matters more to Margaret than her career is her teenage daughter, Abbie (Grace Kaufman). Nothing seems to get under Margaret’s thick skin, not even her daughter’s snide remarks. She lives her life by the three C’s: cool, calm and collected. Well, that is until a tumbleweed from her past blows into the city of Albany.

Everything starts to unravel for Margaret the moment David (Tim Roth) arrives. This is a story of secrets and what happens when your former life catches up with you. Hands down, Rebecca Hall is one of the best living actors of today. Her intense portrayal as Margaret is anxiety inducing and haunting. However, even with minimal dialogue and screen time, Tim Roth managed to leave me with nightmares. I thought Freddy Kreuger was creepy then I met David.

If you’re looking for a cut ‘n dry, run of the mill thriller this isn’t it. But if you want a movie that will challenge your perceptions and give you the opportunity to have in depth discussions about what the hell just happened while you sip coffee with friends, then this is the flick for you.

Master
Written and Directed by Mariama Diallo

I became aware of filmmaker Mariama Diallo thanks to the Criterion Channel. They had uploaded her 2018 short flick, Hair Wolf and after giving it a watch she immediately piqued my interest.

Her feature debut Master stars Regina Hall as distinguished college professor, Gail Bishop and Zoe Renee as student, Jasmine Moore. The setting is an upper crust New England university that has a history of being a predominantly white institution. Gail has recently been promoted to serve as the school’s first black live-in resident advisor. Jasmine appears to be one of a handful of black students on campus.

With the school being built on the land in which the Salem Witch Trials hangings occurred, the story is injected with various types of horror from spiritual to human induced torture. Gail and Jasmine become the main targets of the terror that often involves racial undertones. Much like in Resurrection, the past refuses to stay buried. After the film concluded, I was not too sure that it worked. However, the more I allowed the film to digest with me I realized that it is not the filmmaker’s responsibility to answer all the questions and in this case it is really up to the viewer to look into oneself to find the answers. Marked with great performances, an impressive overall look and style Mariama Diallo is a filmmaker who is clearly someone to watch out for.

Watch Master exclusively on Amazon Prime starting, March 18.

Fresh
Written by Lauryn Kahn
Directed by Mimi Cave

“Are you gonna be good…”

A young woman Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones) is tired of the online dating scene. Just as she begins to think she is destined to be alone, she meets a charismatic and captivating gent Steve (Sebastian Stan) in the produce section of the grocery store. They strike up a conversation about cotton candy grapes and, before they depart, exchange numbers. Upon meeting for drinks, the two hit it off. Their relationship progresses fast and is going swimmingly, so much so that Steve decides to invite Noa for a getaway.

As most things in life are too good to be true, so is this little meet-cute tale. The story inevitably takes a sinister detour for Noa that managed to keep me on the edge of my seat. Mimi Cave’s feature debut is a stylish horror that evokes American Psycho vibes but left me feeling like it had less to say. One could surmise that it is speaking about society’s figurative consumption of females and in this case quite literally as well. I look forward to seeing what Mimi does next though as I think this was a great first entry. The pacing was on point and extremely effective in terms of causing suspense. Daisy Edgar-Jones gives a great performance, while Sebastian Stan is in a role that is unlike anything he’s done previously.

Watch Fresh exclusively on Hulu, starting March 4.

Hatching
Written by Ilja Rautsi
Directed by Hanna Bergholm

After tween gymnast Tinja (Siiri Solalinna) discovers an injured bird in the woods, she decides to put the creature out of its misery. When she heads back home she brings the bird’s peculiar egg along with her. The egg quickly grows in size and unavoidably hatches a bird that just so happens to be the size of a kindergartner. The initial meeting does not go too smoothly and the bird creature escapes, only to return sometime later after it finds itself injured. Tinja tends to the wound and a bit of Florence Nightingale effect takes hold.

This is an interesting slasher of sorts that also manages to delve into a territory that is often not explored; the mother/daughter relationship. The dynamic of Tinja and her mother’s bond left me questioning what exactly the true horror is within this story. In this case, you have the image you project to the outside world and then there's the terrifying truth within.

Hatching will be released from IFC Midnight on April 29.

Piggy
Written and Directed by Carlota Pereda

What drew me to watch Carlota Pereda’s feature debut Piggy was that it told the story of a character that we rarely experience on screen.

Sara (Laura Galán) is an overweight teenager that works in her family’s butcher shop in a small Spanish town. She finds herself targeted and bullied by a gaggle of vindictive teen girls, one of which was a former close childhood pal. Watching the emotional and mental abuse experienced by Sara was hard to take in. I was fortunate to escape teenhood without many scars. Through Perada’s film, I also realized just how lucky I was to be a young adult while social media was not in existence. Much like Sara, I grew up assisting my family with their business and I can only imagine the ridicule I would have experienced if someone would have posted a photo of me on the gram slinging hunks of liver out of the meat case.

After Sara experiences a tortuous event at the village pool, compliments of the same bullying teens, she is left to walk home practically naked, broken and defeated. Upon her journey home she spots one of the girls in the back of an unmarked van bloodied and in distress. Where this tale goes from here is unexpected.

There are a few bumpy spots but I liked what this flick had to say and definitely want to see what the director brings to the screen next. If you think your teenage years were dreadful, I would recommend spending some time with Sara and you may just find you didn’t have it so bad.

Piggy is still seeking distribution and hopefully will be available to watch soon.

Watcher
Written by Chloe Okuno and Zack Ford
Directed by Chloe Okuno

Julia (Maika Monroe) moves to Bucharest with her husband, Francis (Karl Glusman) after he accepts a promotion with his company. Karl’s job is extremely demanding, which means that Julia is often spending a lot of time alone. On top of this, she finds settling into her new digs to be more than exhausting due to the language barrier. When she spots a shadowy figure across the way staring into her apartment, her paranoia gets the best of her and leads her to believe that she is being followed.

Maika Monroe gives an excellent performance as a character that is slowly unraveling. Chloe Okuno’s Watcher makes use of Hitchockian elements (think Rear Window or Strangers on a Train) to deliver an impressive feature debut that managed to keep me in suspense. Chloe shows promise and I can not wait to see what comes next in her career.

Watcher was purchased by IFC Midnight and there is a plan to roll out the film theatrically and exclusively stream to Shudder.