by Benjamin Leonard, Best Boy & Managing Editor (Zine)

The year has only just begun, and here we are running into festival season already. Sundance is fun because it’s a really mixed bag of things that’ll end up being at the top of your list all year long as well as some hidden gems that, if you didn’t catch it at Sundance, you might never have found it.

I’ll be watching along with Kicks! so you can follow along with her over on Twitter and I’ll be posting as we go on Instagram @moviejawnbestboy and Letterboxd.

If anything I mention here catches your fancy, feel free to check it out yourself and let us know what you think on social media. Online ticket sales start January 12, and they are available here.

Cassandro
Written and Directed by Roger Ross Williams
Also Written by David Teague

Over the last few years, I’ve been watching a lot more professional wrestling..and especially gay wrestling. For a long time there wasn’t much space for queer representation in wrestling. One of the few places that existed was in the lucha libre scene where exóticos would get the spotlight for a match or two drawing the audiences’ ire.

Gael García Bernal plays Saul, whose wrestling character is the titular Cassandro, in this narrative feature debut from Roger Ross Williams. In it, he shows Saul’s attempts to balance his charismatic in-ring persona with his more thoughtful side at home.

Side note: This film ties in with the theme of our upcoming print zine: “Inside the Squared Circle” which will be coming out in March.

Cassandro premieres at Sundance January 20 and will not be available online. In-person tickets available here. 

Divinity
Written and Directed by Eddie Alcazar

I’m not gonna lie. This one looks like it could go either way for me, but that’s part of what I love about festivals. You get to check out movies where someone has definitely decided to make choices. Whether those choices ended up being good or bad, you’ll never know unless you watch.

Divinity is the story of a man that created a serum for human immortality and his son that now controls and manufactures it for the barren planet. Seems like society has become massively perverted, either as a result of the serum or from the prospect of never ending life. Either way, this flick is all retrofuturist with grainy black and white and disturbing imagery. No matter what, something here is gonna catch my interest.

Divinity premieres at Sundance on January 21 and will be available to watch online January 24 until 30, tickets available here. 

In My Mother’s Skin 
Written and Directed by Kenneth Dagatan

Here, we have the story of a rich family in the Philippines at the end of WWII trying to outlast the Japanese soldiers still on the island by having the father seek help from the Americans. As the mother gets sick, the daughter gets taken in by a flesh-eating faerie that wants to consume them all.

I imagine I will enjoy what seems to be a not too subtle discussion about colonizers here, but what I’m most taken in by is the look of this movie. It’s very dark and creepy, which is all the better to get you sucked in to these sociopolitical topics.

In My Mother’s Skin premieres at Sundance January 21 and will not be available online. In-person tickets available here. 

Young. Wild. Free. 
Directed by Thembi L. Banks
Written by Juel Taylor and Tony Rettenmaier

Blending a relatively young cast of Algee Smith and Sierra Capri the more veteran Sanaa Lathan and Mike Epps, Thembi Banks tells the story of a young man weighed down with all his responsibilities finally getting a taste of life with the help of a “bad girl.”

Something about this one gives me a sexy/fun/cool vibe that makes me think that it’s gonna flip that story line on its ear and deliver some surprises.

Young. Wild. Free. premieres at Sundance on January 22 and will be available to watch online January 24 until 30, tickets available here. 

The Amazing Maurice
Directed by Toby Genkel
Written by Terry Rossio 

A bit of a Pied Piper story as told by Sir Terry Pratchett. For me, that’s all I need to see, that it’s based on a Terry Pratchett book. However, I understand that not everyone has read his Discworld series or Good Omens that he wrote with Neil Gaiman. But, for me, Terry Pratchett told some of the most beautiful and hilarious stories about humanity…often while involving several non-humans.

This is billed as a kids film, but his kids books often played to multiple audiences at once. Hopefully this film manages to accomplish the same. At the very least, I already enjoy the animation style.

The Amazing Maurice premieres at Sundance on January 22 and is available to watch online January 24 until 30, tickets available here. 

The Accidental Getaway Driver
Written and Directed by Sing J. Lee
Also Written by Christopher Chen

An older, Vietnamese ride-share driver in Southern California picks up three escape convicts that end up taking him hostage and involving him in their getaway plans. As they wait things out, they stay holed up in a motel.

Here’s another one that could go either way. However, I’ve always been a sucker for inter-generational tales where the fast-living, uptight kids learn a few things from the slower old folks…even when I was one of those kids. On top of that, this boasts striking visuals and a mood-driven aesthetic.

The Accidental Getaway Driver premieres at Sundance on January 23 and is available to watch online January 24 until 30, tickets available here.