Every year, the Sundance Film Festival uncovers some terrific independent film and the 2015 programme was packed with unmissable films.
Grandma
Of course, some films enjoy more success than others and a whole host of movies from the festival have been winning on audiences and critics since they screened at the festival at the beginning of the year. Grandma is another film that has been winning everyone over and it is set to hit the big screen in the UK this week.
To celebrate the release of Grandma this week, we take a look at some of the Sundance movies that have enjoyed the most success this year - and there were plenty to choose from.
- Grandma
Grandma, which hits the big screen in the UK this week, received its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and has been winning over critics and audiences ever since.
The movie marks the return of actress Lily Tomlin to a major leading role for nearly thirty years - it is also the first time that we have seen her on the big screen since Admission earlier this year.
Grandma sees the actress reunite with director Paul Weitz - who was at the help of Admission - and this actress/director collaboration is proving to be a major hit.
Tomlin's central performance has been winning rave reviews ever since the festival and now she is tipped to be in the Best Actress Oscar race at the beginning of next year. I don't know about you, but it is great to see her back in a leading role and it has been far too long.
Elle Reid (Tomlin) has just gotten through breaking up with her girlfriend when her granddaughter Sage (Garner) unexpectedly shows up needing 600 dollars before sundown. Temporarily broke, Grandma Elle and Sage spend the day trying to get their hands on the cash as their unannounced visits to old friends and flames end up rattling skeletons and digging up secrets.
Grandma has been playing to acclaim all year and it is set to be one of the December movies that's not to be missed. I think there is more success for Grandma on the horizon.
- Brooklyn
There are fewer movies that have received more acclaim this year then Brooklyn, which also premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.
Brooklyn is an adaptation of the book of the same name by Colm Tóibín, sees John Crowley back in the director's chair, and Saoirse Ronan in the central role of Ellis Lacey. Ronan is no stranger to success by Brooklyn is turning out to be the most acclaimed performance of her career and will send her star rocketing even further.
The movie follows Ellis, an Irish immigrant who lands in 1950s Brooklyn, where she quickly falls into a new romance. When her past catches up with her, however, she must choose between two countries and the lives that exist within.
Ronan's performance has been met with acclaim and she has already scooped Best Actress awards at the British Independent Film Awards, and Boston Online Film Critics Association awards.
Ronan is tipped to be in the Best Actress Oscar race for the first time in her career and Brooklyn should also be nominated for Best Picture. This indie film has already grossed back its $10 million budget and it is a film that is going from strength to strength and gaining more fans and acclaim along the way.
- Tangerine
Tangerine received its world premiere during Sundance and it is a movie that really has been gaining pace as the year has gone on - despite its limited release in many countries.
This is a movie that shattered casting conventions - casting two transgender actresses in their first acting roles - and is a movie that has sparked a lot of conversation.
Not only that, Tangerine is a movie that has also been winning over the critics as Sean Baker returned to the director's chair for the first time since Starlet back in 2012.
It's Christmas Eve in Tinseltown and Sin-Dee (Rodriguez) is back on the block. Upon hearing that her pimp boyfriend (Ransone) hasn't been faithful during the 28 days she was locked up, the working girl and her best friend, Alexandra (Taylor), embark on a mission to get to the bottom of the scandalous rumour. Their rip-roaring odyssey leads them through various subcultures of Los Angeles, including an Armenian family dealing with their own repercussions of infidelity.
Baker is a stylish filmmaker and great storyteller and it is not hard to see why Tangerine has been winning over so many audiences.
Tangerine is a movie that has already started to make a splash on the awards circuit, winning the Audience Award and Breakthrough Actor for Maya Taylor at the Gotham Independent Awards. The movie has also picked up four Independent Spirit Award nominations; Best Feature, Best Director, Best Female Lead, and Best Supporting Female.
- The Witch
It is fair to say that 2015 has been another pretty poor year for the horror genre... but The Witch has been the horror film that everyone has been talking about.
We are not going to see The Witch until March 2016, but it was a film that really did win over audiences at Sundance earlier this year. In fact, The Witch went on to win the Directing Award in the U.S. Dramatic category at the festival.
The Witch marks the feature film directorial debut of Robert Eggers - he has also penned the screenplay as well as being in the director's chair.
The Witch follows a Christian family in 1930s New England, who struggle to survive on the edge of the wilderness in a remote cabin. The family were kicked out of a plantation due to William's outspoken views on the lack of religious principles in the settlement.
When one of their five children goes missing and their plants fail, paranoia sets in and the family begins turning on one another. The deterioration of the family unit allows evil to creep in and start to destroy them.
The trailer release for The Witch earlier this year did create a lot of buzz and there's plenty of excitement surrounding this film... The Witch is promising to be the unmissable horror film of 2016 and the film really could be a huge hit next year.
- Slow West
The Western is not a genre that is as common on the big screen as it once was, but Slow West lit up Sundance when it premiered at the festival earlier this year.
Slow West starred Michael Fassbender and Kodi Smit-McPhee in the central roles and marked the feature film directorial debut of John Maclean, who had also penned the film's screenplay. The movie saw Maclean reunite with Fassbender, who he had worked with on short films Pitch Black Heist and Man on a Motorcycle.
The movie was one of the most acclaimed at the Sundance Film Festival as critics fell over themselves to heap praise on the movie when it premiered. Award success also came the way of Slow West as it scooped the Sundance Institute's World Cinema Jury Prize: Dramatic Winner.
Slow West follows the story of 16-year-old Jay Cavendish (Smit-McPhee) as he journeys across the American frontier at the end of the 19th century, in search of the woman he loves. Along the way, he is joined by Silas (Fassbender), a mysterious traveller with his own agenda, and is hotly pursued by an outlaw named Payne (Mendelsohn).
Slow West continued to win over critics as it began to play theatrically - even if it wasn't a huge box office success.
For me, Slow West is a terrific addition to the Western genre and is one of the finest directorial debuts that we have been treated to this year. I am looking forward to seeing what Maclean does next.
- Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl may have premiered at Sundance at the beginning of the year, but UK audiences had to wait until the beginning of September until the film finally made it into cinemas.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Jesse Andrews and saw the author adapt his own novel into a screenplay. The movie also saw Alfonso Gomez-Rejon back in the director's chair for the first time since The Town That Dreaded Sundown back in 2014.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl was a monster hit at Sundance as it went on to win the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and the Audience Award for U.S. Drama - it has continued to charm audiences all year.
Me And Earl And The Dying Girl is a uniquely funny and moving story about Greg, a high school senior who avoids deep human relationships as a way to safely navigate the social mine field that is teenage life. In fact, he describes his best friend Earl, with whom he makes short-film parodies of classic movies, as being 'more like a co-worker'. But when Greg's mum insists he spends time with Rachel - a girl in his class who has just been diagnosed with cancer- Greg discovers just how powerful and important true friendship can be.
This is not your average teen movie as it explores these of loss and unconventional friendship and it really was a breath of fresh air for this rather tired film genre.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl was one of the hidden gems of the late summer film season and was a laugh out loud funny as it was totally heart-breaking. An unmissable watch if you are a big indie film fan.
Grandma is released 11th December.
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