Image Credits, left to right: Justice Smith (‘I Saw The TV Glow’), Ruaridh Mollica (Getty Images), Katy O’Brian & Kristen Stewart (‘Love Lies Bleeding,’), Bilal Hasna (‘Layla’), River Gallo (‘Ponyboi’)
Over the weekend, the landmark 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival came to a close, wrapping up 11 days of independent movie premieres against the backdrop of the gorgeous, snow-covered mountains of Park City, Utah.
Queerty was delighted to once again be a part of the festivities, especially because it was another banger of a lineup featuring a number of eclectic LGBTQ+ films, running the gamut from crime thrillers to drag dramas, tearjerking documentaries to biting slapstick comedies, to a blood-and-iron-pumping lesbian romance that had Sundance audiences cackling with glee.
And because we saw so many great, groundbreaking movies this year, rather than ranking our favorites, we’ve decided to dole out fitting superlatives that speak to why each of these movies need to be seen. So, read on below and be sure to take notes: these are the movies we’ll be talking about all year long.
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*Unless otherwise noted, the films below are still awaiting distribution, so stay tuned more more details on when this titles will hit theaters—or streaming platforms—near you.
Best Film Debut: Bilal Hasna in Layla
Bilal Hasna | Photo Credit: Getty Images
The latest in a string of film festival darlings about a drag queen who falls in love with a “normie,” Amrou Al-Kadhi’s Layla stands out with a not-so-secret weapon: Its star, Bilal Hasna. The emerging actor (soon to be seen in Netflix sci-fi epic 3 Body Problem) has the charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent to carry the dramedy with grace, able to go big for the film’s showy drag numbers and subtle in the queens’ stop-and-start romance with a finance bro Louis Greatorex. It’s hard to take your eyes off Hasna, in or out of drag, and we can’t wait to see what this talented young performer does next.
Most Necessary Documentary: Will & Harper
Barb & Star director Josh Greenbaum’s doc Will & Harper has a simple enough set-up: Comedy legend Will Ferrell and his longtime friend Harper Steele (a former SNL writer) take a road trip across the U.S. But Harper is a sixty-something trans woman who recently transitioned, and suddenly her favorite small-town American stops seem less inviting. In this lovely, hilarious, tearjerking film, Ferrell’s involvement works twofold: Ensuring Steele feels safe as she navigates a country that feels increasingly hostile, but also leveraging his mainstream appeal to potentially help the uneducated and unaware see that our trans siblings deserve love and compassion, too. Here’s hoping this one gets a wide release, so everyone can watch this important story of friendship.
Sexiest Watch: Sebastian
There’s been an awful lot of chatter lately about whether or not sex scenes are necessary to tell a film’s story, but in Finnish filmmaker Mikko Mäkelä’s Sebastian, the sex scenes are the story. Ruaridh Mollica (another breakout actor of the fest) plays Max, a young author who, by night, uses the titular pseudonym for sex work—experiences he’s writing about in his next book. Through the good and the bad (and his bond with an older client played by Jonathan Hyde) we watch as Max finds power in being his most authentic self, and Mäkelä’s camera isn’t afraid to show us this intimate journey, with plenty of long steamy scenes of Max at “work.”
Best Ensemble: Ponyboi
Image Credit: ‘Ponyboi,’ Sundance Film Festival
Esteban Arango’s Ponyboi is an impactful story of queerness and identity—all dressed up in classic Jersey crime thriller drag. The supporting cast is electric as they sink their teeth into genre archetypes: Dylan O’Brien as a fearsome yet pitiable wannabe hustler, Victoria Pedretti as his thickly accented baby mama with a heart of gold, Murray Bartlett as a handsome and enigmatic cowboy, and Indya Moore as a glamorous chanteuse with a spotty past. And they’re all in service of the movie’s intersex writer and star, River Gallo, both vulnerable and tough-as-nails as Ponyboi, a hero you’ll be rooting for from the very beginning.
‘Ponyboi’ is the queer thrill ride we’ve been waiting for.
Best Comedy: My Old Ass
Image Credit: ‘My Old Ass,’ Sundance Film Festival
A total crowd-pleaser (with an excellent title that makes it a blast to recommend), Megan Park’s My Old Ass makes the most of an intriguing premise: What if you had the opportunity to talk to your future self—could they help guide you down a better, brighter path? That’s what happens to lesbian teen Elliott (Maisy Stella) just as she’s about to head off to college, magically meeting the older Elliott (Aubrey Plaza) with warning signs from 20 years in the future. Unsurprisingly, Elliott has fantastic chemistry with herself, and Stella hilariously keeps up with Plaza’as characteristic dry wit as she questions her big plans for adulthood—and her queerness.
Best Mindf*ck: I Saw The TV Glow
Justice Smith, Jane Schoenbrun and Brigette Lundy-Paine | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Following up their acclaimed, eerie indie We’re All Going To The World’s Fair, filmmaker Jane Schoenbraum maintains a singular, uncompromising vision with I Saw The TV Glow even as their cast and budget grow. The tale of two loner suburban kids (Justice Smith, Brigette Lundy-Payne) finding—and losing—themselves in a late-night television series is gorgeous, unsettling, funny, heartbreaking, and thought-provoking all at once. It’s been over a week since we’ve seen this one, and we’ve still got it under our skin. So much so that we’re starting to wish the show-within-a-movie The Pink Opaque—a cross between Buffy and Goosbumps—was real.
I Saw The TV Glow was co-produced by A24, who will likely release the film this calendar year.
Best Excuse To Blow Up The “True Crime” Industry: Seeking Mavis Beacon
Image Credit: ‘Seeking Mavis Beacon,’ Sundance Film Festival
If you came of age in the ’90s/’00s, you might remember the computer software “Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing”—but who was the beaming Black woman whose face graced the cover? Where is she now? Was she even real? Those questions lie at the heart of this investigative doc from filmmaker Jazmin Jones and collaborator Olivia McKayla Ross who set out to find the truth. But along the way, the mystery of Seeking Mavis Beacon turns into something else entirely, bringing up conversations around race, identity, internet ethics, and whether or not someone even wants to be found. It’ll have you questioning the very nature of our culture’s “true crime” fascination, and thinking twice about who’s stories get to be told—and by whom.
NEON co-produced Seeking Mavis Beacon; stay tuned for a TBD release date.
Best Queer Satire: Stress Positions
John Roberts, Qaher Harhash, Theda Hammel and John Early | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Yes, artist and Nymphowars podcaster Theda Hammel’s first narrative feature is a “pandemic movie.” But don’t let that deter you from watching this biting satire about how we think we’re supposed to have while facing a certain apocalypse. COVID-19 lockdown circumstances bring a gay divorcee (John Early), his gorgeous teen model nephew (Qaher Harhash), a self-involved physical therapist (Hammel), and a possibly magical eccentric neighbor (Rebecca F. Wright) all under one barely-held-together roof for what is part slapstick farce—with pratfalls and all—and part commentary on the way identity politics can be wielded as a a dangerous weapon.
NEON co-produced Stress Positions; stay tuned for a TBD release date.
Mostly Likely To Give The Sapphics A Heart Attack: Love Lies Bleeding
Ladies and other sapphic-minded queers: Buckle up for this brutal, bloody, batsh*t thrill ride from Saint Maud director Rose Glass. Kristen Stewart bites into her most enthralling roles yet as Lou, a gym employee with a dark past and a major crush on amateur bodybuilder Jackie (Katy O’Brian). The two hit it off fast, and Love Lies Bleeding starts off as a super horny romance before, veering down darker, stranger paths. Throw in some totally ’80s Americana, bold supporting turns from Dave Franco and Jenna Malone, Hulk-like fits of rage, Ed Harris as a bug-obsessed conman, and you’ve got the wildest lesbian love affair ever, a.k.a. “Carol on steroids.”
Love Lies Bleeding was co-produced by A24, and is set to hits theaters on March 8.
Best June Squibb: Thelma
Image Credit: ‘Thelma,’ Sundance Film Festival
And our annual Sundance award for “Best June Squibb” goes to…. *drumroll*… Thelma, which is astonishingly the 94-year-old’s first-ever lead role in a film. Yup, a full decade after her best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for Nebraska, writer-director Josh Margolin had the good sense to give June Squibb the nonagenarian revenge tale (think Taken, but with motorized scooters and a sense of humor) she’s so richly deserved. And, yes, we were specifically at Sundance to check out the LGBTQ+ films—Thelma‘s not that, but can you blame us for wanting to see this iconic character actress get her moment in the spotlight?
