(L–R) Writer-director Hannah Pearl Utt and co-writer Jen Tullock star as sisters in “Before You Know It,” which premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.
By Lucy Spicer
Summer is just around the corner, and with it comes the time-honored tradition of beating the heat by losing yourself in a new story inside a darkened movie theater (or through a streaming service on your couch, take your pick).
This summer’s lineup of films runs the gamut — a music documentary, a historical drama, a video game adventure, a classic disaster movie sequel, an absurdist anthology, and much more. And a dozen of their filmmakers have ties to Sundance Institute.
So before you book your tickets to their new releases, why not familiarize yourself with these filmmakers’ earlier Sundance-supported works?
BEFORE YOU SEE THE BEACH BOYS…
Combining previously unseen footage with both archival and contemporary interviews, Frank Marshall and Thom Zimny’s documentary celebrates the history of The Beach Boys, whose iconic harmonies and lyrics made them one of the most influential bands in pop music. Streaming on Disney+ May 24.
… WATCH WILLIE NELSON & FAMILY
Told in his own words as well as those of close family and friends, this multipart series traces the legendary career of Willie Nelson — spanning an impressive seven decades — and paints a portrait of the man’s legacy in music, philanthropy, and activism. Directed by Zimny and Oren Moverman, the series premiered in its entirety at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Check viewing options here.
BEFORE YOU SEE JIM HENSON IDEA MAN…
Academy Award–winning director Ron Howard chronicles the life of filmmaker and puppeteer Jim Henson, whose tireless imagination created characters that continue to be beloved by all ages today, over 30 years after Henson’s passing. The new documentary features interviews with Henson’s family and collaborators, including fellow puppeteer Frank Oz. Streaming on Disney+ May 31.
… WATCH REBUILDING PARADISE
On November 18, 2018, the town of Paradise was almost entirely destroyed by the deadliest wildfire in California’s history. Howard’s poignant film bears witness to both the trauma and resilience of the town’s residents as they attempt to rebuild their community. Featuring a score composed by Lorne Balfe and Hans Zimmer, the documentary premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Check viewing options here.
BEFORE YOU SEE CORA BORA…
Cora (Megan Stalter) hasn’t had much luck launching her music career in Los Angeles, and her long-distance open relationship with girlfriend Justine (Jojo T. Gibbs) isn’t thriving, either. When it looks as though Justine may have fallen in love with someone else, Cora travels to Portland in an attempt to revive her love life and prove to everyone back home that she’s fine, thank you very much. Director Hannah Pearl Utt’s comedy-drama also stars Manny Jacinto, Chelsea Peretti, Darrell Hammond, and Margaret Cho. In theaters June 14.
… WATCH BEFORE YOU KNOW IT
Rachel (played by Utt, who also co-wrote the film with co-star Jen Tullock) and her eccentric family own and operate a small theater in New York City where her playwright father (Mandy Patinkin) performs his own works. The already dysfunctional family is thrown into chaos when a tragic loss reveals a bombshell: Rachel’s presumed-dead mother is alive and working as a soap-opera star. Supported by Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program, Utt’s feature directorial debut premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. Check viewing options here.
BEFORE YOU SEE FIREBRAND…
As the sixth wife of Henry VIII (Jude Law), Katherine Parr (Alicia Vikander) is in a precarious position. Not only must she balance her responsibilities as regent while the increasingly volatile king is fighting abroad, but she also has to contend with religious unrest from figures like the formidable Anne Askew (Erin Doherty). Director Karim Aïnouz’s first English-language film is an adaptation of Elizabeth Fremantle’s novel Queen’s Gambit, written for the screen by sisters Henrietta and Jessica Ashworth. In theaters June 14.
… WATCH CENTRAL AIRPORT THF
Courtesy of Les films d’ici
Supported by a Sundance Documentary Film Grant in 2018, Aïnouz’s documentary follows a year in the life of asylum seekers temporarily living in an unexpected place for a refugee camp — Berlin Tempelhof Airport, which had been reconstructed in the 1930s as a symbol of Hitler’s Germania. Check viewing options here.
BEFORE YOU SEE THE BIKERIDERS…
Writer-director Jeff Nichols was inspired by Danny Lyon’s 1967 photo book of the same name to make a film about the evolution of a motorcycle club called the Vandals. Front and center are magnetic Benny (Austin Butler); his down-to-earth wife, Kathy (Jodie Comer); and leader Johnny (Tom Hardy). As the club grows over the years, Kathy and Johnny find themselves competing for Benny’s loyalty. In theaters June 21.
… WATCH MUD
Screened in the Spotlight section of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, Nichols’ coming-of-age film Mud follows teenage boys Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and Neckbone (Jacob Lofland) and their unlikely friendship with charismatic vagrant Mud (Matthew McConaughey). Mud is lying low in an abandoned boat on a small Mississippi River island, waiting for his girlfriend, Juniper (Reese Witherspoon). As the boys help to orchestrate a reunion, they discover a murkier side of their community. Check viewing options here.
BEFORE YOU SEE KINDS OF KINDNESS…
Director Yorgos Lanthimos is back with more absurdist dark humor, and this time it’s three for one. Lanthimos’ new anthology film stars Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Emma Stone, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, Joe Alwyn, and Mamoudou Athie, with every actor playing three different characters: one in each of the three loosely connected fables. In theaters June 21.
… WATCH THE LOBSTER
Coupledom is law, and David (Colin Farrell) is newly single. In order to find a mate, David goes to a resort where residents have 45 days to enter a relationship or else be transformed into an animal of their choice — in David’s case, a lobster. This unsettling dark comedy, which screened at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, is Lanthimos’ first English-language film. Check viewing options here.
BEFORE YOU SEE MAXXXINE…
Scream queen Mia Goth is back as aspiring actress Maxine in the third installment of writer-director Ti West’s X series. A direct sequel to X, the first film in the series, MaXXXine finds the main character continuing her pursuit of fame in 1980s Los Angeles after surviving a harrowing film shoot in Texas. If the cutthroat entertainment industry wasn’t brutal enough, Maxine also has to watch out for the infamous Night Stalker serial killer. In theaters July 5.
… WATCH V/H/S
A pack of criminals is tasked with retrieving a particular piece of found footage from a dilapidated house. They end up having to sift through a number of VHS tapes, each depicting its own sinister story. West is one of six directors who contributed short horror films to V/H/S. The gruesome anthology screened in the Park City at Midnight section of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Check viewing options here.
BEFORE YOU SEE FLY ME TO THE MOON…
The stakes are high for NASA during the 1960s Space Race, and Cole Davis (Channing Tatum) is under pressure to ensure the success of the Apollo 11 mission. His life gets even more complicated when Kelly Jones (Scarlett Johansson), a marketing specialist, is hired to boost NASA’s public image — even if it means staging a fake moon landing in the event of mission failure. Director Greg Berlanti’s romantic comedy-drama also stars Ray Romano, Woody Harrelson, Joe Chrest, and more. In theaters July 12.
… WATCH THE BROKEN HEARTS CLUB
Courtesy of Sony Pictures
Berlanti’s feature directorial debut, which premiered at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival, follows a group of gay friends (portrayed by Timothy Olyphant, Dean Cain, Zach Braff, Matt McGrath, Ben Weber, and Billy Porter) living in West Hollywood and juggling dating, friendships, and the trials of everyday life. Check viewing options here.
BEFORE YOU SEE TOUCH…
When widower Kristófer (Egill Ólafsson) learns from his doctor that his time is running out, he sets off on a journey to locate his first love, a woman who disappeared 50 years ago after the two met while Kristófer was working in Japan. Director Baltasar Kormákur co-wrote the screenplay with Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson based on Ólafsson’s novel of the same name. In theaters July 12.
… WATCH A LITTLE TRIP TO HEAVEN
In Kormákur’s ’80s-set thriller, a suspicious car accident and a million-dollar life insurance policy lead insurance adjuster Abe Holt (Forest Whitaker) into a tangled investigation involving con men, mistaken identity, and murder in small-town Minnesota. Julia Stiles, Jeremy Renner, and Peter Coyote round out the cast of this noir-inspired film, which screened at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. Check viewing options here.
BEFORE YOU SEE TWISTERS…
Almost 30 years after the original Twister comes a standalone sequel directed by Lee Isaac Chung. Featuring a cast led by Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell, Twisters is a story about second chances — set against the biggest, wildest tornadoes you’ve ever seen. In theaters July 19.
… WATCH MINARI
Winner of the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, Chung’s semi-autobiographical Minari follows a Korean American family in the 1980s as they move from California to rural Arkansas, where they hope to start a farm and sell Korean produce. Check viewing options here.
BEFORE YOU SEE THE FABULOUS FOUR…
Courtesy of Bleecker Street
Director Jocelyn Moorhouse’s new comedy stars Susan Sarandon, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and Megan Mullally as three friends who travel to Key West, Florida, for the surprise wedding of their college pal (Bette Midler). In theaters July 26.
… WATCH PROOF
Courtesy of New Line Cinema
Martin (Hugo Weaving) has been blind since birth and identifies the world around him by taking photographs and having others describe them to him. The bitter Martin has only Celia (Geneviève Picot), his obsessive housekeeper, for company until he finds a friend in Andy (Russell Crowe), who has a special knack for describing Martin’s photos. Moorhouse’s feature directorial debut was part of the Special Screenings section at the 1992 Sundance Film Festival. Check viewing options here.
BEFORE YOU SEE BORDERLANDS…
A departure from his usual horror fare, director Eli Roth’s new action-adventure comedy is based on the outer space–set fantasy Western video game series of the same name. On the planet of Pandora, a ragtag bunch including bounty hunter Lilith (Cate Blanchett), mercenary Roland (Kevin Hart), pre-teen Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt), and robot Claptrap (Jack Black) must come together to find the missing daughter of the powerful Atlas. In theaters August 9.
… WATCH KNOCK KNOCK
Evan (Keanu Reeves), a successful architect and happily married husband and father, has it all figured out. He’s alone at his home one stormy weekend when two stranded young women (Ana de Armas and Lorenza Izzo) knock on his door asking for help. Evan kindly lets them inside, oblivious to the catastrophe soon to follow. Roth’s psychological horror-thriller premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Check viewing options here.
