Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun embody the love story of a buoy and a satellite in Sam and Andy Zuchero’s “Love Me.”
By Lucy Spicer
Happy New Year! Can you believe it’s 2025 already? We’re less than three weeks away from the 2025 Sundance Film Festival (Make sure to pick your favorite in-person or online screenings at the Festival site in time for the Single Film Ticket on-sale date, January 16!), but we don’t want to miss out on marking the theatrical releases of three titles that made waves at their premieres a year ago at the 2024 Fest.
Animal lovers and documentary devotees will be charmed by EVERY LITTLE THING, which chronicles one woman’s journey to rehabilitate hummingbirds in Los Angeles, while fans of darker fare can discover Steven Soderbergh’s new take on the ghost story genre. Finally, an award-winning post-apocalyptic love story of sorts stars Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun in some unexpected sci-fi roles.
We made it to 100 Sundance-supported releases in 2024, so cheers to a new year and the hope that the three titles below are the beginning of 100 more!
EVERY LITTLE THING — Amid the buzz of bustling Los Angeles, Terry Masear has created a haven for a buzzing of a different kind. She’s rehabilitating injured hummingbirds, and her book on the topic enchanted writer-director Sally Aitken so much that Aitken set out to film the flitting creatures for this documentary, which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Masterful camerawork by three directors of photography (Nathan Barlow, Dan Freene, and Ann Prum) deftly captures the fast-moving subjects — Jimmy, Wasabi, Cactus, Alexa, and Sugar Baby, to name a few — whose personalities and journeys to recovery charmed the film team and audiences alike. Coming to select theaters January 10.
Presence — Steven Soderbergh — who made his feature directorial debut at the 1989 Festival with sex, lies, and videotape — turns the ghost story on its head by granting the audience the point of view of a mysterious presence living in an old house that has just been taken off the market. Floating from room to room, the presence learns that the new residents (a family played by Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, Callina Liang, and Eddy Maday) have arrived with emotional baggage and secrets that get more precarious by the day. The family may not be able to see some serious trouble on the horizon, but the presence does. Presence premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival and is the fourth Soderbergh-directed feature to be selected for the Festival. Coming to theaters January 24.
Love Me — Sam and Andy Zuchero’s innovative debut feature — which won the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival — pairs two unlikely characters as star-crossed lovers. Depicted in various forms by Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun, a smart buoy and a satellite meet online in a post-human world. The two fall in love, even as they are compelled to explore the meaning behind feelings and identity across the spectrum of existence. Coming to select theaters January 31.
The 2024 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour is underway! Traveling to all corners of the United States and beyond in the following months, the 110-minute program features seven short films selected from the 2024 Festival, including three Festival Award–winning titles. Check here for dates and venues; see below for dates in January.
- San Francisco, California, January 3, Roxie Theater
- Orlando, Florida, January 6, Enzian Theater
- Tucson, Arizona, January 8, Loft Cinema
- Seattle, Washington, January 8–26, Northwest Film Forum
- Orlando, Florida, January 10, O Cinema
- Dallas, Texas, January 10–12, The Texas Theatre
