Sundance Film Festival 2022, Report #3: YOU WON’T BE ALONE, SOMETHING IN THE DIRT, PALM TREES & POWER LINES And HATCHING

As fast as it came, the 2022 Sundance Film Festival has now ended. This was quite the year and I have a feeling that a lot of the films from this slate will make their way into viewers’ hearts throughout the year 2022. I was quite blown away by the talent that I saw, and for the most part, this was a terrific experience!

In my final report, I wrap up my coverage with quite the mixed bag: a folklore horror, a sci-fi-comedy, a disturbing drama, and a curious indie horror:

You Won’t Be Alone (Goran Stolevski)

You Won’t Be Alone started dubiously. As the first twenty minutes unfurled, I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt, but before I knew it, I was compelled and eventually, genuinely, moved. This folklore horror/fairy tale proves itself to be inventive and enthralling, once it finds its identity. 

Wolf-Eateress, also known as Maid Maria, (Anamaria Marinca) is a terrifying legend, spoken in whispers of fear by the Macedonian’s of the area in the 19th century. Her legend is one built on loneliness, steeped in a tradition of misery and pain, spread across the land.

When a young baby is marked by the entity, her mother hides her away in a protected area to not be indoctrinated by the witch-like creature. A now 16-year-old Nevena (Sara Klimoska) is tricked, and she goes off with the Wolf-Eateress. As she’s unable to speak, her thoughts are presented in an intimate voiceover, as we see her learn her place. She’s got the powers and the transformative ability that the Wolf-Eateress has, but soon, as we discover, she’s got humanity too. She takes different forms, including that of Noomi Rapace. There are a lot of questions presented early on and not all are answered, but as we discover our lead attempting to find them out herself, it’s a contemplative experience.

I felt driven to tears more than once, deeply affected by what this folklore witchcraft tale was able to initiate in me. It’s a brutal picture and I have a feeling many won’t feel the same. I think this is one that requires your trust and your compassion because You Won’t Be Alone takes you for an examination of life. It’s a reflection on human existence, the complexities of love, life, and who we are, as well as gender, being, and finding our ultimate truth. The fact that this is delivered under the guise and perspective of a shape-shifting witch is just brilliant. Sometimes it takes that kind of storytelling to ultimately show us what’s human. Much like After Yang did through the memories transmitted from AI, there’s something to be said about our inability to see the beauty and appreciate the world around us, when the hardships of life harden us.

There is a Terrence Malick feel and plenty of horrors to still revel in, including some horrifying body-horror scenes when she becomes someone/something new, yet it still feels like more. If parts terrify you, you’ll feel a sense of wonder by its end. There’s a metamorphosis that utilizes the full run time to ensnare the viewer.

It is haunting in its ability to convey what many others attempt. There’s nothing not challenging about this piece of art, but if you give yourself over to You Won’t Be Alone, and let it really sink in, I can’t imagine you not being moved.

Something in the Dirt (Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead)

An intriguing take on conspiracy theories, friendship, and our desire to uncover what… well, just may not ever be clear.

The pioneering genre duo, filmmaking team Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s newest is an intriguing exercise in movie-making. When John (Aaron Moorhead) meets Levin (Justin Benson) his new neighbor, there’s a general rapport, but once he goes into his apartment and witnesses something once-in-a-lifetime that teeters between amazing and horrifying, the two are intertwined. Maybe it’s supernatural? Maybe out of this world? Either way, the best bet is to probably capitalize on this opportunity and make a documentary. Right? What can go wrong? They are both skirting their pasts, needing something to believe in and to give their attention to.

In the beginning, it’s a strange crystal-like object found in the apartment, but, once they dig deeper they see clues within puzzles, within possible connections; threads that very well may not tie together at all. Yes, if that sentence reads weird, it is intentional because, much like the film, they often stretch things to make details stick. Are these things really linked or are they just overtaken by the idea? In a lot of ways, this plays out like any investigative podcast or documentary that is trying to find the truth to the unexplainable. Something in the Dirt considers all the potentials: ghosts, aliens, numerology, there isn’t anything they don’t contemplate. Once this occurs, the duo begins to dive (one could say, too deeply) into those, consuming their day-to-day. Each has their own idiosyncrasies and untrusting traits.

Overall there aren’t a lot of special effects needed, but what is used always works. This floating crystal of light always strikes a sense of wonder and it makes us as curious as the two. What works the most is the two’s dialogue, their back and forth that feels natural, despite the unnatural bordering of the story. Their single locale, the apartment in which the phenomenon occurred, somehow looms larger than it is and yet feels like a microcosm. It’s also quite hilarious, with so many little jokes that provide a lot of volume to an already ambitious tale.

Here’s an oddball pairing that skates from science fiction (possibly supernatural) to obsession/neurosis. They’ve done it again! Benson and Moorhead have crafted another intellectually stimulating film that makes nearly one locale seem endless (not a pun referring to a previous film, or is it?) As the movie moves in a way that’s increasingly chaotic for our leads, it begins to trickle into our perception of the film. What’s really happening? Who can we believe? 

There’s a lot to unravel with Something in the Dirt, a lot that will undoubtedly continue to be an itch in your psyche as the following days fade. Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead continue to be two of the most exciting directors in the industry, finding new ways to spellbind, and surprise.

Palm Trees and Power Lines (Jamie Dack)

Palm Trees and Power Lines is such a confident debut, so assured in its depiction of young female naivety and the power of a manipulative, predator that it truly stings. Lea (Lily McInerny) is a seventeen-year-old in the summer, hanging out with friends, partying, living with her distracted mother played by Gretchen Mol. When she meets Tom (Jonathan Tucker) a man twice her age with a mysterious charm, she finds herself taken by this stranger. Soon the two become enthralled in a secret romance, and Jamie Dack does a fantastic job of first showing this under the gleam of a teenager’s whimsy. As someone who was once a young female I can understand the allure of maturity, of that escape as you are coming of age, but what Dack also does powerfully, is show the consequences of that curiosity. 

Both of our leads are phenomenal, and I couldn’t believe it when I saw that this was both a feature film debut, and Lily McInerny’s first movie. I’ve watched Jonathan Tucker since he was a young man himself, and he brings a real terror to his character, making his first moment on screen, to his last… implied one, sustainably, well, icky. You feel his presence, and you know what it means to this doe-eyed, impressionable girl that you want to pull away from him, and tuck away to safety, immediately. Both are so impeccable in this film that it feels almost too real at times. Jamie Dack and Audrey Findlay wrote the screenplay and it’s truly a spectacularly written feature through the eyes of a young girl’s interactions with a predator. It’s grounded and uncomfortably rapt with how it manages to make you feel every moment. This is not an easy watch, but it is powerful for a reason. It hits a mark that most of us don’t want to see. 

Lea’s journey is a torrent of emotion. There’s a lot of fluctuating between frustration and sympathy, with the latter ultimately winning out. This is a young girl who doesn’t fully know herself, let alone the right decisions for her life. It’s painful to watch her go through this, and it makes for a really heart-aching film.

Out of all of the films I saw at this year’s Sundance, this was the one that was honestly the most terrifying (and I saw a lot of horrors). It’s polarizing, but I can’t remember a second I wasn’t entirely invested, even in one of the hardest scenes I can remember watching as of late. It marks an incredible debut with unforgettable and perplexing performances.

Hatching (Hanna Bergholm)

This was quite the intriguing little horror film. I can’t recall a moment where I wasn’t wondering, anticipating where this odd movie would go.

Young Tinja (Siiri Solalinna) seems to have the perfect life (displayed in perfect pastels and captured by her mother’s constant recording for her blog) and she looks to be on the path to becoming a talented young gymnast. But, what isn’t directly shown, but soon becomes clear is the facade in which this family hides behind. The vain, Mother, (Sophia Heikkilä) is the head of the family, directing what plays out like the storybook version of their lives. Jani Volanen, known just as father, is quite complacent, seemingly not invested in any of his family’s life and happier to be in the background. When Tinja finds an egg, she decides to nurture it, take care of it in her room, give it the kind of mothering she’s missing in her daily life. There’s a lot to find under the surface here, projecting it beyond expectations.

Tinja’s own pain pours out (literally, in the form of tears) onto the unborn egg (that continues to grow to unnatural sizes) and it irrevocably connects the two. From here, once the unknown creature is born, the film moves to the horror that it had been nodding to. When Tinja feels something: pain, fear, jealousy, the being feels it too. This causes it to react in violent ways. Hatching’s quick 87 minutes throbs with intent, making the use of its short runtime to speak volumes.

Hatching takes a fairly simple idea and makes it weigh on the audience, balancing between disgusting and gorgeous to look at. This original film unsettles the viewer, and for a directorial debut from Hanna Bergholm, it’s impressive. We have a new voice in horror to look out for, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.

That’s it for this year’s Sundance for me. Did you get a chance to see any? What were your thoughts? Let us know if the comments below!