Something that was clear at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was the diverse assembly of movies. This sort of shake-up allowed for a continuously fresh experience. My second report has a stunted romance, a taciturn Ted Bundy picture, and an ambitious action/sci-fi. All three were disappointments, but all were also a showcase of acting talent. Yes, Sundance Film Festival is a wrap, but we at Film Inquiry still have a lot to say!
The Sunlit Night (David Wnendt)
It is confirmed: Jenny Slate and her effortless charm is enough to carry a film. But is it enough to make us concede to its intended listlessness? In The Sunlit Night this is definitely put to the test when the movie begins to lose its way. What starts as a woman finding herself and ultimately romance, eventually takes a somewhat tedious detour.
Painter Frances (Jenny Slate) is having a rough go of it, especially when it comes to love. She’s recently lost her boyfriend, and during one dinner with family she’s told her parents are splitting and her sister is getting married. Frustrated with her life she takes the only abroad artist job available: working as an assistant to Norwegian artist, painting a barn yellow. While this doesn’t seem like the best use of her talents, it allows her time to heal and to gain perspective on her future.
The film is primarily Frances’ journey of self-discovery, but we also follow Yasha (Alex Sharp), who ventures to the same country to bury his father. The two are scripted, screenplay written by Rebecca Dinerstein who also wrote the novel, to fall in love, but neither Sharp or Slate seem devoted to this. This is a movie that I feel would benefit from a more personal dive, such as the original medium of a novel. Whereas its counterpart, as visually quenching as it is, lets the romantic in me down.
In Norway, she also meets the American-turned-Viking impersonator (Zach Galifianakis). His scenes are best when he isn’t forcing humor. Yasha’s mother, who he has an estranged relationship with, also shows up, played by a sultry Gillian Anderson. It is as if The Sunlit Night aims to be unconventional merely for the sake of it. It has all of the dressings of a lovable indie, complete with the unusual setting and affable feel, but ultimately, it’s structured in a way that fails to do it justice.
You’ll be bewitched by the countryside, with the cinematography (by Martin Ahlgren) perpetuating the already natural beauty of Norway, and you’ll be underwhelmed by the frivolous attempts at filler. However, you’ll be enamored by Slate, who still, somehow, is often overlooked. Within The Sunlit Night there is a serviceable drama about a woman looking to change her circumstances through a location shift, but that’s just the palette. An inward transition is required, and the same can be said for the state of the film itself.
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil And Vile (Joe Berlinger)
The thing that captivated me the most about the newest cinematic dive into serial killer fair was the shift in perspective. What would the film look like from the point of view of Ted Bundy’s girlfriend?
Joe Berlinger is no stranger to true-crime documentaries. His Paradise Lost trilogy is one of the most fascinating that I’ve seen. His recent Bundy plunge also prescribed a Netflix documentary series Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes. With Extremely Wicked, the stage is different, and I’ve heard a lot of people comparing these two companion pieces as if one should. Don’t, because the Netflix documentary will undoubtedly win.However, the movie still has enough of a spark to warrant a viewing, just don’t expect any explosions.
Lily Collins is Liz Kendall, a young single mother who falls into the thralls of Ted Bundy (Zac Efron). We see their relationship as it quickly becomes serious (could have benefited from more spotlight), which in itself is blood curdling. As you watch this character, who you know is a real person that did horrendous things, it’s difficult not to be affected. The movie shifts very early on to when Bundy is first arrested. Don’t expect grisly killings because this isn’t that movie, and I was content with that choice. Zac Efron transforms into Bundy with everything he has. There’s a moment here that shows that had it been that sort of film, Efron would have rose to the challenge, with an eerie sort of glimmer in his eyes.
Extremely Wicked, Shocking Evil and Vile wedges in between documentary and feature, traversing with a voice that wobbles when it should pronounce. Even with the inconsistent perspective there’s a tolerable theme. The worst decision that director Joe Berlinger and writer Michael Werwie made was their non-committal approach to story. They shed their initial impulse to persist with the lens on Liz, and instead as soon as the movie transitions to the court proceedings and subsequent escapes etc, we lose sight of that.
If you’re a true crime aficionado, you are bound to appreciate the attempt. Even if you’re not, Collins, Efron and Kaya Scodelario’s turn as Carole Anne Boone, a friend of Ted’s who would eventually marry and have his child, are all startling portrayals. At the end of the day, Ted Bundy still manages to be a fascinating, albeit an uncomfortable figure; any perspective, regardless of how convoluted the execution may become, especially given the dedicated performances, is going to ensnare. Personally, the court room element incurs a stuffy countenance, but watching Efron infer Bundy’s unyielding charisma improves the setting.
Relive (Jacob Estes)
The narrative construct of time travel has been alive and well within film for a long time. In the likes of predecessors such as Frequency, Relive is another where an inexplicable circumstance urges a separation of the space time continuum. Basically, it’s love. What wouldn’t you do to save your family?
Co-writer and director Jacob Estes, who had previously made the 2004 stunner Mean Creek, is back again, but this time with a slightly less riveting foray. David Oyelowo is detective Jack Radcliff. When his brother, his wife and their daughter Ashley (Storm Reid) are brutally murdered in what appears to be a drug deal gone bad, he’s left picking up the pieces, searching for answers. Things really shift when he receives a phone call from his deceased niece. The rub? She says that it is several days before the murder. This sets Jack off on a mission to not only make sense of a surreal situation, but also as a course correct. Is he losing his mind or there a science-fiction answer to this cinematic question?
The script by Jacob Estes and Drew Daywalt tinkers with enthralling conceits, but ultimately becomes long-winded. I’m a sucker for time travel, can’t help it, but there are also some dramatic shades that could have used some more depth. Jack and his brother (Brian Tyree Henry) have a strained relationship, one inevitably that stems from their alternating sides of the law, but not enough time is spent dissecting this.
Yes, the payoff is anticipated and not entirely the “wow” factor one would hope for. The inevitable twist is spotted from afar, evaporating its intensity, but Oyelowo and Reid are entirely committed. Their relationship swims the waters between playful and familial to emotional and heartbreaking, with each being convincing. There is a palpable rush to the events, a sense of time-winding out, and that suspense maintains for at least two-thirds.
Part mystery, part thriller, Relive plays a bit fast and loose with its script at times, but never its performances. Even when the writing becomes jumbled, its two leads are all in. One of the most consistent things I’ve experienced this year at Sundance is stellar female performances, and the talented Storm Reid is another force to be reckoned with.
Stay tuned for more coverage to come! Also check out my previous Sundance 2019 reviews.
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