Sundance 2020 was one of the last in-person film events before the pandemic changed everything, so there was a symbolic importance for me to return to Park City this year. It had been three years, and some things had changed, including the massively built-up Salt Lake City airport, which wasn't there in 2020. But the snow and the mountains and the general atmosphere of newness -- a new year with new movies, often made by new filmmakers -- hadn't.
Writing full reviews during a festival tends to lower your overall intake of movies, but I was grateful to avoid any outright stinkers. (Even the films ranked lowest on my list had their pleasures.) But there were plenty of movies I didn't have a chance to get to, which is always a bummer. But even if I'd seen twice as many, I doubt any would have been as beautiful as Past Lives, writer-director Celine Song's killer debut about soulmates, fate and romantic compromise. Greta Lee, Teo Yoo and John Magaro are all superb. It will truly be an amazing film year if it doesn't make my end-of-the-year Top 10. (Kudos to my No. 2 of the festival as well: writer-director Raven Jackson's lyrical debut All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, pictured above.)
Below are my rankings, with links leading to individual reviews.
25. Theater Camp
24. Blueback
23. Radical
22. Jamojaya
21. Infinity Pool
20. The Stroll
19. Polite Society
18. Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
17. A Thousand and One
16. Magazine Dreams
15. Fair Play
14. Cat Person
13. Judy Blume Forever
12. Shortcomings
11. The Eight Mountains
10. Other People's Children
9. Earth Mama
8. The Starling Girl
7. Shayda
6. You Hurt My Feelings
5. A Still Small Voice
4. Eileen
3. Passages
2. All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
1. Past Lives
