Cultural Weekly’s Top 10 Sundance Picks

With 121 films in the Sundance Film Festival, it is impossible to see them all. Cultural Weekly film writers Sophia Stein and Adam Leipzig have seen a fraction of them, and here offer their top 10 Sundance picks–with humble acknowledgement that there are many more good films they haven’t been able to screen.

Alive Inside Director Michael Rossato-Bennet’s emotional and life-affirming documentary about music and memory. See our review here.

Boyhood Richard Linklater’s remarkable coming-of-age story shot in continuity over 12 years.

Drunktown’s Finest Director Sydney Freeland’s feature film debut looks at the edges of the Navajo Nation and characters searching for lineage and identity.

Infinitely Polar Bear Director Maya Forbes’s warm and wise family story of a father coming to terms with his responsibilities and limitations, starring Mark Ruffalo in his finest performance to date.

Ivory Tower Documentary by director Andrew Rossi that asks the big question: Is pricey, prestige higher education worth it?

Laggies Smart coming-of-adult-age romantic comedy, directed by Lynn Shelton. See our article here.

Life Itself Steve James’s documentary about the remarkable life of film critic and hero to many of us, Roger Ebert. See our remembrace of Roger Ebert here.

Obvious Child Brave and truthful, this is the funniest movie in the festival. Directed by Gillian Robespierre and featuring a breakout performance by Jenny Slate. See our article here.

The Skeleton Twins Director Craig Johnson’s drama stars Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig as estranged siblings; their performances are remarkable.

The Internet’s Own Boy Documentary about Internet prodigy Aaron Swartz, who lived a shooting-star life that ended in apparent suicide, directed by Brian Knappenberger.

Top image: ‘Boyhood,’ directed by Richard Linklater. Courtesy of Sundance Institute.

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