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Sundance Film Festival

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Movie Review: “Fresh” (Sundance Film Festival)

Director Mimi Cave’s debut feature film Fresh is destined to be one of the absolute best horror films of 2022. It is also the most difficult type of film to write a review about, because it is the type of movie that first-time viewers need to go into as, well, fresh as possible. My review will be spoiler free. Fresh starts out as a dark satire on modern dating, an anti–rom-com that shines a spotlight on the pressures of meeting new people on dating apps and the benefit of having friends who know how to cyberstalk strangers. Then it heads headlong into some of the most nail-biting, uncomfortable fear fare imaginable. Daisy Edgar-Jones gives a superb performance as Noa, a young woman tired of swiping on dating app photos, receiving unwanted pictures of men’s genitalia, and first dates that lead nowhere. When she has a meet cute in the produce section with a plastic surgeon named Steve (Sebastian Stan in

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Jan 23, 2022

Movie Review: “Speak No Evil” (Sundance Film Festival)

Director Christian Tafdrup’s Speak No Evil (Gæsterne; Denmark/Netherlands, 2022) may be the most uncomfortable horror film in recent memory, as it puts social niceties, including acting “correctly” and politely, under a microscope and plays with the ideas of what horror is before delivering an absolutely harrowing third act. Danish family Bjørn (Morten Burian), Louise (Sidsel Siem Koch), and their young daughter Agnes (Liva Forsberg) meet Dutch family Patrick (Fedja van Huêt), Karin (Karina Smulders), and their young son Abel (Marius Damslev) during a trip to Italy. The two families strike up a casual friendship during the trip, and a few months later, Patrick and Karen invite Bjørn, Louise, and Agnes to spend a weekend with them at their home. Things start off a bit uneasily when Patrick insists that vegetarian Louise taste the wild boar he has prepared for their first meal together, and things get increasingly uncomfortable from there. Speak No Evil starts off as pitch-black comedy of manners

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Jan 23, 2022

Newest Benson and Moorhead Horror Feature Leads Sundance Film Festival Genre Offerings

The dynamic directing duo of Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead return to supernatural horror with their latest outing, Something in the Dirt, which premiers at Sundance Film Festival in January. Described below, it is one of the films from the fest that we here at Horror Fuel are most excited about. The festival takes place in person and digitally, so fear-fare fans can join in from around the United States. Following is information from the official press release, along with a list of genre films — including horror, science fiction, thriller, mystery, dark comedies, and more — along with general information about the festival. The Festival takes place in person in Utah and online as well as at satellite screens around the country. (The in person and online are not separate events for us but part of one Festival. We are thrilled to be able to invite folks in from where they are or to have them join us in

Continue reading →
Dec 13, 2021

More from Sundance Film Festival

Movie Review: “Fresh” (Sundance Film Festival)

Director Mimi Cave’s debut feature film Fresh is destined to be one of the absolute best horror films of 2022. It is also the most difficult type of film to write a review about, because it is the type of movie that first-time viewers need to go into as, well, fresh as possible. My review will be spoiler free. Fresh starts out as a dark satire on modern dating, an anti–rom-com that shines a spotlight on the pressures of meeting new people on dating apps and the benefit of having friends who know how to cyberstalk strangers. Then it heads headlong into some of the most nail-biting, uncomfortable fear fare imaginable. Daisy Edgar-Jones gives a superb performance as Noa, a young woman tired of swiping on dating app photos, receiving unwanted pictures of men’s genitalia, and first dates that lead nowhere. When she has a meet cute in the produce section with a plastic surgeon named Steve (Sebastian Stan in

Continue reading →
Jan 23, 2022

Movie Review: “Speak No Evil” (Sundance Film Festival)

Director Christian Tafdrup’s Speak No Evil (Gæsterne; Denmark/Netherlands, 2022) may be the most uncomfortable horror film in recent memory, as it puts social niceties, including acting “correctly” and politely, under a microscope and plays with the ideas of what horror is before delivering an absolutely harrowing third act. Danish family Bjørn (Morten Burian), Louise (Sidsel Siem Koch), and their young daughter Agnes (Liva Forsberg) meet Dutch family Patrick (Fedja van Huêt), Karin (Karina Smulders), and their young son Abel (Marius Damslev) during a trip to Italy. The two families strike up a casual friendship during the trip, and a few months later, Patrick and Karen invite Bjørn, Louise, and Agnes to spend a weekend with them at their home. Things start off a bit uneasily when Patrick insists that vegetarian Louise taste the wild boar he has prepared for their first meal together, and things get increasingly uncomfortable from there. Speak No Evil starts off as pitch-black comedy of manners

Continue reading →
Jan 23, 2022

Newest Benson and Moorhead Horror Feature Leads Sundance Film Festival Genre Offerings

The dynamic directing duo of Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead return to supernatural horror with their latest outing, Something in the Dirt, which premiers at Sundance Film Festival in January. Described below, it is one of the films from the fest that we here at Horror Fuel are most excited about. The festival takes place in person and digitally, so fear-fare fans can join in from around the United States. Following is information from the official press release, along with a list of genre films — including horror, science fiction, thriller, mystery, dark comedies, and more — along with general information about the festival. The Festival takes place in person in Utah and online as well as at satellite screens around the country. (The in person and online are not separate events for us but part of one Festival. We are thrilled to be able to invite folks in from where they are or to have them join us in

Continue reading →
Dec 13, 2021