Sundance Recap #4

The 2025 Sundance Film Festival has finally come to a close, but I still have so many more movies to recap (at least two more posts worth...) and a final wrap-up, so please bear with me while I get through them all!!! Here are the films I saw last Friday.

IF I HAD LEGS I'D KICK YOU

If I Had Legs I'd Kick You is certainly one of the more difficult films to both watch and reflect upon for this year's fest. Rose Byrne gives a tour de force performance as a mom named Linda who is way in over her head. Her life is one mounting pressure after another, with a daughter ill and struggling to put on weight, an absentee husband who is gone for months at a time, a house that's literally falling apart, and a job as a therapist where she takes on even more problems from all her clients. The crushing weight never seems to let up on her and Linda can't help but succumb to all her worst impulses, just so she can have a chance to be the one thing mothers never get to be: selfish.

I saw this film described as Nightbitch meets Mother! and I have to say, it is an apt comparison! Director Mary Bronstein is very intentional with each decision here to maximize the audience's ability to understand the absolute anxiety of a mother with too much on her plate and no one to help. The hard part of this film for me wasn't so much all of Linda's difficulties, but seeing her act so destructively during it. She wasn't the easiest character to sympathize with as she's always making horrible decisions, but I understood it as all a part of her journey. As a fellow working mother, I could totally understand where she was coming from, even if I winced at many of the reckless choices she continued to make. Without getting too much into it since I don't want to spoil anything, there was a particular decision I noticed very early on with a certain character that really emphasized how much stress this character put on Linda, without seemingly contributing much else to her life. However, the ending clicks in place when that character is fully revealed, and we again are reminded why mothers endure all that they do; for the love of their children. RATING: 8/10

SUNFISH (& OTHER STORIES ON GREEN LAKE)

Sunfish (& Other Stories on Green Lake) starts strong, with a young girl named Lu (Maren Heary) being unceremoniously dropped at her Grandparents' house for two weeks while her mom enjoys her honeymoon with a guy Lu can hardly stand. Her grandparents Nan (Marceline Hugot) and Pop (Adem LeFevre) live a relaxed life filled with lounging and bird watching in their house that overlooks the beautiful Green Lake.

It's a common coming-of-age story, yet even in a short amount of time it had a lot of potential to stand apart... that is until we moved on to the next story. You see, Sunfish is an anthology, which hey... I love a good anthology, but in this instance, it left me feeling cold. After starting with a story with so much promise, and then moving along to one vignette after another, each time felt frustrating and worse forgettable. It especially didn't make sense to me when the first story was set up so well that it could easily be a narrative that then weaves in all these other stories by simply having this newcomer meet and interact with all the other characters in various encounters during her short time at the lake. Overall, as is the film felt pleasant but uneven, with each story feeling a little less inspired than the last. I really wish I could have loved this more, as coming-of-age Sundance tales are some of my very favorites. RATING: 6/10

LURKER

One day, awkward retail worker Matthew's (Théodore Pellerin) life changes forever when a burgeoning pop star named Oliver (Archie Madekwe) comes into the shop. Though he's actually well acquainted with his music, Matthew plays aloof and impresses Oliver with their seemingly coincidental interests and tastes. Soon he's invited into the coveted inner circle and he finds that once he gets a taste of being near stardom, he will go to any lengths to keep that proximity--no matter how extreme they may be. The end will justify any. means.

Lurker is a somewhat familiar tale of obsession. It's not reinventing the wheel, but it does effectively hit the story beats we've come to expect in a satisfying enough way. Plus the performances here are quite good, particularly from Théodore Pellerin, who conveys so much with just his eyes. He takes a role that in someone else's hands could be very over the top, yet he somehow manages to never overact. I especially appreciated the ending in making this film stand apart from other films like it, particularly as it perfectly speaks to the nature of each character. RATING: 7/10

KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN

Kiss of The Spider Woman takes place in Argentina during a period of civil unrest, as a radical revolutionary named Valentin (Diego Luna) is being imprisoned and tortured. The warden is hoping someone can get some information out of him about his cohorts and promises another prisoner named Luis (Tonatiuh) freedom if he becomes an informant. The two become cellmates and unlikely friends when the flamboyant Luis instead of pumping him for information, starts recounting the plot of one of his favorite golden age musicals starring his most beloved old Hollywood starlet Ingrid Luna (Jennifer Lopez). He recasts himself and Valentin in the roles alongside Ingrid Luna and we witness this spectacle intercut with the dreariness of the prison cell as the two men grow closer and start confiding more in one another.

I found Kiss of the Spider Woman's musical sequences to be a glorious throwback to old-school musicals, with fabulous lighting, costumes, and choreography. Jennifer Lopez and Tonatiuh both really give their all to every number, and their scenes are definitely the highlight of the film! The prison scenes are good, particularly because of the strong bond between Luna and Tonatiuh, but towards the third act, you can't help but feel that the whole thing should be a bit tighter. Still, Kiss of the Spider Woman was impressive and felt like the film Emelia Perez is trying to be. RATING: 7.5/10

Whew! Okay a few more films to recap and then I'll share my top ten from the fest! Stay tuned!