Sundance 2026 - D2 - Jan 24
An Excellent Sundance Day - 3 winners, 1 stinker
TUNER
https://festival.sundance.org/program/film/6932fb1c1a553533ce91b29f
We began the day with a big winner. Tuner starring Leo Woodall and Dustin Hoffman is a wonderful independent film, hitting notes of comedy, buddy movie, crime thriller and romantic comedy, and pulls them all off quite well.
Synopsis (from Wikipedia):
A talented piano tuner's meticulous skills for tuning pianos lead him to discover an unexpected aptitude for cracking safes, turning his life upside down.
A well-scripted, well-filmed, well-edited movie. We have a WINNER! It will be out in cinemas. See it on the big screen. Good date movie!
THE HISTORY OF CONCRETE
https://festival.sundance.org/program/film/6932fb441a5535ccac91b386
This had a lot of buzz going. John Wilson is a moderately famous comic, and fans of his found this film to be quite good. I am not a fan.
I thought the premise was to take a mundane topic (see title) and do a hilarious send up of it based on the structure of a Hallmark movie. It started out with some degree humor and interest, eventually wandering away from the theme into left field, then past the stands last seen disappearing up Landsdowne street. It was not funny. Nor interesting. Pass.
THE HUNTRESS (La Cazadora)
https://festival.sundance.org/program/film/6932f99f1a5535603e91ab38
A Mexican film based on events in Ciudad Juarez in 2013. Women take the local buses to the electronics factory for work. They are raped on a regular basis, then killed and disappeared in the desert. A mom sees her daughter coming of age (ie, 14) and decides she has had enough. I found a review that covers it pretty well:
"The Huntress is an eye opening, heart-wrenching film centered around a mother's horrible experience and everything she will do to protect her daughter and her community. Not only did this film make me feel overwhelming feelings of grief, it was also left with an admiration for the power and strength of community. An amazing film everyone should witness for themselves."
Recommended. Maybe a good date movie, with the right person.
(In Spanish, with sub titles).
I had LADY on my list to see, but needed a break, so I chilled and caught a Midnight Offering:
BUDDY
https://festival.sundance.org/program/film/6932f91bbd8651d89360f43f
OMG, so good. Buddy is a very thinly disguised Barney-like character, center of a Kids TV Show. A plump Orange Unicorn, now that we know Orange as a color marking evil. "A group of kids confront spooky events that test their courage and friendship." (So hard to say that with a straight face).
Totally a send up of the Kid's TV Shows, and of Horror Films at the same time. The quality of acting from the kids is amazing, especially Delaney Quinn as Freddy. She is ELEVEN! Like any good horror film, it is multi-layered, complex, sophisticated. It stays on script the whole way and... it is so good. Gotta see it.
Comments from the debut the night before: "Midnight screenings always promise something strange, but Buddy still manages to catch people off guard. Gasps ripple. Nervous laughter breaks out, then abruptly stops. By the time the film fully tips into horror, the crowd is gripping armrests like it’s a ride they can’t get off."
—- Hoping for more killer days like this… SAD Sundance is leaving town.