Pictured: Run Rabbit Run, Fair Play, The Deepest Breath
It’s 2023 and we’re already kicking off a wave of new movies that will be screening at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival this month in Park City, Utah. As they have in years past, Netflix has been spending their money on the festival, and we’ve put together a roundup of what those movies are up to now.
The festival becomes a strong point for streaming services, studios, and distributors to buy movies ahead of their general release, much like a movie market, except these movies are already sold out. When many of these movies are first reviewed by movie critics, it can help create a lot of buzz before they’re swallowed, and could help persuade buyers to grab them faster than others.
the deepest breath
Picture: A24/Netflix
first is the deepest breatha freediving documentary by Laura McGann which is a partnership between Netflix and A24 Films which generates some positive/mixed reviews from the hollywood reporter, the envelopeY indiewire.
Here is the official synopsis for the film and it reads as follows:
“Descending to remarkable depths under the sea with a single breath, Alessia Zecchini enters what she describes as the last quiet place on Earth. The Italian champion is determined to set a new world record in freediving, a dangerous extreme sport in which competitors attempt to reach the greatest depth without the use of scuba gear. Freedivers are often subject to blackouts during the ascent, requiring the help of safety divers like Stephen Keenan, a free-spirited Irish adventurer who fell in love with the sport in Dahab, Egypt. Having formed a special bond on the freediving circuit, Alessia and Stephen train together for an attempt at Dahab’s legendary Blue Hole and its challenging 85ft long tunnel 184ft below the Red Sea, their destinies inextricably linked.» .
run rabbit run
Image: XYZ Films
Another project they got last week from the festival is run rabbit runan Australian psychological thriller starring Succession Actress Sarah Snook as a fertility doctor. Daina Reid (the shiny girls, The Handmaid’s Tale) is directing from a script written by screenwriter Hannah Kent. While the premise seems like the perfect fodder for Netflix, which is chock full of hair-raising thrillers, reviews of run rabbit run hasn’t been terribly bright, with the playlist, collider, VarietyY fucking disgusting suggesting the underwhelming photo is all too familiar and some say it’s a lighter version of Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook.
You can read the official tagline for the Australian horror film below:
“Fertility doctor Sarah begins her beloved daughter Mia’s seventh birthday expecting nothing bad. But when an ominous wind swirls, Sarah’s carefully controlled world begins to change. Mia begins to behave strangely, and a rabbit appears on her doorstep: a mysterious birthday present that delights Mia but seems to deeply puzzle Sarah. As the days go by, Mia stops being herself more and more, demanding to see Sarah’s hospitalized and estranged mother (the grandmother she had never seen before) and wearing on Sarah’s nerves when the girl’s strange tantrums begin. to point her towards Sarah’s own dark history. When a ghost from her past re-enters Sarah’s life, she struggles to hold on to her distant little daughter of hers.
Fair play
Fair Play – Picture: Netflix
The streamer also picked up the high-profile film «Fair Play» and, according to Deadlinepaid a staggering $20 million for the global rights.
A film from writer-director Chloe Domont, alumna of the hit drama series Thousands of millions, Fair play stars Phoebe Dynevor (Bridgerton) and Alden Ehrenreich (Alone: A Star Wars Story) as an engaged New York couple who see their relationship change when the power dynamic begins to turn into something a little more sinister. reviews of vanity fair, VarietyY indiewire they’re a bit kinder to the financial drama, telegraphing that the picture could be a bit more accessible to audiences. Despite, the playlist he was not as impressed as others with the feature film.
You can check out the synopsis of the thriller right here:
“On the heels of their new engagement, prosperous New York couple Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) can’t get enough of each other. When a coveted promotion at a ruthless financial firm arises, the supportive exchanges between the lovers begin to sour into something more sinister. As the power dynamics irrevocably shift in their relationship, Luke and Emily must face the true price of success and the bewildering limits of ambition.»
Victim/Suspect
Image: Netflix
Victim/Suspect It was recently confirmed to be among the 2023 film lineup and had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.
Here’s what the new documentary, directed by Nancy Schwartzman, is about:
“Investigative journalist Rae de Leon travels across the country to uncover and examine a shocking pattern: young women tell police they have been sexually assaulted, but instead of finding justice, they are charged with the crime of making a report. false, they get arrested and even jailed by the system they thought would protect them.”
This is likely just a taster of what the streaming service will be buying during the festival in 2023, and their picks seem to be pretty much up there with them. More titles are expected to be picked up throughout the week as Sundance continues to show off these new movies, and we’ll keep updating the list as those projects become part of the Netflix family. Stay tuned.