Day 3 at Sundance 2022

DUAL

When Sarah (Karen Gillan) is given a fatal health diagnosis, her first instinct is to agree with the doctor’s wishes and accept the results. This leads her to a cloning agency that will create a human duplicate to ease her family’s suffering at minimal cost. The clone will pick up where Sarah leaves off and life will go on. But when a mistake is uncovered at the doctor’s office and Sarah is given a clean bill of health, the new clone refuses to be tossed aside and discarded, resulting in a duel to the death between the two Sarahs. Writer-director Riley Stearns (“The Art of Self-Defense”) has crafted a fun and bizarre mash-up of “The Hunger Games” and last year’s “Swan Song,” where the humor is dry and the entertainment value is worth the unique ride.

GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE

It seems almost impossible for Emma Thompson to give a bad performance, even elevating dreck like last year’s “Cruella.” But she may have hit a new high in her latest role as Nancy, a retired schoolteacher who simply wants to have good sex after a long dry spell. What starts out as an easy request to hire male escort Leo Grande (Daryl McCormack), quickly turns personal as the two engage in an elevated getting-to-know-you exercise in between sexual encounters. Funny and charming, “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande” is a standout performance for Emma Thompson first and foremost, taking a seemingly simple role and having it speak volumes. Her last thirty seconds onscreen do more to tell a character’s story than most actors do in entire films.

SHARP STICK

Lena Dunham’s latest is far from the work she’s crafted before on HBO’s “Girls” and “Tiny Furniture.” While both of those previous projects were far from perfect, at least they were coherent. Her latest feature, “Sharp Stick,” is obvious, uninteresting and an overall embarrassment. The film’s protagonist Sarah Jo (Kristine Froseth) is a 26 year old nanny who is tired of being a virgin. So in the most bumbling and cartoonish way possible, she decides to awkwardly seduce her employer (Jon Bernthal), giving way to a litany of bad sexual choices and even worse social situations. So much goes so wrong in “Sharp Stick,” from the over the top performances to the bizarre directorial cues, that most will leave this film scratching their heads.

YOU WON’T BE ALONE

Horror by way of Terrence Malick is the best way to describe “You Won’t Be Alone,” a tale of 19th century Macedonian witches and the souls they exploit. The scares begin early when a young girl is abducted and taken under the wing of an evil spirit, transforming her into a shape-shifter. Each time she kills, she takes the victim’s human form and sees the world in a whole new way, allowing for long and meditative spells that will recall that unique Malick touch. The pace may be slow but the mood is sublime in this special horror film, transporting you to a bloody and unique locale. Noomi Rapace (“Prometheus”) appears midway through the film, making a dark impact on an already dark and twisted tale.

All photos courtesy of Sundance Institute