“’71” (U.K.) (Director: Yann Demange, Screenwriter: Gregory Burke) — “‘71″ takes place over a single night in the life of a young British soldier accidentally abandoned by his unit following a riot on the streets of Belfast in 1971. Unable to tell friend from foe, he must survive the night alone and find his way to safety. Cast: Jack O’Connell, Paul Anderson, Richard Dormer, Sean Harris, Barry Keoghan, Martin McCann.
Kevin Bacon, Keanu Reeves and Eli Roth are among the bigger names aiming to generate buzz and raise gooseflesh in the Park City at Midnight sidebar at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, the lineup of which was announced today alongside those of the festival’s Spotlight and New Frontier sections.
Fresh off his turn in “John Wick,” Reeves stars in the Roth-directed “Knock Knock,” a psychological horror film about a married man who is paid a fateful visit one weekend by two beautiful girls. The thriller, which marks Roth’s first trip to Sundance, will screen in Park City at Midnight, along with Jon Watts’ “Cop Car,” starring Bacon as a corrupt police officer chasing the kids who took his vehicle for a joyride; Corin Hardy’s “The Hallow,” a shocker set in a mysterious Irish forest; and “Hellions,” Bruce McDonald’s thriller about a teenager terrorized by trick-or-treaters on Halloween.
Rodney Ascher, who scored a New Frontier hit in 2012 with “Room 237,” his documentary about Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining,” will appear in the Midnight slate with “The Nightmare,” a docu-horror film about sleep paralysis. Rounding out the section are “Reversal,” J.M. Cravioto’s thriller about a young woman trying to escape her captor; “Turbo Kid,” a post-apocalyptic action-comedy from the directing trio of Anouk Whissell, Francois Simard and Yoann-Karl Whissell; and David Robert Mitchell’s festival hit “It Follows,” about a circle of teenagers pursued by a sexually transferable curse.
Last year, Park City at Midnight bowed Australian director Jennifer Kent’s “The Babadook,” a horror picture that has since become a Stateside critics’ darling; audiences will be looking for a similarly sensational breakout in January.
The best-of-fests Spotlight section will feature a handful of acclaimed titles from Cannes (Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy’s “The Tribe,” Damian Szifron’s “Wild Tales,” Kornel Mundruczo’s “White God” and Celine Sciamma’s “Girlhood”); plus Yann Demange’s “’71,” Ramin Bahrani’s “99 Homes” and Mia Hansen-Love’s “Eden.” The experimental New Frontier slate will present six features, including the latest from Canadian auteur Guy Maddin, “The Forbidden Room,” co-directed with Evan Johnson.
Sundance will announce its Premieres and Documentary Premieres titles on Monday.
Source: VARIETY
