Clockwise from top left: Reinaldo Marcus Green's Monsters and Men, Paul Schrader's Light Sleeper, Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey's The Eyes of Tammy Faye, and Jason Reitman's Thank You for Smoking.
By Vanessa Zimmer
Just as nature brings out new and vivid colors in the fall, filmmakers step forward with their best and brightest as we head into the serious cinema season - not that some fun romps aren't in store as well. In reviewing the fall movie season lineup, we started to notice some familiar faces from past labs and Festivals popping up behind the camera, from Daniel Deston Cretton to Chlo Zhao. Thus, we have another installment in our ongoing lesson: You find Sundance alums in some of the most exciting places. Read on for our watchlist of Sundance films you need to see over Labor Day weekend, as these titles begin to roll out to your local theaters as well as your favorite screening platforms.
PS: In case you missed it, check out our compilation of Sundance-supported films opening to wider audiences in September.
BEFORE YOU SEE SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS
The Marvel Cinematic Universe introduces a new superhero as martial artist marvel Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) confronts his past as an assassin-in-training. Directed and co-written by Destin Daniel Cretton, the September 3 release also stars Awkwafina, Tony Chiu-Wai Leung, and Michelle Yeoh.
WATCH I AM NOT A HIPSTER
Cretton's debut feature - which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival - centered on a talented indie musician facing loss and love. Cretton's credits also include Short Term 12, which won the short filmmaking prize in 2009 at the Festival, and 2019's Just Mercy, based on the true story of activist lawyer Bryan Stevenson. The latter starred Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx. [WATCH NOW]
BEFORE YOU SEE MALIGNANT
James Wan's newest film is billed as A New Vision of Terror, which comes as no surprise to those who know Wan as the man behind The Conjuring, Insidious, and Saw. Annabelle Wallis stars as Madison, who is assaulted by terrifying waking dreams. The film releases in theaters and on HBO Max on September 10.
WATCH SAW
Speaking of surprises/no surprises, Saw was introduced as a Sundance Film Festival Midnight selection in 2004. It starred Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Danny Glover, and Ken Leung. The horror film took off, leading to multiple installments in the franchise. [WATCH NOW]
BEFORE YOU SEE THE CARD COUNTER
Gambler William Tell sees an opportunity for redemption in young Cirk's plan for revenge against a mutual enemy, in this tense Paul Schrader thriller set in the competitive poker world. Oscar Isaac, Tye Sheridan, Tiffany Haddish, and Willem Dafoe star in the film, coming to theaters September 10.
WATCH LIGHT SLEEPER
Another Schrader character study, this one follows a successful drug dealer (Dafoe) at a crossroads. It played the 1992 Festival. The prolific Schrader also adapted the Russell Banks novel Affliction into a movie of the same name; it starred Nick Nolte as the conflicted lead and played the 1999 Festival. [WATCH NOW]
BEFORE YOU SEE THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE
Jessica Chastain dons the mask of Tammy Faye Bakker, with those heavy lashes and layered makeup, in a fictional adaptation of the story of the late televangelist and singer. Andrew Garfield portrays her husband and partner in televangelism, James Bakker. Director Michael Showalter's film releases September 17.
WATCH THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE
This Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato documentary from the 2000 Festival provided the basis for the 2021 fictional version. Consider also checking out Showalter's The Big Sick, a 2017 Festival entry about another real-life couple, Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani, the screenwriters of The Big Sick. [WATCH NOW]
BEFORE YOU SEE CRY MACHO
Clint Eastwood directs and stars in this road trip movie, a modern western about an old horseman and a young boy (Eduardo Minett) traveling across rural Mexico. It opens September 17.
WATCH PIANO BLUES
Eastwood, an accomplished pianist, directed the Piano Blues episode of this seven-part Martin Scorsese documentary project, a series of vignettes tracing the history of blues music. An unfinished version of the project played the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. [WATCH NOW]
BEFORE YOU SEE THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK
Michael Gandolfini, son of the late James Gandolfini who originated the Tony Soprano character on the HBO series The Sopranos, plays a younger Tony in this story of the New Jersey mob family. Directed by Sundance alum Alan Taylor, the film opens October 1.
WATCH PALOOKAVILLE
Taylor's offbeat crime comedy, about a trio of good-hearted, inept friends who want to commit the perfect heist, premiered at the 1996 Festival. Taylor also directed the 1991 Festival short film The Burning Question. [WATCH NOW]
BEFORE YOU SEE NO TIME TO DIE
Nooo! James Bond wants to leave the spy business. Not to worry. We expect this 25th film, opening October 8 and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, won't be his last.
WATCH SIN NOMBRE
Fukunaga's debut feature - a social-political thriller about Central American teenagers and their plight they face on their train ride through Mexico toward the United States - premiered at the 2009 Festival, where it earned a directing prize and a cinematography award. [WATCH NOW]
BEFORE YOU SEE HALLOWEEN KILLS
Michael Myers and Laurie Strode aren't finished yet. The next installment, directed by David Gordon Green, opens October 15. What's more, there's another in the series scheduled for October 2022. It's called Halloween Ends, which we assume it will. Or not. Interestingly, the original Halloween played the Utah/U.S. Film Fest - precursor to the Sundance Film Festival - in its first year (1978)
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Clockwise from top left: Reinaldo Marcus Green's Monsters and Men, Paul Schrader's Light Sleeper, Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey's The Eyes of Tammy Faye, and Jason Reitman's Thank You for Smoking. 
