With Omicron raging and the 2020s starting to feel like a very long, much more depressing version of Groundhog Day, at least one ray of light shines through this January: the Sundance Film Festival is virtual again this year. That means we can avoid waiting out flight delays in stuffy airports, forego expensive Park City rentals, and cozy up on our own couch to take in some of the best that cinema has to offer. With an impressive program that would warm any indie film lover’s heart, your favorite scary movie fan is spending this festival in the basement exploring the Midnight lineup for some creatively creepy, extremely escapist horror films. Let’s kick it off with two stunners.
After a few failed attempts at making the Sundance cut, Director Christian Tafdrup hits it out of the park this year by turning toward refreshingly dark horror in Speak No Evil. After a Dutch family meets a Danish family on holiday in Tuscany, the Danes decide to spend a weekend away visiting their new friends at their home. But the warmth of the Tuscan sun has faded, and the Dutch family, their house in the woods, and their time together is far from what the Danes were looking for. Increasingly uncomfortable situations test the limits of the Danes’ patience, and as we learn more about their hosts’ dark side, we begin to wonder whether they will make it out alive.
Taldrup sought to make the audience as uncomfortable as possible throughout this film, resulting in an experience that sets your teeth on edge from the start and doesn’t let up. We are all the Danes, wondering what we would do when confronted with increasingly questionable behavior that flies in the face of polite social norms, hoping we can jump out of the boiling water before we before we find ourselves becoming cooked frogs.
Most notably, the deeply ominous score is incongruous with the light scenes of laughter and booms over images of the banality of daily life, leaving even beautiful scenes of the European countryside devoid of comfort. Meanwhile, believably awkward acting, deep sepia-toned lighting themes, and production design that leaves the walls a bit too close and the ceiling a touch too low throw the terrifying, trapped mood over the top. And without giving it away, if you’re anything like me, the twist will leave you gasping.
If I had my druthers, I’d have pulled back on a few of the scenes that tip the 
viewer over the edge of uncomfortable straight into the well of disturbed, and I’d have made a few of the characters’ decisions a bit more reasonable, but these nit picks do not detract from an ultimately impressive horror debut.
SpecialK Verdict: If Speak No Evil is any evidence, we need more filmmakers to take a fresh approach to horror. Devoid of tropes and clichés, this film is delightfully disquieting, deeply disturbing, and a must-see for all horror fans. If you’re too impatient to see it on Shudder later this year, catch the second online Sundance screening in a one-day window beginning at 10:00am ET on Sunday, January 23, 2022.
Next, we sink our teeth in to Fresh. In stark contrast to Speak No Evil, Fresh feels more like a hilariously relatable rom com at the start, only taking a hairpin turn into the horror genre once we’ve settled in with our protagonist, Noa. As Noa navigates the ridiculous frustration of online dating as a young woman in Portland, Oregon, we almost forget we are watching a horror film when she finally connects with someone she meets in person. Throwing caution to the wind, she goes all-in on taking a chance with him, only to realize that he has other plans for their time together, and a hunger for something a little more illegal, slightly more dangerous, and far more disturbing than she anticipated.
From the more escapist end of the scary movie shelf than Speak No Evil, Fresh is all at once a suspenseful slasher and a modern feminist take that reminds us all to—as the My Favorite Murder ladies Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark say—“fuck politeness” and look out for ourselves out there. Sebastian Stan’s Jekyll is as good as his Hyde, and Daisy Edgar-Jones charms us with her big-eyed, curtain-banged take on a whip-smart, modern-day heroine. Director Mimi Cave’s feature-length directorial debut dazzles with a bevy of smart choices – from slanted, offset shots to a soundtrack driven by the beats of preppy 80s pop, this film is a terrifying blast from start to finish.
SpecialK Verdict: Fresh is a modern take on a classic slasher, and not to be missed. Catch the second online Sundance screening before 10am ET on Sunday, January 23, 2022, or wait until it comes to Hulu in March. Either way, if you’re a horror fan, you won’t regret it.
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