Movies Sold At Sundance 2015: A Complete & Updated Guide

These are the movies sold at Sundance 2015. Many of the films that premiere at the Sundance Film Festival are hoping to attract a distributor and find a bigger audience, be it in theaters around the country or distributed through digital VOD. Throughout the festival we will be reporting on all of the movies sold at Sundance 2015. This list should help give you an idea about which movies may someday be available to you either theatrically of VOD. We're including photo stills from each of the films along with all of the relevant information (director, cast, how much it sold for, the plot synopsis and more).  Hit the jump to find out which movies sold at Sundance 2015.

Latest update: Samuel L. Goldwyn will release Lila and Eve starring Viola Davis and Jennifer Lopez.Previous update: Jemaine Clement's People, Places, Things is picked up by The Film Arcade.

We will be updating this post with 2015 Sundance Film Festival acquisitions throughout the festival. The post is organized from newest to oldest, with the latest acquisitions on the top.

Acquired: February 26By: Samuel L. GoldwynPurchase Price: NADirector: Charles Stone IIIStarring: Viola Davis, Jennifer Lopez, Shea Whigham, Andre RoyoOther Info: A later 2015 release is plannedPlot Synopsis:

When teenage Stephon is killed in a drive-by shooting, his mother, Lila, slips into a paralyzing grief. She joins a support group for women who have lost children to crime and meets Eve, a woman whose little girl was killed the same night as Stephon. Lila and Eve form a friendship, and Lila begins to crawl out of her depression. She develops a burning desire to find justice for her son, and she presses the authorities for answers, but they are slow-moving and ineffective. It's Eve who has the idea first—join together, find the drug dealers who shot Stephon dead, and bring them to justice themselves.

Acquired: February 24By: The Film ArcadePurchase Price: NADirector: Jim StrouseStarring: Jemaine Clement, Regina Hall, Stephanie Allynne, Jessica Williams, Michael ChernusOther Info: The Film Arcade plans a Summer 2015 release.Plot Synopsis:

From the moment graphic novelist Will Henry accidentally walks in on his wife, Charlie, with another man, his life officially begins to suck. Not only is he exiled from Brooklyn to a tiny studio apartment in Astoria and forced to see his adorable twin daughters only on weekends, but, according to Charlie, the separation is all his fault. As he muddles through single fathering and teaching college, a defeated Will sits up nights at his drafting table, illustrating his frustrations and loneliness—aptly symbolized by an ever-growing brick wall jammed between him and his family. When a student challenges Will to pursue new people, places, and things, his obsessions—both graphic and real—take new form.

Acquired: February 12By: The OrchardPurchase Price: NADirector: Matthew HeinemanStarring: NAOther Info: The film won the Sundance Directing Award and Special Jury Award for Cinematography for documentaries. This release will be handled in conjunction with A&E IndieFilms.Plot Synopsis:

When your government cannot provide basic safety from murderous organized criminals, is it acceptable to take the law into your own hands to protect your family, your land, and your country? That is the question at the heart of Cartel Land, a powerfully visceral journey of two modern-day vigilante movements.

In the Mexican state of Michoacán, Dr. Jose Mireles, a small-town physician known as "El Doctor," shepherds a citizen uprising against the Knights Templar, the violent drug cartel that has wreaked havoc on the region for years. Meanwhile, in Arizona's Altar Valley—a narrow, 52-mile-long desert corridor known as Cocaine Alley—Tim "Nailer" Foley, an American veteran, heads a small paramilitary group called Arizona Border Recon, whose goal is to halt Mexico's drug wars from seeping across our border.

Acquired: February 10By: Discovery ChannelPurchase Price: NADirector: Louie PsihoyosStarring: NAOther Info: Discovery will release the film in the top 10 markets and then premiere it on TV on every one of their 220 channels. It'll then go on demand. Read our review.Plot Synopsis:

Louie Psihoyos's The Cove (2009 Sundance Film Festival, U.S. Documentary Audience Award) exposed viewers to the brutal practice of dolphin slaughter. The Academy Award-winning director now bears witness to a global problem—mankind's role in precipitating mass extinction, potentially resulting in the loss of half of the world's species.

Believing that images can stimulate empathy and in turn change behavior, Psihoyos joins forces with activists, scientists, nature photographers, and cutting-edge inventors to draw attention to the dangers we face. While covert operations reveal the horrific black-market trade in endangered aquatic species, the film's broader lens uncovers the even more disastrous consequences of human activity, chiefly the release of ocean-killing methane and carbon from energy consumption.

Acquired: February 9By: Gravitas VenturesPurchase Price: NADirector: Daniel JungeStarring: Johnny KnoxvilleOther Info: Gravitas will launch the film in theaters and on VOD later this year.Plot Synopsis:

In the history of sports, few names are more recognizable than that of Evel Knievel. Long after the man hung up his famous white leather jumpsuit and rode his Harley into the sunset, his name is still synonymous with the death-defying lifestyle he led. Notoriously brash, bold, and daring, Knievel stared death in the face from the seat of his motorcycle, but few know the larger-than-life story of the boy from Butte, Montana. After an adolescence riddled with petty thievery and general rabble-rousing, Knievel set his sights on superstardom, a feat he achieved when televisions around the world aired the startling crash footage of his 1967 attempt to jump the fountains at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The jump was spectacular, but the failed landing that sent him skidding like a ragdoll across the asphalt was the main attraction. Throughout the 1970s, his legacy as King of the Daredevils spawned action figures, movies, and a generation of kids who wanted to be just like Evel.

Acquired: February 9By: Film ArcadePurchase Price: NADirector: Kris SwanbergStarring: Cobie Smulders and Gail BeanOther Info: The film played in the US dramatic competition.Plot Synopsis:

Samantha is a high school science teacher at a low-income school about to close, and she has just found out she's pregnant. Though her boyfriend, John, proposes and is thrilled to begin a new life together, Sam struggles with the idea of halting her career to be a full-time mother. Simultaneously, one of Sam's brightest students, Jasmine, has also become pregnant. Sam makes it her mission to get Jasmine into college and bonds with her over their impending motherhood. Unbeknownst to Sam, Jasmine is wiser than she gives her credit for, and when things don't go exactly according to Sam's plan, she must reexamine what is best for herself and for the people she loves. In an age when working mothers are nearly as common as working fathers, Kris Swanberg's uplifting and honest depiction of modern motherhood is both fresh and comforting. When society often questions whether women can maintain both a family and a career, Swanberg answers with a resounding yes via her characters' wisdom, courage, and flexibility with circumstances they least expect.

Acquired: February 6By: OscilloscopePurchase Price: NADirector: Anna MuylaertStarring: Regina Casé, Michel Joelsas, Camila Márdila, Karine Teles, Lourenço MutarelliOther Info: The film won a Special Jury Award for Acting at Sundance.Plot Synopsis:

Val is the kind of live-in housekeeper who takes her work seriously. She wears a crisp maid's uniform while serving perfect canapés; she serves her wealthy São Paulo employers day in and day out while lovingly nannying their teenage son whom she's raised since toddlerhood. Everyone and everything in the elegant house has its place until one day, Val's ambitious, clever daughter Jessica arrives from Val's hometown to take the college entrance exams. Jessica's confident, youthful presence upsets the unspoken yet strict balance of power in the household; Val must decide where her allegiances lie and what she's willing to sacrifice..

Acquired: February 6By: Sony Pictures ClassicsPurchase Price: NADirector: Louise OsmondStarring:Other Info: The documentary won the Audience Award in the World Cinema Documentary category.Plot Synopsis:

In early 2000, in a tiny village in one of the poorest mining valleys in Wales, Jan Vokes, the barmaid at the local men's club, hatches a crazy plan to take on the "sport of kings" and breed a racehorse. She gathers together a group of locals who each agree to pitch in 10 pounds a week. They raise their foal on a hillside made of slag from the coal mine and nurture it to maturity. Reflecting their pride and flights of fancy, they name their horse Dream Alliance.

To the astonishment of the racing elite, Dream becomes an unlikely champion, beating the finest thoroughbreds in the land. Then, in one fateful race, the horse—which embodies the plucky band of misfits' hopes and dreams—has a near-fatal accident. Nursed back to health through the love of his owners, Dream makes a remarkable recovery, returning to the track for a heart-pounding comeback.

Acquired: February 5By: IFCPurchase Price: Above seven figures, according to Variety.Director: Leslye HeadlandStarring: Alison Brie, Adam Scott, Amanda Peet, Jason Mantzoukas, Natasha Lyonne, Jason SudeikisOther Info: Many companies were interested in the comedy, which we named one of the best of the festival.Plot Synopsis:

Years after impulsively losing their virginity to each other in college, Lainey (Alison Brie) and Jake (Jason Sudeikis) meet at a support group in New York ("What's a nice girl like you doing at a sex addicts meeting?"). A spark resurfaces, but they've walked this road before. Abject failures in romance who lead lives of serial infidelity and self-sabotage, they agree to a platonic friendship to mutually support their recovery—and what's more supportive than teaching your friend proper self-stimulation? Can love bloom while you're sleeping with other people?

Acquired: February 5By: Kino LorberPurchase Price: N/ADirector: Guy MaddinStarring: Geraldine Chaplin, Caroline Dhavernas, Roy Dupuis, Udo Kier, Charlotte Rampling, Karine VanasseOther Info: This film was shot as part of two different museum installations, with visitors able to look in on the shoot from just a few feet away.Plot Synopsis:

As potbellied, satin robe-clad Marv opens The Forbidden Room, he instructs us on the history and significance of bathing. One might never guess what's in store from Canadian auteur's Guy Maddin's ode to the lost movies of the silent era, honoring classic cinema while electrocuting it with energy. Bursting with playful cacophony, Maddin's opus takes us high into the air, under the sea, around the world, and into dreamscapes, spinning tales of amnesia, captivity, deception, and murder..

Acquired: February 3By: IFC MidnightPurchase Price: Low seven figures, according to Deadline.Director: Corin HardyStarring: Joseph Mawle, Bojana Novakovic, Michael McElhatton, Michael SmileyOther Info: Corin Hardy will next direct The Crow.Plot Synopsis:

Deep within the darkness of secluded forest land in rural Ireland dwells an ancient evil. Feared by the nearby superstitious villagers as cursed creatures who prey upon the lost, their secrets have been kept from civilization and remain on their hallowed ground. But when a conservationist from London moves in with his wife and infant child in order to survey the land for future construction, his actions unwittingly disturb the horde of demonic forces. Alone in a remote wilderness, he must now ensure his family's survival from their relentless attacks.

Acquired: February 3By: No domestic distributor yet but "Films We Like label in Canada; Madman Entertainment in Australia & New Zealand; Dogwoof in UK & Ireland; NonStop Entertainmentin Pan-Scandinavia; and Feltrinelli in Italy."Purchase Price: NADirector: Doug AitkenStarring: NAOther Info: "A domestic deal will be announced shortly."Plot Synopsis:

Sending a burning arrow into the stunting effects that the compartmentalization of culture has on how creativity manifests, visual artist Doug Aitken embarked on an experiment exploring a less materialistic and more nomadic direction of art creation, exhibition, and participation. Station to Station involved a train that crossed North America housing a constantly changing creative community including artists, musicians, and curators, who collaborated in the creation of recordings, artworks, films, and 10 unique happenings, across the country.

Acquired: February 2By: The OrchardPurchase Price: NADirector: Clay Tweel and Bryan CarberryStarring: John Wood and Shannon WhisnantOther Info: The Orchard plans a theatrical and digital release in 2015.Plot Synopsis:

Shannon Whisnant has a nose for a bargain. But when he bought a used grill at a North Carolina auction, the severed human foot he found among its ashes was not part of the deal. Soon the gruesome discovery becomes the toast of the infotainment world, and the new owner spies a golden opportunity to cash in on the media frenzy, until struggling addict and amputee John Wood recognizes his missing member and demands his own foot back. It is the stuff of documentary legend.

Acquired: Jan 30By: Samuel Goldwyn Films and StyleHaulPurchase Price: NADirector: Sacha JenkinsStarring: Pharrell Williams, Damon Dash, Karl Kani, Kanye West, Nas Jones, and Andre Leon TalleyOther Info: Will be released in theaters and to Vimeo later in 2015Plot Synopsis:

With funky, fat-laced Adidas, Kangol hats, and Cazal shades, a totally original look was born—Fresh—and it came from the black and brown side of town where another cultural force was revving up in the streets to take the world by storm. Hip-hop, and its aspirational relationship to fashion, would become such a force on the market that Tommy Hilfiger, in an effort to associate their brand with the cultural swell, would drive through the streets and hand out free clothing to kids on the corner. Fresh Dressed is a fascinating, fun-to-watch chronicle of hip-hop, urban fashion, and the hustle that brought oversized pants and graffiti-drenched jackets from Orchard Street to high fashion's catwalks and Middle America shopping malls. Reaching deep to Southern plantation culture, the black church, and Little Richard, director Sacha Jenkins' music-drenched history draws from a rich mix of archival materials and in-depth interviews with rappers, designers, and other industry insiders, such as Pharrell Williams, Damon Dash, Karl Kani, Kanye West, Nas Jones, and Andre Leon Talley.

Acquired: February 2By: AlchemyPurchase Price: NADirector: Mora StephensStarring: Patrick Wilson, Lena Headey, Ray Winstone, Richard Dreyfuss, John Cho, Dianna Agron, Christopher McDonald, Alexandra Breckenridge, and Penelope MitchellOther Info: Will be released in theaters and on demand later in 2015Plot Synopsis:

Sam Ellis (Wilson) is a man on the rise — a hotshot federal prosecutor on the cusp of a bright political future. But what was meant to be a one-time experience with an escort turns into a growing addiction threatening to destroy his life, family, and career. ZIPPER is written by Stephens and Joel Viertel, produced by R. Bryan Wright, Amy Mitchell-Smith, Mark Heyman, Joel Viertel, Marina Grasic and executive produced by Scott Franklin, Ari Handel, Darren Aronofsky, Danya Duffy, Jan Korbelin, Beau Chaney and Christian Oliver.

Acquired: NetflixBy: NetflixPurchase Price: NADirector:  Jill Bauer and Ronna GradusStarring: NAOther Info: Rashida Jones is among the producers. Variety broke the news of the deal.Plot Synopsis:

Thanks to the Internet, thousands of young American women are entering the "amateur" porn world, fulfilling a growing demand for girl-next-door starlets.Hot Girls Wanted follows one such girl, eager to leave small-town life in search of freedom and fame. With the click of a mouse she transforms from A-student to fledgling amateur actress. She initially feels independent and popular starring in professionally produced videos—uploaded on sites garnering an average of 41 million hits a month. But as she and some of her new friends fall deeper into the darker corners of the Internet, and as new faces arrive daily, they're forced to reconsider an increasingly dubious line of work.

Acquired: January 31By: Broad GreenPurchase Price: Seven figures with with print and advertising commitment in the teens, via Deadline.Director: Ken KwapisStarring: Robert Redford, Nick Nolte, Emma Thompson, Mary Steenburgen, Nick Offerman, Kristen SchaalOther Info: Broad Green is new and promised a "a big theatrical release in late summer and early fall to factor into the Oscar race."Plot Synopsis:

When an aging travel writer sets out to hike the 2,100-mile-long Appalachian Trail with a long-estranged high school buddy, the duo learn that some roads are better left untraveled.

Acquired: January 31By: Bleeker StreetPurchase Price: Mid to High Six Figures, according to Deadline.Director: Brett HaleyStarring: Blythe Danner, Martin Starr, Sam Elliott, Malin Akerman, June Squibb and Rhea PerlmanOther Info: Several other companies were in the hunt for the film.Plot Synopsis:

Carol is a retired schoolteacher and a longtime widow in her 70s. She enjoys a tranquil routine playing cards with close friends, keeping up her garden, and relaxing with a glass of wine. When her beloved dog dies, there's a mournful vacuum that draws new experiences and attachments into her world. She forges a friendship with her pool guy and allows a pal to drag her to a speed dating shindig. And then there's the gravelly-voiced, exuberant gentleman, Bill, who comes out of nowhere.

Acquired: January 31By: HBOPurchase Price: NADirector: Marc SilverStarring: NAOther Info: Participant teamed with HBO to acquire the TV rights. The film will have a theatrical run in the Fall of 2015 before airing on TV.Plot Synopsis:

On Black Friday 2012, four middle-class African-American law-abiding teenagers stopped at a gas station to buy gum and cigarettes. One of them, Jordan Davis, argued with Michael Dunn, a white man parked beside them, over the volume of music playing in their car. The altercation turned to tragedy when Dunn fired 10 bullets at the unarmed boys, killing Davis almost instantly. The seamlessly constructed, riveting documentary film 3½ MINUTES explores the danger and subjectivity of Florida's Stand Your Ground self-defense laws by weaving Dunn's trial with a chorus of citizen and pundit opinions, and with Jordan Davis's parents' wrenching experiences in and out of the courtroom.

Acquired: January 30By: Screen Media Films, via The WrapPurchase Price: NADirector: Shari Springer Berman & Robert PulciniStarring: Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Emily Mortimer, Julianne Nicholson, Emile Hirsch, Ethan HawkeOther Info: Based on the novel by Eleanor Henderson; this was one of Russ' two least-liked films at the fest.Plot Synopsis:

Jude—named after a Beatles song by his hippie parents—spends his high school days in small-town Vermont getting high with his best friend, Teddy. Beneath Jude's mind-numbing activities lurks a desire to reconnect with his estranged father, Les, who abandoned the family when Jude was nine. Desperate to keep her son out of trouble, Jude's mother sends him to live with Les in New York City. In the roiling and raw East Village, Jude struggles to establish an identity within the cultural upheaval downtown and forms an unlikely surrogate family with Teddy's straight-edge brother and a troubled, rich uptown girl..

Acquired: January 30By: FortissimoPurchase Price: NADirector: Chloé ZhaoStarring: John Reddy, Jashaun St. John, Irene Bedard, Taysha Fuller, Travis Lone Hill, Eléonore HendricksOther Info: The film features a cast of non-professional actors.Plot Synopsis:

High school senior Johnny is fixing to leave the Pine Ridge Reservation when the unexpected death of his rodeo-cowboy father complicates things. Reluctant to leave behind his 13-year-old sister, Jashaun, with whom he shares a special bond, Johnny must rethink his future. While Jashaun seeks out answers from her older half-brothers, Johnny's increasing inner conflict stands in the way of his departure, setting both of them on separate paths toward rediscovering the meaning of home..

Acquired: January 30By: The OrchardPurchase Price: NADirector: Joe SwanbergStarring: Jake Johnson, Rosemarie DeWitt, Orlando Bloom, Brie Larson, Sam Rockwell, Anna Kendrick, Mike BirbigliaOther Info: Johnson co-wrote the film with Swanberg, who shot it on 35mm.Plot Synopsis:

Young married couple Tim and Lee have planted the seeds of a family in their East L.A. duplex. Three years after the birth of their son, they're still adjusting to the joy and pain of life with kid, navigating potty talk at the dinner table, disagreeing over preschools, and putting off doing their taxes. For a change of pace, they decide to house-sit for one of Lee's Westside yoga clients. Once there, Tim discovers something suspicious in the yard that gets the wheels in his head turning, and Lee, worried that he will become obsessed with digging deeper, decides to drop their toddler off with her mother for a much-needed night out on the town. Sans-wife, Tim invites his buddies over, and a "boys-will-be-boys" scenario ensues, full of drinking, awkward joint-passing, and perhaps getting a bit too close to a girl who isn't the mother of his child.

Acquired: January 30By: IFC MidnightPurchase Price: NADirector: J.M CraviotoStarring: Tina Ivlev, Richard Tyson, Bianca MalinowskiOther Info: Both Peter and Germain agree this was the worst film they saw at Sundance.Plot Synopsis:

Chained by her ankle and locked away in the dismal basement of a sexual predator, Eve has been missing and presumed dead for some time. Lost to her family and friends, she wastes away in isolation between horrifying visits from her vile captor, who remains unaware that Eve has been maniacally planning her escape. With a carefully placed brick, she beats him senseless as he approaches and frees herself from his grasp at the outset of the film. But too quickly, she learns there are other girls in other houses facing sinister fates of their own. Making a deal with the devil, she vows to save them all, turning her torturer into her prisoner, one who will lead her to his prey one by one.

Acquired: January 29By: MagnoliaPurchase Price: NADirector: Crystal MoeselleStarring: The Angulo BrothersOther Info: This low-key doc about an unusual family features some surprisingly spot-on movie recreations.Plot Synopsis:

The six Angulo brothers have spent their entire lives locked away from society in an apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Nicknamed "the Wolfpack," they're all exceedingly bright, are homeschooled, have no acquaintances outside their family and have practically never left their home.  All they know of the outside world is gleaned from the films they watch obsessively and recreate meticulously, using elaborate homemade props and costumes. For years this has served as a productive creative outlet and a way to stave off loneliness – but after one of the brothers escapes the apartment (wearing a Michael Meyers mask for protection), the power dynamics in  the house are transformed, and all the boys begin to dream of venturing out.

Acquired: January 28By: A24Purchase Price: $2m, via DeadlineDirector: Anna Boden and Ryan FleckStarring: Ryan Reynolds, Ben Mendelsohn, Sienna Miller, Analeigh Tipton, Alfre Woodard and Robin WeigartOther Info: Buzz has been oriented around audience reaction to performances by Ryan Reynolds and Ben Mendelsohn.Plot Synopsis:

Gerry is a talented poker player, but his gambling habit is getting the best of him. One day, he meets a charismatic young traveler named Curtis. Deeming Curtis his lucky charm, Gerry convinces him that they should hit the road together. As they gamble their way down South toward a legendary high-stakes poker game in New Orleans, the trip's highs and lows unveil the duo's true character and motivation, and an undeniable bond forms between them.

Acquired:January 28By: Focus World, a division of Focus FeaturesPurchase Price: NADirector: Jon WattsStarring: Kevin Bacon, James Freedson-Jackson, Hays Wellford, Shea Whigham, Camryn ManheimOther Info: Midnight film described by Russ as a blend of Amblin and Coen Brothers ideas.Plot Synopsis:

What would a normal pair of 10-year-old boys do when they stumble upon a seemingly abandoned police car in a country field? Take it for a joyride, of course. Cop Car embarks on a harrowing crash course full of mayhem as the duo attempt to navigate the back roads behind the wheel of a machine that they have no clue how to operate. Blissfully unaware of the impending doom they face at every turn, they see things go from bad to worse when the corrupt small-town sheriff aims to get his car back at all costs. The kids find themselves in the center of a deadly game of cat and mouse that they don't understand, and the only way out is to put pedal to metal and drive as fast as their cop car will take them.

Acquired: January 28By: Magnolia & ParticipantPurchase Price:  high six figuresDirector: Academy Award-winning Morgan Neville (20 Feet From Stardom) and Robert GordonStarring:Other Info: The film made its world premiere in the U.S. Documentary Competition section. The film last Friday at the Library Theatre.Plot Synopsis:

In the summer of 1968, television news changed forever. Dead last in the ratings, ABC hired two towering public intellectuals to debate each other during the Democratic and Republican national conventions. William F. Buckley, Jr. was a leading light of the new conservative movement. A Democrat and cousin to Jackie Onassis, Gore Vidal was a leftist novelist and polemicist. Armed with deep-seated distrust and enmity, Vidal and Buckley believed each other's political ideologies were dangerous for America. Like rounds in a heavyweight battle, they pummeled out policy and personal insult—cementing their opposing political positions. Their explosive exchanges devolved into vitriolic name-calling. It was unlike anything TV had ever broadcast, and all the more shocking because it was live and unscripted. Viewers were riveted. ABC News' ratings skyrocketed. And a new era in public discourse was born.

Acquired: January 28By: Sundance SelectsPurchase Price:  North American RightsDirector: Laura GabbertStarring:Other Info: The film made its world premiere in the U.S. Documentary Competition sectionPlot Synopsis:

As the unabashed cradle of Hollywood superficiality and smoggy urban sprawl, Los Angeles has long been condemned as a cultural wasteland. In the richly penetrating documentary odyssey City of Gold, Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold shows us another Los Angeles, where ethnic cooking is a kaleidoscopic portal to the mysteries of an unwieldy city and the soul of America. Bombing through colorful neighborhoods in his green pickup truck, Gold is sniffing out his next strip-mall discovery—whether Oaxacan grasshopper soup, hand-cut tonkotsu ramen, or a particularly unctuous pad see ew. As piping-hot platters are served up, so are stories of immigrants whose secret family recipes are like sacred offerings pledged for the opportunity to build their American Dream. With eternal curiosity, razor-sharp intellect, and existential longing, Gold is a culinary geographer taking us where no critic has gone before. Like the film, Gold makes low culture high and high culture relevant, teasing out the meaning of life from a Korean taco, and pondering all that makes us different and all that makes us exactly the same

Acquired: January 28By: Sony Pictures ClassicsPurchase Price:  $2 million for world rightsDirector: Paul WeitzStarring: Lily Tomlin, Julia Garner, Marcia Gay Harden, Judy Greer, Laverne Cox, Sam ElliottOther Info: Plot Synopsis:

Elle, a onetime successful poet, abruptly breaks up with Olive, her girlfriend of four months. But before she gets a chance to get overly sentimental, her granddaughter, Sage, unexpectedly shows up with an emergency that requires money. With the clock ticking, the two set out in a vintage Dodge and drop in on Elle's old friends and flames, asking for help but instead ending up rattling skeletons and digging up secrets. As they kick up a storm all over town, Elle's tough front reveals she is still reeling over the loss of her longtime partner, Vi, who recently passed away.

Acquired: January 27By: Fox SearchlightPurchase Price: $9 millionDirector: John CrowleyStarring: Saoirse Ronan, Domhnall Gleesonm, Emory Cohen, Jim Broadbent, Julie WaltersOther Info: Nick Hornby wrote the screenplayPlot Synopsis:

Set on opposite sides of the Atlantic, John Crowley's Brooklyn tells the profoundly moving story of Eilis Lacey, a young Irish immigrant navigating her way through 1950s Brooklyn. Lured by the promise of America, Eilis departs Ireland and the comfort of her mother's home for the shores of New York City. The initial shackles of homesickness quickly diminish as a fresh romance sweeps Eilis into the intoxicating charm of love. But soon, her new vivacity is disrupted by her past, and Eilis must choose between two countries and the lives that exist within.

Acquired: January 27By: MagnoliaPurchase Price: UnrevealedDirector: Sean BakerStarring: Mya Taylor and Kitana Kiki RodriguezOther Info: Tangerine was shot entirely on iPhone 5s.Plot Synopsis:

It's Christmas Eve in Tinseltown and Sin-Dee is back on the block. Upon hearing that her pimp boyfriend hasn't been faithful during the 28 days she was locked up, the working girl and her best friend, Alexandra, embark on a mission to get to the bottom of the scandalous rumor. Their rip-roaring odyssey leads them through various subcultures of Los Angeles, including an Armenian family dealing with their own repercussions of infidelity.

Acquired: January 26By: LionsgatePurchase Price: $3 millionDirector: Eli RothStarring: Keanu ReevesOther Info: The film had eight offers. Read our review here.Plot Synopsis:

Evan Webber (Keanu Reeves) is living the dream. Just look at his beautiful, successful wife, his two wonderful kids, and his truly stunning house—which he designed himself. Of course he did. Things are going so well, Evan doesn't even mind spending Father's Day alone while the rest of his family heads out for a beach weekend. And then there's a knock on the door. The two young women (Lorenza Izzo and Ana de Armas) standing on Evan's doorstep are where Evan's dream takes a nightmarish turn. Given co-writer/director Eli Roth's well-deserved reputation for creating cinematic discomfort, it should come as no surprise what happens next: Things get weird, and then dark, and then much, much, much darker. But this is no splatter film, so Roth keeps the horror nice and psychological as Evan's life—and house—get ripped apart, piece by beautiful piece

Acquired: January 26By: OrchardPurchase Price: NADirector: Patrick BriceStarring: Adam Scott, Taylor Schilling, Jason Schwartzman, Judith GodrècheOther Info:  Expect a wide theatrical release, according to The Wrap. Read our review here.Plot Synopsis:

Alex, Emily, and their son, RJ, have recently moved to Los Angeles's Eastside from Seattle. Feeling lost in a new city, they are desperate to find their first new friends. After a chance meeting with Kurt at the neighborhood park, they gladly agree to join family pizza night at his home. But as it gets later and the kids go to bed, the family "playdate" becomes increasingly more revealing as the couples begin to open up.

Acquired: January 25th late night, premiered earlier in the day at EcclesBy: Fox SearchlightPurchase Price: $12 million (A Sundance record) Correction, $4.7 millionDirector: Alfonso Gomez-RejonStarring: Thomas Mann, Olivia Cooke, RJ Cyler, Nick Offerman, Molly Shannon, Jon Bernthal and Connie BrittonOther Info: The film sparked a bidding war with Focus, CBS Films, Lionsgate, A24 and Miramax. Read our Me, Earl and the Dying Girl review here.Plot Synopsis:

Greg Gaines is an awkward, self-deprecating high school student determined to coast through his senior year as anonymously as possible. Avoiding social interactions like the plague, Greg spends most of his time remaking wacky versions of classic movies with his only friend, Earl. Greg's well-meaning mother intervenes, forcing him to befriend Rachel, a classmate who's been diagnosed with leukemia. Against his better judgment, Greg concedes. Both Greg and Rachel are surprised—even shocked—to find out that they actually like each other. Tentative at first, this unlikely duo becomes inseparable. But when Rachel gets sicker, Greg's well-fortified world is changed forever.

Acquired: January 25By: Sony Pictures ClassicsPurchase Price: "the low seven figures" for North America and multiple other territories.Director: Marielle HellerStarring: Bel Powley, Alexander Skarsgard, Kristen Wiig, and Christopher MeloniPlot Synopsis:

Based on the acclaimed graphic novel by Phoebe Gloeckner, The Diary of a Teenage Girl recounts the coming-of-age adventures of Minnie Goetze, a San Francisco teenager growing up in the counterculture haze of the 1970s. Lonely and artistic, Minnie chronicles her trials through expressive drawings and painfully honest missives confided to a tape recorder. One fateful evening alone with her mother's boyfriend, Minnie is confronted with her burgeoning sexuality for the first time, and suddenly this precocious teen is in way over her head.

Acquired: January 25By: Open Road (U.S.) and Sony (international)Purchase Price: $7 million with a a minimum $20 million marketing commitmentDirector: Rick FamuyiwaStarring: Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons, Zoe Kravitz, Blake Anderson, and A$AP RockyOther Info: The film sparked a bidding war with The Weinstein Co., Open Road, Lionsgate, A24, Fox Searchlight, and Relativity all in the mix. Read our Dope review here.Plot Synopsis:

A coming of age comedy/drama for the post hip hop generation. Malcolm is a geek, carefully surviving life in The Bottoms, a tough neighborhood in Inglewood, CA filled gangsters and drugs dealers, while juggling his senior year of college applications, interviews and the SAT. His dream is to attend Harvard. A chance invitation to a big underground party leads Malcolm and his friends into a, only in Los Angeles, gritty adventure filed with offbeat characters and bad choices. If Malcolm can persevere, he'll go from being a geek, to being dope, to ultimately being himself.

Acquired: January 25By: IFC FilmsPurchase Price: $3 millionDirector: Jarrad Paul and Andrew MogelStarring: Jack Black, James Marsden, Kathryn Hahn, Jeffrey Tambor, Mike White, Kyle BornheimerOther Info: THR reported the news. Fox Searchlight and Lionsgate were also in the mix.Plot Synopsis:

Dan Landsman is the overly enthusiastic head of his high school reunion committee and also the group's laughingstock. To impress his so-called friends, he vows to convince their most famous former classmate—Oliver Lawless, the star of a national Banana Boat TV commercial—to attend the reunion to increase attendance. Dan travels to Los Angeles and spins a web of lies, igniting an intoxicating excitement for the first time in his humdrum life. In exchange for Oliver's precarious friendship, Dan sacrifices his relationships with his wife, son, and boss, and loses himself in his obsession for approval and recognition.

Acquired: January 24By: AlchemyPurchase Price: Under $1.5mDirector: Kim FarrantStarring: Nicole Kidman, Joseph Fiennes, Hugo Weaving, Lisa Flanagan, Meyne Wyatt, Maddison BrownOther Info: Info via Deadline.Plot Synopsis:

New to the remote Australian desert town of Nathgari, the Parker family is thrown into crisis when Catherine and Matthew discover that their two teenage kids, Tommy and Lily, have mysteriously disappeared just before a massive dust storm hits the town. With Nathgari now eerily smothered in red dust and darkness, the locals join the search led by local cop David Rae. With temperatures rising, and the chances of survival plummeting with each passing day, Catherine and Matthew find themselves pushed to the brink as they struggle to survive the uncertainty of their children's fate.

Acquired: January 24By: A24Purchase Price: $1.5mDirector: Robert EggersStarring: Anya Taylor Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Ellie Grainger, Lucas DawsonOther Info: Deal not fully set, but looks likely according to THR.Plot Synopsis:

A colonial family leaves plantation life and attempts to reap their harvest on a fledgling farm at the edge of an imposing ancient New England forest. Soon, superstition and dread set in as food grows scarce, a family member goes missing, and the children's play takes on a frenzied and menacing undercurrent. As they begin to turn on one another, the malevolent machinations of an ethereal presence from within the woods exacerbate the growing corruption of their own natures.

Acquired: January 24By: RelativityPurchase Price: $3 millionDirectors: Bryan BuckleyStarring: Melissa Rauch, Gary Cole, Thomas Middleditch, Sebastian Stan, Haley Lu Richardson, Cecily StrongOther Info: Read our review here. Deal not 100% but looks likely according to Deadline.Plot Synopsis:

In 2004, Hope Ann Greggory became an American hero after winning the bronze medal for the women's gymnastics team. Today, she's living in her father's basement in her small hometown—washed up, largely forgotten, and embittered. Stuck in her past glory, Hope is forced to reassess her life when a promising young gymnast who idolizes her threatens her local celebrity status. Will she mentor the adoring, hopeful protégé, take her down, or both?

Acquired: January 23By: Tribeca FilmPurchase Price: undisclosedDirectors: Kevin PollakStarring: Tom Hanks, Jimmy Fallon, Amy Schumer, Judd Apatow, Jon Favreau, Lisa Kudrow, Larry David, Steve Coogan, Jim Gaffigan, and Whoopi GoldbergOther Info: Feature-length documentary.  Tribecca acquired North American rightsPlot Synopsis:

Director Kevin Pollak shares in-depth, candid interviews with some of the most revered comedy greats who each share their unique path and a life devoted to making strangers laugh. With arresting anecdotes and insights from the comedy underbelly that reveal the paradox of a performer's desire to connect with audiences, Misery Loves Comedy is the definitive master class on the art of humor that details a comedian's rare ability to help us understand life as only they can.

Acquired: January 22 in advance of its January 23 premiere.By: Relativity SportsPurchase Price: undisclosedDirectors: Tony Vainuku, Erika CohnOther Info: Feature-length sports documentary. Relativity Sports has produced and released "Being: Mariano," "David Ortiz: In the Moment," "Dwight Howard: In the Moment" and "Amar'e Stoudemire: In the Moment." Dwayne Johnson came aboard as a producer.Plot Synopsis:

Four young Polynesian football players struggle to overcome gang violence and poverty as they enter the high-stakes world of recruiting, competitive athletics and family pressures.

Acquired: January 22 in advance of its January 23 premiere.By: A24Purchase Price: $2-$3 millionDirector: James Ponsoldt (The Spectacular Now)Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Jason Segel, Anna Chlumsky, Joan CusackOther Info: Comedy in the Premiere section. Deadline reports it would get an awards release later this year.Plot Synopsis:

In 1996, shortly after the publication of his groundbreaking novel Infinite Jest,acclaimed author David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel) sets off on a five-day interview with Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg). As the days pass, a tenuous yet significant relationship develops between journalist and subject. Lipsky and Wallace bob and weave around each other, revealing as much in what they don't say as what the say. They share laughs, expose hidden frailties, yet it's never clear when or to what extent they are being truthful. The interview is never published. Five days of audio tapes are packed away in Lipsky's closet, and the two men never meet again.

Acquired: January 22 in advance of its January 27 premiere.By: Magnolia PicturesPurchase Price: UndisclosedDirector: Andrew Bujalski (Funny Ha Ha, Mutual Appreciation, Computer Chess)Starring: Guy Pearce, Cobie Smulders, Giovanni Ribisi, Anthony Michael Hall, Brooklyn Decker and Constance ZimmerOther Info: Comedy in the U.S. Dramatic Competition. Magnolia is eyeing a summer theatrical release for the film.Plot Synopsis:

RESULTS is well toned ensemble comedy set in the fitness world of Austin, TX. Corrigan plays Danny, a recently divorced, newly rich, and utterly miserable slob who makes a stab at self-improvement by signing up for a personal trainer at a local gym. There he meets self-styled guru/owner Trevor (Guy Pearce) and irresistibly acerbic trainer Kat (Cobie Smulders). Soon, their three lives are inextricably knotted, both professionally and personally. Andrew Bujalski (Computer Chess, 2013) returns to the Sundance Film Festival with a funny, intimate tale that's utterly grounded in real life.

Acquired: January 22 in advance of its January 25 premiere.By: Showtime NetworksPurchase Price: UndisclosedDirector: Kim Longinotto (Salma, Rough Aunties, Divorce Iranian Style)Starring:Plot Synopsis:

On the West Side of Chicago at 3:00am, a van with the words "Dreamcatcher Foundation" emblazoned across the side cruises through the dimly lit streets. The two women inside are Brenda Myers-Powell and Stephanie Daniels-Wilson, survivors of the sex trade. The van slows down as they approach a young girl. Brenda leans out and calls, "Hey pretty, do you need some condoms?" This opening scene takes you immediately into the sharp end of the world of Dreamcatcher, vividly directed by master documentarian Kim Longinotto. Brenda became a prostitute as a teenager, developed a drug addiction, and years later came out the other side. Her experience, combined with her irresistible personality, puts her in a unique position to help other trafficked women reclaim their lives. With warmth and humor, Brenda gives hope to those who have none.

Acquired: January 21 in advance of its January 28 premiere.By: LionsgatePurchase Price: UndisclosedDirector: Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre)Starring: Sam Rockwell, Jemaine Clement, Amy Ryan, Danny McBride, Leslie Bibb and Will Forte.Plot Synopsis:

"Biblical archaeologist Don Verdean is hired by a local church pastor to find faith-promoting relics in the Holy Land. But after a fruitless expedition he is forced to get creative in this comedy of faith and fraud."