Sexy and Messy Movies to Look Forward to In 2023 — Anne Hathaway, Phoebe Dynevor and Julia Louis-Dreyfus Bring the Drama

The Sundance Film Festival can always be counted on to deliver exhilarating, illuminating and emotion-packed documentaries. The dramas, while a riskier choice, usually include movies that go on to achieve awards and commercial success. Think Winters Bone with Jennifer Lawrence, Manchester by the Sea with Casey Affleck and Little Miss Sunshine. After watching two days of documentaries about isolation on outer space missions, hospital chaplains in the midst of COVID and a terrorist organization that unleashed nerve gas on a Tokyo subway that killed 14 people, I was ready to sample some of the most talked about movie dramas.

But first, some general observations about 2023 Sundance. It was less crowded this year. There are several reasons for this — the uncertainty around the economy chief among them, Park City’s rising prices make this movie festival too expensive for many movie buffs, and some film distributors such as Amazon, Apple and Netflix produce their own movies. The old feeding frenzy where numerous bidders compete for films that ultimately proved to be box office losers has cooled. Movie studios and streaming companies are taking a more thoughtful approach.

In past years if a movie earned a standing ovation and audience approval at Sundance, it was snapped up almost immediately. No more.

Movie lovers may not see as many films from Sundance coming to their TV or streaming devices. The best dramas at Sundance 2023 are largely dark, shocking and provocative. Most of these movies will not premiere in theaters and instead go straight to streaming. Here are four notable films to look out for:

Eileen

One of Sundance’s most eagerly anticipated dramas is Eileen, which is based on a critically acclaimed novel of the same name. The Eileen in this story is a 24-year-old secretary (played by Thomasin McKenzie) in a prison who takes care of her abusive alcoholic father, a retired policeman. The movie takes place in the stark winter of a small town in Massachusetts in the 1960s. Eileen’s life (and the film) is dull and monotonous until a Harvard trained psychologist named Dr. Rebecca (played by Anne Hathaway) joins the prison team.

Dr. Rebecca is everything Eileen is not. She is bold, glamourous, confident and sexy. Dr. Rebecca befriends Eileen and seduces her. Eileen transitions from a mousy soul to a siren as she responds to the doctor.

Things go from prodding to heart pounding when Dr. Rebecca invites Eileen over for Christmas. There is foreshadowing so the audience knows that Eileen is about to snap as a result of her father’s cruelty and that she has his gun. To say more would spoil it, but the last 30 minutes of Eileen are both tense and totally bonkers. Anne Hathaway, with blond hair and perfectly tailored clothes, is astonishingly beautiful, mesmerizing and irresistible in this role.

Although Eileen is too dark for my taste, it shows Anne Hathaway at the top of her game and this movie star certainly has fun playing this crazy character.

Eileen is still seeking distribution.

Cat Person

Cat Person is adapted from a 2017 short story in the New Yorker of the same name that went viral and became one of the storied magazine’s most-read pieces of 2017. The movie follows the brief relationship of Margo (played by Emilia Jones), a college student who works at a concession stand of a movie theater, and Robert (played by Nicholas Braun), an older mysterious movie goer. The film starts by putting a Margaret Atwood quotation on the screen: “Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.”

This quote sets the tone as the relationship between Margo and Robert starts with flirtatious texting followed by dates that give off red flags. Or is Robert just a socially awkward dude? Cat Person gracefully and humorously shows the awkwardness of dating and the balance between being pursued and pursuing.

Does the fact that Robert has cats atone for his weirdness?

After Margo has a consensual physical encounter with Robert, she decides she finds him unattractive and dumps him. Initially Robert is gracious but then his texts become angrier and more agitated.

The film shows his final text, which follows the short story, when he just texts the word “Whore.” Looking at my watch, I saw there were 40 more minutes left in the movie. “Oh no,” I thought. “Such a good job showing the nuance and complexities of today’s dating world and staying true to the magnificent short story. Please don’t ruin it.”

Ruin it they did. Cat Person turns into something totally incomprehensible with  Indiana Jones  action  scenes, a fire and a knife. What a disappointment. Emilia Jones (CODA) is a joy to watch as is Nicholas Braun (Succession). It is a shame the movie takes such a turn. Didn’t anyone tell them to leave a good short story alone?

Cat Person is also seeking distribution.

Fair Play

After seeing Eileen and Cat Person, Fair Play seemed like a safe bet. It was acquired by Netflix in a huge $20 million bidding war and almost everyone seems to be raving about it. One prominent reviewer described the movie as an” electrifying thriller.”

It details a relationship between two up-and-coming business people against the backdrop of a high pressure New York hedge fund and it is directed an alum of the TV show Billions, one of my favorites. Emily (played by Phoebe Dynevor of Bridgerton  fame) and Luke (played by Alden Ehrenreich of Brave New World) are engaged. Their relationship starts to unravel when Emily is selected over Luke to receive a promotion. Given the fragile power dynamics between women and men, the #MeToo movement and work relationships, this foreshadows the problems (cruelty and violence) to come.

The premise of Fair Play is a timely one and will no doubt spark many conversations, but the film is so unrealistic that it’s near cartoonish. Golf clubs are used to attack computer terminals. Women and men go to strip clubs and pass out drunk. The F-word becomes part of every single sentence. It seems like a squandered opportunity to tell a story that is very current.

But you can judge for yourself when Fair Play streams on Netflix later this year. Be prepared for violent and non-violent blood, bad dialogue and a silly ending.

You Hurt My Feelings

Sundance had some clear winners though. Take the brilliantly funny comedy You Hurt My Feelings with Julia Louis-Dreyfus starring as a Beth a writer/professor happily married to Don (Tobias Menzies of The Crown and Game of Thrones), a therapist. The major incident of the movie occurs when Beth overhears Don telling her brother-in-law Mark that he really doesn’t like her new book.

Louis-Dreyfus is heartbroken and crushed by the admission. There are lots of laughs and half truths told with Don’s patients, their son, her difficult mother, the relationship her sister a decorator has with a difficult client and her brother-in-law’s acting career all getting involved. But You Hurt My Feelings comes down to one central question.

Is it OK or even better to lie to someone if it makes them feel good?

Louis-Dreyfus joked at the Sundance Q&A that this was the huge budget film that she couldn’t say no to (obviously not true). The Seinfeld alum is such a brilliant actor and comedian that she is a joy to watch in almost anything. Especially when there is such warm, witty and thought provoking material to work with.

Louis-Dreyfus and director Nicole Holofcener successfully collaborated 10 years ago on the rom-com Enough Said and they’re back together again with You Hurt My Feelings. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait another decade for another collaboration between these two women.

Their movie was acquired before the Sundance Film Festival by A24 and will be available later this year.

Jane Howze is managing director of The Alexander Group, a national executive search firm. She has reported on the Sundance Film Festival for 14 years. Follow her on Twitter @JaneHowze for more Sundance insights.