Annual Top Films Lists

Top 100 Most Anticipated Films of 2013: #74. Laurie Collyer’s Sunlight Jr.

Published on January 11, 2013

Sunlight Jr.

Director/Writer: Laurie Collyer
Producer(s): Charlie Corwin, Ariel Elia and Andrea Roa
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
Cast: Naomi Watts, Norman Reedus, Matt Dillon

As I’ve mentioned before, it’s been a half more than a decade since Collyer broke out with her micro-budgeted Sherrybaby and we’ve been waiting for her her second fictional feature ever since. The trio of players (Norman Reedus, Naomi Watts and Matt Dillon) could pan out some ripe results.

Gist: Melissa Winters (Naomi Watts) works as a cashier in a convenience store. It’s a dead end job, one dollar above minimum wage, but it’s as good as she can get. Her boyfriend, Richie Barnes (Matt Dillon) is permanently disabled from a motorcycle accident he had years ago. A former television repair man, Richie now lives month to month on a government disability check. He would love to get a real job, but instead, he drinks. Sunlight Jr. is a social issue film disguised as a love story. Melissa and Richie live together in a motel in Florida.

Release Date: Mystified that this wasn’t announced as a Sundance selection – we imagine this could only be a high profile selection at some upcoming film festival.

Eric Lavallée

Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).