Festival Predictions

2018 Sundance Film Festival Predictions: Sarah Daggar-Nickson’s A Vigilante

Published on November 14, 2017

Unless it’s within the horror genre, revenge type films signed by female filmmakers are few and far between. For every Kill Bill, there are not enough Baise-moi or more recently, Natalia Leite’ M.F.A. or indiewood versions of Atomic Blonde. So far we’re liking the coda introduced here in this directorial debut project and we can think of no better time to go into a Charles Bronson mode than now with film that will likely circumvent easy characterizations of domestic violence survival. New York City based Sarah Daggar-Nickson first whetted her appetite via a pair of shorts in Dead Hands (2010) and The Light in the Night (2011) – which was awarded the Adrienne Shelly Foundation Grant, before placing Olivia Wilde front, right and not really center, but more on the murky sidelines. Production began this past February, and we were treated to the first still of A Vigilante during Cannes. Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurrriaans signed on to compose the music.

Gist: Written by Daggar-Nickson, Sadie (Wilde), plays a secretive figure/avenging angel who helps women by seeking revenge on their domestic abusers.

Production Co./Producers: Emmett/Furla/Oasis’ Randall Emmett and George Furla (Gotti), Uncorked Productions’ Andrew D. Corkin (The Alchemist Cookbook), Parts & Labor’s Lars Knudsen (American Honey), Badlands Entertainment’s Ambyr Childers, Olivia Wilde.

Prediction: Park City at Midnight. If not Sundance, then a premiere at another American Film Fest.

U.S. Distributor: Rights Available. WME Global (domestic). Highland Film Group (international)

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).