Annual Top Films Lists

Top 100 Most Anticipated American Indie Films of 2018: #83. Yen Tan’s 1985

Published on January 15, 2018

1985

Known for 2013’s Pit Stop (Sundance selection), last April, Yen Tan returned behind the camera for a his fifth feature modeled on the award winning short. Shot in Dallas with Cory Michael Smith (Wonderstruck), 1985 supporting cast comprised of Virginia Madsen, Michael Chiklis, Noah Schnapp and Jamie Chung.

Based on a story by HutcH and Tan, this centers on terminally-ill Adrian (Smith), who flies home from New York to visit his estranged family in Texas. His attempt at revealing his circumstances to his conservative parents (Madsen, Chiklis) are challenged when he reconnects with his preteen brother (Schnapp) and his old flame (Chung). 1985 could really pack a wallop and as I mentioned before, nice companion piece just after Robin Campillo’s BPM (Beats Per Minute).

Release Date/Prediction: Narrative Comp at SXSW looks possible and would be a logical spot as the short was featured there.

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).