Top 50 Most Anticipated American Independent Films of 2019: #44. Dan Gilroy’s Velvet Buzzsaw

Velvet Buzzsaw

We weren’t fans of his overwrought clunker sophomore film Roman J. Israel, Esq., so we’re hopeful that a reunion with Jake Gyllenhaal might pay off much like the synergy that was Nightcrawler. Dan Gilroy’s fun-titled Velvet Buzzsaw (trailer) was selected for the Sundance Film Festival and will be released via Netflix the week after. This project went into production in March of 2018 with Zawe Ashton, Natalia Dyer, Tom Sturridge, Daveed Diggs, Toni Collette, John Malkovich and Billy Magnussen joining Gyllenhaal in Los Angeles empty exhibit space splendor. We called his ★★★★ debut film “a dark hearted neo-noir of the seedier side of Los Angeles, often neglected now in an era that prizes euphemisms, political correctness, and bright shiny toy cinema.” We think this will be trending on more than just instagram.

Gist: A feared critic, an icy gallery owner and an ambitious assistant snap up a recently deceased artist’s stash of paintings — with dire consequences.

Release Date/Prediction: Landed a red carpet premiere before heading off to Netflix launch on February 1st.