Festival Predictions

2014 Sundance Film Festival Predictions: Gareth Evans’ The Raid 2

Published on November 20, 2013

It’s a major vote of confidence when a festival, such as Sundance, happens to be filled almost exclusively by world premieres and then allows for a film to crack the line-up five months after premiering elsewhere. Thus was the case for Gareth Evans’ The Raid: Redemption. It kicked-butt at TIFF, before finding a slot in Park City and despite the very recent Sony pick-up, this action-thriller also looks primed for a January showing. Production talk took place not much time after the film’s international release and it commenced in January of this year. If the first installment was over the top, I can only imagine this getting incrementally better with each chop, kick, stab and punch.

Gist: A sequel that literally picks up where the first installment ends, this follows Rama (Iko Uwais) as he goes undercover and infiltrates the ranks of a ruthless Jakarta crime syndicate in order to protect his family and uncover the corruption in his own police force.

Production Co./Producers: Merantau Films’ Ario Sagantoro, XYZ Films’ Aram Tertzakian and Nate Bolotin (The Rambler).

Prediction: Only one possible choice: Park City at Midnight

U.S. Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics and Stage 6 Films

[related]2014 Sundance Film Festival Predictions[/related]

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).