2021 Sundance Film Festival Predictions: Sia’s Music

A project that took its sweet time to arrive will finally be unveiled next February and could technically nab a Sundance slot as a sort of we need some vitamins in Covid burnout times. The Australian singer-songwriter Sia began filming Music in 2018 on what was a considerable budget north of 10M. Featuring Kate Hudson, Leslie Odom, Jr. and our “Chandelier” fave in Maddie Ziegler – we can look for appearances by Juliette Lewis, Ben Schwartz, Hector Elizondo and Mary Kay Place as well. Originally this was not set as a musical, but now includes tons of original songs and musical sequences. Sia reteamed with music video cinematographer Sebastian Winterø (Kajillionaire).

Gist: Co-written by Sia and Dallas Clayton, Kate Hudson, plays Zu, a newly sober drug dealer and self-saboteur who finds herself the sole guardian of her half-sister, Music (Maddie Ziegler), a teenager with special needs. Barely able to take care of herself, let alone her sister, Zu struggles with this new responsibility, but soon learns that life’s obstacles are made easier with a little help from a friend, Ebo (Leslie Odom, Jr.), a neighbor whose own family story makes him someone Zu can learn from and rely upon. The film explores the tenuous bonds that hold us together and imagines a world where those bonds can be strengthened in times of great challenge.

Production Co./Producers: Vincent Landay, Sia.

Prediction: PREMIERES.