Festival Predictions

2022 Sundance Film Festival Predictions: Anna Rose Holmer & Saela Davis’ God’s Creatures

Published on November 23, 2021

After delivering the goods with one of the best directorial debuts (and Sundance Film Festival NEXT section selections) in recent memory, for her sophomore project, Anna Rose Holmer adopted a two heads is better than one mantra having The Fits film editor Saela Davis join her behind the camera (again). The pair directed the music video for James Blake featuring actress Natalie Portman, and shortly after this Davis’ last film cred was as editor for Minhal Baig’s Hala – also a Sundance Film Festival selection. Holmer and Davis next creative collaboration was a co-production with filming taking place across the pond this past May. Set in Ireland, we find Emily Watson and Paul Mescal at the core of God’s Creatures — described as a psychological thriller that may include some of the mystical elements and creative editing we found in Holmer’s debut. The project was penned by Shane Crowley.

Gist: Set in a rainswept Irish fishing village, where a woman’s lies to protect her son have a devastating impact on the community, her family and herself.

Production Co./Producers: Sixty-Six Pictures’ Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly.

Prediction: U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION.

U.S. Distributor: A24.

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).