Festival Predictions

2024 Sundance Film Festival Predictions: Flying Lotus’ Ash

Published on November 7, 2023

The headlines for when his debut film dropped in Park City were the numerous walkouts (less than 1 percent of the audience to be exact) — but at least the patrons weren’t indifferent. Flying Lotus follows 2017’s Kuso with a sophomore feature film that moved into production last March back in New Zealand. Cherry picking folks like Eiza González, Aaron Paul, Iko Uwais, Beulah Koale and Kate Elliott, Ash will naturally see the artist also contribute the film’s score. Based on an original screenplay by Jonni Remmler, and notable filmmaker Neill Blomkamp is an executive producer on the project.

Gist: This follows a woman (González) who wakes up on a distant planet and finds the crew of her space station viciously killed. She must now decide if she can trust the man (Paul) sent to rescue her.

Production Co./Producers: XYZ Films’ Nate Bolotin. GFC’s Matthew Metcalfe.

Prediction: Midnight.

Sales: XYZ Films.

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).