Festival Predictions

2024 Sundance Film Festival Predictions: Maxime Giroux’s In Cold Light

Published on November 13, 2023

With five feature films under his belt, this past summer Maxime Giroux moved into the saddle of his English language debut (2014’s Félix et Meira works in multiple spoken dialogues) with In Cold Light. Lassoing the likes of Maika Monroe, Troy Kotsur and Helen Hunt, this crime thriller could easily wait until the autumn film festival circuit, but if they move quickly then this would be a return to Park City for Giroux who last premiered his 2005 short “Le Rouge au Sol”. Sara Mishara is the cinematographer here.

Gist: Ava (Monroe) is trapped. Like a bull in a bucking chute, seconds before exploding onto the rodeo stage. She is hunted. Pursued by those who killed her brother, pursued by her own demons. Ava needs to make a choice. To either save herself and fight another day or to push and become the woman she wishes she could be.

Production Co./Producers: Mike MacMillan, Yannick Ltourneau, Jean-Yves Roubin.

Prediction: Premieres.

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).