Festival Predictions

2024 Sundance Film Festival Predictions: Nicolas Pesce’s Visitation

Published on November 17, 2023

Both his directorial debut in the glorious micro-budgeted B&W house-of-horrors and in the Portuguese language The Eyes Of My Mother (read review) and his sophomore S&M feature Piercing (2018) got some Park City love so after a stint in studio items, Nicolas Pesce might actually return for a three-peat. Visitation is a horror project that came to light back in January of this year and stars Olivia Cooke and Isla Johnston (“The Queen’s Gambit” series). The project sees Pesce re-team with cinematographer Zack Galler and we could find some lush moody gothic backdrops as production took place in Ireland. This was written by Helen Gaughran.

Gist: This follows 14-year-old Maria (Johnston) who is sent away to live with Catholic nuns when her mother is sick and dying. But Maria’s arrival slowly turns sinister as one of her caretakers becomes enamoured with her for all the wrong reasons.

Production Co./Producers: eOne’s Courtney Cunniff and Chanel Vidal, Rumble Films’ David Lancaster and Stephanie Wilcox, Blinder Films’ Katie Holly.

Prediction: Midnight section.

Sales: TBD.

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).