2019 Sundance Film Festival Predictions: #55. Rick Alverson – The Mountain

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There are a slew of festival preemed goodies in Her Smell, Birds of Passage, Donnybrook, High Life, Gloria BellFistful of Dirt  and even Errol Morris’ American Dharma that could break in Sundance’s Spotlight section, but we’re most convinced about Rick Alverson receiving a homecoming at a fest that has supported his latest work and would be the US premiere for the uphill psychological climb that is The Mountain. Featured in competition at the Venice Film Festival (here is our sit down with the filmmaker) and next to no international screenings since, Alverson has shown both 2012’s The Comedy and 2015’s Entertainment in Park City. This fifth film features Tye Sheridan, Jeff Goldblum, Denis Lavant, Hannah Gross, Udo Kier, Annemarie Lawless, Eleonore Hendricks and Margot Klein. Cinematography duties went to Lorenzo Hagerman.

Rooftop Films 2019

Gist: Written by Alverson, Dustin Guy Defa and Colm O’Leary, in 1950s America, an introverted young man (Sheridan) joins a renowned lobotomist (Goldblum) as he promotes his recently debunked procedure. As their tour of asylums progresses, the young man begins to identify with the patients, among them the daughter of a charismatic leader in the burgeoning New Age movement of the West.

Production Co./Producers: Sara Murphy, Ryan Zacarias, Allison Rose Carter, Eddy Moretti.

Prediction: Spotlight section followed by SXSW premiere.

U.S. Distributor: Rights Available. TBD (domestic). The Match Factory (international).

Eric Lavallée
Eric Lavalléehttps://www.ericlavallee.com
Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist, and critic at IONCINEMA.com, established in 2000. A regular at Sundance, Cannes, and Venice, Eric holds a BFA in film studies from the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013, he served on the narrative competition jury 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 was a New Flesh Juror for Best First Feature at the Fantasia International Film Festival. His top films for 2023 include The Zone of Interest (Glazer), Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell (Pham Thien An), Totem (Lila Avilés), La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher), All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (Raven Jackson). He is a Golden Globes Voter.

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