This week marks one of our favorite annual events, the Sundance Film Festival, and Morgan and I couldn’t be more excited! Being our third year covering the fest for Cinemacy, we’re more than ready to be back in Park City, Utah taking in all the incredible films that range from directorial debuts to special screenings and world premieres. Here’s a list of films that we’ve secured tickets to see, and that we can’t wait to report back to you about.

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Native Son directed by Rashid Johnson

Why we’re excited:

A few things to be excited about here: this is the feature film debut from Rashid Johnson, one of today’s renowned visual artists whose work spans multiple mediums (sculpting, drawing, painting, you name it). Native Son, a contemporary reworking of Richard Wright’s 1940 novel, starring Ashton Sanders (teenaged Chiron from last year’s Best Picture winner Moonlight) as a young African American man caught up in an accidental death which has him navigating through complex social forces.

Honey Boy directed by Alma Har’el

Why we’re excited:

As a former child star-turned-blockbuster leading man, Shia LaBeouf has challenged not only Hollywood conventions, but the art world as a whole. This is why we can’t wait for Honey Boy, LaBeouf’s screenwriting debut that tells the story of young child star – Otis – who, after making it big on a popular children’s television show, still has to live under the control and abuse of his father’s guardianship (with LaBeouf starring, we see autobiographical elements at play).  There are intense performances by Noah Jupe (A Quiet Place) and Lucas Hedges (Ben is Back), who both play Otis at different stages in his life, and this one’s sure to be one of the buzziest of the fest.

The Sound of Silence directed by Michael Tyburski

Why we’re excited:

How’s this for one of the most out-there premises? Self-taught scientist Peter (Peter Sarsgaard) works in New York as a “house tuner”–a unique, highly specialized profession he’s invented. Clients approach him with troubles like depression, anxiety, or fatigue, which he aims to cure by extensively analyzing their homes’ acoustic characteristics until he identifies some sonic combination (a radiator mixed with a kitchen appliance, for instance) that is altering their mood. That is, until he meets Ellen (Rashida Jones), who is experiencing exhaustion.

The Nightingale directed by Jennifer Kent

Why we’re excited:

The Babadook was absolutely one of the scariest movies to come out in recent years. So it’s without question that I’d be seeing whatever the next film was to come from the nightmarish mind of Jennifer Kent, and this one sounds just as ghastly: about The Nightingale, the Sundance web site says “with horrors around every corner, Jennifer Kent’s new nightmare will traumatize the weak of heart, but those willing will discover a majestic achievement most striking in its haunting moments of grace.”

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor

Why we’re excited:

Having captivated and entertained audiences in films like 12 Years a Slave and Marvel’s Doctor Strange, Chiwetel Ejiofor is a major force in Hollywood. He makes his directorial debut here, bringing the true story of young William Kamkwamba to the big screen. When famine strikes the rural city of Malawi, Kamkwamba – displaced from school – must sneak past his father (Ejiofor) to attempt to build the town a windmill pump to irrigate the land. Seeing this story of a character’s hope and perseverance will make this an inspiring film to see amidst everything else we’ll be watching.

The Death of Dick Long directed by Daniel Scheinert

Why we’re excited:

In 2016, the director team DANIELS won Best Director at the Sundance film festival for their Daniel Radcliffe-starring farting corpse comedy Swiss Army Man. While we only get one half of the director-team DANIELS here (Daniel Scheinert, self-proclaimed as “the redneck half”), we’re seeing Scheinert in his first solo feature film which we can only imagine will be as equally a creative and imaginative outing. Fun fact: Scheinert decided to star in the film “because screenwriter Billy Chew dared him to.”

Them That Follow directed by Britt Poulton and Dan Madison Savage

Why we’re excited:

Them That Follow sounds like a gripping work from a pair of filmmakers who are making their directorial debut. The story of an isolated community of Pentecostal snake handlers in the rugged wilderness of Appalachia, all must testify before Pastor Lemuel (Walton Goggins) and God alike. An amazing and talented cast rounds out the film, including Alice Englert, Olivia Colman and Thomas Mann (who both starred in 2015’s Grand Jury Prize winner Me and Earl and the Dying Girl).

Velvet Buzzsaw directed by Dan Gilroy

Why we’re excited:

Dan Gilroy and Jake Gyllenhaal are re-teaming after the unnerving psychological thriller that was Nightcrawler, and this film looks even more insane. A hallucinatory nightmarish satire of the elitist art world, Velvet Buzzsaw is no doubt one of the must-see movies of the fest (Velvet Buzzsaw will be available to stream on Netflix starting February 1st).

Love, Antosha directed by Garret Price

Why we’re excited:

You may know Anton Yelchin from such movies as Star Trek, Like Crazy, and Charlie Bartlett. I knew Anton Yelchin from the improbable yet incredible experience of being in the same philosophy class with him at Santa Monica College years ago. During that short time that I would see him in class, where he displayed incredible intellect and curiosity, and it was clear that he was a caring and bright person. I, like the rest of the entertainment industry, was devastated to hear of Yelchin’s untimely passing in 2016. This documentary looks to celebrate the life of this beloved Sundance stand-out and I know it will be one of the more sobering but special screenings that will leave me both moved and inspired.

Big Time Adolescence directed by Jason Orley

Why we’re excited:

“It” boy of the moment Pete Davidson makes his first major on-screen acting debut, which will be sure to draw audiences who are curious to see how his comic chops hold up outside of SNL and stand-up.