Sundance 2021 Movie Scorecard

Sundance, the last film festival to play in-full and in-person before the 2020 pandemic shutdown last year, returns for an all-virtual edition in 2021. Some of the biggest, buzziest Sundance 2021 movies include the directorial debuts of Rebecca Hall (Passing) and Robin Wright (Land), a bonkers Sion Sono/Nicolas Cage team-up (Prisoners of the Ghostland), Rita Moreno doc Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It, and Judas and the Black Messiah, which is already generating Oscar-nom talk for Daniel Kaluuya.

With the Sundance 2021 Movie Scorecard, we’re keeping you updated on the latest movies to get Tomatometer scores as they premiere and critics submit their reviews. Be sure to check back frequently throughout the festival run!

#60

Adjusted Score: 100.825%

Critics Consensus: Deftly interweaving incredible live footage with a series of revealing interviews, Summer of Soul captures the spirit and context of a watershed moment while tying it firmly to the present.

Synopsis: In 1969, during the same summer as Woodstock, a different music festival took place 100 miles away. More than 300,000… [More]

Starring:

#59

Adjusted Score: 100.106%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Over a career spanning more than 70 years, Rita Moreno defied both her humble upbringing and relentless racism to become… [More]

#58

Adjusted Score: 88.487%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: FLEE is the true story about a man’s need to confront his past in order to truly have a future…. [More]

Starring:

#57

Adjusted Score: 88.468%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Edgar Wright (Baby Driver, Hot Fuzz) directs a loving, hilarious and career-spanning look at the brothers Mael, 50 years and… [More]

#56

Adjusted Score: 66.351%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A mysterious and deadly pink cloud appears across the globe, forcing everyone to stay home. Strangers at the outset, Giovana… [More]

#55

Adjusted Score: 60.822%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: The extraordinary life story of pioneering scuba diver, Valerie Taylor, a fearless marine maverick whose passion for sharks knows no… [More]

#54

Adjusted Score: 60.822%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: At Lowell High school, the top-ranked public high school in San Francisco, the seniors are stressed out. As they prepare… [More]

Starring:

#53

Adjusted Score: 55.292%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Jesmark, a Maltese fisherman, contends with a newfound leak in his wooden LUZZU boat. Barely getting by, he sees his… [More]

#52

Adjusted Score: 39.328%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: After the death of his grandmother, a Mexican biologist living in New York returns to his hometown nestled in the… [More]

#51

Adjusted Score: 44.234%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Home to one of the region’s largest law enforcement education programs, students at Horizon High School in El Paso train… [More]

Starring:

#50

Adjusted Score: 38.705%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Alvin Ailey was a visionary artist who found salvation through dance. An immersive portrait told in his own words and… [More]

#49

Adjusted Score: 33.175%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: In 1960s Los Angeles a trailblazing group of nuns, The Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, bravely stood up… [More]

Starring:

#48

Adjusted Score: 38.705%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

#47

Adjusted Score: 27.646%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Cusp chronicles one formative year of teenage life for three friends in a Texas town where there’s little to do… [More]

Starring:

#46

Adjusted Score: 99.016%

Critics Consensus: A restless and riveting fable, Night of Kings sees writer-director Philippe Lacôte in full command of his craft.

Synopsis: A young man is sent to «La Maca,» a prison in the middle of the Ivorian forest ruled by its… [More]

#45

Adjusted Score: 95.161%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Starring:

#44

Adjusted Score: 88.733%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: In this powerful 19th century romance set in the American Northeast, Abigail (Katherine Waterston), a farmer’s wife, and her new… [More]

#43

Adjusted Score: 95.161%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Street Gang will take us inside the minds and hearts of the Sesame Street creators to help us understand not… [More]

Starring:

#42

Adjusted Score: 95.207%

Critics Consensus: CODA’s story offers few surprises, but Emilia Jones’ brilliant lead performance brings this coming-of-age story vividly to life.

Synopsis: CODA follows 17-year-old Ruby, the only hearing child in a deaf family, as she finds herself torn between pursuing her… [More]

#41

Adjusted Score: 89.548%

Critics Consensus: Mass requires a lot of its audience, but rewards that emotional labor with a raw look at grief that establishes writer-director Fran Kranz as a filmmaker of tremendous promise.

#40

Adjusted Score: 55.348%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Through intimately filmed vérité, HOMEROOM follows the class of 2020 at Oakland High School in a year marked by seismic… [More]

Starring:

#39

Adjusted Score: 44.289%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

#38

Adjusted Score: 39.377%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A teenage delinquent (Miya Cech) befriends a surly magician (Rhea Perlman) who helps her navigate her inner demons and dysfunctional… [More]

#37

Adjusted Score: 88.986%

Critics Consensus: Occasionally uneven but bold and viscerally effective, Censor marks a bloody good step forward for British horror.

Synopsis: 1985. After viewing a strangely familiar ‘video nasty’, Enid, a film censor, sets out to solve the past mystery of… [More]

#36

Adjusted Score: 33.286%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

#35

Adjusted Score: 85.88%

Critics Consensus: It’s occasionally uneven, but On the Count of Three finds director/star Jerrod Carmichael attempting an ambitious blend of drama and dark comedy — and often succeeding.

#34

Adjusted Score: 83.935%

Critics Consensus: Violation presents a powerful depiction of one woman’s trauma — and its uncomfortably gripping aftermath.

Synopsis: A troubled woman on the edge of divorce returns home to her younger sister after years apart. But when her… [More]

#33

Adjusted Score: 49.874%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Starring:

#32

Adjusted Score: 81.267%

Critics Consensus: In the Earth’s bleak kaleidoscope of horror is a hallucinogenic meditation on the residual pandemic fears that haunt humanity.

Synopsis: As the world searches for a cure to a disastrous virus, a scientist and park scout venture deep in the… [More]

#31

Adjusted Score: 22.117%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Starring:

#30

Adjusted Score: 80.382%

Critics Consensus: A slow-burning thriller that teeters between reality and delusion, Knocking views social issues through a blurred lens streaked with horror.

Synopsis: A woman (Molly) who has just experienced a traumatic incident is unnerved by a haunting knocking sound from upstairs in… [More]

#29

Adjusted Score: 70.106%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: What if we are living in a simulation, and the world as we know it is not real? To tackle… [More]

#28

Adjusted Score: 38.815%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Zimbabwe is at a crossroads. The new leader of the opposition party, MDC, Nelson Chamisa, is challenging the old guard,… [More]

Starring:

#27

Adjusted Score: 77.714%

Critics Consensus: While Passing’s delicate approach has a dampening effect on its story, debuting director Rebecca Hall makes the most of an impressive cast — and handles thorny themes with impressive dexterity.

#26

Adjusted Score: 33.175%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Alternately humorous and touching, Searchers draws on encounters with a diverse set of New Yorkers as they navigate their preferred… [More]

Starring:

#25

Adjusted Score: 44.234%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: When young loner Anna is hired as the gestational surrogate for Matt, a single man in his 40s who wants… [More]

#24

Adjusted Score: 68.548%

Critics Consensus: Although its visual overstimulation threatens to derail its themes, Cryptozoo is an ambitious and unique critique of capitalistic values.

#23

Adjusted Score: 44.4%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: In 1971, due to the world premiere of Death in Venice, Italian director Lucino Visconti proclaimed his Tadzio as the… [More]

Starring:

#22

Adjusted Score: 69.603%

Critics Consensus: It can feel more like a collection of skits than a cohesive story, but How It Ends is a comedic vision of the apocalypse with fleeting moments of brilliance.

#21

Adjusted Score: 69.438%

Critics Consensus: Prisoners of the Ghostland is far from Sonos’ most distinctive work, but viewers in the mood for a deliriously gonzo genre mash-up featuring an explosive performance from Nicolas Cage just might have a ball.

Synopsis: A notorious criminal must break an evil curse in order to rescue an abducted girl who has mysteriously disappeared…. [More]

#20

Adjusted Score: 66.603%

Critics Consensus: For a werewolf movie, Eight for Silver is frustratingly lacking in killer instinct — but its intriguing additions to well-worn mythology add some necessary bite.

#19

Adjusted Score: 44.455%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

#18

Adjusted Score: 49.542%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

#17

Adjusted Score: 38.483%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Brussels, today. Issachar & Zabulon are two brothers in their twenties living with their mother Cashmere in a low-rent neighborhood…. [More]

Starring:

#16

Adjusted Score: 63.051%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Boss, an elusive bar owner living in New York, reunites with his estranged best friend, Aood, for a roadtrip in… [More]

Starring:

#15

Adjusted Score: 61.714%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: From acclaimed actress Robin Wright comes her directorial debut LAND, the poignant story of one woman’s search for meaning in… [More]

#14

Adjusted Score: 27.867%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Shy highschooler Mike finally summons the courage to ask out his badass neighbor Kelsey, only to realize he’s missing a… [More]

#13

Adjusted Score: 33.175%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

#12

Adjusted Score: 47.475%

Critics Consensus: John and the Hole’s enticingly unique premise and disquieting atmosphere are often at odds with a meandering story that prevents this thriller from fulfilling its creepy potential.

Synopsis: From the writer of Birdman, John and the Hole revolves around a 13 year-old boy who discovers a hole in… [More]

#11

Adjusted Score: 21.896%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

#10

Adjusted Score: 21.896%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

#9

Adjusted Score: 16.809%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Directed By:

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