Sundance Film Festival 2015: A Preview in Pictures

In the gallery below, we talk about roughly 30 of the movies premiering at the festival with a couple caveats:

This list is by no means complete and there are certainly going to be a few movies we miss and end up kicking ourselves later for neglecting to include them (Beasts of the Southern Wild and Whiplash were two such exclusions in past years). In some cases, we just may not have a decent picture from the movie to show yet, although we may update this gallery in the month leading up to Sundance as new pictures pop up.

As in past years, the festival is also screening a number of great films that have already premiered at other festivals such as Yann Demage’s ’71, starring Jack O’Connell from Unbroken, Wild Tales, Eden and many more, but for this preview, we’ll just focus on the new movies premiering specifically at Sundance.

Look for our coverage of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival from January 22 to February 1, 2015.

2015 Sundance Film Festival Preview

Being Evel

One of the many interesting docs being brought to Sundance is this one from Dan Junge (Beyond the Brick) about the great '70s stuntman Robert "Evel" Knievel. Produced by "Jackass" founder Johnny Knoxville, of course.
Best of Enemies

Less than a year after winning an Oscar for his Sundance doc 20 Feet From Stardom, director Morgan Neville is back, co-directing this doc with Robert Gordon about the 1968 political debates between Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley Jr.
Brooklyn

This 1950s Irish drama, directed by John Crowley (Intermission) and adapted by novelist Nick Hornby (An Education), stars Saoirse Ronan, Domhnall Gleeson and Emory Cohen in a love triangle over two countries. Ronan also stars in the competition film Stockholm, Pennsylvania.)
Call Me Lucky

Former stand-up comedian Bobcat Goldthwait switches gears for this doc about Barry Crimmins, a relatively unknown bar comic who changed gears and became a peace activist and political satirist.
The D Train

Yup, that's Jack Black, all cleaned up for Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel's comedy about a guy who's nervous about his upcoming 20th high school reunion so he befriends the most popular guy in his class (James Marsden) getting him into more trouble.
The Diary of a Teenage Girl

Set in 1970's San Francisco, Marielle Heller's directorial debut stars newcomer Bel Powley as 15-year-old wannabe comic artist Minnie Goetze who has an affair with her mother's boyfriend (Alexander Skarsgard).
The Diary of a Teenage Girl

Heller's movie is also one of two movies at Sundance starring Kristen Wiig, who is becoming a regular on the festival circuit following her stint on "Saturday Night Live" and the hit Bridesmaids.
Digging for Fire

Joe Swanberg teams with his Drinking Buddies buddy Jake Johnson ("New Girl") for this star-studded mystery movie co-starring Rosemarie DeWitt, Orlando Bloom, Anna Kendrick, Brie Larson and Sam Rockwell.
Don Verdean

Speaking of Sam Rockwell, whose name is almost synonymous with Sundance at this point, he stars in the new movie from Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess , playing a biblical archaeologist. The comedy co-stars Jemaine Clement, Amy Ryan, Danny McBride, Leslie Bibb and Will Forte.
The End of the Tour

Jesse Eisenberg and Jason Segel star in the new movie from James Ponsoldt (The Spectacular Now) about the tense interview between a Rolling Stone reporter with late author David Foster Wallace.
Experimenter

Like The Stanford Prison Experiment (also premiering at Sundance), this is another movie about a social experiment, this one involving Stanley Milgram (played by Peter Skarsgard) and his controversial use of electric shock to study how people listen to authority. Directed by Michael Almereyda (Ethan Hawke's Hamlet).
Glassland

Starring Jack Reynor, Toni Collette (pictured) and Will Poulter, Gerard Barrett's crime drama follows a young taxi driver getting involved with the underworld.
How to Dance in Ohio

Director Alexandra Shiva gets a special mention for finding a doc-worthy story in Columbus, Ohio, which holds a special place in my heart. (Go Buckeyes!) The doc is about a group of autistic teens and adults preparing for their spring formal.
I Am Michael

James Franco stars in this movie from Justin Kelly about a gay activist who denounces his homosexuality to become a pastor. It co-stars Zachary Quinto and Emma Roberts
I Smile Back

Sarah Silverman gets serious in this film in dramatic competition about a mother who dabbles in drugs an infidelities, putting her family life in danger.
Knock Knock

Eli Roth normally premieres his movies at Toronto but he's making an exception for his latest, starring Keanu Reeves as a married man who encounters two beautiful girls on a stormy night and invites them in.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

In Dramatic Competition is this dramedy about two high school friends forced to be friends with a girl with leukemia, played by Olivia Cooke. And it co-stars "Parks and Recreation's" Nick Offerman, who has an amazing track record at Sundance so far.
Mississippi Grind

Half Nelson directors Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden return to Sundance with this road movie involving two poker players (Ryan Reynolds, Ben Mendelsohn) traveling to a game in New Orleans.
Mistress America

Frances Ha collaborators Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig reunite for another comedy about a New York 20-something trying to find her way.
Nasty Baby

In the new movie from The Maid and Crystal Fairy filmmaker Sebastian Silva, Kristen Wiig plays Polly, who agrees to be a surrogate for a gay couple trying to have a baby while being confronted by a man called The Bishop.
Nasty Baby

Here's Kristen Wiig with filmmaker and co-star Sebastian Silva in another scene from the film which plays in the festival's Next section.
The Overnight

Taylor Schilling ("Orange is the New Black"), Jason Schwartzman, and Adam Scott star in Patrick (Creep) Brice's comedy about a young couple who spend an evening with the strange parents of their son's new friend.
People, Places, Things

James Strouse (Grace is Gone) returns to Sundance with Jemaine Clement as a single father trying to raise twin daughters while navigating love and work.
Slow West

Just picked up by A24, the feature film debut from John Maclean is an Australian Western road movie, starring Michael Fassbender, Ben Mendelsohn and Kodi Smit-McPhee.
Sleeping with Other People

Leslye Headland's Bachelorette was a big hit at Sundance post-Bridesmaid's and she's back with this rom-com starring Jason Sudeikis and Alison Brie as two people who reconnect 12 years after losing their virginity to each other.
The Stanford Prison Experiment

This film by Kyle Patrick Alvarez is based on the 1971 social experiments and it features an all-star cast of Billy Crudup, Ezra Miller, Tye Sheridan, Michael Angarano and Johnny Simmons.
Strangerland

Another Australian film in the World Dramatic Competition, this film stars Nicole Kidman and Joseph Fiennes as parents whose two kids disappear into the Outback.
Take Me to the River

Logan Miller plays a teen at his dysfunctional Nebraska family reunion in Matt Sobel's feature film debut.
Ten Thousand Saints

American Splendour directors Pulcini & Berman return to Sundance with this coming-of-age film set in New York's East Village during the late '80s.
Ten Thousand Saints

This film also continues Ethan Hawke's run at Sundance following hits like Boyhood and Before Midnight with Richard Linklater and many other films over the years.
True Story

Jonah Hill and James Franco, who last appeared together in Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg's This is the End, get serious in this true crime drama based on Michael Finkel's memoir.
Unexpected

Joe Swanberg isn't the only filmmaker in the family as his wife Kris Swanberg brings her new movie, starring Cobie Smulders as a teacher who learns she's pregnant at the same time as one of her students.
A Walk in the Woods

Michael Arndt, who won an Oscar for writing the popular Sundance hit "Little Miss Sunshine," wrote this hiking comedy starring Robert Redford and Nick Nolte who travel across the Appalachian Trail. Kind of like Reese Witherspoon's "Wild" for dudes.
The Witch

Set in 17th Century New England, Robert Eggers' drama involves a mother whose new son vanishes, pointing to a supernatural evil.
Z for Zachariah

Director Craig Zobel brings his third film to Sundance following 2012's "Compliance," this one starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Chris Pine and Margot Robbie as three people trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world, creating a tense love triangle.