When I landed in what would be the last Sundance in Park City, Utah, a notable feeling of gratitude washed over me. My first day was a frenzy of badge pick up, press screenings, and a star-studded “The Moment” premiere that evening. I ran from theater to theater, caught people’s names, an instagram handle, and ran off to the next thing. I landed in my bed at midnight, exhausted and exhilarated by my first day. The next day, I woke up to the news of Alex Pretti being shot down by ICE agents in Minneapolis. I am reminded that there is never a day of escape, of rest, in this country. This is the mindset in which I approach the rest of the festival, anger vibrating through me as I move from screen to screen. There is anger in the air here as well. I hear it in the press lines, see it on the pins celebrities don. It is not enough. Nothing feels like it’s enough. It would feel disingenuous to not mention the reality of our situation while I write about the politically powerful films here at the festival, and how the atrocities taking place not only in Minneapolis, but everywhere else in this country, have permeated every other thought during my time here. Below, I have linked to Stand With Minnesota, an informational site where you can stay informed and find ways to help Minnesotans during this time.
The Lake
It is within this context that I have continually thought about “The Lake,” a film that is also a reminder of our government’s failure to help its citizens. The film, directed by Utah native Abby Ellis, depicts the ongoing battle to save the Great Salt Lake from complete collapse, an event that would result in environmental catastrophe for the residents of Salt Lake City and beyond. Watching the film here in Park City, only miles away from the film’s subject, made it feel even more urgent.
Ellis introduces us to the main players – scientists and commissioners closely involved in the issue – through a mix of intimate family scenes and educational testimonials explaining their positions in this conflict. While following them for a number of years up through 2025, the scientists struggle between education and action while navigating the political barriers put before them. Despite their constant warnings to public officials, action is made more difficult by competing interests.
What feels so refreshing in Ellis’s approach is actually in its simplicity. The subject is the lake, its supporting characters are the people trying to solve the problem. The people it follows are allowed to speak for minutes at a time about their positions and opinions, a component that almost feels like a lost art in the current documentary landscape. In a time where true crime dominates the space, documentaries now feel scattered in their attempts to appeal to the phone-obsessed generation – offering sensational sound bites, dramatic beats, and an entertainment focused style. “The Lake” works so well in depicting this pressing issue because of its straightforward and grounded approach. How refreshing it is to hear scientists talk about facts, their passion dancing off the screen. The film also presents the audience with the complex and nuanced obstacles in the way of saving the lake, such as funding or compromises with the agricultural community that sustains the state. It feels as if a complete picture has been drawn for us, with no easy answer in moving forward.
“The Lake” is a microcosm of this country’s attitudes towards climate change. Scientists send out warnings, yet no matter how softened the statements are for public comfort, or how blunt the cries are that match the gravity of the situation, governments plant their feet in the ground, unshakably stoic to the destruction of our homes. There is some hope moving forward in the future of the Great Salt Lake. Saving a lake like this has never been done before in the entire world as climate change has begun to permanently alter our landscapes. The film’s final minutes offer a glimmer of hope for our future — hope that people continue their fights for a better world, and the hope that the people in power begin to listen. A better world is possible.
Silenced
While “The Lake” is a focused, distinct investigation on a single issue, Selina Myles’s “Silenced” is the complete opposite. It tackles the backlash against the #MeToo movement in a spanning documentary covering multiple facets of the issue. The film is grounded by Jennifer Robinson’s experience as a human rights lawyer. She defended Amber Heard in The Sun defamation suit in London (which she won, by the way). Her experience as a global figure helps tell the stories of many people across the world who are experiencing similar challenges, shedding light on a growing global issue.
In 2017 when the #MeToo movement gained popularity, there was a hope that it would move the culture to more progressive and protective practices. While that was the direction we went in for a while, in recent years there has been an extreme pushback against this movement. The culture’s uneasiness or unwillingness to report and call out abuses has begun to overshadow any progress the movement initially made. On a legal level, defamation suits have gained popularity, the most popular being the Depp v. Heard case in Virginia. Domestic and sexual violence is already difficult to prove, and it must be proven in certain defamation cases to win that case. When a victim loses those cases, they are no longer able to speak publicly of their abuse over again, thus silencing the victim forever.
The complexity of the #MeToo backlash is hard to distill down to one line of fault; there are many things to consider. “Silenced” attempts to examine as many threads as possible while maintaining a clear throughline with Robinson’s experience. It follows not only Robinson, but other figures who have faced struggles in naming their abusers and are fighting back. It establishes a global picture of victims and advocates who have faced different challenges, bringing forth the reality of a deeply rooted civil rights issue that has no clear path forward for its victims, despite being such a widespread issue. At times “Silenced” is attempting to do so much with its runtime that all of these threads become overwhelming. Despite this, the immensity of the documentary highlights the complexity of the current state of affairs. In its presentations, it calls attention to the many aspects of these issues that simply must be addressed. It is clear that it cannot go on like this.
Saccharine
After screening “Silenced,” my first in person screening of the festival was Natalie Erika James’s “Saccharine.” It follows medical student Hana (Midori Francis) who is struggling with her body image and her attempts at weight loss. When she meets an old friend who has completely transformed from her own weight loss, an easy solution is presented to her: weight loss pills that contain human ashes. Instead of paying for them, Hana steals body parts from her cadaver class and creates her own form of the pill, leading to a haunting presence that won’t leave her be, even as the numbers on the scale rapidly begin to drop.
James paints Hana’s world in pink and blue hues, with splashy gym attire or the cold cadaver room filling out her world. Eating is a large part of Hana’s world, which is filmed in slow-motion, oozing out like a sensual scene with gushy sound effects accompanying the syrupy drips. A bite into food can also sound like the crack of a bone. Hana’s world is as slippery as her weight loss addiction, and the aesthetics are the stand out of the film. As Hana strives for that ideal scale number, the people around her grow concerned and the hauntings she experiences worsen in their severity. Hana believes that once she reaches that goal weight, she’ll finally feel happy. That hot girl at the gym will finally notice her. And that girl does, but that awful feeling Hana has about herself just won’t go away, and her ghost is getting hungrier.
While the causes behind Hana’s unhealthy relationship with food are presented in abundance to us — her mother’s dieting, her father’s overeating, the influencer riddled social media Hana cannot stop scrolling through — the details feel slightly underdeveloped. These aspects are shown, but a deeper sense of Hana’s relationship to them would push the film past its interesting premise into a more developed story of disordered eating.
Despite this, “Saccharine” is a strong entry into the body horror canon and feels poignant in a time where another dieting craze has overtaken the current generation. James doesn’t hold back in the gory scenes, though I wish there had been more. However, the unique metaphor of consuming human remains to fill the hole inside your own self remains interesting enough to sustain the runtime. James, who previously debuted “Relic” at Sundance, continues to be an intriguing new voice emerging in the horror sphere.
Link to Stand With Minnesota for more information and resources.
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