The lineup at the Sundance Film Festival in 2025 spoiled queer audiences. James Sweeney’s “Twinless,” Andrew Ahn’s witty re-imaging of “The Wedding Banquet,” Bill Condon’s take on “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” Carmen Emmi’s “Plainclothes,” and Cristina Costantini’s “Sally” were just some of the offerings from a Hall of Fame LGBTQ+ year.
It’s a tough act to follow. In its last year in Park City before moving to Boulder, CO, in 2027, Sundance came nowhere close to last year’s queer catalog. But it had its fair share of quality LGBTQ+ films.
My favorite of what I saw was Gregg Araki’s “I Want Your Sex.” It might not be as overtly gay as some of the director’s other works, but it’s a wicked good time. Olivia Wilde stars as contemporary artist Erika Tracy, who begins sleeping with her new assistant Elliot (Cooper Hoffman) – and she’s not particularly interested in vanilla play. Elliot’s ascent into the BDSM world is often very funny, although not as edgy or raunchy as some of Araki’s early films. The performances are top-notch, with Wilde making Erika a demanding, fascinating lead and Hoffman – the son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman – proving again that he is a dependable and versatile performer.
Araki, a longtime Sundance attendee, also presented a restored version of his beloved film “Mysterious Skin.”
“Tell Me Everything” might have been the biggest discovery of the festival. Moshe Rosenthal’s dark and effective drama follows a young boy named Boaz (Yair Mazor) who discovers a secret about his father and then spends the rest of his life trying to understand its ramifications. The film begins in the 1980s as the HIV/AIDS crisis was reaching its peak, and then moves forward through Boaz’s life.
“Barbara Forever,” from director Brydie O’Connor, is a fond remembrance of lesbian filmmaker Barbara Hammer and her career, including some amazing archival footage. The documentary works well in showcasing Hammer’s personal and professional life. Hammer was a feminist and groundbreaking moviemaker who opened the doors for many filmmakers to follow.
Two well-liked female coming-of-age films were also on tap, with Molly Manners’ “Extra Geography” and Paloma Schneideman’s “Big Girls Don’t Cry.” Both had moments of charm and self-discovery, although “Big Girls Don’t Cry” is much darker and more successful – and more queer.
“Jaripeo” is director Efraín Mojica and Rebecca Zweig’s intoxicating look at rodeo culture in the Mexican state of Michoacán, complete with some absorbing subject interviews. Another offering was David Shadrack Smith’s “Public Access,” which has a dazzling mid-section about the experimental, public access LGBTQ+ series “The Emerald City” on Manhattan Cable Television.
My biggest disappointment of the festival was Louis Paxton’s “The Incomer,” which started off as one of the funniest films I’ve seen in a while, but eventually ran out of steam. In the film, Daniel (Domhnall Gleeson) arrives on assignment to a Scottish island to remove islanders Isla and Sandy (Gayle Rankin and Grant O’Rourke). “The Incomer” becomes something of a one-trick pony, despite pleasing performances and a queer storyline baked in.
Some buzzy titles that I didn’t see include Adrian Chiarella’s “Leviticus,” a queer horror movie picked up by Neon and set to debut this fall; “Give Me the Ball!,” Liz Garbus and Elizabeth Wolff’s acclaimed documentary about tennis icon Billie Jean King; and Alexandria Stapleton’s “The Brittney Griner Story,” about the lesbian basketball star – now living in Atlanta and playing for Atlanta Dream – and her career, including her detainment in Russia. Look for it on ESPN soon this spring.