Sun screen: The buzziest film festival flicks to look forward to this summer

It’s edging closer towards summertime, people. Jackets off, sunny g’s on, parental bod out – it’s time to head to the beach.

Actually, scrap that. There are far more important things to do (or should we say watch), like the incredible amount of new indie flicks to catch at the start of 2018’s summer movie season. Starting May 1, a whole bunch of film festival faves will be hitting the big screen. Here are twelve of our top picks, ranked from hypeworthy to buzzier than a thousands bee nests.

Skate Kitchen

Release date: TBD

The Wolfpack director Crystal Moselle made her narrative feature debut at this year’s Sundance with this story about a crew of badass female skateboarders in New York City.

American Animals

Release date: June 1

After being picked up by The Orchard and MoviePass Ventures at this year’s Sundance, Bart Layton’s heist film is finally set for release, telling the extraordinary and thrilling true story of four friends (Evan Peters, Barry Keoghan, Blake Jenner, and Jared Abrahamson) who brazenly attempt to carry out one of the most audacious art heists in US history.

Madeline’s Madeline

Release date: August 10

Original, yet perplexing, Josephine Decker’s drama received high praise at this year’s Sundance festival, focusing on a theater director and a sixteen-year-old New York star (Helena Howard) who takes her performance far too seriously.

Revenge

Release date: May 11

Coralie Fargeat’s head-turning 2017 Toronto International Film Festival fave offers a fresh, bloody, and raw take on the rape-revenge narrative.

Sorry to Bother You

Release date: July 6

Described as the “punk film 2018 deserves”, Boots Riley’s Sundance hit stars Lakeith Stanfield (Atlanta), Armie Hammer (Call Me by Your Name), and Tessa Thompson (Thor: Ragnarok). In a dystopian not-too-distant future, a telemarketer discovers a magical key to professional success and is propelled into a macabre universe.

Generation Wealth

Release date: July 20

In one of the most talked about documentaries during this year’s film fest circuit, The Queen of Versailles director Lauren Greenfield offers a hard-hitting portrait of materialistic, image-obsessed American culture.

Damsel

Release date: June 22

Starring Robert Pattinson (Good Time) and Mia Wasikowska (Crimson Peak), the Zellner brothers’ Western dramedy received a lot of buzz at Sundance 2018 and subsequent festival stints, following a businessman as he travels West to join his fiancée in the mountains.

BlacKkKlansman

Release date: August 10

The film hasn’t even hit the festivals yet and it’s already the talk of the town. Spike Lee’s latest feature will compete at Cannes next month, starring John David Washington (The Book of Eli) and Adam Driver (Paterson) in a true story about an African-American detective in Colorado who worked undercover to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan in 1979.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post

Release date: August 3

Tackling the ever-controversial concept of gay conversion camps, the Sundance indie hit from writer & director Desiree Akhavan (Appropriate Behavior) is adapted from Emily Danforth’s coming-of-age novel. The narrative centers around a girl (Chloë Grace Moretz) who is sent to a conversion center after being caught hooking up with the prom queen and goes on to develop mutual feelings for a girl she meets at Sunday school.

Tully

Release date: May 4

In this sickeningly funny Sundance hit, Charlize Theron (Atomic Blonde) delivers a fearless performance in her second collaboration with filmmaking duo Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody (Young Adult). Described as a “modern-day take on Mary Poppins“, Tully follows a pregnant forty-year-old mother who carries the pressure of the world on her shoulders (in addition to the baby weight).

Hereditary

Release date: June 8

We love a good scare here at Film Daily and we know you do too, which is why Ari Aster’s upcoming horror is so high on the list. The film sees Toni Collette (The Sixth Sense) suffer a fate worse than death at the hands of the most frightening spirits of all: the ghosts from within.

Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot

Release date: July 13

We’re most excited about Gus Van Sant’s latest flick, which premiered at the 2018 Berlinale. Boasting extraordinary performances from Joaquin Phoenix (The Master) and Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street), this biopic tells the story of the cartoonist John Callahan.