The Sunlit Night

Director: David Wnendt
Screenwriters: Rebecca Dinerstein

Institute History

  • 2019 Sundance Film Festival

Description

Summer is off to a terrible start for Frances (Jenny Slate). Her art project fails, her boyfriend unceremoniously kicks her out of his Hamptons home, and, to top it all off, her younger sister reveals she’s engaged just moments before her parents announce their separation. Out of a mixture of panic and frustration, Frances hastily takes an opening for an art residency in Norway and heads off to an isolated island where the sun never sets.

Buyer’s remorse kicks in when she meets the cantankerous Norwegian artist she’ll have to spend nearly all her time painting a barn with. But even as this strange man and the town’s relentlessly bright light keep her up at night, Frances finds herself falling for its surreal Viking landscape and, in particular, for a cute, mournful Russian American drifter (Alex Sharp).

Director David Wnendt (Wetlands) returns to the Sundance Film Festival with a playful, absurdist transatlantic romp that showcases not only Norway’s striking beauty, but also Slate’s ability to inhabit complex comedic roles with unmatched timing, charm, and intelligence.

— H.V.

Screening Details

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