Sundance Institute

Institute History

2015 Sundance Film Festival

Description

Laney is an attractive, intelligent suburban wife and devoted mother of two adorable children. She has the perfect husband who plays basketball with the kids in the driveway, a pristine house, and a shiny SUV for carting the children to their next activity. However, just beneath the façade lie depression and disillusionment that send her careening into a secret world of reckless compulsion. Only very real danger will force her to face the painful root of her destructiveness and its crumbling effect on those she loves.

At the core of I Smile Back's power is an indelible performance. Sarah Silverman reinvents herself as a dramatic actress in the career-defining, intensely layered, and heartbreaking role of Laney. Deftly directed by Adam Salky (Dare, 2009 Sundance Film Festival), I Smile Back is at times darkly humorous but also harrowing and unflinching as an authentic, humanizing portrait that offers no easy resolution for a damaged woman struggling to come to terms with herself. —K.Y.

— K.Y.

Screening Details

Section: U.S. Dramatic Competition
Film Type: U.S. Narrative Feature Films
Country: U.S.A.
Run Time: 85 min.

Credits

Executive Producer
Producer
Actor
Screenwriter
- Paige Dylan
- Amy Koppelman
Sound Design
- Bob Hein
Cinematographer
- Eric Lin
Editor
- Tamara Meem
Director
- Adam Salky
Production Designer
- Brandon Tonner-Connolly

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