Gregory Nussen is the Lead Film Critic for Screen Rant. They have previously written for Deadline Hollywood, Slant Magazine, Backstage and Salon. Other bylines: In Review Online, Vague Visages, Bright Lights Film Journal, The Servant, The Harbour Journal, Boing Boing Knock-LA & IfNotNow’s Medium. They were the recipient of the 2022 New York Film Critics Circle Graduate Prize in Criticism, and are a proud member of GALECA, the Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics. They co-host the Great British Baking Podcast. Gregory also has a robust performance career: their most recent solo performance, QFWFQ, was nominated for five awards, winning Best Solo Theatre at the Hollywood Fringe Festival in 2025.
The 2026 Sundance Film Festival started yesterday, and our first batch of reviews out of Park City are here! Plus: Christ Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson’s AI-influenced dystopian thriller, a long-awaited horror sequel, an indie horror, an indie shark attack, and an indie character study.
We’ve got excerpts of each review, a trailer where available, and a link to read the full piece. Be sure to follow us each week and follow Gregory Nussen on BlueSky and Letterboxd as they report from the ground on Sundance!
Mercy
… bland, absurd, and exceedingly silly. Intriguingly, the film channels the haptic experience of virtual reality gaming, but it’s all in service of something trite, politically regressive and narratively boneheaded.
Read Gregory Nussen’s full review of Mercy.
Return to Silent Hill
… between unnecessary lore changes and a lack of thematic heft in some of its storytelling, the filmmaker’s return to the franchise is a weird mix of exciting recreations, gorgeous visuals and disappointing execution.
Read Grant Hermanns full review of Return to Silent Hill.
The History of Concrete
The History of Concrete is, unsurprisingly, for the How To With John Wilson creator, blisteringly funny. More startling is that it is also one of the finer, more moving documentaries of recent memory.
Read Gregory Nussen’s full review of The History of Concrete.
American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez
David Alvarado’s loving and truly joyous portrait of Valdez is as big and as exciting as the man’s theatrical output, but it is also frustratingly topographical and abrupt.
Read Gregory Nussen’s full review of American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez.
Paralyzed By Hope: The Maria Bamford Story
… But she’s been around for a long time, and Paralyzed by Hope: The Maria Bamford Story is an essential doc that reveals the origins of her singular voice with exceeding warmth and vulnerability.
Read Gregory Nussen’s full review of Paralyzed By Hope: The Maria Bamford Story.
The Incomer
The Incomer is a sweet and charming adult fairy tale whose primary characteristic, a twee and cheeky sense of humor, is both its appeal and its achilles’ heel. It’s a darling movie brought to life by a star-turning performance from Gayle Rankin.
Read Gregory Nussen’s full review of The Incomer.
The Last First: Winter K2
An unusual documentary in that its surface-level subject matter acts as a metaphor for a score of contemporary social ills, The Last First is a surprising doc of uncompromising tension.
Read Gregory Nussen’s full review of The Last First: Winter K2.
Killer Whale
Unfortunately, Killer Whale squanders this premise with functional but inert writing and a storyline too cautious to exploit its own psychological potential.
Read Emedo Ashibeze’s full review of Killer Whale.
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
Tarantino and Rodriguez’s laissez-faire touch to the second half, however deliberate, truly hurts this film. Blood and special effects are inadequate to fill an audience already brimming with anticipation.
Read Emedo Ashibeze’s (re)consideration of From Dusk Till Dawn.
Mother of Flies
The film’s creeping dread and emotional beats are strong, but it is also frustratingly repetitious and energetically stagnant.
Read Gregory Nussen’s full review of Mother of Flies.
H is for Hawk
…watching her go through the extremely repetitious (and, one supposes, accurate) steps of training a Eurasian Goshawk is exceptionally tiresome. H is for Hawk induces the same effect as taking a sedative.
Read Gregory Nussen’s full review of H is for Hawk.
