‘28 Years Later,’ Oscar Race Updates, and a Sundance 2026 Preview

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0:41Welcome to Screen Talk, IndieWire's weekly podcast that brings you up to speed on the latest goings on in Hollywood. I'm Anne Thompson in Los Angeles.

0:50Ryan Lattanzio:And I'm Ryan Latanzio in New York. This week, we're going to review Nia DaCosta's 28 Years later, The Bone Temple. We've also got Sundance kicking off next week on the 22nd. That's the day of the Oscars. Yes, it's still the day of the Oscar nominations. They have not figured out how to I've done that. I've been at Sundance when I've had to switch over to Oscars in mid morning. I too. Yes, I have been in bed and Woken to a manager standing over me going, it's time to get up now after I was at some party until I had just gone to bed. I've been there. Yeah. So Nora's going to be with you at Sundance this year.

1:40That'll be fun.

1:41Ryan Lattanzio:Yes, I know. I have actually a number of friends that are. I mean, a lot of people are going because I knew this would happen. It's like everyone's descending for the swan song year, which will also repeat next year with the inaugural year in Boulder. But yeah, later in the episode, we're going to talk a bit about some of the films that we're hearing buzz about. I'm looking forward to it. Yeah, me too. On the awards front, we will look at Golden Globes weekend and the impact of those awards on the Oscars. Voting is underway and ends on Friday. And like 5 p.m. PT, something like that. But don't get too excited.

2:21The Oscars won't actually happen. Brian, the Oscar show is March 15th. We have a ways to go. Can anyone possibly watch another Q &A with one celebrity or another? I cannot. That said, the Hollywood Reporters Directors Roundtable is good this year on YouTube.

2:41Ryan Lattanzio:Yeah. If I'm in any screenings, I'm walking out before that Q &A starts. And yeah, I really I have nostalgia for the 2020 when the Oscars were, I believe, February 9th. I really, when are we going to get back to that? So anyway, the Globes were mildly amusing, a little boring. It seemed like everyone was on their best behavior until that viral video of Leo signing and mouthing about K-pop. Tieta Taylor at one point said he was talking to her. but then on Jimmy Fallon she recanted and said that he wasn't talking to her. And she spoke to him and asked him who he was talking to about K-pop because he had had a conversation with her about it.

3:31She said she knows all about K-pop. She likes K-pop. She wouldn't have been confused about K-pop. I feel like on some level Tiana Taylor is, you know, she's backing off of owning the fact that he was talking to her and I don't know why. You know, in a way, Nicky Glazer was right about him. You know, he keeps himself very contained. He can be on some level, even though he's been doing more campaigning than I've ever seen him do. Most of the time, it's very controlled. So this is how he is in real life on some level, and it was fun to see. And on the other hand, Timothee Chalamet, who was so entertaining, and he'll probably beat Leo at the screen actors and the Oscars and everything as he did at the Globes and Critics' Choice Awards.

4:23But he has, you know, pulled in the reins and is playing another character who wears dark suits. I don't like this guy. I want the Marty Supreme guy back.

4:33Ryan Lattanzio:Yeah, it's like he's been replaced by a changeling or something or his soul has been sucked out of his body. He's now he's like radiating humility. And, you know, we talked about the vaingloriousness he displayed in prior press moments and even last year's SAG. It's very bizarre. It is weird. But one thing that was interesting is that the the the Timothy Chalamet, Kylie Jenner table was clearly the nexus of the whole event. I mean, that's where everybody was going over. And there's this moment where Ariana Grande congratulates them as being engaged. So that was that was new news for me anyway.

5:11Ryan Lattanzio:That is new news for me, too. Yeah. So you're breaking it right here for me. This is what it's all about, Ryan. Something to live for. Yeah. No, it's it's it. This is this happens to us every year. Everybody who listens to us knows that this is true. We that the fatigue inevitably sets in. You're lucky you get to go to to Sundance. So, Ryan, Hamnet did well. It won at the Globes. Baptist still to come where it will do well. We know Jesse Buckley will probably win the Oscar. But does the movie have a shot now with a little more momentum in its favor at Best Picture? I think so. Certainly the Globes gave it a shot in the arm, but also when Battle also sustained that momentum.

5:58Ryan Lattanzio:Hamna is a softer pitch, I would say. It's definitely more universal and accessible in some ways because when Battle After Another, So there are two sides of this argument where it's been criticized for both critiquing and adulating revolutionaries or at least the image of a revolutionary right. And it's kind of making a political statement, whereas Hamnet is a more elemental story about grief that I'm sure you could find some politics in, but that would only really be in the subtext. But so I do it. Maybe it's an easier movie to come around to for a lot of folks. I believe that there are people who respond incredibly powerfully to Hamnet, and it is the one that is unlike the others.

6:40And you have, I mean, the reason why One Battle After Another gets away with its genre bona fides is that it has a serious subtext, and you can't argue with that. But you can argue that something like Marty Supreme really doesn't have much of a serious subtext and that it probably appeals mostly to men. You could argue that Frankenstein is a genre film on some level, even if it's elevated. Sinners is a genre film, absolutely. So even if these are extraordinary cinematic achievements, the one that looks like an Oscar winner, the one that sounds like an Oscar winner, the one that has the emotions of an Oscar winner is Hamnet.

7:29Ryan Lattanzio:Totally. It's like one battle after another has the momentum that cannot be denied. Yeah. Hamnet is like the movies that used to win Best Picture in some ways. And now. King's Speech or something. Totally. Shakespeare in law. I mean, that's not a good comparison, but you get what I'm saying. And One Battle is more aligned with this newer Academy protocol, which is awarding Best Picture and things like that to movies that have weightier narrative resonance to our fractured times. So, Ryan, don't you think, though, that the international vote could go Hamnets way? If you think about One Battle After Another as a very American movie.

8:08Totally. Also Marty Supreme. Sinners is a very American movie. And so I think on some weird level, and when we get to the Oscars and the BAFTAs, we are looking at that international vote. And it's not insignificant.

8:26Ryan Lattanzio:The one international, the one winner I was happy about at the Globes that I don't know is going to repeat was Stellan Skarsgård. I actually do feel like Jacob Lorty is going to take this one. And sentimental value. I disagree with you on that, Ryan. Totally disagree. I think it's going to be Stellan. Sentimental value is in a little bit of trouble, though. I mean, also the other. How do you say that? It did well at the Globes. Yeah, well. Why do you think it's in trouble? Well, it didn't get any SAG nominations. It's an American. Yeah, but also it's possible that Kate. It never was going to. Kate Hudson might kick Renata Reinsva out of the race.

9:01Ryan Lattanzio:Very unfortunately so. I don't think she's going to get nominated. It's highly possible. I will say. And also, though, the secret agent winning multiple prizes at the Globes. Not totally surprising because there's something like 38 to 40 Brazilians in the Globes and three Norwegians. I don't know what the makeup. Many Brazilians at the Oscar voting body. And it's a repeat of what happened last year with Fernanda Torres. And, you know, it could happen again this year that the Brazilian bloc actually makes a big difference. And now Amelia Perez had to fall on its sword to. had to collapse in order for that to happen.

9:46But it's still, I'm Still Here was a big deal to win international.

9:51Ryan Lattanzio:And the first Oscar ever that a Brazilian movie won, I believe, even though they have a lot of nominations across different categories. Yeah, they've done well. They've done well. So, all right, if we're going to do international, I spoke to an Oscar voter yesterday who voted for a wide range of international films with only one, the secret agent of Neon 5. I am so convinced that Neon is going to get four of the five and maybe the voice of Henry Job is the fifth. What do you think is going to happen there? Yeah, well, there's some big executive producers jumping on Henry Job at the last minute, like Spike Lee and Michael Moore.

10:35Ryan Lattanzio:so there yeah i mean i do feel like that one's probably gonna get has emotion emotion does and relevance and resonance those things we were talking no other landed well last time right totally yeah uh you know something interesting i was thinking about is um you know sometimes i'm preparing for this podcast i try to find novel things to say about the the results the predictions and prognostications. If Tiana Taylor and Jacob Elordi win, then we probably are going to have four Oscar winning actors that are all under 40, two Gen Z and two millennials, between Jesse Buckley and Timothee Chalamet.

11:14Ryan Lattanzio:Is that historic? I mean, that's unusual. Chalamet's only 30. Jesse's 36. I don't think Jacob Elordi's going to win. It's interesting to me that you're so convinced of this. I think he's squeaking into a nomination, Ryan. He wasn't even going to be nominated before, but now he will be. So I don't think that, I think Stellan still has it. He's been around for a long time, you know? And I can tell because one of the Netflix people went nuts with me, giving me all these reasons why Stellan won't win, if you know what I'm saying, you know? Yeah, I feel like I know who that is. That's the most threatening.

11:51He got the most coverage he absolutely got the most coverage um he is the actor du jour at the moment and there

12:02Ryan Lattanzio:is a lot of fervor around him among sag i'm hearing that these sag screens with jacob alordi are going crazy now that doesn't mean that it's going to repeat sure in there he could win at sag that could happen that could that could that is a possibility that's a different group again. Remember, that's an American group. All those guilds are American. Even the producers guild, you know, which which it's not going to duplicate what what they did. I don't think weapons is going to be one of the best picture nominees. No, I think or maybe even F1. Yeah. And F1 isn't exactly. It'll go foreign. F1 will get some of the of the I'm working on my Oscar predictions right now.

12:41So I'm in the weeds. I'm counting. I'm looking at all the different things. but you have to remember the guilds are american i understand i mean i i'm rooting for stellan and

12:51Ryan Lattanzio:jacob will get his time but uh he's got he's got another movie he's campaigning for right that's what i'm saying is that like advantage for him he's going to be all over and that looks great weathering heights looks fantastic and tiana taylor is campaigning for that ben affleck mad damon movie the rip whatever that's called yeah so she's all all over the place too and she's handling it very well i have to say she's she's a she's a pro she's good yeah she's terrific i i liked her we both loved her in that movie a thousand and one uh she should have gotten more attention for that amazing in that yeah everybody should watch that yeah so and uh we both saw 28 years later the bone temple this week and i would like to ask you what you thought of it what would be your guess ryan uh my guess is that you liked it a lot i did i did yes i did i mean the fact that I put 28 years later on my best 10 best list is an indicator that I was well disposed.

13:51I actually think Nina DaCosta is a good director. I liked Hedda very much. I was surprised at how good Hedda was. I didn't know.

13:58Ryan Lattanzio:It was on my top 10 list. How gifted she was. So she doesn't wait around to let the audience know that she's not going to hold back on zombie violence. that first thing at the beginning there's this well endowed alpha who pulls a man's head off of his body complete with a bloody spine that's the first big one and there's more horrors to come as cult leader Sir Jimmy Crystal and I think Jack O 'Connell is fantastic in this movie this allows him to really shine with all of his bad teeth and he's magnetic and charismatic yeah the hair is horrible And he goads his troop into, you know, torturing. He's a little bit like a Fagin or something with his little band of thieves.

14:49But these aren't thieves. These are people torturing people and flaying them, which is pretty gross. And we have a new gang member, the last movie's little boy, Spike, played by Alfie Williams, who is trying to survive. And so we hang on to him a bit because it gets pretty grim over the first hour until we get to Ralph Fiennes' Bone Temple. And then we have lots of fun there. Alex Garland is a fantastic writer and, as directed by DaCosta, the movie is well-wrought, sharp, and unexpected. I was very pleased with it. Ryan?

15:29Ryan Lattanzio:What's your guess? What do you think I thought of it? I think you liked it a lot. I thought it was great. and I think in some ways it's a stronger movie than the first 28 years later I wouldn't say that the filmmaking isn't as dynamic but I think the script is better this is Alex Garland in a more native register in terms of unrelenting bleakness and I like that they brought in a different cinematographer on this film they had Sean Bobbitt who shot Judas in the Black Messiah, Widows as well as Tocasta's movies Hedda and the Marvels and obviously the previous movie with Danny Boyle was Anthony Dodd Mantle.

16:05Ryan Lattanzio:And while I do think that Nia DaCosta is at her best in a personal register, which was Hedda, a movie that she obviously really wanted to make and was able to, and things like The Marvels, which was very disappointing, and even Candyman, where she was sort of attaching herself to IP that was already, it was kind of on shaky ground at that point. But with this movie, you really do get a sense that she is a super fan of the original 28 Days Later, even showing us in the beginning, like a classic infection moment where somebody, you know, gets very ill basically and is attacked. And it even goes into the pathology of the virus, which I thought was really interesting and kind of advancing that aspect of the story after these past three films.

16:48Fines is playing around with chemicals and drugs. That whole relationship with Samson, the alpha zombie was really interesting.

16:56Ryan Lattanzio:Yeah. And surprisingly. And I agree. Jack O 'Connell is great. And I you know who I thought of was Alex from Clockwork Orange and his fingers are kind of like these Jimmies that they're called, which are based on the British TV host Jimmy Savile, who was a serial sexual predator also. reminded me of the droogs in A Clockwork Orange. And also this movie kind of reminded me of Funny Games by Michael Hanukkah, just in terms of that nihilistic violence or some of these new French extremism movies like High Tension or something, where the violence is extremely visceral, but it's not overly stylized despite the very gory kills.

17:37Ryan Lattanzio:I thought this movie worked very well. Yeah, no, we're both pretty high on it. So, Ryan, give us a preview of what the highlights are of the upcoming Sundance. How are you going? How do you go about figuring out what to cover? Because, you know, a lot of these are unknown titles, unknown. You may be more up to speed on who some of the directors are. Yeah, there is certainly a case of that. There's also a case of which publicist I'm getting the emails from and what degree of quality I associate. them with. But obviously there's a couple movies that everyone's really excited about going into. And these are sales titles.

18:19Ryan Lattanzio:Also, there's the Greg Iraqi movie. I want your sex, which actually, you know, he directed a TV series called now apocalypse for stars in 2019. But this is his first movie in over 10 years. I kind of didn't realize he did do a lot of TV directing. And this is the one with Olivia Wilde and Cooper Hoffman. There's a Kathy Yan directed movie with Natalie Portman called The Gallerist. That's an art world skewering satire. Another one that is pretty buzzy is this movie Josephine with Channing Tatum directed by Beth de Araujo. And I don't really know anything about this movie. I assume it revolves around some kind of abuse incident.

19:01Ryan Lattanzio:And then another one that it does sound very Sundancey is this movie Union County with Will Poulter and Noah Centineo. It's a kind of love letter to recovering addicts in the Midwest. So it's a very Sundance kind of topic. And there's a lot of documentaries that are exciting. I'll be watching from my couch. Well, yes. And a lot of these movies, as we know, they do become available. So you're not missing out on too much by being on your phone. No, I'm sad. I'm sad that I'm not going to be there for this last go-round. Don't be missed. I do cover it, and I do watch. I pay attention. I see where the buzz is going.

19:44Everybody does come to social media at some point. It becomes clear. My curiosity is what the market will be like this year. the documentary market is in such a shambles, but self-distribution is the new normal at this point for documentaries. But there are new players who could be, who might overbuy, you know, from Roque and Christian Parks' yet unnamed Warner Independent Entity to Teddy Schwartzman's Black Bear, which is notorious for financing and distributing the Sidney's Sweeney flop, Christie, But they have many other strong titles that they financed in their back pocket from before. And they did produce with Marissa McMahon and others Train Dreams.

20:41So Teddy has a, he actually has taste, which is unusual. And so eyes are on him at this year's Sundance to see if he has a, if he's going to, you know, pick up a few things.

20:57Ryan Lattanzio:What you're talking about with the sort of collapsed documentary market also applies to the narrative film market. There is a movie that literally today from last year's Sundance called Ricky. And that just got announced as being self-distributed. And this was over a year ago that it premiered at Sundance. It won an award. It was in the dramatic competition. Sometimes winning the dramatic competition award is a bad thing. No, it is. It's a signal of something that you don't want in a way. It's like, OK, here's our favorite granola movie. Yeah. The last couple dramatic winners didn't have much of a life in them after the festival and didn't really even resonate with critics that much on the ground.

21:40Ryan Lattanzio:So it's always it's up to the mercurial weathers of who's on that jury and what's going to what's going to win. I noticed there were only three people on each of the juries. It used to be I was on the jury once and I think there were at least six people when I did it. So that is a sign that they're saving money on hotels and transportation. Yeah, that's budget is what that is completely. That's a money issue. I don't mean to laugh because we are rooting for Sundance to succeed and thrive, and we need it to. It's our farm team. It's where discoveries of talent occur. It is still important to the industry, and people still go for that reason, even if it's not about distributing movies anymore as much.

22:28Ryan Lattanzio:We're laughing with discomfort because this issue is affecting all of us on every facet of the industry. Just this contraction that we're talking about. Yeah, the jurors, just to say for the dramatic competition, are Janik Sabravo, who directed Zola, Nisha Ganatra, who directed the film Late Night, and the film The High Note with Tracey Ellis. Oh, she did Freak Your Friday also, which I never saw. And actually Freaky or Friday wasn't bad or what it was. And then we have Azazel Jacobs who did a movie that we both liked a lot called His Three Daughters. He's a very talented guy. Yeah, that'll be interesting.