Distribution company A24 has acquired Lynn Shelton’s Laggies and Gillian Robespierre’s Obvious Child at Sundance over the weekend. Having launched on the scene in 2013, A24 has made a name for itself picking up smart and engaging indie fare such as The Bling Ring and Spring Breakers. They have been busy over the weekend adding to their 2014 slate of films and seemed to have picked some winners.
Lynn Shelton (You Sister’s Sister, Touchy Feely) has brought another film to Sundance, this time working off an original script by Andrea Seigel. Laggies stars Keira Knightley as Megan who is returning to her 10-year high school reunion. Upon her return she realizes not many things have changed. When she crosses paths with 16-year old Annika (Chloë Grace Moretz), she reverts back to her days as a teenager, hanging out with Annika and crushing on Annika’s father (Sam Rockwell). Playing more like a late coming-of-age story than a typical rom-com, Laggies has been receiving strong word of mouth and A24 plans to release the film this summer.
Gillian Robespierre’s Obvious Child stars stand-up comedian Jenny Slate, as a 27-year old Brooklyn comedian who has recently found out that she’s been dumped by her cheating boyfriend and then suddenly gets pregnant. Word of mouth is dubbing Obvious Child as an abortion comedy and Slate performs her character without makeup and looking like a mess for most of the film. Robespierre really wanted to make a film with how real women struggle with an unplanned pregnancy. While it sounds utterly depressing, Obvious Child is actually an uproarious and gripping comedy that should perform well from A24.
