Haunted by the suspicious death of his ailing mother, a university professor coerces his enigmatic gardener to execute a cold-blooded act of vengeance.

Celebrated Iranian American director Alireza Khatami (Terrestrial Verses, 2023 Cannes Film Festival) makes his Sundance competition debut with his striking third feature, a quietly insidious psychological thriller that hits close to home. With ingenuity and bold self-awareness, Khatami orchestrates a gradual descent into the oppressive depths of generational patriarchy, peeling back long-held secrets and collectively condoned behavior to confront the decaying internalized ugliness underneath. Set against sweeping landscapes, the film boasts a renowned Turkish cast whose nuanced performances punctuate this searing examination of cycles of violence, ensuring that voice is given to a generation desperately seeking to renounce the dark legacy they have inherited.

Ambitious and unsettling, The Things You Kill shatters expectations to deliver a timely and original vision of the cost of personal and collective liberation.—Ana Souza

Available in person. Also available online for the public (January 30–February 2) and credentialed press and industry (January 29–February 2).