This year’s selections feature lovestruck machines, fearless climbers, and life problems.

Three years in a row I’ve been to the Sundance Film Festival online, and I was able to grab a few tickets to warm myself up for the upcoming year. I’ll go there in person soon enough, but for now I’ve got some movies to talk about. 

You can expect full reviews of them with the star ratings before they come to theaters or streaming services, but for now, these are just summaries of what to expect.

“Suncoast” (In Select Theaters This Friday and Streaming on Hulu February 9)

This is the directional debut of Laura Chinn, who based the story on her life experiences growing up in the early 2000s. Her heroine is Doris (Nico Parker) is dealing with her overbearing and overworked mother (Laura Linney), while waiting for her terminally ill brother to pass away in his crappy nursing home.

She’s in full rebellion mode, especially when she parties with her new friends, but at least, she has an activist friend (Woody Harrelson) to try to talk some sense into her about honoring her mother and talking to her brother while she still can.

Yes, the mother-daughter conflicts get exhausting, especially a scene when the mom violates her daughter’s right to free speech. But it can also be honest and emotionally packed, the more we spend time with these characters, especially with Parker’s performance and the philosophy from the Harrelson character.

I would like to also compare this movie with “The Edge of Seventeen,” which also featured an arguing mother and daughter and Harrelson in a similar role, and both of them have their hearts in the right places. Give this movie some time, and you’ll really be moved by its representation of Chinn’s story.

“Love Me” (Release Date TBA)

It’s a live action gender swapped “Wall-E,” with a smart buoy and a satellite after an Ice Age that killed off of humanity. They start off as technology and then, they develop as humans in their own world: here in the form of Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun. Or it could be a tedious version of “Her.” You decide.

This smart buoy was developed in 2025 (that’s next year), and is able to see Instagram posts and YouTube videos, including one with Kristen Stewart as IG star Deja saying “You’re special, you’re worthy, you’re you,” and Steven Yeun as her husband Liam.

This becomes the buoy’s motivation to use Deja’s voice and for the satellite to sound like Liam. And then, they make CGI avatar versions of themselves wearing onesies, and later their real live-action selves. That is if they are real.

There isn’t much meaning inside “Love Me.” In fact, it’s quite meandering when these two pieces of technology fall in love, have their conflicts, reunite, and then, the cycle repeats itself. It’s not much of a directorial debut for Sam and Andy Zuchero, nor is it a good “Wall-E” and “Her” combo.

“Rob Peace” (Release Date TBA)

In his first directorial position since “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,” Chiwetel Ejiofor expresses some African-American themes between the 80s and 2000s, and based it on the biography “The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace.” The movie tells the story of a Newark kid named Rob Peace (Newcomer Jay Will), who temporarily gets his wrongfully convicted father (Ejiofor) out of jail, and has the smarts to get himself accepted into Yale.

Rob knows his father was set up by the police, in terms of the murder weapon and the death of the one who could have testified against him. But it also becomes complicated when the case could get expensive and when the old man gets diagnosed with brain cancer, and he resorts to drug dealing to help develop a new medicine.

The cast also includes Mary J. Blige as Rob’s hardworking single mother, Camilla Cabello as another Yale student who becomes his girlfriend, Mare Winningham as his biology professor, and Michael Kelly as as a religious schoolmaster.

The rest of the film shows us Rob trying forget the harsh realities of his youth and better himself and his community, while thinking about whether or not his father was innocent of murdering two girls. It’s mostly a film about how the past can affect a person’s future, and how he deals with it. Despite a few setbacks in the screenplay, the overall movie is quite emotional and gripping, thanks to the performances and direction.

“Between the Temples” (Release Date TBA)

Jason Schwartzmann plays a cantor named Ben Gottlieb, who has a life crisis of his own. His wife passes away, he leaves before he can sing at the temple, tries to kill himself by having a truck run him over, and goes to a bar where he reunites with his grade school music teacher Carla O’Connor (Carol Kane). She asks him to his new adult bat mitzvah student, because her parents were communists in the 60s, and she got her period on her 13th birthday. Ben reluctantly agrees to teach her.

As their lessons take off, they start to become friends, much to the dismay of her son Nat (Matthew Shear), who is an atheist.

The cast also consists of Robert Smigel as the Rabbi, Madeline Weinstein as his stage actress daughter, Caroline Aaron as Ben’s mother, and Dolly de Leon (“Triangle of Sadness”) as his stepmother.

There are psychedelic moments between Ben and Carla which seem tedious, a 70s style cinematography which make it feel old fashioned, and aspects on different faiths which are consistently honest. Schwartzmann and Kane are both funny and charming with the right direction from Nathan Silver (“Uncertain Terms,” “The Great Pretenders”).

“Skywalkers: A Love Story” (Release Date TBA)

There are people who would illegally climb tall buildings, towers, cranes, or anything up in the air, which would either kill them or give them social media fame. They’re called “Rooftoppers.” In the tradition of “Man on Wife” and “Free Solo,” we have this amazing doc that’s guaranteed to test your fear of heights, while getting to know Angela Nikolau and Vanya Beerkus, two Russian climbers and dreamers, who collaborate for the climb of their lives.

Angela’s parents were from the circus, until hard times have fallen and her father leaves her mother for another woman. Her remaining caretaker was her grandma. And she leaves home to broaden her horizons.

Vanya’s parents never got along, so he often escaped to start climbing things. In his words: “The higher I was, the easier it is for me to breathe.” And he got enough followers and sponsors for him to travel the world.

She decides to compete with him, which leads to them meeting in person, which puts them on adventures, which has them falling in love, and which has them deciding to climb the Merdeka, which is the last tall skyscraper in Malaysia at 118 stories.

Netflix has the good sense to help distribute this film, because of how it thrills us with how these two people know the risks of climbing (even seeing videos of people falling to their deaths), but are crazy and determinate enough to soar new heights. If you have a strong fear of heights, this will make you puke. But if you’re into fresh stories, then you have to keep watching.

“Little Death” (Release Date TBA)

The fact that this was produced by Darren Arnonofsky and it adds drugs and hallucinations in the mix makes me say this: far cry from “Requiem for a Dream.” It’s one of those movies whose stories intertwine like “Pulp Fiction” or “Amores Perros,” but it’s also one of those movies that require hallucinations and whiny characters to make it seem like an Arnonofsky piece. And the director is Jack Berget, whose background includes music videos for Doja Cat, Jay Rock, and Jack Harlow.

David Schwimmer plays a TV writer for a body swap comedy series “The Switch,” whose life and career forces himself to become a pill popper and distance himself from his bowling girlfriend (Jena Malone). They were supposed to go on vacation to Costa Rica, but his issues prevent himself from going, and this is when she calls off their relationship.

Then, he gets killed during a robbery, and we meet two characters AJ (Dominic Fike) and Karla (Talia Ryder), who get screwed over by their boss. This is when they deal with dangerous and reckless characters, and when they deal with the sad part of their friendship. That is if we can call them friends.

Like I said these two stories are supposed to intertwine, but you ask me, it’s kind of mean-spirited when we see Schwimmer’s story ending with himself getting killed, and switching over to the crime story that uses too much bickering and threatening. In fact, it’s basically the same on both sides. Only difference is the second part is marginally better than the first part, thanks to Ryder and Fike’s performances. It still is pointless and pushy.

“Exhibiting Forgiveness” (Release Date TBA)

Andre Holland plays an artist named Tarrell whose mother Joyce (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) tries to arrange a family reunion between him and his abusive junkie father La’Ron (John Earl Jelks). He suffers from nightmares which force his musician wife (Andra Day) and son (Daniel Michael Barriere) to be separated from him.

La’Ran’s excuses feature his own abusive father, which resorted in him making his son cut lawns despite him stepping on a nail, and hurting Joyce in the aftermath.

Joyce still loves and forgives him, because of what she believes in the Bible, but Tarrell finds it difficult for obvious reasons. In fact, he tries to erase his past with his artwork.

“Exhibiting Forgiveness” is an emotionally powerful movie about the past and the present, and how this particular artist is often haunted by his youth. It’s about trying to move on and complementing on whether or not forgiveness must be given. And the performances from Holland, Day, Ellis-Taylor, and Jelks are universally excellent.

These are the movies I saw at the Sundance Film Festival. I may not have seen as much as the late Roger Ebert or Patrick Beatty would, but I still do my best to give you guys the scoop on what’s good and what’s bad. And you can expect full reviews of my movies, when they get their release dates.