Perhaps you're already sick of hearing about this year's Oscar race, but given that contenders like The Kids Are All Right, Animal Kingdom, and Winter's Bone all premiered at Sundance 2010, it's likely that some of the films unspooling in Park City this week will be earning nominations a year from now. And three days into the latest edition of the festival, we've found at least one to watch.
Keep an eye on Elizabeth Olsen for her shattering performance in Martha Marcy May Marlene. Her turn as an escapee from a cult who finds her programming harder to shake than expected is riveting, vulnerable, ferocious and altogether gripping. The fact that she's also here with the film Silent House -- which has gotten mixed notices, but pulls off the impressive stunt of being shot in one take -- has made Olsen (above left, with Sarah Paulson in Martha) one of the most buzzed-about new talents at Sundance. The pair of films screening here are her second and third movies -- her first was Bruce Beresford's upcoming Peace, Love & Misunderstanding, which also stars Jane Fonda and Catherine Keener. Nothing like those years of early struggle.
And yes, she's the sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley -- but that's one of those factoids that's going to go the way of, "Hey, Warren Beatty is Shirley MacLaine's brother."