Review: ‘James White’ Starring Christopher Abbot & Cynthia Nixon Is A Bruising Portrait Of Self-Destruction

Dark stories of self-destruction and suffering with miserablist leanings tend to be the narrative bread and butter of Sundance. And they’ve become such a cliché, that some wary audiences’ hackles tend to rise at the slightest sign of despairing stories that are anything but the feel-good hit of the year. Producer turned director Josh Mond navigates some of these familiar and potentially off-putting terrains in his feature-length debut “James White.” The results are sometimes mixed, but thanks to a strong visual eye and a terrific cast, this anguished, but intimate coming of age tale tends to (mostly) recompense for some of the darker and more despondent elements that will test some resolves.

Opening in a dank, sweaty club, the titular James White dances with such wild, feral abandon it suggests catharsis and some kind of spiritual exorcism. It turns out to be the eve of his father’s wake and the troubled 20-something New Yorker’s hedonistic binge lasts until the early...