Valter Skarsgard, the younger brother of Alexander and Bill Skarsgard, and 'The Deuce's' Dominique Fishback are among the fest's fresh faces.

This story first appeared in the Jan. 17 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.

• Ari Aster

  'Hereditary'

  

  WHY HIM The snowbound horror film starring Toni Collette and Gabriel Byrne could cement the 31-year-old director as the next genre rising star in the same vein as The Witch's Robert Eggers. The AFI grad previously helmed a visceral 30-minute short, The Strange Thing About the Johnsons, that became a viral sensation in 2017, five years after its creation.

• Dominique Fishback

  'Night Comes On'

  WHY HER Recently seen on HBO's The Deuce, the Brooklyn native plays a young woman who gets out of juvenile detention and must face her past. The NEXT section feature is a leading-role stepping-stone for the 26-year-old actress who has proven her versatility with parts in FX's The Americans, Showtime's The Affair and upcoming YA film The Hate U Give.

• Augustine Frizzell

  'Never Goin' Back'

  WHY HER The Texas native, a writer-editor-helmer who also acts, makes her feature directorial debut with a high-energy drama about two teen BFFs who ditch school to head to the beach but find themselves broke and in trouble (think Spring Breakers). The 38-year-old (who is married to director David Lowery) has seen two of her shorts debut at SXSW.
• Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie

  'Leave No Trace'

  WHY HER Director Debra Granik made Jennifer Lawrence into a sensation with 2010's Winter's Bone. Now she's finally returning to Sundance with Leave No Trace, which stars 17-year-old McKenzie, who hails from New Zealand, as a young girl secretly living on a nature reserve near Portland, Oregon, with her troubled father (Ben Foster).

• Valter Skarsgard

  'Lords of Chaos'

  WHY HIM His name may be familiar: He's the younger brother of actors Alexander (Big Little Lies) and Bill (It) Skarsgard (all sons of Stellan Skarsgard). While he plays a supporting role in the Norwegian black metal movie starring Rory Culkin, it's a promising American film debut for the 22-year-old, who starred in the Swedish drama Black Lake.