[THE MAIN EVENT]

A deep dive on the real-life xenophobic Wyoming massacre that inspired Rock Springs, ahead of its Sundance premiere.

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Rock Springs' story already has us shook. Vera Miao’s genre-bending horror flick—starring Kelly Marie Tran, Benedict Wong, and Jimmy O. Yang—is slated to premiere Sunday in the Midnight section of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. The screenplay has the feel of a classic creepy woods tale told through an Asian-American lens. But beneath the jump scares and slow-burn suspense lies far more unsettling source material: real-world racial terror pulled straight from U.S. history books.

The MACRO-produced feature follows a grieving young girl who relocates to Rock Springs, Wyoming, with her mother and grandmother after her father dies. But something is seriously off about this town. An undercurrent of paranormal unease soon begins to bear down on the family in unsettling ways.

That eeriness nods to one of the ugliest episodes of anti-Chinese violence in American history: the 1885 Rock Springs Massacre. In the Northwestern coal town, Chinese immigrants had grown into a sizable population, first recruited to build the transcontinental railroad and later hired to mine coal at bargain-bin wages. White coal miners despised the arrangement, blaming Chinese workers for job scarcity and depressed wages rather than the corporations exploiting them both.

The resentment boiled over on the morning of Sept. 2, 1885, following a workplace dispute between white and Chinese miners. White workers went home, gathered guns, hatchets, knives, and clubs; corralled like-minded compatriots; and stormed the area’s Chinatown. The mob shot men in the streets, looted homes, and set Chinese-owned dwellings ablaze.

Miao, who wrote and directed Rock Springs, said discovering the massacre—just one instance of that era’s anti-Chinese violence and backlash—brought her writing process full circle. “This was a horror story,” she told Gold House's editorial series, Renegades, “but the horror is real.”

The numbers are brutal. At least 28 Chinese people were killed in the attack, and another 15 were wounded. Hundreds of residents were chased into the surrounding hills as their community burned behind them. Sixteen white men were arrested. None were convicted. Donald Glover said it best: This is America.

“The original seed that evolved into Rock Springs was a question: Could I explore diaspora through horror?” Miao said. “As a child of Chinese immigrants, diaspora is deeply personal—marked by loneliness, by feeling scattered and fragmented, by longing for a sense of belonging. It is being haunted by the idea of a home and a history you lost or never had.”

That haunting is the connective tissue of Rock Springs. The film wrestles with historical violence and racial exclusion, inherited trauma, and what happens when a town’s dark past refuses to stay buried. It’s a story that, as Miao puts it, asks: “What is the difference between a ghost and an ancestor?”

You’ll have to watch Rock Springs for the answer. And if it leaves you shook, well, that’s the point. 

—John Kennedy

If you’re in town for Sundance, be sure to check out Rock Springs as it makes its debut on Sunday, Jan. 25 at 11:55 p.m. MST

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[DIRECTOR'S CUT]

Creative License

Brothers Justen and Julien Turner speak about their hilarious new indie comedy pilot, FreeLance, which is debuting at Sundance.

UpRising: The very first line of FreeLance is “All good ideas start out as bad ideas.” What was the initial spark for the series, and how did it evolve?

Julien Turner: I love that question. FreeLance was just a show in our heads, born from all of our mistakes as filmmakers. We've had this inside joke for the last six years—whenever we've been doing freelance projects and something funny happened on set or didn't go the way we wanted it to go, we were like, “Let's put that in FreeLance!” It all culminated in a story.

The content creator experience seems like it lends itself to funny and quirky adventures. 

Justen Turner: Sometimes we forget how funny real life has become. The actors that we got to work with on this are so talented at taking characters and giving them that comedic cherry-on-top. 

Julien Turner: These guys are social comedians who do skits every day, [portraying] everyday people—janitors, teachers, your little brother, your buddy next door. Working with people who can make real life funny allows us to tell a story that's specific and universal to everyone.

This is also a story of friendship and brotherhood. Why was that important to center in FreeLance?

Julien Turner: There aren't a lot of men-led ensemble projects. FreeLance brings out that humor and sheds light on the dynamics between Black men. It doesn’t always have to be about a gang, a fraternity, or even corporate life. What about the guys who just moved back home from college and don't know what to do? The guys who are leaning on each other for rent? That was our experience. But you also see all these viral TikToks about friend groups. Let's tell that story—specific to us, but universal. 

The pilot is showing this weekend at Sundance. Can you give a sneak peek of where FreeLance will take viewers over the course of a full season?

Justen Turner: For this first season, our main character, Lance (Spence Moore II), is trying to make his first narrative short film. Along the way, other characters with equally interesting passions are also experiencing these same kinds of trials. You see each of them striving to get to their goals. And the vehicle is these vlogs that Lance uses to keep track of his life. There's a different project with each episode.

Julien Turner: With every episode, you see each one of them hit a different milestone in their growth. Ultimately, they get an opportunity to go to L.A. for the first time. We have some stories from our first L.A. experience. We can't wait for you all to see what that experience was. Hopefully, we can create an avenue for other creators from Middle America and embolden them to go out and tell their stories.

—John Kennedy

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[TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT]

I’m a bubble of peace and serenity. I’m not on TikTok, I’m playing The Sims—you can’t get to me.

This budding soul star is very offline despite blowing up in 2025 on social media and elsewhere. Get to know this Grammy nominee better ahead of her performance at music’s biggest night next week.

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[LET'S LINK]

• Raphael Saadiq Talks “Amazing” Oscar Nomination For Sinners And Missing D’Angelo [Vibe]

• YoungBoy Never Broke Again Is 2025’s Best Rapper Alive [Complex]

• Everyone Wants to Be Chinese Now (In a Respectful, Non-Colonising Way) [Dazed]

• Delroy Lindo Deserves It All [HuffPost]

• Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Is Betting on Himself [Esquire]

• The Latin Artists We’re Rooting for in 2026 [Rolling Stone]

• Why Can't the Grammys Be More Like the Oscars? [Carl Cherry Substack]

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[OUTRO]

Take This Audio Doggie Bag With You

“Break Me In,” Joyce Wrice

You might need a shower after listening to Joyce Wrice’s funky new single. The 33-year-old San Diego native—and voice behind The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder theme—lays down a sultry demand for a lover to meet her needs. It’s a fun, sensual vibe.

Listen Now →