TAGGED AS: festivals, movies, Sundance
This week, we will celebrate and commiserate in what will be the last edition of the famed Sundance Film Festival from Park City, Utah. What began as the brainchild of founder Robert Redford has morphed into a multibillion-dollar showcase for independent cinema that no longer resembles the ragtag, semi-professional edition that first graced the quiet Utah ski resort back in 1997. The festival will continue in its new home in Boulder, Colorado, but this marks the definitive end of an era, arriving with a bittersweet energy.
Even so, it remains a vital part of the film calendar and the broader film landscape, particularly for indie cinema. Having nurtured some of this generation’s most gifted filmmakers — names like Quentin Tarantino, Ryan Coogler, Chloé Zhao, Nia DaCosta, Jordan Peele, Damien Chazelle, Céline Song, Christopher Nolan, and the Coen brothers all had their Sundance moments — the legacy of Sundance will continue no matter where it calls home, and the final Park City edition will serve as a culmination of the festival’s history, its future, and every incredible stop along the way.
This year, several repertory screenings of past festival faves and alumni panels aim to both eulogize and celebrate more than 45 years of Sundance history while giving the same treatment to its dearly departed co-founder. Simply put, Independent cinema as we know it would not exist without Sundance, and we can’t wait to see what this last edition has in store.
We will be on the ground covering and highlighting the films that should be on your radar and when you can expect to see them in theaters. Stay tuned for our critic scorecard and festival wrap-up, releasing next week, and follow along as we brave the cold at the Eccles Theater or grab a drink on Main Street one last time.
Read on for our picks of the 9 buzziest and most talked-about titles of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
The Gallerist (2026)
Director: Cathy Yan
Writers: Cathy Yan, James Pedersen
Cast: Jenna Ortega, Natalie Portman, Zach Galifianakis, Da’Vine Joy Randolph
Cathy Yan returns to her Sundance roots following the success of her debut Dead Pigs, which premiered at the festival in 2018 and led to her collaboration with Margot Robbie on Birds of Prey. Her latest feature follows a group of artists preparing for an Art Basel premiere, where someone attempts to showcase and sell a dead body. Natalie Portman plays the titular gallerist, with Zach Galifianakis appearing as an art influencer, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph rounds out the cast as an emerging artist.
Part comedy, part art piece, the film leans into Yan’s irreverent, whimsical storytelling. Alongside the normal hijinks of mounting a major show, the film’s narrative skewers the absurdity of the dead-body exhibit and the debate over its inclusion while highlighting the myopic, prurient, rampant exploitation and unchecked egos that fuel the modern art scene. Broad, dark, and very much of the moment, it is certain to be a festival conversation starter.
Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! (2026)
Director: Josef Kubota Wladyka
Writers: Josef Kubota Wladyka, Nicholas Huynh
Cast: Rinko Kikuchi, Alberto Guerra, Alejandro Edda, You, Yoh Yoshida, Damián Alcázar
This Japanese- and English-language feature offers an inside look at Tokyo’s competitive ballroom dance scene. The story follows Haru, a dancer recovering from tragedy who is coaxed back into the studio and into the art form she loves but once abandoned. There, she develops a desperate crush on her new instructor, and the film explores how she navigates the emotional and artistic consequences of the affair. Acclaimed actress Rinko Kikuchi leads the film, which is set to feature daring dance sequences that promise to be a major highlight.
Frank & Louis (2026)
Director: Petra Biondina Volpe
Writers Esther Bernstorff & Petra Biondina Volpe
Cast: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Rob Morgan
Frank is serving a life sentence and has been tasked with caring for aging inmates suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia. What begins as a simple assignment meant to improve his chances of parole becomes a profound and transformative experience when he bonds with another inmate.
A story of quiet perseverance and unlikely friendship, the film evokes comparisons to Sing Sing, the prison drama that premiered at TIFF in 2016 and later earned Oscar recognition.
The Invite (2026)
Director: Olivia Wilde
Writer: Wilma Cormack, Rashida Jones
Cast: Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz, Edward Norton, Olivia Wilde
Fresh off his Golden Globe wins, Seth Rogen returns to Park City in this farcical dinner comedy that seems tailor-made for his comedy taste. The film follows a couple who invite their upstairs neighbors over for dinner on a night when everything that can go wrong does. It feels like Game Night meets The Invitation. This one looks live in the intersection of cringe and comedy and is set to have the Sundance crowd squirming and screaming in their seats. The audience, as trapped as the dinner party guests, will be treated to an evening filled with polite conversation that gives way to exposing grievances, insecurities, and codependent dynamics. A reimagining of the classic French farce, the film marks Wilde’s third feature and her first effort after the much talked about Don’t Worry Darling.
I Want Your Sex (2026)
Director: Gregg Araki
Cast: Olivia Wilde, Cooper Hoffman, Mason Gooding, Chase Sui Wonders, Daveed Diggs, Charli XCX
Olivia Wilde returns to the Sundance Film Festival as both lead actress and director, but while The Invite showcases her talents behind the camera, I Want Your Sex puts her in front of it. Directed by Gregg Araki, the film features a cast of young Hollywood faves, including Cooper Hoffman, Mason Gooding, and Chase Sui Wonders. Blindspotting writer and star Daveed Diggs also returns to Sundance here, while Charli XCX serves double duty with her second Sundance acting turn. Hoffman plays a young actor who dreams of landing a dream job with an artist and provocateur. As he fantasizes about becoming her sexual muse, he discovers that Erica (Wilde) may be forbidden fruit best left unexplored. What follows is a journey through sex, ambition, power, betrayal, and murder.
Araki, known for White Bird in a Blizzard, Mysterious Skin, and television work on Dahmer, American Gigolo, and Now Apocalypse, returns to territory that blends desire with danger, and we can’t wait to see what sensuous escapades he has in store.
The Moment (2026)
Director: Aidan Zamiri
Cast: Charli XCX, Kate Berlant, Rosanna Arquette, Alexander Skarsgård, Kylie Jenner, Rachel Sennott
One of the hardest tickets of the festival, this sold-out entry marks Charli XCX’s first major leading role. Playing a semi-biographical version of herself in a Spinal Tap meets Hard Day’s Night concert film, the British songstress anchors this snapshot of an artist navigating life in the aftermath of a career high — specifically for Charli XCX, her life post-“Brat Summer.”
Funny, cutting, and self-aware, the film captures that intangible moment of post-fame in an artist’s life and features a lineup of pop culture’s most talked-about names. The Park City premiere is set to be the highlight of the last edition there, and a who’s who of Hollywood is expected to attend. We will be on hand to report back on all the glitz, glam, and giggles.
The Weight (2026)
Director: Padraic McKinley
Screenwriters: Matthew Booi, Matthew Chapman, Shelby Gaines
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Russell Crowe, Julia Jones, Austin Amelio, Avi Nash, Sam Hazeldine
Set in 1933 Oregon, The Weight chronicles the life of Samuel Murphy, who is torn from his daughter and sent to work in a brutal labor camp. There, he is tortured and tempted by a warden, who offers him a chance at early release if he agrees to smuggle gold through the deadly wilderness.
We follow Murphy on an odyssey-like journey through the treacherous Oregon backcountry as he fights to reunite with his child. A Depression-era crime drama, the story tracks a group of desperate convicts navigating both physical danger and moral compromise. Ethan Hawke, who’s not typically associated with action-forward roles, seems to be in store for a physically demanding performance as he battles the elements and those around him in search of peace or revenge. If we get disappointed on Oscar nominations morning with no nod for Hawke in Blue Moon, maybe this can give the 4-time nominee a The Revenant-style moment for Oscars 2027. Fingers crossed.
Buddy (2026)
Director: Casper Kelly
Cast: Topher Grace, Delaney Quinn, Keegan-Michael Key, Mike Shannon, Patton Oswalt, Christina Milian
Little is known about this midnight entry beyond its surreal premise. What we do know is that it centers on a brave girl and her friends who must escape a children’s television show, with imagery that includes a disturbingly demented unicorn. Director Casper Kelly, known for the viral short Too Many Cooks and his Adult Swim background, promises something strange, possibly hilarious, and definitely unmissable. We are most excited to see Topher Grace in a dark comedic turn, given his early sitcom roots; the meta juxtaposition of his involvement is just too delicious to ignore.
Carousel (2026)
Director and Writer: Rachel Lambert
Cast: Chris Pine, Jenny Slate
A rekindled high school romance emerges when a newly divorced doctor, played by Chris Pine, reconnects with someone from his past, portrayed by Jenny Slate. United by shared heartbreak and an ambitious daughter’s debate prep, the two explore whether love is worth the inevitable pain it brings. The film looks to examine loneliness, vulnerability, and the cyclical nature of romantic risk with empathy and restraint. The bonus factor of Pine’s charm and Jenny Slate’s infectious personality has us more than excited to tune in for this later-in-life romance.
The 2025 Sundance Film Festival runs from January 22 to February 1.
