The Sundance Film Festival 2026
Written by Ryan Michael Painter
I’ve attended the Sundance Film Festival for more than 30 years. Half of those were as a journalist. It has often been a grueling experience as I tried to squeeze in as many films as I could. I never wanted to take the festival for granted. Not that I ever expected the festival to relocate. The idea still feels ridiculous. And yet, here we are.
I was tempted to not cover this. Year’s festival. Having been told that I would no longer be allowed to cover films for KUTV, I left the industry immediately after 2025’s Sundance Film Festival. I couldn’t let her go without saying a proper goodbye.
It was my intention to watch a dozen or so films. Rather than going up to Park City for the press and industry screenings I decided to stay in Salt Lake City where I could attend public screenings and get the post-screening Q&A’s that are such an important part of the festival experience.
Then, a funny thing happened, I couldn’t stop watching films. In the end, my goal was nearly doubled. So, here is a quick look at the feature films that I watched at this year’s festival with brief reactions.
If pressed, I’d say my favorite films this year were Rock Springs, Saccharine, Frank & Louis, Take Me Home, Hanging by a Wire, Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!, The Friend’s House Is Here, and Broken English.
Sundance, I still love you, save a last dance for me.
Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!
U.S. Dramatic Competition
Synopsis: Haru and Luis love competing in Tokyo’s ballroom dance scene, but after tragedy strikes, Haru withdraws into isolation. When friends coax her back to the studio, she develops an infatuation with the new instructor. She must face what comes next as sparks fly.
Ryan’s Reaction: Director Josef Kubota Wladyka’s excellent drama is rooted in the exploration of cultural misunderstanding and ballroom dance. Rinko Kikuchi’s performance as pitch perfect as her character’s vinyl collection is jaw-dropping impressive. Strange, occasionally uncomfortable, and constantly vivid, Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! was the perfect way to kick off my Sundance 2026 experience.
Saccharine
Midnight
Synopsis: Hana, a lovelorn medical student, becomes terrorized by a hungry ghost after taking part in an obscure weight loss craze: eating human ashes.
Ryan’s Reaction: Writer/director Natalie Erika James has crafted an intelligent body horror experience that is rooted in her personal struggles with body dysmorphic disorder. Charlie Sarroff’s cinematography captures the chaos and horror beautifully. Midori Francis leads a strong ensemble cast.
In horror, perhaps more than any other genre, a story’s conclusion can derail everything that came before it. Saccharinenailed the landing and literally had audience members begging James in the post-film Q&A for answers. She was more giving than I would have been.
Broken English
Premieres
Synopsis: A portrait of the inimitable singer, songwriter, and icon Marianne Faithfull.
Ryan’s Reaction: I’ve thought about Broken English more than any other film at Sundance in 2026. It’s use of the Ministry of Not Forgetting, a fictional organization, allows filmmakers directors Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard to directly state their intention of making a film that gives Marianne Faithfull the opportunity to have a voice in how she is not forgotten cuts through any question of their intent. It does, however, open a debate regarding where what is “real” and what is “fiction.” Ultimately, it might not matter. Faithfull isn’t a charlatan. She’s more of a regal, elegant, and flame-spitting dragon. Please, listen to her roar.
Post-screening, I spent a few minutes talking with Forsyth and Pollard. Their Nick Cave film, 20,000 Days on Earth, was a highlight of Sundance 2014. It too was unconventional and featured a scene with Kylie Minogue in the backseat of car speaking to Cave while he drove. It is one of my favorite cinematic moments. I had to thank them and plant the idea that a Marianne Faithfull exhibition featuring all their unearthed material should absolutely happen. Tate Modern perhaps?
The Huntress (La Cazadora)
World Cinema Dramatic Competition
Synopsis: In the border city of Juárez, Mexico, where violence against women is perpetrated with impunity, an unlikely defender emerges with a desperate call for change. Inspired by true events.
Ryan’s Reaction: Adriana Paz and Teresa Sánchez star as mothers in in writer-director Suzanne Andrews Correa’s story about corruption, poverty, and misogyny. It’s not hard to re-imagine the film’s plot as a slick Hollywood thriller, but Correa wisely keeps the narrative rough and grounded. It feels a little too familiar. That’s more of an inditement of society than it is a criticism of the movie itself. If you do nothing, you change nothing.
Lady
World Cinema Dramatic Competition
Synopsis: Lady is a strong woman in a man’s world. A taxi driver on today’s streets of Lagos, Lady makes enough money to care for herself and her grandmother while most Nigerians must choose between breakfast and lunch. When her oil-producing motherland eliminates fuel subsidies for its citizens, Lady’s childhood friend, Pinky, propositions her to join ranks with her boss who is looking for a night driver for his ladies
Ryan’s Rection: In director Olive Nwosu’s film, Laos is presented as a place drowning in bleakness. Everyone talks about leaving; few can afford to escape. Jessica Gabriel’s Ujah gives a charged performance as the title character, a young woman shaped by a childhood trauma who presents a façade of strength and indifference to protect herself from the ruthlessness of the world she finds herself in. Driven to leave, but tethered to her grandmother, Lady reluctantly embraces an opportunity that will enable her to save enough money to leave Laos for Freetown, an almost mythical place that I, as a cynic, have a hard time believing in. More heart wrenching than hopeful, but Lady will find a way to survive.
Josephine
U.S. Dramatic Competition
Synopsis: After 8-year-old Josephine accidentally witnesses a crime in Golden Gate Park, she acts out in search of a way to regain control of her safety while adults are helpless to console her.
Ryan’s Reaction: When Josephine, an 8-year-old girl, witnesses a violent attack, her parents are put in the impossible position of trying to explain the event while also maintaining their child’s innocence. Despite her parents’ efforts, Josephine is haunted by the interaction she cannot understand.
Josephine is a terrifying exploration of trauma elevated by strong performances from. Channing Tatum, Gemma Chan, and Mason Reeves. Writer-director Beth de Araújo pulls no punches and the results are devastating.
Fing!
Family Matinee
Synopsis: A demanding little girl and her parents, the Meeks, battle an outrageously entitled viscount to protect their rare, furry, one-eyed Fing from those fixated on exploiting this wondrous creature.
Ryan’s Response: I’ve been burnt a few times by carving out time for Sundance’s Family Matinee category, but Fing!Fit nicely into the schedule and served as a change of pace from the weightier films at the festival. The film feels like E.T., Willy Wonka, Lemony Snicket, Paddington, and several other family-friendly franchises mashed together. The results are mixed. Taika Waititi appears to be doing his best Jim Carey impression here. Mia Wasikowska and Blake Harrison are pleasant enough. Newcomer Iona Bell is appropriately annoying and charming once her character gets her redemption. It’s the glossiest film I saw at the festival. The young people in the audience seemed to enjoy it. I was expecting something a touch more original.
Frank & Louis
Premieres
Synopsis: In prison for murder, Frank (Kingsley Ben-Adir) accepts a post caring for fellow inmates in the hopes of winning parole. He’s assigned to frail, paranoid Louis (Rob Morgan), a once-feared inmate with early-onset dementia. Frank gradually wins his trust, but is soon confronted with his own memories and regrets.
Ryan’s Reaction: Having worked in a newsroom for over 25 years, I can tell you that public support for the care of incarcerated individuals is an incredible difficult sell to the public. Like Sing-Sing, and last year’s The Alabama Solution, Frank & Louis makes a strong argument that rehabilitation is an ideal that should not be forgotten. Based on a real program that only exists at the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo, Petra Biondina’s film features one of the most moving narratives and two of the best performances of the Sundance 2026. Kingsley Ben-Adir and Rob Morgan are tremendous.
American Doctor
U.S. Documentary Competition
Synopsis: When three American doctors — Palestinian, Jewish, and Zoroastrian — enter Gaza to save lives, they find themselves caught between medicine and politics, risking everything to expose the truth.
Ryan’s Reaction: The politics surrounding American Doctor aren’t easily untangled. I’m not going to even begin to try to do that here. When watching a documentary, I try to step as far away from my personal beliefs as possible. Full disconnection is impossible. Life experience has shaped me to believe that the best doctors also leave as much of their personal bias out of their work as possible. They simply save as many lives as they can.
American Doctor sets out to share the experiences of three doctors who have made the decision of going into Gaza to provide aid. You can disagree with their decision. You can argue against the ideology that influenced them to make the decision. However, I find it impossible to not be sickened by the horrors they are faced with.
Hot Water
U.S. Dramatic Competition
Synopsis: After he’s kicked out of his Indiana high school, an American kid and his Lebanese mom hit the road west.
Ryan’s Reaction: The American Dream proves to be something of a disappointment in writer/director Ramzi Bashour’s Hot Water. Layal (Lubna Azabal) is at wit’s end. Disillusioned with her professional life and out of options for her troubled 19-year-old son, Daniel (Daniel Zolghadri), who has been expelled from high school, Layal reluctantly agrees to let Daniel go live with his father in California. Over the course of a few days Layal and Danie’s relationship cycles through highs and lows as they make their way across the country. It’s a slow burn with bursts of emotion. The film hinges on Azabal and Zolghadri and both actors prove to be more than able of doing the heavy lifting. The film’s final act proves a bit surprising.
The Friend’s House Is Here
U.S. Dramatic Competition
Synopsis: In Tehran’s underground art scene, two young women build a blissful world of freedom and sisterhood. But when their creative circle is exposed, they must fight to save each other.
Ryan’s Reaction: Writer-directors Maryam Ataei and Hossein Keshavarz hold their narrative cards close to their chests in this smart and revelatory Iranian drama. With the recent protests top of mind, The Friend’s House Is Here offers a compelling view into the lives of artists who operate outside of the approved channels and the risks that they take by doing so. It is enlightening, inspirational, and sobering. A near-perfect Sundance film. I love how it subverts expectation.
Bedford Park
U.S. Dramatic Competition
Synopsis: Haunted by an abusive childhood, Audrey, a Korean American woman in her 30s, faces her emotional past. When her mother’s car accident brings her back to her parents’ home, she meets the man responsible for the accident. Their relationship builds, passions ignite, and they form a loving connection.
Ryan’s Response: Self-loathing fuels this character drama about two damaged people who struggle with the burden of culture, familial, and personal expectations. Moon Choi and Son Sukku offer convincing, heartfelt performances It’s not as dour as it sounds as the audience is allowed to witness two journeys of self-discovery.
Run Amok
U.S. Dramatic Competition
Synopsis: A teenage girl stages an elaborate musical about the one day her high school wishes it could forget.
Ryan’s Reaction: Despite the one-sentence synopsis there is a lot going on in Run Amok. How does a community commemorate the anniversary of a horrific event? How do those directly impacted manage their trauma? What is the collateral damage? Who is to blame? Who is a victim? What is appropriate? What is in poor taste? Can any of these questions be definitively answered? Writer-director NB Mager gives us a complicated film with a light touch. The gentle tone allows the film to ask these questions without overwhelming audience. Alyssa Marvin gives an incredibly aimable performance. She’s authentically awkward, endlessly curious, and uncertain of how she should process her trauma.
The Musical
U.S. Dramatic Competition
Synopsis: When a frustrated playwright and middle school theater teacher finds out his ex-girlfriend has started dating his nemesis, the school’s principal, he decides to ruin the principal’s chances of winning the Blue Ribbon of Academic Excellence.
Ryan’s Reaction: Superficial and forgettable. Quirky is fine, but please give me characters that I can invest in. The pettiness undermines any sense of fun that could be had. Outside of the actual performance of the play, which could have been pushed further, the film is lifeless and hollow.
Take Me Home
U.S. Dramatic Competition
Synopsis: Anna, a 38-year-old Korean adoptee with a cognitive disability, cares for her aging parents in a fragile balance of meeting one another’s needs. When a Florida heat wave shatters their family and Anna’s routine, her future is uncertain until she creates a world where she can thrive.
Ryan’s Reaction: Gut wrenching. Take Me Home presents the incredibly difficult scenario of an older couple trying to raise an adopted daughter who has a cognitive disability that requires frequent, if not constant, attention. With the parents’ health on the decline their other daughter, who lives cross country, is forced to try and take on the burden. As the situation spirals out of control, the spotlight shifts to the utter lack of options that all involved have. Incredibly well performed, sharply written, and masterfully directed, Take Me Home is a rally cry. Will you hear it?
Silenced
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Synopsis: After #MeToo broke the cultural silence on gender violence, international human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson fights against the weaponization of defamation laws to silence survivors.
Ryan’s Reaction: There’s far more at stake in this film than the synopsis suggests. For a moment, the dialogue surrounding gender changed did seem to change. But what ground has been gained? Silence is a sobering watch. Disappointing and hopeful at the same time. The film is primarily focused on the Brittany Higgins case but also gives time to a handful of other cases including a critical look at two separate trials involving Johnny Depp and Amber Heard where an online smear attack on Heard influenced public perception of the actress. For as far as we think we’ve come as a society, there’s an immeasurable distance left to reach #IBelieveHer.
The Incomer
NEXT
Synopsis: On a remote Scottish isle, siblings Isla and Sandy hunt birds and talk to mythical beings while fighting off outsiders. Their lives change when Daniel, an awkward official, arrives to relocate them.
Ryan’s Reaction: While the film does mix in some animated scenes, I was expecting something a bit more bonkers from the NEXT category. Still, there were certainly moments that were decidedly wackadoodle. The cast, which includes Gayle Rankin, Grant O’Rourke, and Domhnall Gleeson, appears to be enjoying the absurdity of the narrative and in this case that’s enough for me to delight in the oddness as well. A nice change of pace that isn’t completely devoid of purpose.
The Lake
U.S. Documentary Competition
Synopsis: An environmental nuclear bomb looms in Utah. Two intrepid scientists and a political insider race the clock to save their home from unprecedented catastrophe.
Ryan’s Reaction: Yes, there is value in profiling some of the individuals raising the alarm about an impending ecological disaster. However, I would have liked a better understanding of the science that has been pushed to edges of the narrative. A brief history of the lake and how it went from constant flood risk in the 1980s to a phantom of itself three decades later would have been helpful. Why do wealthy land developers take the data more seriously than government officials who change their level of interest depending on the audience they are speaking to and absolutely refuse to offer the kind of funding that could save the lake? What needs to be done? What can be done?
Rock Springs
Midnight
Synopsis: After the death of her father, a grieving young girl moves to an isolated house in a new town with her mother and grandmother, only to discover there is something monstrous hidden in the town’s history and the woods behind their new home.
Ryan’s Reaction: I love that writer/director Vera Miao made a “cabin in the woods” horror film that feels surprisingly fresh because it is rooted in historical events. This allows the audience to explore history and cultural beliefs in a way that doesn’t feel like a dry lecture. The art and creature design is grotesquely effective and original. Some might find the structure a little wonky, but I agree with the choices Miao made. The fantastic cast includes familiar faces Kelly Marie Tran, Jimmy O. Yang and Benedict Wong. I wish I had attended the Park City premiere of this.
The Best Summer
Midnight
Synopsis: Immersive POV camera footage reveals electric performances, candid interviews, and intimate backstage life with Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, Foo Fighters, Pavement, Rancid, Beck, The Amps, and Bikini Kill — an all-access view inside an era-defining moment in music.
Ryan’s Reaction: While it was interesting to revisit the alternative scene of the mid-‘90s, my interests then and now were decidedly darker and European. However, if you were into the American alternative scene you’ll likely find the raw performances and awkward interactions to be wildly entertaining.
Hanging by a Wire
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Synopsis: A routine school commute turns terrifying when a cable car’s wire snaps, leaving eight passengers — including six schoolboys — dangling 900 feet above a ravine in the remote Himalayan foothills. With 10 hours before the remaining cable is expected to fail, a group of rescuers races to save them.
Ryan’s Reaction: The use of drone and cellphone footage gives the audience a real-time seat to the unfolding thriller. I knew a little about the incident, but that didn’t keep me from getting completely entangled in the drama. The film rightfully remains focused on the main event while dropping a few crumbs along the way. I wonder how differently things might have been for government officials if all their painfully poor choices had resulted in a darker ending. I’d love to see this on an IMAX screen.
And remember, if the BEST thing you can say about a movie is that it’s “visually stunning,” then they’ve done something wrong.
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