- - The 11 Most Anticipated Films Out of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival

Bianca Betancourt, Nojan AminoshareiJanuary 22, 2026 at 5:28 AM

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The 11 Films We Can't Wait to See at Sundance Courtesy of the Sundance Institute

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This year’s Sundance Film Festival marks the end of an era.

Starting next year, the festival will officially relocate to Boulder, Colorado, abandoning it’s original Utah home where the event historically took place—first in Salt Lake City, and most recently in Park City. This year’s fest is also the first to take place following the death of its original founder; the actor, director, and producer, Robert Redford. Perhaps because of this, this year’s slate of films exude the true essence of Sundance: bold, honest, and experimental films that stretch the limits of what modern independent filmmaking can truly look like. It’s a true celebration of Redford’s legacy.

From intimate documentaries centering subjects such as Courtney Love and Brittney Griner to psychosexual thrillers and satirical statements on pop stardom, this year’s festival is expected to generate as much buzz as ever. Ahead, read up on the 11 films at this year’s Sundance Festival that we'll certainly be talking about in the months to come.

Antiheroine

As the musician and rock legend Courtney Love prepares to release her first batch of new music in over a decade; the powerhouse looks back on the critique, scrutiny, and misogyny that clouded her ascent in the music industry in this documentary directed by Edward Lovelace and James Hall. — Bianca Betancourt, culture editor

Edward Lovelace

The Gallerist

Anything can be considered art if you sell it the right way. In this Cathy Yan-led comedic satire, Natalie Portman stars as a burgeoning gallerist and Jenna Ortega as her assistant who together team up to sell a dead body at Art Basel Miami. Zach Galifianakis and Da’Vine Joy Randolph round out the cast in this raucously funny take of the contemporary art world. — B.B.

MRC II Distribution Company L.P.

Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!

Grief, dance, and a whole lot of sequins and spandex are at the heart of director Josef Kubota Wladyka's Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! When a trained ballroom dancer (Rinko Kikuchi) goes into isolation following the death of her spouse, the world of competitive dancing is ultimately what encourages her to process her emotions and remind herself of what life is worth living for. — B.B.

Daniel Satinoff

The Invite

The Invite is stacked both in front of and behind the camera. Olivia Wilde directs and stars alongside Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz, and Edward Norton as two couples whose low-key dinner together spirals into an interpersonally fraught tailspin. Rashida Jones and her longtime writing and producing partner Will McCormack wrote the screenplay based on the Spanish film The People Upstairs and Dev Hynes composed the score. Wilde shot the indie in chronological order on 33mm film, adding to its walls-closing-in chamber play aesthetic. With its combination of Hollywood bona fides and art house cred, it’s sure to be one of the festival’s most highly sought commodities. — Nojan Aminosharei, Special Projects Editor

Courtesy of Sundance Institute

The Brittney Griner Story

Brittney Griner is ready to tell her story on her own terms. This documentary, directed by Alexandria Stapleton, will see the famed WNBA player retell the series of events that led to her harrowing detainment in Russia that quickly turned into one of the 2022’s most captivating—and heartbreaking—political stories. — B.B.

Courtesy Sundance Institute

I Want Your Sex

A prolific fixture of the New Queer Cinema scene throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s, I Want Your Sex is Gregg Araki’s first feature in 12 years. The psychosexual thriller stars Olivia Wilde as a boundary-pushing artist who begins to play kinky mind games with her intern, played by Cooper Hoffman, after she hones in on him as her new muse. Araki, who explored the sexual mores of ’90s youth has now set his sights on Gen Z’s relationship to sex. — N.A.

Josephine

When an 8-year old girl (a young actress by the name of Mason Reeves in her film debut) witnesses a heinous crime in Golden Gate Park, her parents (portrayed by Gemma Chan and Channing Tatum) are helpless to console her. The drama, helmed by writer and director Beth de Araújo is meant to be a vulnerable portrait into how our youth digest the violence that surrounds our world. — B.B.

Greta Zozula

Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie

Renowned documentarian Alex Gibney chronicles the assassination attempt on Salman Rushdie and his subsequent rehabilitation with the use of never-before-seen footage captured by Rushdie’s wife, the poet and artist Rachel Eliza Griffiths. With such intimate access, Gibney, Rushdie, and Griffiths meditate on optimism, forgiveness, and the perseverance of art in the wake of violence. — N.A.

Rachel Eliza Griffiths

The Moment

Charli XCX takes on the mockumentary in her A24 offering, The Moment. Directed by Aidam Zamiri and featuring a star-studded cameos from Kylie Jenner, Rachel Sennott, Alexander Skarsgård, and more, the film follows a rising pop star (Charli, naturally) as she navigates her first-ever arena tour and the mounting pressures and peculiarities of fame. Think Spice World, but make it brat. — B.B.

A24

Run Amok

In writer and director NB Mager’s debut feature, a teenage girl produces an elaborate musical inspired by one of the darkest days in her high school’s history. Balancing dueling tones of humor and heartbreak, the film explores how teenagers are often asked to heal from the impossible—without much support from the adults around them. — B.B.

Tandem Pictures

Wicker

Olivia Colman stars as a sardonic fisherwoman who begs a basketmaker to weave her... a husband. Based on Ursula Wills’ short story of the same name, the film is set to be a comedic tale that speaks on the antiquated standards of commitment and the dead-end trajectories that societal norms often lead to. — B.B.

Lol Crawley

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