Sundance started its run in Park City in 1981 and has been running strong for decades. Obviously, the niche festival isn’t for everyone, but I’ve always appreciated having the first major festival of the year in our backyard. It has always given a little teaser to some of each year’s biggest Oscar dramas and cult horror favorites. In my near 15 year experience of attending the festival, I’ve been lucky enough to see some of my favorite films – Sing Street, Hereditary, Past Lives, CODA, Manchester By the Sea, Talk to Me, Wind River, Palm Springs, among so many other favorites. Granted, some of the worst movies I can remember seeing have been products of the festival, as well.
Typically, each festival has a ratio of two incredible films, the majority of others being fine-to-good, and around 5 movies being atrocious and pretentious. This year was no different, as evidenced by my ranking below the reviews. So here, it is, my potentially final Sundance reviews.
Josephine
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.
It’s been a while since the Audience and Jury have got the right vote for Best of Fest, but Josephine is the obvious right choice. This is the most mentally damaging movie of this year’s festival, but at the same time, it’s one that every parent should watch. This young girls sees things that no child is equipped to deal with, and her parents have their own ways of dealing or not dealing with it. During this movie, I kept facepalming at the actions of the parents, and wondering how I’d best create a place of safety and security. This is a painful drama that I don’t plan on watching again, but it’s extremely well made, the actors (Channing Tatum, Gemma Chan, Mason Reeves) are great, and the end had me in tears. B+
The Musical
When a frustrated playwright and middle school theater teacher (Will Brill) finds out his ex-girlfriend (Gillian Jacobs) has started dating his nemesis, the school’s principal (Rob Lowe), he decides to ruin the principal’s chances of winning the Blue Ribbon of Academic Excellence.
I was excited to watch this off-key dark comedy. Sundance typically does this genre fairly well. Yet, The Musical is a disaster and it’s extremely hard to watch. It doesn’t have a single likable character to latch onto. Will Brill plays the lead as a narcissistic, vengeful creeper and he’s truly horrible in it. His delivery is so flat and awkward, that I believe he’s trying to channel Tim Robinson. He is no Tim Robinson. Also, this movie wants so badly to be School of Rock, but it’s so mean spirited. This is a waste of time and will only prove make you feel nihilistic. D
The Incomer
On a remote Scottish isle, siblings Isla (Gayle Rankin) and Sandy (Grant O’Rourke) hunt birds and talk to mythical beings while fighting off outsiders. Their lives change when Daniel (Domhnall Gleeson) an awkward official, arrives to relocate them.
There always seems to be a sleepy British comedy at every Sundance. 2025 managed to give us The Ballad of Wallis Island, which completely charmed me. The Incomer tries to earn its charm by showing two grown adults, who are quirky beyond belief and have no plans of leaving their island home. Gleeson is perfect as a guy just trying to do his job, but is taken by the lifestyle and plight of the siblings. I enjoyed the experience of these characters and the constant quirk of it all, but sadly not much of it is memorable when it ends. B-
Hanging by a Wire
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.
I generally try and catch a few documentaries at each festival, and this was high on my list. What makes this feel so different is how the events were captured. This didn’t happen too long ago. Much of the footage was captured by locals and with a drone, which gave a birds eye view to those who were stuck in the cable car. This played out like a tense waiting game. My favorite part of the doc is the brave few who were willing to travel across the wire to save others. Granted, once it ended I was happy with the quality of the documentary and the outcome, but didn’t quite feel that the movie had any real impact on me. C+
Union County
Assigned to a county-mandated drug court program, Cody Parsons (Will Poulter) embarks on the tenuous journey toward recovery amid the opioid epidemic in rural Ohio.
And now it’s time for another overly heavy drama. Will Poulter is fantastic as a junkie who has every deck stacked against him. This will hit hard for anyone who has had a loved one deal with addiction. I couldn’t help but want to shake Cody and make him see logic, but I also saw the reasons he can’t quite escape his dependencies. This is a slow-moving and haunting look at the day-to-day life and survival of someone going through recovery. What makes this movie feel so special is that much of the cast aren’t actors; they’re real people who have dedicated their lives to the treatment and recovery of those struggling with addiction. B-
2026 Final Ranking
1 – Undertone
2 – Josephine
3 – Buddy
4 – The History of Concrete
5 – The Incomer
6 – Union County
7 – Run Amok
8 – Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass
9 – Hanging by a Wire
10 – Saccharine
11 – Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty
12 – Rock Springs
13 – The Sh**heads
14 – The Best Summer
15 – Bedford Park
16 – Filipinana
17 – Hot Water
18 – Carousel
19 – The Musical
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