2025 Sundance Film Festival: 10 Movies to Be Excited About
The 2025 Sundance Film Festival is here! The Sundance Film Festival is my favorite film festival in the world. I have been attending the festival since 2011 and love it every year. I love the atmosphere, the focus and love of cinema throughout the festival, and of course, the movies. I love the diversity of films at the festival and being able to see a wide array of films from across the globe. I love discovering new, talented filmmakers, actors, and creatives throughout the festival.
I will once again be covering the 2025 Sundance Film Festival and while there are many movies I want to see, the films listed below are the ones I am most excited for. Here are the movies exciting movies playing at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.
Descriptions of the films courtesy of the Sundance Institute.
2000 Meters to Andriivka
What It’s About: Amid the failing counteroffensive, a journalist follows a Ukrainian platoon on their mission to traverse one mile of heavily fortified forest and liberate a strategic village from Russian occupation. But the farther they advance through their destroyed homeland, the more they realize that this war may never end.
Why I’m Excited: Mstyslav Chernov’s last film, 20 Days in Mariupol, premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and went on to win the Oscar for Best Documentary in 2023. His latest film brings us back to the front lines of the war in Ukraine.
By Design
What It’s About: A woman swaps bodies with a chair, and everyone likes her better as a chair.
Why I’m Excited: What’s great about a lot of the movies at Sundance is that there are no trailers. All you get is a synopsis, the cast, and the crew. By Design has a strong cast, led by Juliette Lewis, and has one of the most interesting synopsis of any movie at this year’s festival.
Kiss of the Spider Woman
What It’s About: Valentín, a political prisoner, shares a cell with Molina, a window dresser convicted of public indecency. The two form an unlikely bond as Molina recounts the plot of a Hollywood musical starring his favorite silver-screen diva, Ingrid Luna.
Why I’m Excited: One of the most high-profile films I have ever seen in the Sundance lineup, this adaptation of Manuel Puig’s novel and remake of the Oscar-winning 1985 film marks director Bill Condon’s first film at Sundance since 1998’s God’s and Monsters.
Last Days
What It’s About: Determined to fulfill his life’s mission, 26-year-old John Allen Chau embarks on a dangerous adventure across the globe to convert the uncontacted tribe of North Sentinel Island to Christianity, while a detective from the Andaman Islands races to stop him before he does harm to himself or the tribe.
Why I’m Excited: Director Justin Lin steps away from the Fast and Furious franchise and returns to Sundance for the first time since his 2002 debut film Better Luck Tomorrow.
OBEX
What It’s About: Conor Marsh lives a secluded life with his dog, Sandy, until one day he begins playing OBEX, a new, state-of-the-art computer game. When Sandy goes missing, the line between reality and the game blurs, and Conor must venture into the strange world of OBEX to bring her home.
Why I’m Excited: Albert Birney’s last film, Strawberry Mansion, was a delightful surprise at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, so I am excited to see their follow-up.
Opus
What It’s About: A young writer is invited to the remote compound of a legendary pop star who mysteriously disappeared 30 years ago. Surrounded by the star’s cult of sycophants and intoxicated journalists, she finds herself in the middle of his twisted plan.
Why I’m Excited: It wouldn’t be Sundance without an A24 horror film and with its intriguing plot and star-studded cast, Opus is going to be one of the most buzzed-about movies of this year’s festival.
SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)
What It’s About: An examination of the life and legacy of Sly & The Family Stone — the groundbreaking band led by the charismatic and enigmatic Sly Stone — captures the band’s rise, reign, and subsequent fadeout while shedding light on the unseen burden that comes with success for Black artists in America.
Why I’m Excited: Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson of The Roots returns to the Sundance Film Festival following his Oscar-winning Summer of Soul for another music documentary about Sly and the Family Stone.
The Thing With Feathers
What It’s About: Struggling to process the sudden and unexpected death of his wife, a young father loses his hold on reality as a seemingly malign presence begins to stalk him from the shadowy recesses of the apartment he shares with his two young sons.
Why I’m Excited: Benedict Cumberbatch stars in Dylan Southern’s narrative feature debut following two music-based documentaries, Shut Up and Play the Hits and Meet Me in the Bathroom, both of which premiered at Sundance.
Together
What It’s About: With a move to the countryside already testing the limits of a couple’s relationship, a supernatural encounter begins an extreme transformation of their love, their lives, and their flesh.
Why I’m Excited: Michael Shanks’s feature directorial debut stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie in what could be the next great sci-fi horror film.
The Wedding Banquet
What It’s About: Frustrated with his commitment-phobic boyfriend, Chris, and out of time, Min makes a proposal: a green card marriage with his friend Angela in exchange for expensive in vitro fertilization treatments for her partner, Lee. Plans change when Min’s grandmother surprises them with an elaborate Korean wedding banquet.
Why I’m Excited: Another high-profile remake at this year’s festival, this one being a remake of Ang Lee’s 1993 romantic comedy, with Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, and Kelly Marie Tran leading a stellar ensemble.
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