2026 Sundance Film Festival: 10 Movies To Be Excited About

The 2026 Sundance Film Festival is here! I have been attending the festival since 2011, and it is my favorite festival in the world. 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 be covering the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, and while there are many movies I want to see, the films listed below are the ones I am most looking forward to. 2026 also promises to be an exciting and bittersweet year. It is the first festival since the passing of its founder, Robert Redford, and it is the last time the festival will be held in Park City, Utah, before moving to Boulder, Colorado, next year. So many movies and classic moments happened in Park City, and it’s going to be tough to say goodbye.

Here are the most exciting movies playing at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.

Descriptions of the films courtesy of the Sundance Institute.

Carousel

Image courtesy of the Sundance Institute.

What It’s About: A divorced doctor’s carefully constructed life in Cleveland is upended when his daughter’s debate aspirations and the unexpected return of a past love force him to confront his own choices and embrace a second chance.

Why I’m Excited: Rachel Lambert follows up her 2023 Sundance gem Sometimes I Think About Dying with this romantic comedy starring Chris Pine, Jenny Slate, and Katey Sagal.

Cookie Queens

What It’s About: It’s Girl Scout Cookie season, and four tenacious girls strive to be a top-selling “Cookie Queen,” navigating an $800 million business in which childhood and ambition collide.

Why I’m Excited: This look at the Girl Scout Cookie business and the stories of a handful of girls with big dreams and ambitions is as good and sweet as a box of Tagalongs.

The Disciple

What It’s About: An outsider fueled by relentless determination works his way into the inner circle of the Wu-Tang Clan, where his ambition and creativity converge in the making of an album poised to ignite global controversy.

Why I’m Excited: Anything Wu-Tang Clan related has my attention, but a documentary about their epic, 31-track album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin that only has one copy in existence has

The Gallerist

What It’s About: A desperate gallerist conspires to sell a dead body at Art Basel Miami.

Why I’m Excited: Director Cathy Yan’s first film since Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn finds Natalie Portman and Jenna Ortega starring in this art world satire.

Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty

Images courtesy of the Sundance Institute.

What It’s About: 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.

Why I’m Excited: Following up his spectacular Catch the Fair One, director Josef Kubota Wladyka, Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty sounds like a great vehicle for its Oscar-nominated star Rinko Kikuchi.

The Invite

What It’s About: Joe and Angela are on thin ice, and tonight might be when it all falls apart. Unfortunately, their upstairs neighbors are about to arrive for dinner, and everything that can go wrong goes worse.

Why I’m Excited: Written by Will McCormack and Rashida Jones, directed by Olivia Wilde, and starring Wilde, Seth Rogen, Edward Norton, and Penelope Cruz, The Invite is easily one of the most high-profile films at this year’s festival.

I Want Your Sex

What It’s About: When fresh-faced Elliot lands a job with artist and provocateur Erika Tracy, his fantasies come true as she taps him to become her sexual muse. But Elliot finds himself out of his depth as Erika takes him on a journey into a world of sex, obsession, power, betrayal, and murder.

Why I’m Excited: Sundance legend Gregg Araki returns to the festival for the first time since 2019 with this sexually-charged satire starring Cooper Hoffman and Olivia Wilde.

Legacy Screenings

Why I’m Excited: Sundance celebrates its final year in Park City with a tribute to some of the classic films that played at past festivals, including House Party, Cronos, Saw, Mysterious Skin, and Little Miss Sunshine. They are also honoring Sundance founder Robert Redford with a screening of his 1969 skiing film, Downhill Racer, a perfect film to show in Park City.

Time and Water

What It’s About: Facing the death of his country’s glaciers and the loss of his beloved grandparents, Icelandic writer Andri Snær Magnason turns his archives into a time capsule to hold what is slipping away — family, memory, time, and water.

Why I’m Excited: Sara Dosa’s last documentary, 2022’s Fire of Love, is one of the best documentaries of the decade, so I can’t wait to see what she has in store for us this time.

What It’s About: In Hong Kong, a young woman haunted by visions of her future self meets a stranger who changes the course of her night — and possibly her life.

Why I’m Excited: Calm cinema maestro Kogonada returns to Sundance with another stylish cinematic poem starring Michelle Mao and Haley Lu Richardson.

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