The 10 Best Movies We Saw At The Festival, Ranked

Arguably the most famous film festival in the United States has spent the past 40+ years nestled in the mountains of Park City, Utah, but this year was the last time the Sundance Film Festival called those mountains home. Perhaps it’s fitting that its founder, Robert Redford, died last year; it’s the end of an era, and in 2027, the festival is moving to Boulder, Colorado to start a new chapter. But before that, let’s look back at some of the highlights of this year’s festival. 

/Film’s Bill Bria was there in person to see “The Moment,” Charli XCX’s music mockumentary, bear witness to Olivia Wilde’s comeback with “The Invite,” survive the scariest film of the festival (and 2026 so far) in “Undertone,” and crack up at the shocking high school-set comedy “The Musical.” Bill has teamed up with /Film editors Ben Pearson and Ethan Anderton, who attended the fest remotely, to create a group top 10 list, and in an effort to spread the love around and shine a light on what are sure to be some of the best independent films of the year, they won’t be including any of the aforementioned movies on this list. To hear them speak more in depth about almost every movie they all saw, be sure to check out this week’s episode of the /Film Weekly podcast.

Without further ado, here are the trio’s top 10 movies of Sundance 2026, ranked.

In 2022, director Sara Dosa came to Sundance with “Fire of Love,” a documentary about two scientists who forged a romance while studying volcanoes. It was full of some of the most breathtaking natural imagery I’ve ever seen, and now Dosa is back, applying her patented blend of gorgeous nature footage and earthy narration to a different aspect of nature: glaciers. Shifting from fire to ice, Dosa and her team plunge audiences from the bubbling reds and oranges of “Fire of Love” into the cool blues and blinding expanses of whiteness of the glaciers, which are rapidly shrinking. The narration this time comes from Icelandic writer Andri Snær Magnason, who was commissioned to write a eulogy for the first glacier to “die” because of climate change. 

The film is presented as a time capsule, simultaneously a love letter to Magnason’s family — particularly his grandparents, who met and fell in love while adventuring and studying on the ice — and a warning to future generations about the perils of inaction. Deeply personal but wholly relatable, “Time and Water” is a beautiful celebration of memory, a spiritual connection to the wonders of this planet, and a snapshot of a point of no return that’s already been surpassed. (Ben Pearson)

“Buddy” has a seemingly simple premise: What if something like Barney the Dinosaur, the once-ubiquitous ’90s children’s character and TV program, was actually evil? That’s already enough for a horror film along the lines of “Willy’s Wonderland” or “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” but “Buddy” goes much deeper than surface-level kindertrauma. The work of director Casper Kelly has involved seemingly innocuous media being twisted and/or invaded by demonic forces since his Adult Swim short “Too Many Cooks,” a technique Kelly has since perfected with his “Adult Swim Yule Log” features. “Buddy” continues Kelly’s experimentation with surrealism, satire, and cultural commentary, as the film looks at how the titular children’s show character who won’t take no for an answer (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key) doesn’t just traumatize the children in his thrall (led by Delaney Quinn) but also real-world parents, too (played by Cristin Milioti and Topher Grace).

To say much more would risk spoiling the several surprises hidden within “Buddy,” but suffice to say there’s a lot to chew on. Kelly and co-writer Jamie King thread bits of world-building throughout that are enough for entire Reddit threads to spring up in their wake. Meanwhile, people like Key, Michael Shannon, and Patton Oswalt have a ball voicing some bizarre characters, the movie’s puppet and creature designers deliver some wonderfully cute-turned-nightmarish creations, and none other than Clint Howard shows up. Through its fever-dream abnormality, Kelly infuses the film with a fascinating commentary on the strange history of children’s entertainment. Hopefully, everyone will get the chance to make “Buddy” their new friend soon. (Bill Bria)

Anyone who’s paid attention to social media in the last several years knows that our culture — and Gen Z in particular — has a serious problem when it comes to depictions of sexual material in film and television. But just as it seems like we’re poised to descend into a resurgence of the Hays Code, along comes Gregg Araki to help save us. “I Want Your Sex” marks the first film from the provocative queer director in 12 years, and while the movie isn’t too crazy when it comes to nudity (which has never been Araki’s thing, per se), its frank, open, and brazen handling of sexual themes, especially sexual politics, make it a must-see for sheltered zoomers. In fact, it’s a must-see in general, given how much fun Araki and his cast are having here.

The movie follows Elliot (Cooper Hoffman), a hopelessly naive young man who, shortly after moving to Los Angeles, finds himself under the spell of Erika Tracy (Olivia Wilde), a button-pushing artist with a dominant nature in and out of the bedroom. “I Want Your Sex” is part sex comedy, as Elliot’s experimenting with Erika begins to complicate his relationships with his frigid girlfriend (Charli XCX) and his unrequited bestie/roommate (Chase Sui Wonders). Araki also has a ball using the film to riff on classic film noir and erotic thrillers. Allusions to films like “Double Indemnity,” “Sunset Boulevard,” and “Body Heat” blend together with Araki’s pop-art aesthetic, and the result is a movie that’s erotic, satiric, goofy, and a little bit dangerous. Y’know, kinda like sex itself. (Bill Bria)

Hi kids, do you like artificial intelligence? You might change your mind after seeing director Valerie Veatch’s searing takedown of the rising technological fad that has suddenly invaded our everyday lives.

“Ghost in the Machine” provides a thoroughly researched history of artificial intelligence, from the term’s inception as a mere marketing tool to today’s efforts of technology executives like Sam Altman and Elon Musk. Along the way, this eye-opening chronicle of AI reveals concerning and ongoing ties to eugenics, the unsettling hand-waving of various cultural and social grievances, and the very real toll that this misleading technology is already having on humanity. 

Featuring insightful interviews with historians, philosophers, professors, journalists, and more, this documentary questions the deceptive, hyperbolic promises of artificial intelligence in making humanity better than anyone ever dreamed. And because of the landscape we find ourselves in, thanks to the growing presence of AI everywhere, each shot clearly indicates whether the footage is real or created with AI, with the latter only used to illustrate unsettling images used to prove an important point.

If you’re not already scared by the disingenuous efforts of some of the most prominent minds behind artificial intelligence, this documentary will serve as an infuriating wake-up call. (Ethan Anderton)

The great Domhnall Gleeson is fully in the pocket in this indie comedy as Daniel, a meek, slightly geeky guy who works for the Scottish government and is tasked with relocating two people who live on a remote island off the Scottish coast. Forced by his boss to deal with the situation in person, Daniel gets more than he bargained for when he meets the two residents, Isla and Sandy (Gayle Rankin and Grant O’Rourke), a brother and sister who have been alone on the island for decades and have been raised to not only distrust interlopers, but to fight them off to protect their homeland. 

Sandy is a goodnatured version of an overgrown manchild, providing much of the film’s humor, while Isla is more fierce and battling depression, represented by a fish-man who is constantly begging her to surrender herself to the sea. There are similar flights of fancy woven throughout “The Incomer,” tapping into folklore and myth that feel just as out-of-reach for mainlander Daniel as the concept of the internet is to the island-bound brother and sister. Slowly, the two sides begin to understand each other; writer/director Louis Paxton’s feature directorial debut is the type of charming crowd-pleaser that sends you out of the theater with a big grin on your face. (Ben Pearson)

In 2026, we’re still undergoing the end of an era. The 21st century’s too-rapid rate of change has meant that so many traditions, institutions, and arts are beginning to fall by the wayside. This wave of change hasn’t only reached the shores of music, television, and cinema, but even crime. Director/actor Noah Segan’s second feature, “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York,” is a heartfelt and tender tribute to a world within and without the confines of the movie itself. John Turturro does career-best work as Harry, a veteran pickpocket and small-time criminal who accidentally gets in over his head when he unwittingly makes a mark out of a mafia heir apparent, Dylan (Will Price). Given 24 hours to retrieve an item he accidentally hocked, Harry bops around New York City trying to protect and/or utilize his last remaining loved ones, including his invalid wife, Rosie (Karina Arroyave); his pawn shop partner, Ben (Steve Buscemi); and his NYPD contact, Detective Warren (Giancarlo Esposito).

Another movie with that premise might heighten the tension of the situation a la the Safdie brothers, but Segan makes a film that recalls the work of folks like Robert Benton or David Lowery. “Pickpocket” is a quietly elegiac affair, a movie that soberly laments the passage of time and the change that’s come with it, both for cinema as well as for NYC itself. It’s not a bitter film, however. Like the title implies, perhaps the fact that it exists at all in this day and age means that the old world isn’t completely gone quite yet. (Bill Bria)

Sometimes the best way to deal with a difficult break-up is by getting revenge on your ex by humiliating their new significant other with a middle school stage musical about September 11th. All right, fine, that’s never the best way to approach anything — unless it’s crafting a darkly hilarious comedy simply called “The Musical.”

Middle school teacher and struggling playwright Doug (Will Brill in a performance that feels like a young Tracy Letts) learns that his ex-girlfriend, fellow teacher Abigail (Gillian Jacobs), is dating the school’s Principal Brady (Brat Pack member Rob Lowe). Feeling slighted by this development, Doug aims to sabotage Principal Brady’s hopes of winning the Blue Ribbon of Academic Excellence by putting on a musical about the terrorist attacks of 9/11, complete with a group of dedicated and ambitious children eager to bring his vision to life, especially after an eye-opening screening of “The Manchurian Candidate.”

Director Giselle Bonilla has crafted a raucously hilarious tale of revenge that comes to life with the energy of a prestige conspiracy thriller, including a lively score reminiscent of 1960s classics. It plays like a twisted version of “School of Rock,” and the last 10 minutes of this movie has one of the best needle drops in in recent memory, not to mention having some of the funniest stuff I’ve ever seen. This is exactly the kind of directorial debut that you love to discover at Sundance. (Ethan Anderton)

With immigration being a hot-button issue in both the United States and the rest of the world, the documentary “Everybody to Kenmure Street” couldn’t arrive at a better time. 

Director Felipe Bustos Sierra collects personal chronicles and video footage from a variety of Scottish citizens (as well as a couple crafty re-enactments with the likes of Emma Thompson) who sparked an impromptu act of civil resistance in May 2021, standing in direct opposition of the face of unjust immigration enforcement from the United Kingdom’s Home Office. On the first day of Eid al-Fitr, two Sikh men were detained by immigration enforcement on a path to being deported, and the tight-knit community of people on Kenmure Street in the Pollokshields area of Glasgow quickly gathered to prevent the van holding them from departing. 

The documentary serves as a reminder that even in the face of such protest, law enforcement officials don’t need to brandish guns or exert excessive force by way of pepper spray or any manner of “non-lethal” crowd control tactics. In one particular sequence, police officers attempt to push through a crowd laying on the street to impede them, and not a single weapon is drawn. It’s quite a contrast to how things have been handled in the United States. But more than that, this doc proves the power of people who are willing to stand up for their fellow citizens. 

“Everybody to Kenmure Street” is a must-see documentary for our unsettling times, and it will inspire and energize you to fight for justice. (Ethan Anderton)

Directors Itab Azzam and Jack MacInnes take a page out of Michael Apted’s playbook for this incredible documentary that spans 10 years. Apted directed a series of documentaries in the UK known as the “Up” movies, which checked back in with the same group of subjects every seven years for decades, and “One in a Million” is a spiritual descendant of that idea. It follows a young girl named Isra’a and her refugee family as they escape Syria, make their way to Germany, and acclimate to life in a new country, dropping the audience in once a year or so to track the family’s progress. It’s a remarkable undertaking, and the result is mesmerizing: As with Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood,” another film shot in real time, you watch these people grow up over the course of 102 minutes. You’re able to see how Isra’a, her siblings, and their mother relish their new way of life and the comparative freedom they have, while the family’s patriarch is not thrilled about losing the control he used to wield over his wife and children. 

There’s a moment when a very young Isra’a, having just arrived in Germany, innocently says something along the lines of “We’re all the same, we just have different culture and traditions,” and in that moment, she nailed something that a lot of adults still refuse to acknowledge about this world. In addition to it being formally impressive, “One in a Million” does a fantastic job of capturing the intangible — especially that uneasy, in-between feeling some immigrants can have when they don’t fully feel at home in a foreign country but then don’t totally fit in when they return to their home country, either. (Ben Pearson)

Indie movies have been known to venture into the traumatic, sensitive topic of sexual assault rather frequently, especially since it’s not often a topic that major studios want to tackle. It’s well-tread territory in the indie world, making it challenging to tell a story that feels like it’s bringing something new to the table. But writer-director Beth de Araújo taps into a distressing and unsettling perspective with a story that focuses on an eight-year-old girl named Josephine (newcomer Mason Reeves) who witnesses a heinous sexual crime in her local park.

Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan play Josephine’s parents, both struggling to agree on how to handle the fear, confusion, and trauma that comes from their daughter’s harrowing experience. But perhaps the most effective element of the film comes in the visualization of how Josephine is haunted by what she saw. She’s constantly seeing the criminal behind this despicable act casually walking around her house, like a terrifying imaginary friend. The mere vision of the man suddenly sitting in her bedroom is enough to make your skin crawl. 

“Josephine” perfectly illustrates how vulnerable and impressionable children are as they try to grasp complex topics that they don’t yet fully understand. How does a child differentiate consensual sex between her parents from the crime she witnessed? How do parents navigate this trauma without exacerbating what is already a devastating encounter? The film navigates all of this and more with bold ambition and great care. (Ethan Anderton)