Sundance 2026 Final Recap: 10 Favorite Films – The Best from the Fest

by Alex Billington
February 9, 2026

The 2026 Sundance Film Festival has wrapped up after another lively 10-day in-person event held up in the Utah mountains (its final year before moving to Colorado in 2027), along with an online counterpart for the second half. Now it’s time to present our annual Best of the Fest list from the 2026 selection. I was able to catch a total of 54 films this year (my full list on Letterboxd), half of them at screenings in Park City & Salt Lake City, the other half online previews at home. Always watching. This was my iconic 20th year attending & covering Sundance – ever since 2007 I’ve been publishing my Best of the Fest faves. This fest is still as vitally important to indie cinema as ever – read my full editorial on the last 20 years. I’m always glad to be back up there, watching films all day, every day. I am presenting my final list of my 10 favorite films – a mix of documentaries and narrative features. All 10 are superb, and I encourage watching them on the big screen if possible. Viewing all these early at the festival with an audience is a special vibe. I also recorded a podcast talking about many of the Sundance films (good and bad). Below are the best of the best, the films that connected with me the most and have remained on my mind all the way beyond the end of the festival.

It’s always my priority while at Sundance to go see as many films as I can. Even if I don’t love every film I watch, I’m just curious to see what each film is trying to do. Some other films that I missed and still need to catch up with: Leviticus, Saccharine, Buddy, Hold Onto Me, TheyDream, Antiheroine, The Disciple, When A Witness Recants, Fing. This fest always programs some of the most unique & fascinating films to discover each year. I appreciate how much they try to focus on the most creative work by new filmmakers (even if it doesn’t work). I also encourage all movie lovers to make time for documentaries – don’t ignore them, they’re too often lost in the mix (I always try to hype them up). They deserve to be seen, too! There’s a few listed within the 10 below, but for docs I also recommend these: Cookie Queens, Time and Water, The History of Concrete, To Hold a Mountain, Hanging by a Wire, Who Killed Alex Odeh?, The Lake, and The Last First: Winter K2. I’m always grateful to Sundance for letting me attend the festival with a press badge and grab tickets to all of the big premieres, it’s an amazing experience that relish year after year after year. Onward…

While I saw many films that I enjoyed (my full list of 54 here), there are always some I missed even though I heard good things about them. But these are my favorite films from this year’s fest from those that I did see.

Alex’s Top 10 Favorite ~Sundance 2026~ Films:

Josephine

Directed by Beth de Araújo

The best film I’ve seen in 2026 so far. And the only film at Sundance that I would say is truly phenomenal – I gave it a perfect 10/10 rating. I’ve seen plenty of films over 20 years of Sundance that deal with sensitive topics, but few of them ever feature such beautifully bold filmmaking. The vivid score by composer Miles Ross is distinctly chilling but just as profound & moving as the story. All three of the lead performances are invigorating, each one mesmerizing and powerful – we’ll be hearing about Channing Tatum and Mason Reeves and Gemma Chan all year. The gorgeous visual choices with the cinematography by DP Greta Zozula are breathtaking. It’s obvious that everyone involved in making the film believed in Beth de Araújo’s vision, and understood what she was trying to do and why telling this unsettling yet meaningful story about sexual assault through specific lens can be impactful. And it sticks the landing, too. As tough as it is to talk about this film and what it shows (and how society still struggles to deal with this problem), this features such brilliant filmmaking the only thing I can do is rave about it & keep talking about it. The best of the fest.

The Weight

Directed by Padraic McKinley

The most badass film of the year so far! This is a blast. Watching this movie in the cinema at Sundance was the most edge-of-your-seat intense experience I’ve had since watching Sirat in Cannes last year. My instant comparison is to call it Sisu meets Sorcerer by way of the Pacific Northwest. With maybe only a few minor flaws, from start to finish this rocked my socks off. Ethan Hawke absolutely rules in this as our main man Murphy – leading a group of men through the wilderness with gold on their backs. The cinematography by Matteo Cocco and score by Latham Gaines & Shelby Gaines are dynamite! I could go on and on raving about how it’s all composed & crafted perfectly – kind of like last year’s Sundance PNW film Train Dreams. (Though they couldn’t be more different.) The Weight is everything one could want in a gripping survival thriller – even with well-defined characters & strong performance. It’s one of these movies I could literally walk right back into the theater and watch again right away and still enjoy as much as this first time around.

Ha-chan, Shake Your Booty!

Directed by Josef Kubota Wladyka

Dance, dance – and it will make everything better again! Amid so many other films about anguish & death & overcoming loss, Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! is finally something unique and new and so fresh within the overloaded grief subgenre. It’s bright and colorful and spunky and lewd (her best friend is hilarious) and fun, and defies the usual “grief sucks and it will ruin you” tropes for something that is sad but still enjoyable as we watch Haru work her way back out of the depths of the darkness. I loved this! Even with a few flaws, even with some pacing issues, it’s still a delight and I emerged from the screening full of joy, read to tell the world about how worthwhile it is. There’s an all-timer dance sequence right in the middle of the streets of Tokyo where they dance-fight some asshole drunk guys. It’s awesome. The finale is also perfect, gracefully bringing this story to just the right moment to end it. Rinko Kikuchi is magnificent as Ha-Chan – this is a complex role that very few can pull off and she takes it on ever so confidently and carefully. And she dances her way into our hearts! Ha-Chan forever. Keep an eye out for this indie charmer whenever it’s out near you.

Give Me the Ball!

Directed by Liz Garbus & Elizabeth Wolff

Go get ’em, Billie Jean King! 🎾 Show us how it’s done – on and off the court! This is the most rousing and inspiring and uplifting documentary film at the festival. How does someone actually go change the world? This is how. This remarkable story explains everything – from start to finish (and onward). One of the most thrilling and exciting films of 2026 – a biopic profile of the life and achievements of one Billie Jean King, tennis pro and feminist icon. Everyone knows who she is already because she’s already world famous and has already been the subject of many other docs and movies – including the Battle of the Sexes movie (from 2017) in which Emma Stone starred as Billie. This brand new doc film, produced by ESPN and 30 for 30, is the definitive life story of this tennis maven & feminist superstar and how she actually did change the world by conquering the tennis court. The world premiere experience as one-of-a-kind because Billie was there to say hi. Most importantly it’s one of these films that makes you feel like you can do anything after watching.

Everybody to Kenmure Street

Directed by Felipe Bustos Sierra

Yet another amazing documentary showing us how to change the world. I’d never heard this story or ever seen anything about it before. Now I’m in awe of what this community did and how Glasgow, Scotland came together to defend its people. Made by Chilean-Belgian filmmaker Felipe Bustos Sierra (who lives in Scotland), Everybody to Kenmure Street is not only an outstanding film because of the story it tells, there’s some creative filmmaking flourishes that enhance it from good to great. it shows how Glasgow has always been a powerful place where people fight for people, defending each other and the worker class and communities and regular folks above all. I watched this doc film early in the festival and it has remained on my mind all the way through. Whenever anyone would ask for suggestions, Everybody to Kenmure Street would be one of the first documentaries I would mention. This is usually right when you know a film is truly great – which it stays on your mind and invigorates you even weeks after first watching it. I hope this film goes on to be shown everywhere, even in schools to show what’s really possible when people come together.

Wicker

Directed by Eleanor Wilson & Alex Huston Fischer

The basket man cometh. Following in the footsteps of other iconic relationship films like I’m Your Man & Ruby Sparks, Wicker is another super creative, smartly clever story about “making” your perfect partner and how this causes chaos. The most impressive part of the film is the Wicker Man himself – Alexander Skarsgård’s performance and his make-up is astonishing. Seriously award-winning work – exceptionally realistic, almost too believable, with a number of jaw-dropping shots. His eyes come through but the rest of him actually looks like he’s really made from wicker (the same reed material used to make baskets). And his performance is understated, charming, and so warm & friendly that I’m sure many people will walk out of this wishing they could bring the Wicker Man home, too. But that’s the whole point, of course! It ends up being a rather thoughtful film about how jealousy & infighting among neighbors is the rotten part of society. Another wacky fun creation at Sundance but this one actually works well and deserves all the rave reviews.

If I Go Will They Miss Me

Directed by Walter Thompson-Hernandez

An impressive indie discovery and defining film for filmmaker Walter Thompson-Hernandez. If I was a producer, I’d go straight to him and tell him I will give him whatever he needs to make what he wants next. He’s clearly got the talent, the eye, the ability to tell such a distinct story in such a vivid way. Let him make anything next! Sundance is as much about discovering and launching filmmakers as it is all of the films and the actors in them. If I Go Will They Miss Me is a beautiful, beautiful film. Definitely not the best at the fest, but it’s so beautiful it’s hard to shake once you’ve seen it. It borrows a bit too much from Barry Jenkins’ classic Moonlight, but still wonderful in its own ways. The storytelling is humble and so heartwarming. I absolutely adore the score by Malcolm Parson. The cinematography is exceptional. All the airplane motifs – and various moments of flying and the shots of planes – are what give this film its bold identity and allow it to soar. Highly recommend watching this film at any festival or in the cinema whenever you get a chance.

The Invite

Directed by Olivia Wilde

Both new Olivia Wilde films made my Top 10 list this year! First up is The Invite – which I enjoyed just a bit more than I Want Your Sex. Both films are about sex and everyone’s obsession with sex but also how it is a seriously tricky topic to navigate. The Invite is an English-language remake of Cesc Gay’s Spanish film The People Upstairs (2020) but it’s still just as fresh and engaging and kinky to watch as any new film. Seth Rogen & Olivia Wilde play a spunky, confident, affluent couple living in a big apartment in San Francisco who unravel when their upstairs neighbors come down for dinner one night. Edward Norton & Penélope Cruz play their super hot, super suave neighbors (who make so much noise above them) who are in an open relationship and love to have sex parties – which they reveal during the evening conversation but then things get wild because what is one supposed to do with is info? And what happens next? The film is not as cheesy or as ridiculous as it could be, instead it’s a smart, honest, emotional story about sex & relationships.

I Want Your Sex

Directed by Gregg Araki

The other Olivia Wilde sex movie at Sundance is just as fun but entirely different from The Invite in so many ways. Sundance veteran Gregg Araki (The Living End in 1992, Totally F***ed Up in 1993, The Doom Generation in 1995, Splendor in 1999, Mysterious Skin in 2005, Smiley Face in 2007) returns to the indie scene with his latest film in years – a kinky, absurd, fresh new take on sex and intimacy. Araki explains he made this to comment on Gen Z’s issues with sex, but he takes it down an interesting route showing what us happens when one frisky young guy goes overboard when his weird boss (Wilde) invites him to be her sex slave. Cooper Hoffman in the lead role as Elliot is the best part about this (and Charli XCX is the worst part). It’s bright and colorful and playful and kooky, exactly as one would expect with Araki behind the lens. It may be over-the-top at times, but always in a smart, careful way because Araki knows what he’s doing. It’s much more funny and entertaining than it should be, and strangely kinda wholesome once it finally gets to where it’s going. And it’s not even that risqué, more about the story of what happens than the sex within it.

The Incomer

Directed by Louis Paxton

Ahoy! Another surprise late in the festival. The Incomer is a wacky Scottish comedy set on a remote island off the coast of Scotland. The most recognizable cast member is Domhnall Gleeson, who plays a shy guy sent by his boss to this island to reclaim it for the government and kick off the people living there. But when he arrives he discovers a duo of oddball Scots who refuse to give up the island and will fight any “incomers” who arrive. Hijinks ensue, – it’s off-kilter comedy in the most charming of ways. So much fun! Kinda like The Lighthouse meets last year’s The Ballad of Wallis Island. Great cast – I’m charmed by Grant O’Rourke in addition to Domhnall Gleeson, and amused by Gayle Rankin. A genial, feel good story of weirdos on a beautiful island. Actually, have to admit, I liked this one even more then The Ballad of Wallis Island the more I think about it. A funky yet endearing little indie creation that I enjoyed discovering at Sundance. And my goodness all the Scotland nature! All the cliffs! Crazy weather! And green grass! This cinematography in here captures it so well! It’s all so stunning – I want to go out to the island for a while and yell at the sea, too.

I also recorded a podcast chat about Sundance films with Aaron Neuwirth on his Out Now Podcast – listen to that episode here. And check out my other favorite films list on my Letterboxd page. Thanks for following.

For other Sundance 2026 best of the fest lists mentioning more films we didn’t see or didn’t include here, check out these other sites: Indiewire’s Best Movies of Sundance 2026 Critics Survey, Vogue’s 9 Best Movies at Sundance 2026, THR’s Best of Sundance 2026 Picks, Gold Derby’s Best & Buzziest Movies at This Year’s Festival, Rolling Stone’s The 12 Best Movies of Sundance 2026, RT’s 8 Best Films We Saw, The Ringer’s The 9 Sundance Movies to Watch Out for in 2026, Metacritic’s Best & Worst Films Recap. My faves list isn’t the only list of great films from Sundance! There are many other exceptional films from this year that deserve your time & attention whenever they show up in your neighborhood. Keep an eye out for any/all of the films. I always recommend watching any film from the Sundance line-up if it sounds interesting to you, and many of these will likely show up at other film fests before they hit theaters. Make time for as many as you can…

You can find all our Sundance 2026 coverage and reviews in this category. This wraps up our coverage of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, our 20th year in a row attending this fest. We’ll always be back again. You can also find more thoughts on films within my Letterboxd. Another year of invigorating indie discoveries.

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