Cinema News: Sundance 2026: The festival begins strongly

January 23, 2026 | View in browser

A young girl is lifted by her mother as her father watches.

By Vanessa Franko, Samantha Masunaga, Amy Nicholson, Mark Olsen, Joshua Rothkopf and David Viramontes

Welcome to a special Sundance Daily edition of the Wide Shot, a newsletter about the business of entertainment. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.

Good morning! It's Friday, Jan. 23 and today's forecast is for cloudy skies — and possibly a few flurries but nothing substantial — with a high of 36 degrees.

We are here at a place we love to be: the Sundance Film Festival, where screenings have already unspooled and our L.A. Times Studio @ Sundance Film Festival presented by Chase Sapphire Reserve is opening its doors for four days of video interviews and portraits.

You can follow our live updates right here. And for interviews, daily recommendations and business news, don't forget to sign up to this newsletter, which will be assembled over the next four days by Joshua Rothkopf, Samantha Masunaga, Amy Nicholson, Mark Olsen, Vanessa Franko and David Viramontes.

Of course the big news so far is the low hum of dreamlike nostalgia, as Sundance's final edition in Park City, Utah takes shape. We will miss this place, even as next year's relocation to Boulder, Colo., doesn't seem quite so scary.

A brief video tribute to Robert Redford, the fest's founder who died in September, is playing in front of movies and garnering applause at screenings. It's a moment of change for all who love this annual showcase.

We will have much more to report on in the coming days, with Charli XCX expected in our studio tomorrow. For now, here are today's recommendations, plus Samantha's thoughts on what she's looking for in the days ahead, deals-wise.

The movies worth standing in line for

"Carousel" (Library Center Theatre, 8:30 a.m., more screenings to come)

Director Rachel Lambert returns to Sundance with a domestic romance centered on two 40-something adults reconnecting after life took them down separate paths. The film gently lilts you into the lives of its characters and its suburban Ohio setting, revealing regular-people problems — divorce, moving, aging parents, money — with which Chris Pine and Jenny Slate's characters deal.

Pine plays a divorced doctor with a family practice and the ultimate dadcore collection of high-waisted pants. In the wake of her parents' separation, Lambert sketches the effects of divorce on children through the character of Pine's daughter, delicately portrayed by Abby Ryder Fortson.

She finds a sense of direction through her high school debate team, taught by Slate's former Capitol Hill staffer returning home to be a caretaker for her parents. In both "Carousel" and her 2023 Sundance film "Sometimes I Think About Dying," Lambert teaches viewers about who her characters are through gestures, looks, apologies and confessions — and in the process asserts herself as a leading purveyor of emotional vulnerability. — David Viramontes

"The Disciple" (Megaplex Redstone, 12 p.m.)

I did not expect to laugh as much or as hard as I did during last night's world premiere of Joanna Natasegara's documentary about Wu-Tang Clan superfan Cilvaringz (Tarik Azzougarh), who became the producer of the controversial album "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin."

At the Q&A after the screening, Natasegara shared that she met Azzougarh on holiday in Morocco and he told her his incredible story, which planted the seed for the doc. As the film reveals, his first connection with the hip-hop group came after he called Wu-Tang affiliate Shabazz the Disciple after finding his number on a record in an effort to meet RZA.

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After an audience member asked Shabazz if fans still call him, he said they do and he's not afraid of talking to them. "People call me and I sell them some merchandise and give them some spiritual advice," Shabazz said. — Vanessa Franko

"Buddy" (Megaplex Redstone, 1: 50 p.m.) and "Josephine" (Eccles Theatre, 2: 45 p.m.)

Sundance is coming in hot for me with two biggies right out of the gate. "Buddy" is the latest whatsit from writer-director Casper Kelly, famous for his near-experimental nightmare comedies "Too Many Cooks," "Final Deployment 4: Queen Battle Walkthrough" and "Adult Swim Yule Log."

Nothing could keep me away from "Buddy," dealing, as it does, with a late-'90s children's TV show and a rampaging orange unicorn with a penchant for ax-murdering. A modern day "The Wizard of Oz" with a mean streak (and an unforgettable song about being brave), it's the smallest pivot to the mainstream for Kelly, but he still understands better than most how the graininess of our cultural detritus hides crannies for real fear.

"Josephine" is Sundance's first major drama, the kind that — like last year's "Sorry, Baby" and "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You" — could linger for months into next year's award season. (Too soon?) I should say as little as possible about the motivating incident, but the movie brews an unshakable sense of concern for parents who are largely unable to help their daughter from spiraling into dark thoughts. Channing Tatum is especially excellent. — Joshua Rothkopf

"The Moment" (Eccles Theater, 9:15 p.m.)

Arguably the most hotly anticipated film of the entire festival is this unusual pop star document from chart-topper Charli XCX, hot off the heels of her zeitgeist-shaping album "brat" and subsequent live shows.

The feature debut for director Aidan Zamiri — he also made Charli's satirical "360" video — follows the pop star as she prepares for a world tour, pushed and pulled by competing forces all around her as she attempts to stay focused on what matters.

Both a mockumentary and a sly subversion of modern pop stardom, the film features comedic performers Rachel Sennott, Kate Berlant, Hailey Benton Gates and Jamie Demetriou along with Rosanna Arquette and Alexander Skarsgård. Charli's own cinephilia is well documented, making this excursion into moviemaking even more exciting. Following its Sundance premiere, the movie will be in theaters at the end of the month. — Mark Olsen

"Mum, I'm Alien Pregnant" (Library Center Theatre, 11:55 p.m.)

Meddling Cynthia (Yvette Parsons) knows her 29-year-old slacker daughter Mary (Hannah Lynch) is into freaky online erotica. They know too much about each other — and not enough about their new neighbors, a reclusive mother-son pair (Jackie van Beek and Arlo Green) with a bizarro conception story.

The New Zealand directing duo THUNDERLIPS, a.k.a. Sean Wallace and Jordan Mark Windsor, warns audiences where this is going in the title. Even so, I wasn't prepared for practical effects this deliriously gross and and impressive or the ferality in Lynch's eyes as Mary desperately tries to get rid of the electromagnetic fetus inside of her that's gestated in just two days.

Be warned: This comedy is not for the squeamish. Fluids splash onto, and from, every body part you can imagine, included tentacled naughty bits you'll be seeing in your nightmares. But the goofy charm keeps pace with the goo as the two potential grannies try to get their full-grown children to take their first baby steps toward adulthood. — Amy Nicholson

Sundance deals to watch for

It's true that dealmaking for indie theatrical releases has been unpredictable during the last few years.

But recently, industry insiders are particularly interested in the debut of Warner Bros.' new contemporary specialty film label, led by former Neon Chief Marketing Officer Christian Parkes. He's joined by two other former Neon executives — Jason Wald, who is the new label's head of acquisitions and production and Spencer Collantes, who will run marketing and creative.

The three started in their roles this month, ahead of Sundance, according to a statement in December from Warner Bros. announcing the label. The goal is to focus on "smartly budgeted global theatrical releases with innovative marketing campaigns that enhance Warner Bros.' long history of socially relevant, provocative and impactful cinema," the studio said at the time.

What the team is interested in and whether they make any acquisitions is something many are keeping an eye on.

Another area of interest are the options for financing indie films. As traditional sources of funding have dried up, some filmmakers have turned to alternative avenues. This year, for example, four films crowdfunded via Kickstarter will be making their debut at Sundance.

Producers have dabbled in crowdfunding strategies over the years, particularly as they look for creative ways to engage a core audience and raise cash. Will this become increasingly common? Only time will tell. We'll be watching in the days ahead. — Samantha Masunaga