The 10 best movies at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival

Peter Howell

Movie Critic

The Sundance Film Festival left its longtime home in Park City, Utah, on a high note. Attendance at the acclaimed indie film fest surged, and the final mountain-town edition delivered a trove of cinematic discoveries. It’s a fitting tribute to founder Robert Redford, who died last fall at 89, just months after organizers announced a 2027 move to Boulder, Colo.

From bold directorial debuts to soul-stirring documentaries, here are my 10 favourite films from Sundance 2026, which ran from Jan. 22 - Feb. 1. They’re listed in order of preference; watch for them in the weeks and months ahead at theatres, on streaming and at other fests such as TIFF and Hot Docs:

Josephine

The powerful sophomore feature from Beth de Araújo introduces Mason Reeves as an eight-year-old who becomes the sole witness to a brutal rape in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park after getting separated from her father (Channing Tatum) on a jog. The violence is incomprehensible to the child, but it shatters her innocence, splitting her life into a stark before and after. Tatum delivers a career-best performance as a devoted dad unequipped to help his daughter process what she’s seen. Her mother (Gemma Chan), a ballet dancer, is also adrift. As the adults navigate the moral and legal fallout, Reeves anchors the film with a heartbreaking, remarkably mature performance that announces her as a major new talent.

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