Hello, friends! Welcome to the It List Sundance guide, where I’m sharing my picks for the best of the festival’s films. Catch the weekly It List here for the latest releases that we can’t wait to watch, stream, listen to, read and binge.
This year, 88 films screened at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. The titles ranged from A24-produced Opus to Netflix-acquired Train Dreams.
The festival ran between Jan. 23 and Feb. 2. I caught about 15 movies on the ground and 25 at home during the festival’s online screening portion. I’m so sad I missed out on The Wedding Banquet and Peter Hujar’s Day, but I trust that they’ll be available to the general public soon.
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I assigned superlatives to 11 of the best movies I saw, along with some honorable mentions. Get your watch lists ready — I’ll walk you through them.
Best debut for a social media star: ‘Sorry, Baby’
Eva Victor in Sorry, Baby. (Mia Cioffi Henry/Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
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What to know: Writer-director Eva Victor stars as an academic facing triumphs and setbacks as she moves past something really, really bad that happened to her.
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Why I recommend it: Knowing as little as you can about this movie and letting its complexities, sadness and wry humor wash over you is the way to go. It’s a smashing debut for Victor, who got their big break posting viral videos on X.
Best breakout role for an actor known for a YA novel adaptation: ‘Twinless’
Dylan O’Brien and James Sweeney in Twinless. (Greg Cotten/Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
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What to know: Twinless is a story about two men who meet and film an unlikely friendship at a support group for people who have lost a twin.
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Why I recommend it: I interviewed writer-director-star James Sweeney about the film, and he was hesitant to spill many juicy details. He was extremely complimentary about his co-lead, Dylan O’Brien (of Maze Runner movie fame), who plays two characters with immense distinction and heart.
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How to watch: Plans for distribution have not yet been announced.
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Honorable mention: In Oh, Hi!, Logan Lerman is no longer the young star of the Percy Jackson movies — he’s the elusive and ever-so-slimy love interest of Molly Gordon’s character, who becomes increasingly unhinged trying to ensure that their vacation is perfectly romantic.
Most biting satire: ‘Magic Farm’
Chloë Sevigny in Magic Farm. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
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What to know: An ensemble cast including Alex Wolff and Chloë Sevigny star in this movie that skewers edgy media companies that mine foreign locales for offbeat stories. Moments of sweetness emerge as well, somehow.
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Why I recommend it: It felt like Girls mixed with the Vice News YouTube channel, which might be the highest praise a millennial can offer.
Most moving documentary: ‘André Is an Idiot’
André Ricciardi in André Is an Idiot. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
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What to know: It’s an intense premise: Advertising legend André Ricciardi is dying of cancer because he didn’t get a colonoscopy when he should have, and the audience watches that slowly happen.
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Why I recommend it: I saw many a gut-wrenching documentary at Sundance — that’s often the vibe, I hear — but stay with me. You fall in love with Ricciardi as he dies, and the simple procedure he overlooked becomes a necessity to anyone watching. It’s his final and most powerful ad campaign, as director Tony Benna told me.
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How to watch: André Is an Idiot was produced by A24, but plans for distribution have not yet been announced.
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Honorable mention: Sugar Babies follows a young woman who paid her way through college running an online sugar baby business. The documentary shares so much about what it’s like to live in a rural area that offers community where it lacks resources.
Best musical: ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’
Tonatiuh and Diego Luna in Kiss of the Spider Woman. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
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What to know: This remake of the 1992 musical (which, like the original 1985 movie, is based on the 1976 book) may be its best iteration yet. It stars Tonatiuh as a prisoner recounting stories of his favorite old Hollywood legend (Jennifer Lopez) to his roommate (Diego Luna) to pass the time through wretched conditions.
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Why I recommend it: On the red carpet, director Bill Condon said he cast Lopez because she’s a true diva, which he means as a sincere compliment. This is her best role yet, and I’ll be running to the theater to rewatch as soon as it’s available.
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How to watch: Plans for distribution have not yet been announced.
Most timely: ‘Train Dreams’
Felicity Jones and Joel Edgerton in Train Dreams. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
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What to know: The film follows an American railroad laborer who deals with loss and solitude his whole life. But this is more than a run-of-the-mill bummer of an indie movie — it’s a beautiful, sweeping look at survival and coping with grief after a devastating fire, which is more relevant than ever.
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Why I recommend it: It was written and directed by the same team behind Sing Sing, one of my favorite movies of 2024. If you can find it in your heart to watch something slow and sad, both of these movies will make you better for it.
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How to watch: Train Dreams was acquired by Netflix at the festival, but a release date has not yet been announced.
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Honorable mention: Didn’t Die is a zombie movie about figuring out how to live through constant loss. I spoke with the film’s writer-director, who had just lost her home in the Los Angeles wildfires but came to the festival to support her film anyway.
Wildest romp: ‘Opus’
Ayo Edebiri in Opus. (A24/Courtesy of Everett Collection)
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What to know: Ayo Edebiri stars as one of a handful of journalists tapped to go to the compound where a mysterious pop star (John Malkovich) is debuting his first album in decades. Things get weird.
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Why I recommend it: I saw this one at midnight, where the theater was packed with viewers on the edge of their seats, both for the scares and for Malkovich’s shockingly good musical performances.
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Honorable mention: Touch Me follows two co-dependent roommates as they get addicted to the heroinlike touch of an alien cult leader. I came for the brightly colored aesthetics and stayed for the gory practical effects involving tentacles.
Most concerning to my heart rate tracker: ‘If I Had Legs I’d Kick You’
Rose Byrne in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. (A24/Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
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What to know: A woman struggles to navigate her child’s mysterious illness and maintain relationships as her house starts falling apart. She does not get one moment of peace and neither does the audience.
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Why I recommend it: People will tell you that this is Rose Byrne’s best-ever performance, and it is, but don’t miss A$AP Rocky and Conan O’Brien in their incredible supporting roles.
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How to watch: If I Had Legs I’d Kick You will be distributed by A24, but a release date has not yet been announced.
Best body horror: ‘Together’
Alison Brie and Dave Franco in Together. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
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What to know: While a move to the countryside tests the strength of their relationship, a couple (played by Alison Brie and Dave Franco) must also contend with something supernatural drawing them ever closer.
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Why I recommend it: This movie is delightfully gross. I haven’t experienced this type of squeal-inducing disgust and glee since The Substance.
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How to watch: Together was acquired by Neon at the festival and is in theaters Aug. 1.
Most successful at making me cry: ‘Ricky’
Stephan James in Ricky. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
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What to know: The movie follows 30-year-old Ricky (Stephan James) as he reenters the free world after being imprisoned as a teenager. Danger lurks at every turn despite Ricky’s best intentions. Sheryl Lee Ralph plays against type as his tough parole officer.
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Why I recommend it: In his introduction at the film’s premiere, writer-director Rashad Frett said he’s lost many loved ones to recidivism. If more people knew how relevant this movie is, the world would be a better place.
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How to watch: Plans for distribution have not yet been announced.
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Honorable mention: Jimpa is every bit as sweet as it is gut-wrenching. Olivia Colman and John Lithgow star as a woman trying to relate to (and make a movie about) her dad, a civil rights icon, as he ages but remains wholly himself.
Most successful at making me cringe: ‘Atropia’
Alia Shawkat in Atropia. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
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What to know: Alia Shawkat stars as an aspiring actress who takes a gig at a military role-playing facility that simulates life in Iraq for soldiers. Things get wonky when she falls in love. Writer-director Hailey Gates told me on the red carpet that this movie is based on a real-life thing.
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Why I recommend it: You’re as likely to cringe as you are to cry at Sundance, but this movie grasps your emotions with a purpose — to critique war and the ways we interact with it. There’s a reason it won the festival’s top prize!
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How to watch: Plans for distribution have not yet been announced.
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Honorable mention: Lurker follows a fan who infiltrates the inner circle of an up-and-coming artist and sheds light on the messiest (and most cringe-inducing) elements of hard-fought online fame.
