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The Sundance Film Festival might be moving in 2028, but until then, it’s parking itself back in Park City for another edition of what are expected to be just under 100 features and 50 shorts. The second Sundance under the supervision of new festival director (and IndieWire co-founder) Eugene Hernandez takes place January 23 through February 2, with the lineup expecting to start trickling out next week.
Ahead of the announcement, however, IndieWire has the scoop on films we’re hearing will be in Utah this year and the ones — some long-gestating indies, others secret surprise drops — we’re hoping will pop there. Some expected titles, like Celine Song’s “Past Lives” follow-up “Materialists” or “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” from Kogonoda either aren’t finished yet or are holding out for Cannes and into the fall festivals. Others, like Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s “Hot Milk,” have been on this list before.
David Ehrlich, Kate Erbland, and Brian Welk contributed to this story.
“Bunnylovr”
Director: Katarina Zhu
Cast: Austin Amelio, Perry Young, Rachel Sennott, Jack Kilmer
Word is high for what could be a buzzy U.S. Dramatic Competition title with newcomer Katarina Zhu’s camgirl drama “Bunnylovr.” The film just participated in the American Film Festival industry sidebar, U.S. in Progress, in Poland a la India Donaldson’s beloved 2024 Sundance premiere “Good One.” The cast included Austin Amelio and Rachel Sennott (also a producer) feels Sundance-tailored. “Bunnylovr” centers on a Chinese-American online sex worker who struggles to navigate a toxic relationship with a client while also reuniting with her estranged father, who is dying. —RL
Kristen Stewart at the ‘Love Lies Bleeding’ Los Angeles premiere screeningVariety via Getty Images“The Chronology of Water”
Director: Kristen Stewart
Cast: Imogen Poots, Thora Birch, Jim Belushi, Kim Gordon
Kristen Stewart has been hammering away at her feature directorial debut for years now – after the debut of her short film, “Come Swim,” back in 2017, a feature was next on the docket – and we can’t wait. Based on Lidia Yuknavitch’s 2011 memoir of the same name, Stewart’s “The Chronology of Water” follows our lead (Imogen Poots) as she navigates the shifting sands of her own sexuality, deep grief, and addiction. In 2018, Stewart promised nothing less than “to write the best fucking female role. I’m going to write a role that I want so badly but that I’m not going to play.” We’re betting it will be worth the wait. –KE
“Dead Lover”
Director: Grace Glowicki
Cast: Grace Glowicki, Ben Petrie, Leah Doz
Actress-turned-filmmaker Grace Glowicki gained notices for her Canadian debut feature “Tito” in 2019, where she played a man haunted by sexual predators while living in isolation. Producer Yona Strauss went through the Sundance Producers Lab while in post-production on Glowicki’s sophomore film, where Glowicki is said to give a Bette Davis-esque Grand Guignol outsized performance in this arthouse horror film. —RL
“Death of a Unicorn”
Director: Alex Scharfman
Cast: Jenna Ortega, Téa Leoni, Paul Rudd, Will Poulter
“So Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega are driving through the woods and then run over a unicorn with their car,” sure sounds like the start of a very absurd, elaborate joke. And that is likely what “Death of a Unicorn,” written and directed by Alex Scharfman, hopes to be. But it isn’t just exciting for another opportunity to take the piss out of the super-rich (the unicorn has run off the estate of a mega-billionaire pharma CEO played by Richard E. Grant; God bless us, every one). All medieval nerds everywhere should rejoice that we’re going to get a live-action depiction of unicorns as the bloodthirsty apex predators — calmed only by the presence of a virgin — the 13th century imagined them to be. Shot in the summer of 2023, the movie should be ready for a Park City premiere if A24 chooses to debut it there. —SS
‘Dreams in Nightmares’Ludovica Isidori“Dreams in Nightmares”
Director: Shatara Michelle Ford
Cast: Denée Benton, Sasha Compère, Dezi Bing, Mars Rucker
Shatara Michelle Ford’s second film – following their insightful and intelligent debut “Test Pattern” – has already enjoyed a starry festival berth (it was the opener at this year’s BlackStar Film Festival), but the film is very much deserving of even more attention and acclaim. Thus: a Sundance slot! Told mostly through Z’s (Denée Benton) eyes, “Dreams in Nightmares” also follows her best friends Tasha (Sasha Compère), Lauren (Dezi Bing), and Kel (Mars Rucker) as they make their way through a world that proves time and again not to be open to the insights and experiences of femme and queer women of color. Over the course of the film’s 127-minute running time, Ford will explore all of that (and much more), tucking major ideas and themes into a nifty new spin on the American road trip movie, one that functions both as an intimate exploration of identity and a rallying cry for a new kind of world. While the potential for that sort of ambition could lead another filmmaker into academic, dry territory, Ford’s film is the opposite: alive, surprising, funny, shocking, and true. –KE
“East of Wall”
Director: Kate Beecroft
Cast: Jennifer Ehle, Scoot McNair
Jennifer Ehle and Scoot McNairy star in this directorial debut from actress-turned-filmmaker Kate Beecroft, who wrote and directed this docu-fictional film that largely features non-actors playing themselves. The film follows a rebellious horse trainer named Tabitha who, after the death of her husband, tries to find some financial stability. The film is meant to be a fresh look at the modern American West and some of the marginalized women who make their living there. —BW
“Fleeing”
Director: Rachel Holder
Cast: Nicole Beharie, Andre Holland
Steven Soderbergh is a producer on Rachel Holder’s narrative feature debut after directing on series including “Dickinson” and “Run the World.” The film is a Brooklyn-centered romantic drama about exes who try to maintain their friendship while also exploring other relationships. —RL
“Ella McCay”
Director: James L. Brooks
Cast: Emma Mackey, Woody Harrelson, Ayo Edebiri, Kumail Nanjiani, Jack Lowden, Rebecca Hall, Jamie Lee Curtis, Albert Brooks
Almost 15 years since his last cinematic outing – the forgettable “How Do You Know” – James L. Brooks is back behind the camera for, what’s this? Another sprawling ensemble piece that sounds poised to hit some hard truths. It’s always good to go back to the basics, after all. This one stars Emma Mackey as the title character, billed as “a young politician tries to balance work and family life while she takes over as Governor of her state.” With a strong supporting cast and his very own script, we’re eager to see Brooks’ latest, and how it stacks up against some of his greatest offerings. –KE
Cooper RaiffGetty Images for Tribeca Festiva“Hal & Harper” (TV Series)
Director: Cooper Raiff
Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Lili Reinhart, Cooper Raiff
With “Cha Cha Real Smooth” wunderkind Cooper Raiff directing and starring, “Hal & Harper” could end up one of the hottest projects at Sundance, but this time it’s a TV series with a starry cast: Mark Ruffalo, Lili Reinhart, and Raiff himself among the ensemble. Raiff got a SAG interim agreement to film the series during the strikes, and it’s said to be a comedic family drama about two siblings and the single dad who might be making them grow up too fast. —RL
“Hot Milk”
Director: Rebecca Lenkiewicz
Cast: Emma Mackey, Fiona Shaw, Vickey Krieps
Royal National Theatre-trained Shakespeare actor turned writer Rebecca Lenkiewicz directs Emma Mackey, Fiona Shaw, and Vicky Krieps in her feature debut “Hot Milk.” Lenkiewicz already has an enviable pedigree of writing credits behind her, from Harvey Weinstein drama “She Said” to beloved Polish postwar nun coming-of-ager “Ida” (co-written with director Pawel Pawlikowski) and clandestine queer Jewish romance “Disobedience” (co-written with director Sebastian Lelio).
Here, she adapts South African writer Deborah Levy’s 2016 novel about a mother (Shaw) and daughter (Mackey) who venture to a clinic in Spain searching for a cure for the mother’s unexplained illness. Their sojourn introduces them to a charming and elusive traveler, played by Krieps. “Hot Milk” shot in Almería and Andalusia, Spain, last year. —RL
“Hurry Up Tomorrow”
Director: Trey Edward Shults
Cast: Jenna Ortega, The Weeknd, Barry Keoghan
It’s been a minute since we’ve heard from Trey Edward Shults, whose only credit since “Waves” in 2019 was directing an episode of “Winning Time.” But that output fails to convey Shults’ ambition, which has grown exponentially with every project he’s made since winning SXSW with his $14,260 debut, “Krisha.” Budgeted at $20 million, built around the persona of a mega-famous musician, and besmirched by its proximity to the chaos surrounding HBO’s “Euphoria”, Shults’ fourth feature seems to have paid a unique price for his ambition. Was it worth it? All signs suggest that we’ll find out at Sundance, as the new The Weeknd album that inspired “Hurry Up Tomorrow” — which stars producer and co-writer Abel Tesfaye, himself — is due to be released on the second day of the festival. Plot details are hard to pin down about the music-driven psychological thriller (we know that Barry Keoghan and Jenna Ortega are in it, and that’s about it), but a score co-written by “Uncut Gems” composer Daniel Lopatin gives us a pretty good sense of what the movie will probably feel like. —DE
Rose ByrneGetty Images“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”
Director: Mary Bronstein
Cast: Rose Byrne, A$AP Rocky, Ella Beatty, Josh Pais
Already something of a 21st-century indie legend for acting in and directing 2008’s “Yeast” (a mumblecore flashpoint whose cast included Greta Gerwig, both Safdie brothers, and cinematographer Sean Price Williams), Mary Bronstein returns behind the camera for the first time in almost 15 years with the rare movie as evocatively titled as her first. Produced by the Safdie brothers’ Elara Pictures and set to be distributed by A24, “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” stars Rose Byrne as a therapist whose life begins to unravel — maybe a little, maybe a lot — when her daughter becomes sick from an unknown illness. It was shot in Montauk during the summer of 2023, and feels like a shoo-in for a buzzy Eccles premiere. —DE
“Jimpa”
Director: Sophie Hyde
Cast: Olivia Colman, John Lithgow
Could Sophie Hyde be making her way to Sundance for her fourth straight feature? The director was there as far back as 2013 for “52 Tuesdays,” then again in 2019 for “Animals,” and most recently in 2022 for “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande,” the sex dramedy starring Emma Thompson that sold big to Hulu. Her latest film, “Jimpa,” is among her most personal stories and is the starriest yet. It features Olivia Colman and John Lithgow in a film about a woman who takes her nonbinary, trans teenager to visit her gay grandfather. The film was shopped to buyers at Cannes and could make for a good North American buy if it plays Park City. —BW
“Josephine”
Director: Beth de Araújo
Cast: Channing Tatum, Gemma Chan, Philip Ettinger, Syra McCarthy, Mason Lily Reeves
Since her vicious and vivid 2022 debut, “Soft & Quiet,” we’ve been devout fans of rising filmmaker Beth de Arajuo and whatever she’s making next. Over the summer, we got our answer: the San Fransisco-set “Josephine,” which follows a Bay Area family as they deal with the aftermath of a horrible incident in Golden Gate Park. De Arajuo had long hoped and attempted to get the film made even before “Soft & Quiet” – a jarring one-take thriller about a group of white supremacist women – and we’re expecting the outing to be worth the wait. After all, the filmmaker is a meticulous chronicler of the dark and true, and so when she touts a story as being a “maelstrom of fear and paranoia,” we believe her. –KE
‘The Legend of Ochi’A24“The Legend of Ochi”
Director: Isaiah Saxon
Cast: Helena Zengel, Willem Dafoe, Finn Wolfhard, Emily Watson
One thing we know for sure about Isaiah Saxon’s “The Legend of Ochi”: The film’s effects were not created with AI, despite the fact that a few bad faith rabble-rousers on Twitter were absolutely convinced that it was. There are other — more considered assumptions — that could be drawn from the trailer for this fantasy adventure saga, which seems to find A24 trying its hand at something akin to “The Neverending Story,” but the only one we feel safe making is that a February 28 release date means it will almost certainly premiere at Sundance. “News of the World” star Helena Zengel plays a girl from a remote mountain village who forms a bond with one of the adorable forest creatures (ochi) that she’s been raised to fear, and then embarks on a journey to return the little guy to his family. Willem Dafoe, Finn Wolfhard, and Emily Watson round out the impressive cast, but Saxon’s most exciting collaborator might be Dirty Projectors frontman Dave Longstreth, who contributed the film’s score. —DE
“Magic Farm”
Director: Amalia Ulman
New York-based, Argentine-Spanish artist Amalia Ulman broke out of of Sundance 2021 with the black-and-white, surrealist mother-daughter comedy “El Planeta.” Her next project, “Magic Farm,” very under wraps at this point, could bring her back to Park City. But expect another artful, quirky tale with her singular vision which stems from her own work in art practice even before directing. —RL
“The Monkey”
Director: Oz Perkins
Cast: Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood
The indie-centric cast and the imprimatur of Perkins, director of 2024’s biggest indie horror movie “Longlegs,” could spell a Sundance out-of-competition premiere for Neon’s “The Monkey,” especially given its February 2025 release date. This comic and gory adaptation of a Stephen King short story centers on Theo James as twin brothers Haal and Bill, who witness a string of horrifying deaths where a toy monkey may hold a clue to the killings. Early Sundance buzz would help drum up even more theatrical interest for this buzzy horror follow-up. —RL
‘The Monkey’Neon“Move Ya Body: The Birth of House”
Director: Elegance Bratton
Filmmaker/photographer Elegance Bratton made a splash in 2022 with the closeted Marine drama “The Inspection,” starring Jeremy Pope and having released from A24. That film was his narrative debut, though he’d already released the documentary “Pier Kids,” about the Manhattan queer youth scene. For “Move Ya Body: The Birth of House,” he pivots back to nonfiction storytelling to chronicle the transition from disco to house music among Black artists at the end of the 1970s. The film focuses on a night in July 1979 known as Disco Demolition Night, where white teenagers destroyed records made primarily by Black artists. —RL
“OBEX”
Director: Albert Birney
Cast: Albert Birney, Frank Mosley, Callie Hernandez
Directors Kentucker Audley and Albert Birney made a splash at Sundance 2021 with their surreal adventure “Strawberry Mansion” in the NEXT section. Albert Birney’s solo outing “OBEX” is said to be another mind-bending, visually daring tale also pegged for NEXT. Plot details are scarce from the next film from the Baltimore-hailing filmmaker, though the cast includes Frank Mosley (Aaron Schimberg’s “Chained for Life”) and “Under the Silver Lake” breakout Callie Hernandez. —RL
“Omaha”
Director: Cole Webley
Cast: John Magaro, Molly Belle Wright, Wyatt Solis, Talia Balsam
We’ve heard good things about this upcoming directorial debut from commercial director Cole Webley, which stars John Magaro (fresh off “September 5” and who was at Sundance in 2023 with “Past Lives”) as a dad taking his kids on a road trip after a family tragedy, only for the oldest child to realize there’s more going on with this mysterious road trip than they assumed. Webley previously made an anti-bullying PSA with Monica Lewinsky and has directed a handful of short films. —BW
‘One to One’Ben Ross and Leonora Golberg“One to One: John and Yoko”
Directors: Kevin Macdonald, Sam Rice-Edwards
One of several high-profile Beatles portraits to play festivals this past year, “The Mauritanian” director Kevin Macdonald’s John-and-Yoko-centric “One to One” first premiered in Venice but is expected to make a best-of-fest premiere at Sundance. Set in 1972 New York, the well-reviewed doc explores John and Yoko’s world amid changing times. The film incorporates unseen archival footage, home movies, and restored footage while centering around a charity concert held for special-needs kids. —RL
“Peter Hujar’s Day”
Director: Ira Sachs
Cast: Ben Whishaw, Rebecca Hall
Expected to return to Sundance after his sexy 2023 hit “Passages,” Ira Sachs writes and directs this two-hander with Ben Whishaw and Rebecca Hall, about queer American photographer Peter Hujar’s day-in-the-life in the 1970s. Best known for his black-and-white portraits — including an image of a man having an orgasm, now famously on the cover of the book “A Little Lief” — Hujar died in 1987 from AIDS complications. Whishaw previously starred in “Passages.” It sounds like this film from the former Sundance Grand Jury prize winner (“Forty Shades of Blue”) is a single location movie revolving around just the two actors. —RL
“Rabbit Trap”
Director: Bryn Chainey
Cast: Dev Patel, Rosy McEwen
Elijah Wood and Daniel Noah’s SpectreVision, with Bankside Films, produces this period horror movie that wrapped this past fall, making it a likely candidate for Sundance’s genre arms including the Midnight section. Patel and “Blue Jean” breakout Rosy McEwen play a married couple whose relocation to an isolated cabin in Wales spells trouble. —RL
“Rebuilding”
Director: Max Walker-Silverman
Cast: Josh O’Connor, Meghann Fahy, Amy Madigan, Kali Reis
Max Walker-Silverman, director of 2022 indie favorite “A Love Song” starring Independent Spirit Award nominee Dale Dickey, is expected to debut his new feature, “Rebuilding.” Here, after ravage his ranch, cowboy Dusty winds up in a FEMA camp, where he finds community with others who have lost their homes, including his ex-wife and their daughter. Among the producers is Dan Janvey, who won an Oscar for “Nomadland.” —RL
“Sorry Baby”
Director: Eva Victor
Cast: Eva Victor, Naomi Ackie, Louis Cancelmi, Lucas Hedges
Said to be a Noah Baumbach-esque ensemble dramedy, “Sorry Baby” is the buzzy narrative feature debut from French-born filmmaker Eva Victor, working with actors Naomi Ackie, Louis Cancelmi, and Lucas Hedges. I am hearing that the plot revolves around a Maine English professor who reconnects with a best friend while recollecting a sexual assault by a teacher years before. There are whispers of a potential U.S. Dramatic Competition berth. —RL
“Things That Kill You”
Director: Alireza Khatami
Cast: Hazar Ergüçlü, Erkan Kolçak Köstendil, Ekin Koç
Iranian filmmaker Alireza Khatami, now based in Canada, follows up his blistering 2023 omnibus movie “Terrestrial Verses,” about repressive bureaucracy in his native country, with his solo outing “Things That Kill You.” The political drama centered on patriarchy in Turkey shot on location and features Turkish A-listers including Ekin Koç (“Burning Days”), Erkan Kolçakköstendil (“Magnificent Century: Kosem”), Hazar Ergüçlü (“The Protector”), and Ercan Kesal (“Once Upon a Time in Anatolia”). Khatami co-directed “Terrestrial Verses” with Ali Asgari, who is currently unable to leave Iran. Khatami has described the new film as “a study of masculinity and the patriarchal system and how these forces shape our identities and our relationships with others,” per Variety. —RL
“Together”
Director: Michael Shanks
Cast: Dave Franco, Alison Brie
Picturestart and Tango set up this horror from first-time feature director Michael Shanks with real-life couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie. It’s pegged as a horror story about co-dependency, though plot details are mainly under wraps. Franco recently directed Brie in the romantic comedy “Somebody That I Used to Know,” as well as his horror debut “The Rental.” —RL
Untitled Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady Documentary
Directors: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady
The “Endangered” and “Detropia” duo of Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, Oscar-nominated in 2007 for “Jesus Camp,” reteam for this nonfiction portrait of a folk school that teaches dog-sledding, commonly the next step for education after high school in Scandinavia. —RL
Untitled Zodiac Killer Project
Director: Charlie Shackleton
Rising 33-year-old British filmmaker Charlie Shackleton most recently directed 2023’s experimental protest epic “Paint Drying,” a punch against film censorship in the United Kingdom and how it often fails independent filmmakers. His next project is a meta-essay film, blending documentary and fiction elements, that revisits the familiar spaces of true crime centered around the lore of the never-found Zodiac Killer. —RL
‘The Wedding Banquet’Luka Cyprian“The Wedding Banquet”
Director: Andrew Ahn
Cast: Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, Han Gi-chan, Kelly Marie Tran
“Spa Night” and “Fire Island” director Andrew Ahn reunites Ang Lee’s 1993 New Queer Cinema classic, here co-writing with the original’s scribe, James Schamus. Per the synopsis, “When Min’s (Han Gi-chan) boyfriend Chris (Yang) rejects his spontaneous marriage proposal, he convinces his best friend Angela (Kelly Marie Tran) to marry him instead, paying for her partner Liz’s (Gladstone) IVF treatments in exchange for his green card. Their plans for a subtle city hall elopement are turned upside down when Min’s grandmother makes a surprise trip from Seoul to throw them an extravagant Korean wedding banquet, which will fund the IVF treatments.” Joan Chen and “Minari” Oscar winner Yuh-Jung Youn also star. —RL
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