High 10 Most Anticipated Movies at Sundance 2025 – Indies to Uncover
by Alex Billington
January 21, 2025
We’re days away from one other version of the Sundance Movie Competition up within the snowy mountains of Utah. The 2025 competition is about to kick off in a couple of days, and FS is again in Utah, prepared to begin watching. Able to dive into the enthralling line-up of latest movies this yr. That is our nineteenth time now we have coated Sundance, ever since 2007, bringing consideration to distinctive movies and the competition expertise. I’m all the time wanting ahead to wading by way of all of the contemporary movies the fest. Packing in as many as I can catch. Out of the 88 movies displaying on the 2025 Sundance Movie Competition, I’ve picked 10 movies (properly, it is 11 in complete) that I am wanting ahead to watching probably the most. To maintain issues properly balanced, I’ve chosen 5 characteristic movies and 5 documentaries from the line-up. For 2025, the fest has as soon as once more programmed an intriguing collection of unknown administrators, first-time filmmakers, and potential indie hits that might develop into all-timer favorites. As regular with Sundance, you by no means can actually inform what’ll good or dangerous earlier than watching something, however this is my early picks from the varied line-up anyway. I like to recommend including these 11 movies under to your competition schedule / or to your watchlist.
For the complete line-up of movies displaying at Sundance 2025 – click on right here. Comply with my evaluations on Letterboxd. That is my nineteenth yr in a row masking Sundance, beginning method again in 2007. I am all the time so excited to be watching the newest indie creations and engaging docs, hopeful that there is a minimum of a couple of superb discoveries regardless of the unusual occasions we’re dwelling in. It is virtually time to begin, this is my High 10 11 most anticipated 2025 movies.
Alex’s Most Anticipated ~Sundance 2025~ Characteristic Movies:
Bubble & Squeak
Directed by Evan Twohy
I am all the time, all the time enthusiastic about watching the weirdest, wackiest, unlike-anything-else movies that Sundance packages (final yr had Sasquatch Sundown; there was additionally a movie about manure salesmen at Sundance 2009). This one sounds like a should watch simply based mostly on the premise: “Accused of smuggling cabbages right into a nation the place cabbages are banned, Declan and Delores should confront the fragility of their new marriage whereas on the run for his or her lives.” Wait, what?! A nation the place cabbages are banned?! However why?? 🥬 What is that this actually about – marriage?? Bubble & Squeak stars Himesh Patel and Sarah Goldberg because the couple Declan & Delores, together with Steven Yeun, Dave Franco, Matt Berry. Sundance provides this very cabbage-y tease: “Patel & Goldberg lead a dedicated forged who ship Twohy’s oddball dialogue with utter conviction, gently unearthing the melancholy beneath the movie’s idiosyncratic floor. Bubble & Squeak explores the vagaries of affection with uncanny humor and coronary heart.” No thought what we’re all in for with this – however I am unable to wait to search out out.
Sorry, Child
Directed by Eva Victor
I’ve received a sense that is going to be some of the talked-about movies of Sundance 2025 and an enormous breakout from the competition. Sorry, Child marks the characteristic directorial debut of actress / comic / filmmaker Eva Victor, greatest identified for her many wacky & enjoyable movies on-line (on IG @evavictor / on Twitter @evavictor). The synopsis is slightly imprecise, solely stating: “One thing dangerous occurred to Agnes. However life goes on – for everybody round her, a minimum of.” Apparently it is about sexual assault – addressing this in a novel method. They add: “In an aching and tender debut characteristic, Eva Victor shows an incredible specificity of voice, depicting graduate student-turned-professor Agnes with sensitivity & emotional readability each earlier than & after her trauma. Infusing the character’s sardonic wit into its cinematic language of isolation and confusion, Sorry, Child makes use of its nonlinear formal construction and five-year period to seize the complexities and inconsistencies, triumphs and setbacks of Agnes’ makes an attempt to heal.” Will probably be there on the world premiere for this movie it doesn’t matter what.
Contact Me
Directed by Addison Heimann
One other very mysterious movie taking part in within the prestigious Midnight part at Sundance this yr. Very like final yr’s mega shock It is What’s Inside (it is a should watch on Netflix now), this movie is one in all my most anticipated primarily to search out out what the hell it is actually about. This is the preliminary pitch from the competition: “Two codependent greatest associates develop into hooked on the heroin-like contact of an alien narcissist who might or is probably not attempting to take over the world.” Wait – an alien who touches individuals and takes away their nervousness and fears? Is it a metaphor for medication? For intercourse? Or one thing else? What sort of alien is that this? What’s going to he/she/it seem like? Will it have tentacles? So many questions. The movie stars Olivia Taylor Dudley, Lou Taylor Pucci, and Jordan Gavaris; and it is directed by Addison Heimann of the horror Hypochondriac earlier than. To prime it off, Sundance drops this spicy tidbit concerning the movie’s influences: “An ode to the deliriously stylistic lens of Japanese cinema within the ’60s and ’70s, Contact Me dares to ‘go there’ with its themes of psychological well being, want, and Hentai-infused sexual abandon.” Wow, okay, certain – that is going to be loopy with an viewers.
OBEX
Directed by Albert Birney
I’m an enormous fan of the underrated, underseen lo-fi sci-fi indie movie Strawberry Mansion – which premiered at Sundance 2021 a couple of years in the past. I’ve by no means, ever seen the rest prefer it. Albert Birney, one of many co-creators of that movie, is again once more at Sundance along with his newest lo-fi sci-fi indie creation known as OBEX. It is mainly a couple of man who goes on a search to search out his lacking canine (I am bought) however there’s far more occurring in it. This is the preliminary pitch: “Conor Marsh lives a secluded life along with his canine, Sandy, till someday he begins taking part in OBEX, a brand new, state-of-the-art pc recreation. 🐶 When Sandy goes lacking, the road between actuality and recreation blurs and Conor should enterprise into the unusual world of OBEX to carry her dwelling.” That is going to be rad. Sundance hints at the place the plot goes subsequent: “The movie’s dreamy nostalgia quickly turns into an analog nightmare as Conor finds himself trapped in a low-tech however high-stakes online game.” That is for the geeks.
Opus / Lurker
Opus directed by Mark Anthony Inexperienced / Lurker directed by Alex Russell
It was unattainable to determine between these two movies, which sound fairly comparable, so I made a decision to incorporate each anyway. And each have nice buzz already from insiders within the movie trade – from what I am listening to. Opus has been described as The Menu however about music as an alternative of meals. “A younger author is invited to the distant compound of a legendary pop star who mysteriously disappeared 30 years in the past. Surrounded by the star’s [biggest fans], she finds herself in the course of his twisted plan.” That includes Ayo Edebiri, Juliette Lewis, Murray Bartlett, Amber Midthunder, and John Malkovich because the mysterious musician. It will be loopy and good (+ in theaters in March). Lurker can be a couple of musician: “A retail worker infiltrates the inside circle of an artist on the verge of stardom. As he will get nearer to the budding music star, entry and proximity develop into a matter of life & loss of life.” That includes a break-out performances from Théodore Pellerin because the musician and Archie Madekwe. So curious to learn the way each of those music tales will play out.
Different Characteristic Movies I am Wanting Ahead To: Carey Mulligan’s enjoyable musical The Ballad of Wallis Island (view trailer), Sukkwan Island with Swann Arlaud, Mary Bronstein’s If I Had Legs I would Kick You, Clint Bentley’s Prepare Desires movie about trains, Meera Menon’s low finances zombie movie Did not Die, Amalia Ulman’s Magic Farm, Invoice Condon’s Kiss of the Spider Lady, Amanda Kramer’s By Design, Amel Guellaty’s The place the Wind Comes From, Rashad Frett’s Ricky, Sierra Falconer’s Sunfish, James Sweeney’s Twinless, Cole Webley’s Omaha, Katarina Zhu’s Bunnylovr, and likewise Hailey Gates’ Atropia.
Alex’s Most Anticipated ~Sundance 2025~ Documentaries:
André is an Fool
Directed by Tony Benna
Andre! You fool! I like a very good Sundance movie with a provocative title, one which makes you cease and go “wait, what is that this about?! Perhaps I ought to watch it…?” Sure, possibly all of us ought to. The movie is a couple of kooky, one-of-a-kind artistic particular person named André Ricciardi. The fest explains: “André, a superb fool, is dying as a result of he didn’t get a colonoscopy. His sobering analysis, full irreverence, and insatiable curiosity, ship him on an surprising journey studying how you can die fortunately and ridiculously with out shedding his humorousness.” That is one other movie about most cancers (and the way horrible it’s), and it is about how comedy may help take care of mortality and sickness, as Andre discusses his state of affairs and his experiences with colon most cancers. It appears to be a particular movie in some ways. Sundance is thought for locating actually superb documentaries, so this one I’ve to look at simply to learn the way it handles this matter and the way Andre offers along with his tragic state of affairs.
Folktales
Directed by Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady
🐕 This picture (seen above) of the husky howling is all that it takes to make me checklist this doc as a should watch. I am there for the doggies! And for all the things else that this can get into – spending time at a folks highschool in Arctic Norway. That is the newest doc from two extremely acclaimed filmmakers, Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady, who’ve been to Sundance many occasions earlier than with many nice movies – together with Jesus Camp, twelfth & Delaware, Freakonomics, Norman Lear: Simply One other Model of You, One in every of Us, Canine, and the narrative characteristic movie I Carry You with Me (from 2020 – extremely really helpful). This movie sounds additional fascinating from Norway: “On the precipice of maturity, youngsters converge at a standard folks highschool in Arctic Norway. Dropped on the fringe of the world, they have to depend on solely themselves, each other, and a loyal pack of sled canine as all of them develop in surprising instructions.” Effectively, that is all I want to listen to, I am already anticipating it to be one in all my favorites – not just for the canine but in addition about this integration inside the pure world.
Transfer Ya Physique: The Beginning of Home
Directed by Magnificence Bratton
As a fan of home music, this doc is one other should look ahead to me. I have been a fan of techno/EDM for nearly all of my life so I am all the time considering tales like this. And I am properly conscious that home music first began in Detroit. That is additionally why I am very excited to find extra concerning the origins of home music and its roots in Detroit and the early days of this music scene. This documentary is made by filmmaker Magnificence Bratton, his first documentary characteristic after making the narrative movie The Inspection (fairly good) a couple of years in the past. Sundance hypes it up: “Bratton concocts a loving mixture of interviews with the energetic characters of home music blended along with an archive treasure, making a definitive historical past of a cultural revolution not often advised. Transfer Ya Physique: The Beginning of Home is a street map of how a revolt in opposition to bodily repression can clutch pleasure and inventive expression to sidestep empire.” Yep that sounds precisely just like the form of movie I will get pleasure from.
Deaf President Now!
Directed by Nyle DiMarco & Davis Guggenheim
One in every of my all-time favourite Sundance docs is Crip Camp: A Incapacity Revolatuon (from Sundance 2020 – view on Netflix). It has remained with me ever since and impressed me deeply following a gaggle of incapacity activists. This new doc appears like a follow-up to that one and I positively must see it. This is the pitch: “Throughout eight tumultuous days in 1988 on the world’s solely Deaf college, 4 college students should discover a technique to lead an indignant mob — and alter the course of historical past.” Yep, that sounds superior. A bit extra on the story: In 1988, college students at Gallaudet College protested till the varsity appointed its first Deaf president, Dr. I. King Jordan, marking a pivotal second for Deaf rights and illustration. There may be additionally one other doc at Sundance this yr a couple of Deaf actress – Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore. Each of those sound like should watch docs concerning the incapacity revolution – that began many years in the past and remains to be underway as we speak.
Sally
Directed by Cristina Costantini
That is the unfiltered story of Sally Trip – the primary American girl in area (the third girl in area after two cosmonauts). I am all the time fascinated by these form of movies about well-known individuals revealing far more than any of us truly knew. Sally is just not solely about her experiences at NASA (she launched in 1983 on the House Shuttle Challenger) nevertheless it’s additionally about her secret dwelling life. Sundance explains that director “Cristina Costantini’s wealthy portrait of astronaut Sally Trip brings a fullness to her life that goes past the headlines of her trailblazing voyage previous Earth’s environment. Sally skillfully weaves collectively the twin threads of Trip’s story: the non-public romance she shared along with her accomplice and the skilled trajectory of her time within the area program that noticed her deal with overt sexism & homophobia, prompting her secrecy. Uncommon archival footage brings the viewer behind the scenes to witness NASA coaching & missions, whereas press appearances replicate the media frenzy Trip was subjected to each earlier than & after her historic first flight.” Will probably be watching.
Extra Docs I will Be Watching Throughout the Fest: Jesse Moss & Amanda McBaine’s Middletown, Reid Davenport’s Life After, Amy Berg’s It is By no means Over Jeff Buckley, Questlove’s music story Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius), Sam Feder’s Heightened Scrutiny, Gianluca Matarrese’s GEN_, Amber Fares’ Coexistence My Ass!, Isabel Castro’s Selena y Los Dinos, and Brittany Shyne’s Seeds.
For ALL of Alex’s Sundance 2025 updates: comply with @firstshowing or comply with @alexb.bsky.social
For extra Sundance 2025 previews across the net, highlighting early picks and potential breakouts, additionally see: The Movie Stage’s 20 Should-See Movie Premieres, Rolling Stone’s 20 Most Anticipated Motion pictures of Sundance 2025, Subsequent Greatest Image’s Most Anticipated Movies Record, Selection’s The 12 Buzziest Releases to Look Out For, Inexperienced Slates “Get Excited For These Movies“, The Star’s Sundance Preview, and likewise The Playlist’s 25 Most Anticipated Premieres. You by no means know what is perhaps a winner, and it is vital to have a pulse on the early buzz – even earlier than the fest begins. There’s loads of intriguing movies discovered within the choice this yr, tons of discoveries from first time filmmakers and up-and-coming expertise, so let’s leap proper in and begin watching.
You’ll be able to comply with our Sundance 2025 protection and evaluations proper right here and on Alex’s Letterboxd. The competition begins on January twenty third till February 2nd, with movies premiering on-line + in particular person. Glad to be again once more.
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