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The 2025Sundance Film Festivalwas another success . With 88 feature - distance celluloid contend for attending , the festival was once again a bastion for independent filmmakers . From romantic thrillers to macabre horrors and quiet meditative films , the darling fete ( which is eyeing other locations as potential host cities post-2026 ) has a bit of something for everyone . Jurorsannounced the winner of Sundancein each category , and theScreenRantteam ensure 25 celluloid over the course of six days , so there were a passel of moving-picture show to pick out from .
When coming up with our top 10 movies from Sundance , we pick out the films that stood out to us the most — be it in the way the filmmaker manage the various onscreen taradiddle or cast performances ( or both ) . There ’s something in every movie on this tilt that resonated deeply and we ’re delirious to deal them with you here ( in no particular ordering ) . Keep an middle out for when these movies are finally released as each is deserving watch directly .
10Train Dreams
Clint Bentley ’s new movie is nothing poor of a masterpiece . Starring Joel Edgerton and establish on Denis Johnson ’s novella of the same name , Train Dreamsis the story of Robert Granier , a lumberman in the Pacific Northwest at the spell of the twentieth 100 . Cinematographer Adolpho Veloso applies a Malick - esque lens to the era and area , combining it with Bentley and Centennial State - writer Greg Kwedar ’s lyric storytelling for something witching .
At 102 arcminute , the motion picture is not foresighted , but it has the feel of a classic epic , capturing the dim-witted , sometimes tragic life sentence of one gentleman , but placing it at a time and in a modal value that transcends its narrative . With supporting performances from Felicity Jones , Kerry Condon , and William H. Macy givingTrain Dreamsa go - in look , the film deliver on a uncomplicated premise by digging into the truths of our beingness and the role we play in shaping the humans around us . – Graeme Guttmann
9If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
20 minutes into Mary Bronstein ’s 2d feature , I was n’t sure that I mat good - my pulse rate was belt along and Rose Byrne ’s visceral public presentation was stimulate anxiety . I jazz , though , that I loved what I was catch . severalize mostly in tight - up on Byrne ’s face , If I Had Legs I ’d Kick Youis the motherhood horror moving picture to end all maternal repugnance .
Byrne stars as Linda , a Montauk adult female with an absentee married man who is quite literally being attacked on all front . Linda ’s relationships with her therapist , her daughter , her patients , and her home are all in various State Department of decay and Bronstein frames this with all the tension and fear that come with it . It ’s a truly brass - shredding motion picture with a gonzo performance from Byrne that is as reverence - inspiring as it is a shot of adrenaline to the organisation . – Graeme Guttmann
8Twinless
Dylan O’Brien beguile audiences at this twelvemonth ’s Sundance Film Festival with his functioning inTwinless — and not just due to his viral sex scenes . He play Roman , a shy and crawfish young man cope with the demise of his twin brother Rocky , who was his primary support system in animation . It seems like his psyche is on the fixture when he meets fellow grieving twin Denis ( play by writer - director James Sweeney , whose portrayal is also suitable of praise ) , until it becomes clear that Denis ' intent do n’t needs align with his own .
Sweeney and the entire cast distinctly put an incredible amount of rage into the project , so it would be a shame if more audiences do n’t get to see the final results .
O’Brien as Roman is impressive enough , showcasing a more vulnerable side of his playacting that is often lost under level of comedy , butTwinlessalso packs a gut punch with both its plot twists and observation on loss and lonesomeness . papistic and Denis are each coping in very different and at times insalubrious ways , but their connexion strengthens them even when those around them doubt its efficacy .
Gilmore Girlsstar Lauren Graham also fix an appearance as Roman and Rocky ’s mother , highlighting how sorrow is not always noble . Sweeney and the entire dramatis personae clear put an unbelievable amount of passion into the undertaking , so it would be a pity if more audiences do n’t get to see the net results . But given how talked - about the movie has been , a buyer is certainly waiting in the wings . – Tatiana Hullender
7Plainclothes
Tom Blyth has been an actor to watch for some meter now , but he takes his skills to the next level inPlainclothes , a amatory psychological thriller that in reality delivers on the thriller facet . Blyth play Lucas , an underground cop task with arresting gay work force for indecent photograph . The twirl is not that Lucas is also gay — and so must cope with what that imply for him — but that he falls in beloved with Russell Tovey ’s Andrew , nearly a object of the police force ’s cognitive operation .
Plainclothes actors Russell Tovey , Maria Dizzia , Amy Forsyth , and Alessandra Ford Balazs praise Tom Blyth ’s performance in intense new Sundance motion-picture show .
author - director Carmen Emmi successfully treat the tensity and vividness deport from Lucas ’ quandary , tie that vividness with the anxiety that comes from hiding one ’s identity operator . Tovey and Blyth ’s chemistry is good , though it ’s Blyth ’s anxious - drive performance that truly force back the pic ’s momentum towards a arresting close that will stay with you for a long while after it ’s over . Plainclothes ’ masterly editing lend to the claustrophobic flavour permeating the film , making for one of the best thrillers of 2025 so far . – Mae Abdulbaki
6Together
go intoTogether , Dave Franco and Alison Brie ’s first onscreen reunification in seven age , I was undeniably excited to see the real - life couple replication to the repugnance genre after their success withThe Rental , though also found myself dreading the umpeenth torso repugnance movie of this year ’s Sundance . even so , I was marvelously surprised by just how unpredictable the movie was , as the way writer / director Michael Shanks used his body revulsion for the theme of codependency was alone and view - provoking , the story nicely pitch between scares and laugh , and Brie and Franco ’s real - life chemical science imbued the characters with so much living . – Grant Hermanns
5The Wedding Banquet
There are few rom - coms that play balance to their romance and comedy , butThe Wedding Banquet , music director Andrew Ahn ’s remaking of Ang Lee ’s 1993 classic , attractively marry both music genre . Filled with so much heart , the moving picture is touching and genuinely rum , fetch drama and system of weights to its story so that it ’s not just a bunch of light-headed antics with no substance . The ensemble plaster bandage , which sport Kelly Marie Tran , Lily Gladstone , and Bowen Yang , each arrest their time to glisten and the consistent interactions between them make their relationships finger authentic . It ’s a lovingly made rom - com that will touch your heart . – Mae Abdulbaki
4Sorry, Baby
author - director Eva Victor delivered a powerhouse feature that is alone in its execution of instrument and geographic expedition of its protagonist Agnes ’ life following a intimate violation . While most films will focus on the assault itself , Victor manages to parry showing what encounter to Agnes , opting to try the story in her own words instead . no-count , Babyis quietly review in its ecumenical approach to its chronicle , underscoring how Agnes ’ liveliness is not defined by her trauma so much as it is informed by it .
Victor , who also play the main fiber , is experience in infusing some humour into the story , balancing the mundaneness of the world around her and the passing of time with like an expert crafted emotion that hits home . Victor and Naomi Ackie , who plays Agnes ’ champion , are wonderful together and the film is go and deep efficacious in the manipulation of its field matter . The profoundness of the story is present in the film ’s soft reflectivity on biography . – Mae Abdulbaki
3Rebuilding
Max Walker - Silverman ’s first featureA Love Songwas a quietly worked up film set against the backcloth of the American West . Walker - Silverman returns to his habitation DoS of Colorado for his follow - up featureRebuilding , a timely news report about a residential district in recovery after a withering wildfire . Josh O’Connor star as a subdued cowboy number to terms with his uprooted lifespan as he struggles to adjudicate whether to rebuild or move on .
Josh O’Connor , Kali Reis , Lily LaTorre and Meghann Fahy reflect on Rebuilding and working with author / director Max Walker - Silverman at Sundance .
With a loving oculus for the landscape , a moving story , and an in effect supporting cast , Rebuildingis a hopeful film about move on after cataclysm . That it comes in the thick of the Los Angeles wildfires is virtuous co-occurrence , but that make its subject matter all the more profound . Even outside that context , though , Rebuildingis another stellar feature from Walker - Silverman who continues to shew that he can craft films as stunning as they are emotionally resonant . – Graeme Guttmann
2The Ugly Stepsister
In an years in which film maker are striving to be forward-looking by drive home slasher twists on Winnie - the - Pooh and Peter Pan , Emilie Blichfeldt’sThe Ugly Stepsisterfinally offers a properly unused take on a classic taradiddle in the form ofCinderella . focus on the titulary case , no longer an adversary , but alternatively a misunderstood and soundbox - shamed unseasoned woman undergoing legion operative changes to appear beautiful , Blichfeldt brings the same knifelike and biting approach to the composition of ravisher from her unforesightful film to the semi - fantastical world of the iconic fairy narration . – Grant Hermanns
1The Things You Kill
There is possibly no good sentence to debut a masterpiece of Lynchian proportion , whichThe Things You Killabsolutely is . Director Alireza Khatami ’s psychological thriller take place in Turkey , and though the societal context of use informs the tale , the event that blossom out palpate universal . The motion-picture show offer a very different meditation on grief from other projects at this year’sSundance , as the death of Ali Özdilek ’s ( play by Ekin Koç ) female parent arouse in him a very strong desire for vengeance .
confident as he is that his heartless father is responsible for what happen his mother , and scramble with the idea of being unfertile when his wife wants a child , Ali hide out in his family ’s garden until he meets Riza ( play by Erkan Kolçak Köstendil ) . Riza offers to work for Ali as a nurseryman , and the two men before long become closer than either audience or protagonist could have imagined as they hatch a plan for so - called justness . The thing You Killmay require a second viewing to amply dig its refinement , but the tense story construction and breathtaking filming will without a doubtfulness be worth the clock time invested . – Tatiana Hullender
Custom image by Ana Nieves
