Skip to main content

Sundance Film Festival · 2025

Sundance Film Festival 2025

Next

Programme

8 films · 4 reviews

Jump to a film

BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions

Preeminent West African curator and scholar Funmilayo Akechukwu’s magnum opus, The Resonance Field, leads her to the heart of the Atlantic Ocean, drawing a journalist into a journey that shatters her understanding of consciousness and time.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Kahlil Joseph; Writer: Saidiya Hartman, Irvin Hunt; Stars: Shaunette Renée Wilson, Penny Johnson Jerald, Zora Casebere, Kaneza Schaal, Jermell Deshauan, Peter Hernandez, Hope Giselle)

World premiere

By Design

Review preview for By Design

Nobody seems to notice that this unresponsive woman is not in fact paying attention to them, and Kramer spins this out impressively, building drama from a mixture of monologuing and imagination.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A woman swaps bodies with a chair, and everyone likes her better as a chair.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Amanda Kramer; Writer: Amanda Kramer; Stars: Juliette Lewis, Robin Tunney, Samantha Mathis, Ruby Cruz, Melanie Griffith, Mamoudou Athie, Udo Kier, Clifton Collins Jr., Betty Buckley, Alisa Torres, Cristo Montt, Jessie-Ann Kohlman)

Full review See: Amanda Kramer on giving her body-switch film By Design a modern twist

World premiere

East Of Wall

Review preview for East Of Wall

There’s a particularity about this place that is etched into the screen.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
After the death of her husband, Tabatha - a young, tattooed, rebellious horse trainer - wrestles with financial insecurity and unresolved grief while providing refuge for a group of wayward teenagers on her broken-down ranch in the Badlands.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Kate Beecroft; Writer: Kate Beecroft; Stars: Scoot McNairy, Jennifer Ehle, Haley Strode, Grace Diane Jensen, Ryan Caraway, Chancey Ryder Witt, Tabatha Zimiga, Wyatt Mansfield, Porshia Zimiga, Leanna Shumpert, Jesse Thorson, Clay Pateneaude, Brynn Darling)

Full review

World premiere

Mad Bills To Pay (or Destiny, Dile Que No Soy Malo)

Rico’s summer is a mix of chasing girls and hustling homemade cocktails out of a cooler on Orchard Beach, the Bronx. But when Destiny, his teenage girlfriend, crashes at his place with his family, it’s only a matter of time before his carefree days come spiraling down.

(Country: US, UK; Year: 2025; Director: Joel Alfonso Vargas; Writer: Joel Alfonso Vargas; Stars: Juan Collado, Destiny Checo, Yohanna Florentino, Nathaly Navarro)

World premiere

OBEX

Review preview for OBEX

If you’re looking for a witty and heartfelt story with characters you can care about, you may find yourself falling head over heels.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Conor Marsh lives a secluded life with his dog, Sandy, until one day he begins playing OBEX, a new, state-of-the-art computer game. When Sandy goes missing, the line between reality and game blurs and Conor must venture into the strange world of OBEX to bring her home.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Albert Birney; Writer: Albert Birney, Pete Ohs; Stars: Albert Birney, Callie Hernandez, Frank Mosley)

Full review See: Interview with Albert Birney about Obex

World premiere

Rains Over Babel (Llueve sobre Babel)

A group of misfits converges at Babel, a legendary dive bar that doubles as purgatory, where La Flaca - the city’s Grim Reaper - presides. Here, souls gamble years of their lives with her, daring to outwit Death herself.

(Country: Colombia, Spain, US; Year: 2025; Director: Gala del Sol; Writer: Gala del Sol; Stars: Jhon Narváez, Sofia Buenaventura, John Alex Castillo, Saray Rebolledo, Felipe Aguilar Rodríguez, Celina Biurrun, Jose Mojica, Jhon Bayron Quintero Valencia, Mairen Valoyes, William Hurtado, Jacobo Velez, Johan Zapata, Román Escobar, Santiago Ortiz, Christian Calles)

World premiere

Serious People

A successful music video director and expectant father pushes his work-life balance to the extreme as he hires a doppelgänger to work in his stead.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Pasqual Gutierrez, Ben Mullinkosson; Writer: Pasqual Gutierrez; Stars: Pasqual Gutierrez, Christine Yuan, Raul Sanchez, Miguel Huerta)

World premiere