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Sundance Film Festival · 2026

Sundance Film Festival 2026

US Dramatic Competition

Programme

10 films · 3 reviews

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Bedford Park

Haunted by an abusive childhood, Audrey, a Korean American woman in her 30s, faces her emotional past. When her mother’s car accident brings her back to her parents’ home, she meets the man responsible for the accident. Their relationship builds, passions ignite, and they form a loving connection.

(Country: US; Year: 2026; Director: Stephanie Ahn; Writer: Stephanie Ahn; Stars: Choi Hee-seo, Son Suk-ku, Won Mi-kyung, Kim Eung-soo, Jefferson White, Taylor Kowalski, Vin Vescio, Cindy Hogan, Ferin Bergen, Toni D'Antonio, Paco Lozano, Simon Kim, Ian Oh, Joohong Jung, Mia Love Kwon)

World premiere

Carousel

A divorced doctor’s carefully constructed life in Cleveland is upended when his daughter’s debate aspirations and the unexpected return of a past love force him to confront his own choices and embrace a second chance.

(Country: US; Year: 2026; Director: Rachel Lambert; Writer: Rachel Lambert; Stars: Chris Pine, Jenny Slate, Abby Ryder Fortson, Sam Waterston, Katey Sagal, Heléne Yorke, Jessica Harper, Jeffrey DeMunn)

World premiere

The Friend's House Is Here

In Tehran’s underground art scene, two young women build a blissful world of freedom and sisterhood. But when their creative circle is exposed, they must fight to save each other.

(Country: US, Iran; Year: 2026; Director: Hossein Keshavarz, Maryam Ataei; Stars: Mahshad Bahram, Hana Mana, Farzad Karen, Zohreh Pirnia)

World premiere

Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!

Review preview for Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!

The story sometimes lacks thrust, but when it isn’t working, something new will be on screen soon enough.

Jeremy Mathews · 3 out of 5
Haru and Luis love competing in Tokyo’s ballroom dance scene, but after tragedy strikes, Haru withdraws into isolation. When friends coax her back to the studio, she develops an infatuation with the new instructor. She must face what comes next as sparks fly.

(Country: US, Japan; Year: 2026; Director: Josef Kubota Wladyka; Writer: Josef Kubota Wladyka, Nicholas Huynh; Stars: Rinko Kikuchi, Alberto Guerra, Alejandro Edda, YOU, Yoh Yoshida, Damián Alcázar)

Full review

World premiere

Hot Water

Review preview for Hot Water

It’s not that the journey is unpleasant but the stakes are very low and the lack of tension leads it to feel overstretched as a result.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
After he’s kicked out of his Indiana high school, an American kid and his Lebanese mom hit the road west.

(Country: US; Year: 2026; Director: Ramzi Bashour; Writer: Ramzi Bashour; Stars: Lubna Azabal, Daniel Zolghadri, Tedd Taskey, Charlotte Hacke)

Full review

World premiere

Josephine

Review preview for Josephine

De Araújo is particularly good at evoking the emotional turmoil Jo feels.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
After 8-year-old Josephine accidentally witnesses a crime in Golden Gate Park, she acts out in search of a way to regain control of her safety while adults are helpless to console her.

(Country: US; Year: 2026; Director: Beth de Araújo; Writer: Beth de Araújo; Stars: Mason Reeves, Channing Tatum, Gemma Chan, Philip Ettinger, Syra McCarthy, Eleanore Pienta, Gretchen Klein, Nate Duncan, Tracy Todd, Grace Kelly Quigley, Malcolm Engel)

Full review See: Beth de Araújo Channing Tatum and others talk about a child's eye view of crime in Josephine

World premiere

The Musical

When a frustrated playwright and middle school theater teacher finds out his ex-girlfriend has started dating his nemesis, the school’s principal, he decides to ruin the principal’s chances of winning the Blue Ribbon of Academic Excellence.

(Country: US; Year: 2026; Director: Giselle Bonilla; Writer: Alexander Heller; Stars: Will Brill, Gillian Jacobs, Rob Lowe, Nevada Jose, Melanie Herrera, Chyler Emery Stern)

World premiere

Run Amok

A teenage girl stages an elaborate musical about the one day her high school wishes it could forget.

(Country: US; Year: 2026; Director: NB Mager; Writer: NB Mager; Stars: Alyssa Marvin, Patrick Wilson, Margaret Cho, Elizabeth Marvel, Molly Ringwald, Yul Vazquez, Bill Camp, Nuha Jes Izman, Grace Reiter, Jesus Del Orden)

World premiere

Take Me Home

Anna, a 38-year-old Korean adoptee with a cognitive disability, cares for her aging parents in a fragile balance of meeting one another’s needs. When a Florida heat wave shatters their family and Anna’s routine, her future is uncertain until she creates a world where she can thrive.

(Year: 2026; Director: Liz Sargent; Writer: Liz Sargent; Stars: Anna Sargent, Ali Ahn, Victor Slezak, Marceline Hugot, Shane Harper, April Matthis, Shannon DeVido, Eric Diaz, Steve Way, Naida Nelson, Nikki Christie, Jim Findlay, Dominique Brown, Robert Sargent, Sean Liang)

World premiere

Union County

Assigned to a county-mandated drug court program, Cody Parsons embarks on the tenuous journey toward recovery amid the opioid epidemic in rural Ohio.

(Country: US; Year: 2026; Director: Adam Meeks; Writer: Adam Meeks; Stars: Will Poulter, Noah Centineo, Emily Meade, Elise Kibler, Annette Deao)

World premiere