In the final days of the Sundance 2026 Festival, the Utah pilgrimage comes to a close for most attendees who traversed the nationwide winter storms back home to kick off the online portion of the festival. Since the COVID-19 pandemic that forced Sundance and the country as a whole into virtual lockdown, the festival has offered a portion of its slate virtually, sans the buzziest acquisition titles. 

It hasn’t been a seamless transition into the state of festival hybridity. Last year saw major piracy violations surrounding James Sweeney’s Twinless, which was promptly removed from the online portal, causing a stir among viewers who had purchased the opportunity to watch it at home. It’s for this very reason that studios have been (at best) wary of the online component, and (at worst) outright antagonistic to its existence at all. 

IndieWire’s extensive investigation of the upcoming move to Boulder revealed this recurring sentiment from a producer and longtime Sundance attendee, “It used to be when you heard people talking about a film in the passholder line, or at a party, you’d quickly check to see when it played next…Now, people ask, ‘Is that one streaming?’” Sundance has remained steadfast in its online presence as a mode of accessibility and inclusion for audiences without the means to travel to Park City. It’s a major question whether that commitment remains next year and beyond. 

This year, the process wasn’t as volatile, though it wasn’t without controversy. Two anticipated selections from the online slate, Chasing Summer and The Lake, were abruptly pulled from the virtual platform for press just hours before it opened. Accredited press were notified via email with the message, “The respective film teams have decided to remove Chasing Summer and The Lake from the P&I online program. Due to this, any online P&I screening reservations for these films specifically that you have made will be cancelled.” This aligns with prior comments that press primarily build their Park City schedules around titles limited to in-person screenings, knowing that online viewing is available later. Last-minute changes like this disrupt press coverage plans. 

The Lake, Abby Ellis’ documentary on the depletion of the Great Salt Lake and the political and scientific battle to restore it, was quickly reinstated, but not before speculation ensued. The film prominently features Utah’s Republican Governor, Spencer Cox, and other notable political figures in the state. With the well-documented arrival of political tensions souring Sundance’s Park City sunset, it’s not absurd to raise an eyebrow at the temporary move.

Alongside the transition to Sundance’s online programming, the festival announced this year’s jury and audience award winners. Josephine (U.S. Dramatic Competition), Nuisance Bear (U.S. Documentary Competition), Shame and Money (World Cinema Dramatic Competition), and To Hold a Mountain (World Cinema Documentary Competition) received Grand Jury Prizes in their respective categories. In the NEXT section, the Innovator Award went to The Incomer, while the Special Jury Award went to TheyDream.

As for the Audience Awards, the only film to repeat its Grand Jury win was Josephine (U.S. Dramatic Competition). This is notable because the only two prior films to achieve this feat are Minari (2020), which was nominated for six Oscars and won one, as well as CODA (2021), which was nominated for three Oscars and won all three, including Best Picture. Both films were released during the pandemic years, but a notable statistic nonetheless. 

American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez (U.S. Documentary Competition), HOLD ONTO ME (Κράτα Με) (World Cinema Dramatic Competition), One In A Million (World Cinema Documentary Competition), and Aanikoobijigan [ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild] (NEXT) rounded out the Audience Awards. 

My festival watchlist closed out between in-person and virtual with 31 titles, a respectable total for 10 days of viewing. Although it’s nearly impossible to be comprehensive, I have a few awards of my own to dole out. 

I cannot argue with the U.S. Dramatic Competition winner. Josephine was my favorite film of the category and the festival as a whole. I would, however, award the aforementioned The Lake in the U.S. Documentary Competition with the caveat that I could not fit American Doctor or Soul Patrol into my schedule, two films that gathered strong word of mouth in the range of my earshot. 

Extra Geography stood out to me in World Cinema Dramatic Competition, a feature directorial debut from Molly Manners that follows two teenage girls in an all-girls English boarding school who develop a summer project “to fall in love.” In the World Cinema Documentary Competition, Kikuyu Land rounds out my in-competition award winners.

Elsewhere, BURN impressed me the most in the competitive and exciting NEXT category, Undertone gave me the deepest chills in Midnight, and Broken English was a personal breakout in the Spotlight section, holding over from last year’s Venice International Film Festival. 

In addition to the category winners, some qualitative honorable mentions are in order to celebrate the breadth of innovation the Sundance 2026 lineup had to offer. In the music department, Zi takes the cake for Best Soundtrack, featuring the work of legendary composer Ryûichi Sakamoto, while If I Go Will They Miss Me had the most alluring score. 

Some performances to highlight are Olivia Wilde’s dominatrix persona in Gregg Araki’s 12-year-awaited I Want Your Sex, and Mason Reeves at only eight years old in Josephine. Ethan Hawke and the entire cast of The Weight are rock solid in Padraic McKinley’s Depression-era action-drama. Iliza Schlesinger delivers one of the funniest performances from my Sundance catalog (although comedy is her built-in wheelhouse). 

As for crafts, BURN features the most innovative cinematography I saw at the festival, while Time and Water’s landscape photography is breathtaking. The best use of animation and mixed media is a no-brainer for TheyDream, which utilized a plethora of techniques ranging from miniatures and 2D animation to rotoscoping, archival interviews, and voicemail reenactments. I would be remiss not to also mention Undertone for its precision sound design in a horror story that relies on controlled sound environments to communicate its thrills and chills.

Regarding arbitrary superlatives, the largest talent pool at a Q&A I witnessed was neck and neck between Time and Water and Chasing Summer, both of which showcased large teams on stage. Although rarer than other festivals such as Cannes that indulge in the art of a standing ovation, most, if not all, public screenings I attended garnered such a reaction from the audience. Anecdotal evidence tells me Olivia Wilde’s The Invite was quite rapturous. It’s also a winner for landing a $12 million acquisition deal with A24.  

Whatever the over/under prop of Cooper Hoffman’s on-screen humiliation sex scenes was set for, it certainly met the over for bettors. Meanwhile, Tim Robinson wasn’t on the cast list of any Sundance title, so his on-screen appearances over/under almost certainly would have been set for 0.5, and surprisingly also hit the over (thanks to John Wilson and The History of Concrete). 

It was certainly a memorable final experience at Sundance, marked by political activism, sexual tension, and Oscar buzz. Now, we will look ahead to 2027 and the prospect of the festival moving to Boulder, Colorado.

Update Courtesy of Danny Jarabek

Feature Image Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Lauren Hartmann