This page is home to our coverage of the Sundance Film Festival.
The Sundance Film Festival is the largest independent film festival in the United States, taking place every year in January in Park City, Utah. It was founded in 1978 as the Utah/US Film Festival and re-named the Sundance Film Festival in 1991, after Robert Redford’s character from the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Film School Reject has had the honor of covering Sundance since 2008, two years after our site was founded. Over the years, we’ve discovered a number of amazing films in Park City — from our first review of 2008’s In Bruges to our listing of the 25 Best Sundance Movies of All-Time in 2015 to our 2019 list of the 50 Best Sundance Horror Movie Premieres to our discoveries of Swiss Army Man and Hunt for the Wilderpeople and The Witch at Sundance 2016 — we’ve spent over a decade reviewing hundreds of wonderful independent films.
We have also covered (on numerous occasions) what it’s like to cover Sundance for those who aren’t lucky enough to make the trip. And for those interested in filling their yearly watchlists, we’ve also recapped our favorites with a festival-closing list (in almost every year). Check out our archive of Sundance favorites via the links below:
Explore the entire archives of our annual Sundance Film Festival coverage below:
By Neil Miller
Of all the films that I went to see at Sundance this year, I’ve got the sneaking suspicion that the majority of you are most interested in hearing my thoughts about Tommy Wirkola’s Dead Snow. Call me crazy, but the idea of Nazi Zombies attacking unsuspecting young people in the snowy mountains of Norway just has a certain charm.
By Neil Miller
Perhaps this year’s most buzzed about Sundance movie, director Lone Scherfig’s period drama accomplished more than few things during its Sundance ’09 run. First and foremost, it was one of the most well-executed period films of the festival, bringing to life 1960s Britain in a very authentic way. It also introduced us to a brilliant new talent named Carey Mulligan.
By Neil Miller
Strange, sweet and a little sci-fi. That is how this next selection of Sundance 2009 selections role. As we continue to roll through the end of my coverage of Sundance’s 2009 frame, we take a look at a wildly experimental and odd little film, a sweet romantic comedy telling us a familiar story in an unfamiliar way and a Japanese sci-fi movie that finds some deeper meaning.
By Neil Miller
In this edition of ‘Neil’s Lazy Sundance Capsule Reviews,’ we take a look at a Hollywood insider comedy, a neo-noir detective story and a wild ride through the mind of Britain’s most famous (and dangerous) prisoners of all-time…
By Neil Miller
A straightforward romantic comedy about bringing a know-it-all author to his knee’s, director John Hindman’s first film is surprisingly charming and incredibly well-written. As if we should have expected any less…
By Neil Miller
Every year the Sundance film festival delivers at least one film that I absolutely loathe. Last year it was Downloading Nancy. This year it is The Informers, a self-indulgent, lifeless glamrock drugfest from the mind of Bret Easton Ellis.
By Neil Miller
If there is one studio that knows how to pick indie winners, it is Fox Searchlight. And they appear to once again be off to a good start by snatching up Max Mayer’s charming and quirky romantic comedy Adam.
By Neil Miller
A wildly imaginative and ambitious piece of science fiction, Sophie Barthes’ Cold Souls, anchored by a very strong performance from Paul Giamatti, could just be one of the more peculiar, conversation-inducing films of this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
