The Sundance Film Festival has officially unveiled its 2026 lineup, marking its final year in Utah before relocating to Boulder, Colorado. As always, the program arrives with high expectations for breakout genre cinema. The fest has established itself as a reliable launchpad for upcoming buzzy releases, including recent must-watch horror favorites like Talk to Me, Together, I Saw the TV Glow, and Love Lies Bleeding. This year’s selections continue that legacy, with new horror and boundary-pushing films set to make their world premieres in Park City. Learn more about each one of them below.
Dread Central will once again cover horror and genre titles across the festival, offering reviews and interviews for entries in the Midnight section, as well as psychological thrillers and genre-bending films from all over the upcoming slate. Here are the premieres you can expect to take over the horror conversation in 2026.
Buddy
Directed by Casper Kelly, this one follows a brave girl and her friends who must escape a children’s television show. It’s a new horror movie directed by Kelly, the co-creator of Adult Swim’s Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell and the viral horror-comedy short Too Many Cooks. The feature began production this week in Ohio. J.D. Lifshitz and Raphael Margules are producing via BoulderLight Pictures, which currently boasts Companion, Friendship, and Weapons on its slate.
Kelly also created the fake “Goblin Chedder” commercial for the cult horror movie Mandy. It stars Cristin Milioti (The Penguin), Delaney Quinn, Topher Grace, Keegan-Michael Key, Michael Shannon, and Patton Oswalt. It’s written by Jamie King and Casper Kelly. World Premiere.
Leviticus
Two star-crossed teenage boys must escape a violent entity that takes the form of the person they desire most — each other. It stars Joe Bird (Talk To Me), Stacy Clausen (Fires), Mia Wasikowska (Stoker), Jeremy Blewitt, Ewen Leslie, and Davida McKenzie. Written and directed by Adrian Chiarella.World Premiere.
Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant
When a messy millennial underachiever accidentally gets alien-pregnant, she must overcome skeptical doctors, a useless baby daddy, and her oversharing mum in order to survive and reclaim her life. It stars Hannah Lynch, Yvette Parsons, Arlo Green, and Jackie van Beek. Written and directed by THUNDERLIPS. Originally a short film. World Premiere.
Rock Springs
Rock Springs follows a grieving young girl who moves with her mother and grandmother to an isolated house in a new town after the death of her father, only to uncover something monstrous tied to the town’s history and the woods behind their new home. The film stars Kelly Marie Tran (Control Freak), Benedict Wong (Weapons), Jimmy O. Yang, Aria Kim, and Fiona Fu, and is written and directed by Vera Miao.
Miao originated the idea and developed the project with Counterculture, with Macro producing and financing. Mandalay and Juniper joined the producing team. Miao’s past work includes Two Sentence Horror Stories, Fear the Walking Dead, and Prime Video’s Expats. World Premiere.
Saccharine
Hana, a lovelorn medical student, is terrorized by a hungry ghost after participating in an obscure weight-loss craze: eating human ashes. Starring Midori Francis, Danielle Macdonald, and Madeleine Madden. Written, directed, and produced by visionary filmmaker Natalie Erika James, who brought us Relic back in 2020. World Premiere.
undertone
The host of a popular paranormal podcast becomes haunted by terrifying recordings mysteriously sent her way. Check out our review of the film from its Fantasia Film Festival world premiere. It stars Nina Kiri, Adam DiMarco, Michèle Duquet, Keana Lyn Bastidas, and Jeff Yung. Written and directed by Ian Tuason. U.S. Premiere.
The Shitheads
A dark comedy, this one follows two wildly unqualified bozos hired to drive a wealthy teen to rehab — a job that should be simple but quickly erupts into chaotic and dangerous mayhem. The film is written and directed by Macon Blair (The Toxic Avenger) and features a stacked cast including Dave Franco, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Mason Thames, Kiernan Shipka, Nicholas Braun, and Peter Dinklage. World Premiere.
Night Nurse
An erotic thriller set inside a secluded retirement community, where a starry-eyed nurse becomes rattled by a series of perverse scam calls. Her growing suspicions lead her to a mysterious patient — a seductive con man whose schemes pull her into a dangerous mix of desire and deception. The film marks the feature debut of writer-director Georgia Bernstein and stars Mimi Rogers and Cemre Paksoy.
Bernstein also produces alongside Edwin Linker, Liane Cunje, Veronica Barbosa, and Lucy Rogers. Known for producing Fantasia’s 2022 premiere, All Jacked Up and Full of Worms, and the upcoming Anything That Moves, Bernstein now steps behind the camera for Night Nurse.
The Gallerist
This one follows a desperate gallerist who hatches a plan to sell a dead body at Art Basel Miami. Directed and written by Cathy Yan, with James Pedersen as screenwriter, the film features a high-profile ensemble cast that includes Natalie Portman, Jenna Ortega, Sterling K. Brown, Zach Galifianakis, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Charli xcx, and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
The film is produced by Ash Sarohia, Sophie Mas, Natalie Portman, Jonathan King, Tom McCarthy, and Rae Baron, and represents a U.S./France production. A prestige cast is lined up for this dark, art-world thriller. World Premiere.
The 2026 Sundance Film Festival will showcase 97 projects across its feature and episodic programs, continuing its role as the year’s first major launchpad for independent cinema. In-person and online ticket packages and passes are already on sale, with individual tickets becoming available on January 14.
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