The Sundance Film Festival is best known as being the launching point for some of the greatest filmmakers of all time. Tarantino, Chazelle, Soderbergh, Aronofsky, and more have brought their first films to Sundance the rest has been history. While these names are now household staples, Sundance is perhaps best known as the premiere destination for ground-breaking documentaries, consistently showcasing some of the greatest non-fiction storytelling ever made.
Eighteen documentaries have premiered at Sundance and gone on to win the Academy Award for Best Documentary. Some of those include Navalny, Searching for Sugarman, Icarus, March of the Penguins, Man On Wire, When We Were Kings, and many many more.
The best documentary of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, and possibly an Oscar frontrunner, is a film called Andre is an Idiot. One wouldn’t expect a documentary about a man suffering from colon cancer to be the funniest film of the 150+ films showing at Sundance, but it is.
Andre is an Idiot follows Andre Ricciardi after he discovers he has been diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. The severity of the diagnosis is directly a cause of not getting a regularly scheduled colonoscopy.
The documentary serves as a cautionary tale and a beautiful depiction of living life to the fullest.
Ricciardi is an advertising executive who has the greatest outlook and philosophy on life and his condition. His story is equal parts heart-breaking and inspiring, making for a deeply moving and unforgettable documentary.
The film is masterfully edited, paced, and innovative. It balances clever animation, hilarious anecdotes, and poignant life lessons. It never stops being entertaining. It is a beautiful study of the power of love, friendship, and the beauty of life.
Walking into the theater I never imagined it would make me laugh and smile way more than I would feel grief.
Andre is an Idiot was the most enjoyable movie I saw at Sundance and it is might be the most important one I will ever watch.