The calendar has officially flipped on to 2025 and with that brings a new year, new hopes, and a new Sundance Film Festival lineup.

Today marks the first day of the annual independent film festival which takes place mountains of Park City, Utah.

Sundance has always been known for big stars in little films and the occasional massive breakthrough by an unknown.

This year looks very promising to deliver on both of those fronts.

The 2025 edition is in no short supply of recognizable names Benedict Cumberbatch, Jennifer Lopez, Coleman Domingo, Olivia Coleman, Jon Lithgow, Rebecca Hall, John Malkovich, and many others star in some of the most anticipated titles of the festival.

As with any Sundance comes a massive slate of incredible documentaries. Questlove returns to Sundance after debuting his Academy Award-winning Summer of Soul at the 2021 Festival. This year he brings Sly Lives!, a profile on Sly and the Family Stone. Other intriguing documentaries include an investigative piece on the Zodiac Killer, Pee-wee Herman, Marlee Matlin, and several others focusing on many cultural issues.

This year’s festivals brings a bit of nervous anticipation as Sundance may be close to announcing a possible relocation after the 2026 Festival. After soliciting offers from cities all over the United States, the Sundance Institute settled on three finalists. Keeping it where it is now in Park City and neighboring Salt Lake City or moving the festival to Boulder, Colorado or Cincinnati, Ohio. No official announcement has been scheduled but perhaps something big could be coming soon.

HeyUGuys is yet again sending its Sundance vets Nathan McVay and Ty Cooper to the mountains to see as many movies as possible. Keep an eye out here for their reviews of the best of the festival.

Here are Nathan and Ty’s three most anticipated films of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.

Nathan McVay’s Top 3-

  1. Bubble and Squeak

    Himesh Patel and Sarah Goldberg appear in Bubble & Squeak by Evan Twohy, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
  2. The Ballad of Wallis Island

The Ballad of Wallis Island3. Sorry, Baby

sorry baby
Eva Victor appears in Sorry, Baby by Eva Victor, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Mia Cioffy Henry.

Ty Cooper’s Top 3-

  1. Legend of Ochi
    The Legend of Ochi
    Helena Zengel appears in The Legend of Ochi by Isaiah Saxon, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
  2. The Thing With Feathers

    The Thing With Feathers
    Benedict Cumberbatch appears in The Thing with Feathers by Dylan Southern, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Anthony Dickenson.
  3. Opus
opus
Ayo Edebiri appears in Opus by Mark Anthony Green, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by A24

We’ll have our reviews up as the festival goes on. We can’t wait.