Life has a manner of upending expectations, even those over a 12 months within the making. The 2026 Sundance Movie Competition marked the final in Park Metropolis, Utah, its house since 1981 (a decade earlier than it was even renamed after its co-founder’s iconic cowboy). With any ending comes nostalgia, and the remembrances have poured in for the reason that 12 months started, from these attending their final screening on the Library to anybody who felt the magic of indie movie manifested in a post-premiere snowstorm.
And but a lot of the movie neighborhood’s focus has been wrenched out of the previous into an pressing current and unsure future. The horrific killing, assaults, and raids in Minneapolis rightfully overshadowed a weekend supposed for buzzy discoveries and bidding wars. As an alternative, company prioritized what was happening exterior of Park Metropolis, sporting ICE Out pins and protesting on Essential St. Inside, festival-focused chatter couldn’t keep away from speculating on the longer term: What would and wouldn’t change subsequent 12 months, when Sundance takes over Boulder, CO? What ought to and shouldn’t? What must be completed to protect the previous and keep away from the latter?
However the motion pictures, when you’re with them, all the time reside within the now, and Sundance’s annual slate of Episodic sequence — these fortunate TV exhibits that get to be seen on the large display screen — proved particularly attuned to the current. It’s not that titles like “Apprehensive,” “Freelance,” and “Gentle Boil” deal immediately with federally commissioned assault squads or the worldwide rise in authoritarianism. It’s that they deal with people who find themselves clearly going via it — within the large and small image, as a part of a gaggle or acutely inside their very own heads. Nonetheless they’re managing to get off the bed, put one foot in entrance of the opposite, and keep on not simply surviving however residing, properly, that’s simply fantastic. Nice even. No judgement right here.
Take “Homicide 101.” Directed by Stacey Lee and produced by Jon Watts, the three-part documentary sequence (impressed by the iHeart Media podcast of the identical identify) chronicles a highschool sociology class attempting to crack an area chilly case. Again in 2018, when Elizabethton, TN trainer Alex Campbell first assigned his college students to trace down a ’70s period serial killer, they did precisely that: figuring out a suspect with damning ties to what’s colloquially known as “the Redhead Murders.”
In 2025, Campbell continued the investigation with a brand new class — and Lee’s cameras. Children comb case information, contact native authorities, and even interview a sufferer, all of which expose every younger detective to disturbing pictures, concepts, and theories. In our present tutorial local weather (let’s name it “delicate”), the course’s mere existence is staggering. It’s simple to think about how some dad and mom may react to their baby spending a semester learning the brutal deaths of as much as 14 ladies.
However for higher and a bit bit for worse, “Homicide 101” doesn’t waste time on outsiders’ misunderstandings. As an alternative, it accepts the state of issues and makes probably the most of it. As a documentary, episodes are balanced between the category’ progress within the case and their common takeaways from their “project-based studying” expertise. Campbell, as a trainer, isn’t targeted on solutions. He sees the entire board. When discussing media stories that cut back victims to a statistic, he factors out the problematic apply whereas emphasizing their humanity. And the scholars are right here for it. When posed with an both/or state of affairs, they reject labeling the presumed killer as anybody factor: He’s not pure evil, and he’s not similar to everybody else. He’s “each” after which some.
“Some folks suppose this class is about murderers,” Campbell says. “However on the finish of the day, it’s actually about serving to folks and determining what expertise you possibly can deliver — sociology and others — that can assist you do it.”
In different phrases, our tradition’s true crime obsession might really feel inescapable, even in your hometown, however that very same obsession will be wielded to encourage more healthy media habits whereas working towards a greater, extra compassionate worldview.
The chums in “Freelance” are equally making the very best of a foul state of affairs. Dealing with down a gig financial system as they attempt to launch their careers, 5 content material creators share a home in Columbus, OH, the place they hope to “beat the algorithm” with a gradual output of high quality content material. Their crew features a rapper, a style influencer, a streamer, a private coach, and a filmmaker, all of whom are devoted to their very own particular person initiatives, and the latter of whom, Lance (Spence Moore II) leads the group of upstarts on their first actual job: capturing a marriage video.
Hijinks and disappointment ensue, however “Freelance” refuses to be bothered. The Turner Brothers’ comedy, bursting with onscreen graphics and colourful personalities, is right here for an excellent time, it doesn’t matter what, and whereas the 41-minute pilot may benefit from stronger emotional threads and tighter scripting, a laugh-forward sitcom is a factor to be treasured — at Sundance, on this local weather, and when there’s each purpose, onscreen and off, to go darkish.
The identical might be mentioned for “Gentle Boil,” a traditional Sundance comedy in that it’s set in Los Angeles, follows an aspiring actor, and focuses (at first, no less than) on a pair of catastrophic relationships. Lulu (Camille Wormser) is launched by way of audition tape — recorded by her soon-to-be ex-boyfriend — earlier than operating out to be interviewed for a part-time nannying place. The sit-down goes about in addition to will be anticipated — Lulu, as her identify implies, is a bit off — however for lack of stronger competitors, she’s put in control of two well-off adolescents for just a few nights every week.
Exhausted by her 30-minute interview, Lulu bails on plans together with her pals and goes house early, solely to be shocked by an additional physique when she tries to hitch her boyfriend within the bathe. “Gentle Boil” doesn’t break the mildew in its 23-minute pilot, but it surely has two issues working for it: 1) Wormser, whose goofy voices and exaggerated expressions lend Lulu an endearing cartoonish high quality well-suited for an off-kilter comedy like this one, and a couple of) the sequence’ steadfast dedication to by no means acknowledge Lulu’s strangeness.
Whereas introducing herself to some dude in a bar, Lulu shifts the pitch of her voice, mumbles regular requests, and shouts what others might by no means have the braveness say out loud — all whereas working her manner towards asking the bewildered man (“Broad Metropolis’s” John Gemberling) about asphyxiation, to allow them to go have intercourse within the toilet. That is who she is, that’s what she needs, these are simply the playing cards she’s been dealt, and he or she’s not going to really feel ashamed to play them. Lulu’s eccentric confidence — or, higher put, her confidence in her personal eccentricity — carves out an area for her in an episode that’s in any other case pretty plain, all with no whiff of judgement.
She gained’t cover, in contrast to the themes of the Episodic part’s different nonfiction entry, “The Oligarch and the Artwork Vendor.” Co-created by Christoph Jörg and Andreas Dalsgaard (who additionally directs), the three-part documentary examines what one New York Occasions reporter calls the “trial of the century.” On one aspect, there’s Yves Bouvier, an artwork supplier who claims a former purchaser has destroyed him, professionally and personally. On the opposite, after all, is the previous purchaser: Dmitry Rybolovlev, a Russian oligarch and billionaire many instances over. He says Bouvier conned him for nearly twenty years: shopping for artwork for one worth, charging Rybolovlev a a lot increased worth, after which pocketing the distinction.
Rybolovlev, as you possibly can anticipate, isn’t about to take a seat down for an interview. (His lawyer, nonetheless, positive does, and with out mincing phrases.) However Bouvier presents himself as much as the documentarians, at first saying he needs to “restore the reality,” earlier than including a extra private mission assertion: “I wish to make him pay, smash his face, punish him, so he’s thrown into jail, not me.”
“The Oligarch and the Artwork Vendor” is an enchanting dive inside a super-sketchy and extremely worthwhile trade. A lot of the primary episode is dominated by speaking heads, but it surely doesn’t matter when Jörg and Dalsgaard discover such colourful characters to unpack the decades-long scandal. Nonetheless, regardless of the innate want to seek out out what occurs, much more curious is a refined shift in expectations.
As of late, it’s simple to forged the uber wealthy as soulless villains (the reality is handy like that), and Rybolovlev didn’t precisely come into his fortune cleanly. However the sequence exhibits extra suspicion towards the artwork supplier than the oligarch — maybe as a result of he’s the particular person sitting in entrance of them, maybe as a result of he actually did pull off a billion-dollar con, or maybe as a result of there’s simply one thing compulsive a few self-professed risk-taker who refuses to again down, even when it’s apparent he ought to, which can embody collaborating on this very documentary.
Cashing in on a billionaire’s insatiable greed is how Bouvier selected to make his manner in life, and irrespective of the framing (which, to be honest, is extra targeted on constructing rigidity than selecting sides), it’s arduous guilty him. That’s simply how it’s in 2026: Nobody goes to really feel sorry for one of many richest males on the planet when he loses one of his many billions of {dollars}, and watching “The Oligarch and the Artwork Vendor” valiantly try and stage a good battle solely provides to the roiling feelings (and leisure worth).
Pulling all of it collectively (and saving the very best for final), there’s “Apprehensive.” Tailored from Alexandra Tanner’s 2024 novel, “Fear,” and directed by Nicole Holofcener, the pilot follows Jules (Gideon Adlon) and Poppy (Rachel Kaly), adrift, twenty-something, Jewish sisters who cling to one another for assist because the world collapses round them. Or that’s what it looks like, no less than. Jules has a job writing horoscopes that requires little or no psychological bandwidth. Her dad and mom pay for her condo in a Brooklyn brownstone, and her largest inconvenience appears to be that her sister has determined to reside there, too — within the spare bed room that’s not even in use.
With out dismissing the relatable anxiousness of a everlasting houseguest out of the blue showing in your lobby, that’s solely the top-level concern in “Apprehensive.” The genocide in Gaza, social media brainrot, and America’s prison healthcare trade are only a handful of recurring matters Jules and Poppy are clearly involved about on the common. Poppy exhibits up with recent hives, however refuses to obtain an epipen due to the expense (ostensibly). Jules is aware of the Instagram influencers filling her feed are filled with shit, however their pristine make-up and toned our bodies nonetheless make her really feel unhealthy about herself. Irrespective of the place they flip, there’s a giant, scary concern staring them proper within the face.
And but, “Apprehensive” is hysterical, from begin to end. “You’re actually facilitating a genocide should you purchase that (Sodastream),” Poppy tells Jules at a sidewalk sale. “You’re watching porn in my lounge?” Jules shouts at her sister, who replies, “It’s not porn! It’s 9/11 footage!” Whereas making up her newest horoscope, Jules stops and says, “Fuck me, that’s ‘The Lion King.’”
Co-written by Tanner and Lesley Arfin (who beforehand wrote for “Love,” “Brooklyn 9-9,” and “Women”), “Apprehensive” is a elegant pilot constructed from endearing, sharp performances (Kaly is especially dialed in to Poppy’s power — a wild-child on the sting), heat, pointed route (Holofcener followers will likely be thrilled), and deep, persistent empathy. On the web page, there are indicators of entitlement all over the place: A free Brooklyn condo? A straightforward job? A free Brooklyn condo in a brownstone?! (You possibly can flag it twice as a result of each sisters get to reside there. And since it’s freaking big.)
However onscreen, you’re so drawn in by Jules’ overt anxiousness and Poppy’s internalized angst that it’s unattainable to really feel something however affection. Their condo solely presents the slightest refuge from exterior forces, and their actual house is one another, which — as any siblings know — isn’t all the time a simple match. No matter pleasure they’ll discover, no matter peace they’ll maintain onto, properly, I’d prefer to be round to see it.
It’s 2026, and the world might really feel prefer it’s falling aside with stunning velocity. If the one hope you possibly can cling to sounds as bleak as Poppy’s closing sentiment — “Personally, I feel our greatest 9/11s are nonetheless forward of us” — hey, no judgement right here. Take it, no matter you possibly can, and reside.