By MICHAEL GINGOLD
There’s plenty of scary stuff amidst these selections.
The feature-film lineup for the 2026 Sundance Film Festival has been announced, including the genre-centric Midnight lineup, which includes the U.S. premiere of the much-praised THE UNDERTONE (pictured above) and the latest from RELIC director Natalie Erika James. The fest runs in person at venues in Park City and Salt Lake City, UT January 22-February 1, with an on-line program available January 29-February 1. The horror and horror-adjacent features in the Midnight section are:
BUDDY / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Casper Kelly, Screenwriter: Jamie King, Producers: Tyler Davidson, Drew Sykes, Raphael Margules, J.D. Lifshitz, Tracy Rosenblum): A brave girl and her friends must escape a kids’ television show. Cast: Cristin Milioti, Delaney Quinn, Topher Grace, Keegan-Michael Key, Michael Shannon, Patton Oswalt. World Premiere.
LEVITICUS / Australia (Director and Screenwriter: Adrian Chiarella, Producers: Samantha Jennings, Kristina Ceyton, Hannah Ngo): Two star-crossed teenage boys must escape a violent entity that takes the form of the person they desire most–each other. Cast: Joe Bird, Stacy Clausen, Mia Wasikowska, Jeremy Blewitt, Ewen Leslie, Davida McKenzie. World Premiere.
MUM, I’M ALIEN PREGNANT / New Zealand (Director and Screenwriter: THUNDERLIPS, Producers: Alix Whittaker, Morgan Leigh Stewart, Ilai Amar): 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. Cast: Hannah Lynch, Yvette Parsons, Arlo Green, Jackie van Beek. World Premiere.
ROCK SPRINGS / U.S.A., Canada (Director and Screenwriter: Vera Miao, Producers: Stephen Feder, Kiri Hart, Poppy Hanks, Greta Talia Fuentes, Jason Michael Berman, Jordan Moldo): After the death of her father, a grieving young girl moves to an isolated house in a new town with her mother and grandmother, only to discover there is something monstrous hidden in the town’s history and the woods behind their new home. Cast: Kelly Marie Tran, Benedict Wong, Jimmy O. Yang, Aria Kim, Fiona Fu. World Premiere. Available on-line for public.
SACCHARINE / Australia (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Natalie Erika James, Producers: Anna McLeish, Sarah Shaw): Hana, a lovelorn medical student, becomes terrorized by a hungry ghost after taking part in an obscure weight-loss craze: eating human ashes. Cast: Midori Francis, Danielle Macdonald, Madeleine Madden. World Premiere.
THE UNDERTONE / Canada (Director and Screenwriter: Ian Tuason, Producers: Dan Slater, Cody Calahan): The host of a popular paranormal podcast becomes haunted by terrifying recordings mysteriously sent her way. Cast: Nina Kiri, Adam DiMarco, Michèle Duquet, Keana Lyn Bastidas, Jeff Yung. U.S. Premiere. (See our review here)
For more information on the festival and its films, head over to its official website.
