The Top 10 Sundance Films Of All Time | A CineFix Movie List

The Sundance Film Festival is celebrating 40 years of bringing independent film to a broader audience. As a fixture on the festival circuit, if you ever get a chance to be in Park City for two snow filled weekends of pure cinema, do yourself a favor and do not pass it up. But just because you haven’t been doesn’t mean you’ve never seen a Sundance film. Here are our picks for the 10 best of all time.
Film festivals inherently provide a little bit of everything. They’re a collection of different genres, budget scale, unique perspectives and experience. From the stalwart category of low budget horror film auteurs like Hereditary, Get Out and the more recent Talk To Me, to the sneaky creative science fiction of Another Earth or Swiss Army Man from The Daniels, there’s something for everybody at Sundance. But excellent programming aside, what is Sundance for? Debuts from Robert Rodriguez and Kevin Smith have launched whole indie film movements, while big splashes from Christopher Nolan and Stephen Soderbergh have provided the basis for incredible careers. In short, Sundance is an integral part of the movies we all know and love whether the world at large is aware of it or not.
This list was written by Clint Gage and edited by Justin Donaldson.
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[@pffawg9999]

Thank you for giving Moon some love. It was a crime against man and nature that Sam Rockwell was not nominated for and won the best actor Oscar that year for Moon.

[@sorphin]

Absolutely. I had never heard of Moon, and then stumbled across it many years back and thought it sounded interesting. It's in my list of easily go to movies.

[@Bkesal14]

Incredible soundtrack also.

[@michaelmoraga2926]

Sam Rockwell 💜

[@RockyGems]

The baby trying to silence her mom in The Blair Witch Project is the real MVP

[@user-go7vy8gh2m]

1:05 10. Horror 2:49 9. Sci-Fi 4:46 8. Documentary 6:35 7. Comedy 8:17 6. Midnight 10:03 5. Fest BS 11:56 4. Debut 13:39 3. Breakout 15:24 2. Grand Jury Prize 16:48 1. Oscars

[@alexerskine9173]

I’ve gone to 3 (second weekend) Sundances and they’re amazing experiences that I had always assumed were for the wealthy. But, the reality is, you can just “buy tickets and go to movies.” It doesn’t have to be exorbitant. So, if you haven’t been, go! I caught the 25th anniversary screening of Reservoir Dogs and sat right behind Tarantino. It was cool to watch him react to his own movie.

[@grennbalze]

“I threw that before i came in the room!” from Black Dynamite is one of the funniest lines ive ever heard

[@GMontag]

Primer definitely should have merited a mention at least in the sci-fi category, if not the win.

[@dubefest]

yeah criminal that they didnt mention primer

[@AnonymousFreakYT]

A friend worked in the film industry in the late ‘90s. She got a screener DVD copy of The Blair Witch Project before it had any press at all. She didn’t own a DVD player yet, so came over to my house to watch it. I knew literally nothing about the movie. There was no “found footage” marketing hype yet. We started watching it at about 11 PM. In a dark room. With the windows open (next to a forested public park.) The next door neighbor’s window air conditioner (which was behind us) kicked on during a quiet tense scene - I have never jumped so high during a home-viewing of a movie before or since. The over-hyped marketing of that movie I think was its downfall. It absolutely deserved a “quiet slow burn word-of-mouth” marketing.

[@montycircus7705]

At my theatre there was at least one person crying. It really heightened the mood!

[@cookiecreeper22]

Had me until "The over-hyped marketing of that movie I think was its downfall. It absolutely deserved a “quiet slow burn word-of-mouth” marketing." What do you mean its downfall? It didn't have one, it is the highest grossing movie in terms of investment of all time, and started a new sub genre. Budget $200,000-750,000 Box office $248.6 million

[@scottboyd3838]

Yes yes yes!!!!!

[@AnonymousFreakYT]

@@cookiecreeper22 It became a joke, a punchline. Sure, it was successful financially (one of the most financially successful movies of all time.) But it didn’t have a lasting impact.

[@denxos]

​@@AnonymousFreakYTDidn't have a lasting impact? Idk what you're talking about. TBWP popularized the found footage genre and is still considered one of the scariest horror movies ever made.

[@yoanastoyanova]

Almost all of my favourite directors, films, genres, storytelling techniques, etc. I owe to the Sofia Film Festival. It introduced me to Wong Kar-Wai, Aki Kaurismäki, it offered retrospectives of Bergman and Almodovar, a spotlight on Balkan cinema, short films, documentaries, it allowed me to see Mullholand Drive, Head On, The White Ribbon, Wings of Desire on the big screen. It gave me an opportunity to meet Wim Wenders and Agnieszka Holland. I can honestly say going to it every year, but especially as a student, when I tried to go into every screening and attend all the events, has been one of the greatest cultural pleasures of my life. And that's just a small Balkan festival.

[@burgesssam]

Sounds awesome. How accessible is that festival? Do you need a badge? Or do you just buy tickets for the screenings?

[@scottboyd3838]

PARIS, TEXAS is a perfect film, + LA Haine, and Memories of Murder

[@michaelmoraga2926]

Right on 💜 (Greetings from Japan)

[@duanerichardsii9307]

Fruitvale Station is one of my favorite films of all time. The most powerful experience I’ve ever had in a theater. I couldn’t speak afterwards

[@dreadroberts5627]

This is a pretty stacked list of great films. When the sci-fi category came up I thought to myself, "I wish they'd mention Moon, but they won't". I was shocked (but happy) that it got attention. This is the film that made me take notice of Sam Rockwell, and follow his filmography. I tell every sci-fi fan that I know about Moon, and none of them seem to know about it. One of the most criminally underrated Sci-Fi films that I've seen.

[@Sisukkaat]

Yep, at least it is a movie that you won't forget when you see it.

[@michaelmoraga2926]

Sam Rockwell 💜 He's had my attention since that little joy of a film "Box of Light".

[@KevinAdamFlores]

Same! He’s always been one of my top favorite actors of all time

[@sorphin]

Moon put Sam Rockwell on my radar. Always glad to see it get mentioned. Underrated flick and actor.

[@darlenekaraffa8042]

Some on your list I've already seen. Others were added to my list for me to watch this year. Thanks!

[@CineMiamParis]

Saw American Splendor at Sundance. It was brilliant. Had no idea what to expect, had just seen 2 meh films back to back. A lot of the cast was in the room and happy to chat afterwards. I remember the elation among us festival goers, at a film that was at once funny, acidic, creative, well shot and well acted, and super smart. Possibly my best festival memory.

[@erakfishfishfish]

It’s up there with 24 Hour Party People as my favorite biopics.

[@DocXango]

I read American Sniper and was incredibly confused by your praise.

[@CineMiamParis]

@@DocXango 🤣🤣

[@colinwoods9601]

I live in Park City and have gone to the festival for the last 22 years. It’s a must at least once.

[@davidweaver766]

All great picks. If you’ve not seen Black Dynamite, you are missing out.

[@HarryBuddhaPalm]

My momma said my daddy's name is Black Dynamite.

[@thedudeabides3138]

I love this channel. It’s considerate and nuanced in its views and it makes you think.

[@DaveTheTurd]

I'll always be partial to In Bruges.... one of my all time favorite movies....

[@dubefest]

Primer not being mentioned or winning Sci-Fi is criminal. $7k budget, came out of nowhere, and won sundance. Come on CineFix

[@joefelice5062]

Normally tight CineFix seemed to miss that Kevin Spacey played a large role in Moon (3:53).

[@thewebstylist]

Thank you for such a great list and vid and SO luv you’ve Black Dynamite on here! I hope MJW sees or here’s of

[@mikechalabi9763]

I got to go in 2014 and we got to see a TON of really cool stuff, but by far my favorite movie that I got to see that week was The Raid 2. At that point I loved the first one and the sequel was everything that movie did dialed up to 11. It is a perfect Sundance Action Movie IMO

[@michaelmoraga2926]

Nice subversion of the list cliche, and nice selections all around. Bravo. 👏💜

[@askenielsen841]

I love how well researched all of these lists are, but I have to point out the fact that Tangerine is not actually Sean Bakers debut. He had actually directed several films starting a decade before Tabgerine 😊

[@TheDan14]

"My mama says my daddy's name is Black Dynamite" "Hush up little girl, a lotta cats got that name"

[@PizzaSutra]

Still run into Mark Borchardt from time to time. Dude hasn't changed an iota.

[@simonpollen4939]

Never heard of Take Shelter and love a bit of Michael Shannon so thank you Clint - will take that recommendation!

[@dunnowy123]

It's a dream of mine to go! Definitely on the bucket list

[@LynnHermione]

I have an international film festival in my city and my favorite films are the midnight airings. they are almost always horror or sci fi/action weird sht, or old restorations. I watched Mandy, and missed Mad God :(

[@MatthewGClarke]

I saw "American Movie" in the cinema when it first came out, and damn it was great!

[@FloraWest]

Same! I actually have a signed copy of "Coven" on VHS that was part of his fundraiser. Love "American Movie"!

[@Ghadente]

Just had my friend watch Res Dogs for the first time. Such fun.

[@feliciahorne8969]

Excellent list guys!!! Call Me By Your Name is my favorite movie of al time and I am glad to see it mentioned here. I look forward to the next video!!! :)

[@salvadorslim3234]

Thank you cinefix

[@kissthesky40]

Good list.

[@lorenzobolis5166]

The Whiplash finale was epic!

[@Sunprism]

In the Loop also has my all time favorite cursing, UK has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt some people are just Good at Cursing

[@soondartube]

Barry Sonnenfeld shot Blood Simple

[@atomcraft4067]

American movie maan! One of my favourite movies.

[@lp-xl9ld]

Didn't know LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE came from Sundance. But now that I know, I'm not surprised.

[@hunterwyeth]

If I ever find myself sitting next to Sam Rockwell on an airplane, I only want to talk about Moon

[@thunderb4stard80]

I watched Hoop dreams for the first time about 2 weeks ago and it's second in my to shoah for greatest documentary ever.

[@brettwb7803]

Perri Nemiroff needs to see this

[@bitsol]

Blackfish deserves a mention for best Sundance documentaries

[@Thisthat1234]

Only Cinefix can call someone thing festival bullshit and it be ok, understandable and fully explained

[@roel.vinckens]

90ies indie ! 90ies indie ! 90ies indie !

[@jaysamra8885]

Better luck tomorrow should be on here.

[@ryebread9299]

Hedwig is beyond iconic.

[@Timthethespian89]

First? Ugh I hate myself

[@HotDotSalza]

You should

[@Timthethespian89]

@@HotDotSalza mom? Is that you?

[@NT-or9wh]

10. Blair Witch Project 9. Moon 8. American Movie 7. In the Loop 6. Black Dynamite 5. Stranger than Paradise 4. Resevoir Dogs 3. Cop Car 2. Fruitvale Station 1. Coda You’re welcome.

[@Bill_Woo]

Please tell me this is not accurate. Other than #4 this is the pukiest collection imaginable. Blair Witch? Blair Witch?

[@gunist]

Glad someone said it. Blair witch is garbage and coda is an unoriginal not well written narrative with a disability twist. I typically love this channels picks but this feels half baked

[@doNaldMusk-h28-hfkslP18]

Knew it was gonna be hipster.

[@waynechapman9823]

@@doNaldMusk-h28-hfkslP18Is that you, Daniel?

[@Crushenator500]

Take a shot every time he says 'Park City'

[@rouhan9304]

Reservoir dogs is the best debut film

[@josephasghar]

Agreed. Unfortunately everything else he’s done has been sheer self indulgence.

[@HarryBuddhaPalm]

It's a rip-off of a Hong Kong movie called "City on Fire" starring Chow Yun Fat. He stole the entire plot of that movie including the famous Mexican Standoff at the end. He also stole the color-coded nicknames from "The Taking of Pelham 123". Tarantino is nothing but a hack plagiarist that got lucky he came along before the internet got big and got away with his theft. kzbin.info/www/bejne/boKnhIiHgtxlrq8

[@billyddavis]

I know it's not on the list but I HIGHLY recommend Onyx the Fortuitous for an 80's, fun, horror comedy.

[@ead630]

Not putting Hoop Dreams for documentary is insane

[@robdielemans9189]

surprisingly I've seen most of the movies shown in this vid, about 85%+

[@frankunodostres473]

four lions is one of the funniest comedies of all time. you should watch it

[@sadsongco]

Rubber dinghy rapids

[@virtualbadass]

CineFix continues to present the absolute best videos about cinema but they are super under-watched. IGN needs to figure out how to market these videos and get more people to watch.

[@tryingtoknowcinema]

Top ten cannes film festival list please

[@wgrandbois]

The amount of references to snow suggest you don't see it often otherwise. :P

[@joaquim4553]

where is medellin by vincent chase?

[@thefilmseeker]

Hoping we get lists like these for the other (real) festivals.

[@rohitsathishnair3730]

Why is this unreal though?

[@thefilmseeker]

@@rohitsathishnair3730 because the movies usually suck.

[@rohitsathishnair3730]

@@thefilmseeker Well, bad movies do get screened at Cannes, Venice and Berlin too, right? And to add to that, Sundance (at least in principle) is about screening films that could tend to have amateurish, beginner's mistakes right? So would it be right to compare them?

[@thefilmseeker]

@@rohitsathishnair3730 If people wanna act like every mediocre movie they see there is the Second Coming just because it's a not-terrible film that they saw in January when only terrible movies get released to the GP, then yeah, it's ok to compare them to the movies from the interesting festivals that Sundance somehow gets put on the same pedestal as.

[@jacobkeyser8628]

I grew up about 40 minutes from park city. Yet somehow never made it up for Sundance.

[@waynechapman9823]

The obvious one for me was “Reservoir Dogs,” so no surprise it was on the list. Siskel & Ebert both gave it a thumbs-down, but I still wanted to check it out because of its enthusiastic festival reception. Needless to say, Gene and Roger missed the mark on that one.

[@j.cheezy1254]

If Napolean Dynamite or Black Dynamite ain't on here i'm never watching cinefix again

[@j.cheezy1254]

Black Dynamite made it!!

[@upcoming3341]

I’ll take Black Dynamite over Napoleon Dynamite ANY DAY! And my grandpa is in Napoleon Dynamite.

[@Kujakuseki01]

Napoleon Dynamite is junk punching down on neuroatypical people. It also isn’t funny.

[@dannybrown4817]

​@@Kujakuseki01stfu nerd, its good

[@mickbanner]

​@Kujakuseki01 hardly dude. Its out of the ordinary characters living in the sticks. Why do people CONSTANTLY feel there's an agenda that should people should rise up against. Have a day off

[@blackstreek]

Primer

[@nobody93372]

Please do more "whats yhe difference" vids. I miss them so much. They got me reading the books which i am not a big reader. I wanted to see the differences myself so i dived in. Please...more.

[@gambitrattpack]

Manchester by the sea #1

[@abhijitraha1187]

Please make a list of top 10 erotic movies

[@waynechapman9823]

I was just thinking about what list they could do next that hasn’t been covered yet. That’s a pretty good suggestion as long as they can categorize it. I’d love to see “The Top 10 Good-Bad Movies of All Time,” but I’m not sure how they would approach it.

[@ekhampton6136]

Yall know yall wanted to put whiplash at no.1

[@oldmandoinghighkicksonlyin1368]

Have you thought of doing lists/reviews for TV shows instead of movies?

[@manzoman96]

So on brand for ign to pick the movies from marvel guys for the top spots lol

[@hotlikewasabi25]

I loved A Ghost Story!! Movie is awesome!

[@closedcap]

I often wonder if QT would have been as successful if his original first film wasn't partially lost and discarded, because what I've seen of "My Best Friend's Birthday" is really crappy, like would people believe in him enough to give money for another film

[@HarryBuddhaPalm]

I wonder if he would have been as successful if more people had known that "Reservoir Dogs" was a blatant rip-off of Ringo Lam's "City On Fire".

[@aarontpassmore]

the bathroom stalls were covered in puke from people getting motion sick off the shaky handheld Blair Witch cameras. I survived the sickness by keeping my hand over my eyes 99% of the movie. Great listen.

[@daveflynn3397]

Just saw "Another Earth" for the first time last week. Was very impressed.

[@user-sv3wq5kh4s]

❤❤😊

[@96miffy]

Talk to me

[@valentinraffo]

CODA???? come on my dudes

[@Sunprism]

I wouldn't of said this 5 years ago...but you need to do the best movies that premiered on streaming

[@champagneredneck]

I'm one of those who are against the grain when it comes to Moon. I absolutely hated that film. Other than that. Loved the list. Love y'all's channel as well

[@branagain]

Where’s The Usual Suspects?

[@rike889]

CODA should have been #1. Its also the closest ive ever been to knowing anyone involved with a movie, let alone an award winning movie. Follow this: The Direct of CODA is my step father's, identical twin brother's wife's, cousin. Cool, huh?

[@erakfishfishfish]

Dark Helmet?

[@ampersand08]

CODA was kind of an awful movie, though.

[@joefelice5062]

I guess Coda’s success is partly yours then, is that what you want people to glean from your comment? Hey if that gets you through the day… but at least edit & fix your comment, so you look slightly less like a D-bag?

[@floris1912]

​@@ampersand08Why?

[@yourin8er]

Drop the ign in the channel’s name please.

[@Romie_0h]

Hi mom 👋

[@samfisher6606]

Regarding Jon Watts, I remember Kevin Feige once said, when asked why he keeps choosing no-name directors like Jon Watts, Peyton Reed, and James Gun for Marvel projects instead of stalwarts like Speilberg, Scorsese, Nolan, and Coppola, that these "no-name directors" knew how to tell a story. Forget VFX, big-name actors and their egos, and budget, they could tell a good story.

[@frankyan3943]

Because they’re cheap and easily manipulated. Also because they have no understanding of vfx which give him the leverage to let another team to step in

[@samfisher6606]

@@frankyan3943 I’m sure that’s part of it. But I’d like to believe it’s not so malicious.

[@aegresen]

@@samfisher6606 More power to you to believe in the positive, even if it's not true. It is a sad state of affairs cuz their cheapness and lack of Hollywood-savvy is why these fresh faced directors are chosen. If established directors were given the role, they would want to make the movies their own way, which would circumvent the cookie-cutter nature of the MCU, which is artistically defunct but makes a lot of money.

[@latissimusdomsi]

Obligatory Past Lives comment

[@Sunprism]

Sam Rockwell is enough cast for ten movies

[@fairamir1]

Blair Witch totally bored me . 2 to 9 ...never even heard of most of those

[@BrokenTreeProd]

wow so hip and edgy...

[@mjau65]

Happy Scrappy Hero Pup was robbed!

[@martinmoore-corry6107]

No blackfish

[@caludiocorrea480]

Gas food loadging

[@21TaylorRIP]

You took gambles on a lot of picks and then you copped out for #1!?

[@crazyargo]

Hands down, its gotta be Queens Boulevard.

[@Bill_Woo]

What a list! Including Blair Witch, the stoooopidest film in the history of film! Stooopider than Popeye! What a list! And the opening teased Little Miss Sunshine - then squatted on it?? Hello? McFly? At least one of the ten is correct, Reservoir Dogs. (But with an asterisk. Before the event, it was already ordained to be a slam dunk success.)

[@jensmartinaarseth]

#0: The best Sundance movie most people sadly forgot about. Any examples?

[@scottboyd3838]

Our theater was sold the fuck out when Blair Witch premiered, we were stuck to sitting in THE FRONT ROW, we had a few pints and a meal just before airing, and of course the "Steady Cam" style of filming got us feeling rather ill, we went and sat, near the back row, in the aisle on the sticky floor, we were freaked the fuck out by the film. And seemed to be in the minority, as a bunch of jocks and their dates, moaned and groaned throughout the film,with considerable booing when it finished. I was like 21, and realized me and my little crew had better taste than the masses. Sure film is subjective, but these were gear heads looking for another fucking Scream movie. They just didn't get it.

[@reddy272]

This is absolutely more of a comment on Sundance's selection (don't come for me CineFix fans!), but it's pretty disappointing there wasn't a single movie directed by a women in their top 10. I barely heard any movies directed by women in the entire 18 minute video. The only one I remember off the top of my head was Karyn Kusama for Girlfight. Le sigh...

[@bani7367]

"It's highlighting a story than needs to be told," that's not an indicator of great filmmaking, and you shouldn't mention it.

[@ElectricIguana]

The ending was a cop out.

[@Zed-fq3lj]

Blair Witch necrosis of the brain should be forgotten, buried and never spoken of again, PLEASE!!! All other mentions are spot on CineFix!

[@ampersand08]

Jesus, CODA was a bad movie. Saccharine, sappy, poorly written. The acting was great, and it's thrilling to see a story told about (and by!) deaf and hard of hearing people. But it wasn't a good movie.

[@kevinconroy2901]

This is the worst video I’ve ever seen Cinefix do. It’s very clumsily edited and there just isn’t the same passion that I see in other videos.