Sundance 2026: HMU Breaks Down the Midnight Lineup in the Festival’s Final Year in Park City

“Festival-goers crowd the snow-lined streets of Park City as Sundance begins its historic final year in the city.”

SUNDANCE 2026: HMU’S MIDNIGHT LINEUP BREAKDOWN — THE FESTIVAL’S FINAL YEAR IN PARK CITY

Sundance Film Festival 2026 arrives with more weight and history than any edition before it. Not only is this the final year the festival will be held in Park City, but it’s also the first Sundance following the passing of festival founder Robert Redford. Expect tributes, reflection, and a deep embrace of the legacy he built — one that opened doors for independent storytellers in every corner of the industry, including the genre filmmakers we champion here at Horror Movies Uncut.

Sundance has always been a special marker for HMU. Years ago, a skiing friend wandered into a Park City bar during the festival and casually name-dropped Horror Movies Uncut — only to be met with nods and recognition from festival attendees. It was one of the first moments we realized just how far our little horror platform reached. So every Sundance announcement still hits us with that same mix of pride and excitement.

And like every year, we head straight to the Midnight slate — the lifeblood of Sundance genre cinema and the section that consistently premieres some of the year’s most vital, strange, and conversation-starting films. This year’s lineup gives us seven titles, ranging from creature-feature nightmares to queer horror, weight-loss possession stories, and even a nostalgic music POV documentary that—while not horror—still belongs among the midnight mischief.

Here’s HMU’s full look at the Sundance 2026 Midnight Section:

THE BEST SUMMER

Dir. Tamra Davis | POV Documentary

Not horror, but absolutely built for the midnight crowd. The Best Summer is a rare time capsule: raw POV footage featuring Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, Foo Fighters, Beck, Bikini Kill, Pavement, and more. It’s a must-see for anyone who came of age in the last few decades obsessing over tour diaries, DIY culture, or backstage chaos. A left-field but welcome Midnight entry.

BUDDY

Dir. Casper Kelly | U.S.

Casper Kelly — the mind behind Adult Swim’s most unhinged oddities and the legendary V/H/S segments — returns with Buddy, a film about a brave girl and her friends trapped inside a kids’ TV show gone deeply wrong. Think Barney, but feral. And murderous. And possibly sentient.

The cast is stacked: Cristin Milioti, Delaney Quinn, Topher Grace, Keegan-Michael Key, Michael Shannon, Patton Oswalt — all primed to go absolutely wild. Expect this one to be the most talked-about Midnight film this year.

LEVITICUS

Dir. Adrian Chiarella | Australia

Queer horror takes center stage in Leviticus, about two teenage boys trying to escape a violent supernatural entity that takes the form of the person they desire most — each other.

It’s produced by Causeway Films (the team behind The Babadook), and features an incredible cast including Joe Bird, Stacey Clausen, and the always-brilliant Mia Wasikowska. Atmospheric, tender, and vicious — we’re ready.

MOM, I’M ALIEN PREGNANT

Dir. Thunderlips | New Zealand

One of Sundance’s buzziest shorts gets the full-feature glow-up. This messy, chaotic, sci-fi body-horror comedy follows a millennial underachiever who accidentally gets “alien pregnant.” From skeptical doctors to useless men to an oversharing mother, this one is primed to be the crowd-pleasing WTF film of the festival.

Directed by debut duo Thunderlips (already an A+ director name). Picked up by XYZ. Expect festival madness.

ROCK SPRINGS

Dir. Vera Miao | U.S.

From the creator of Two Sentence Horror Stories comes a dark, folklore-rooted coming-of-age horror tale. After her father’s death, a young girl moves to a remote house and discovers a monstrous presence tied to the town’s history.

The cast is phenomenal: Kelly Marie Tran, Benedict Wong, Jimmy O. Yang, Aria Kim, Fiona Fu — an all-star lineup of AAPI talent in a story built around grief, family, and generational hauntings.

SACCHARINE

Dir. Natalie Erika James | Australia

Natalie Erika James (Relic, Apartment 7) returns with Saccharine, a story about a medical student terrorized by a hungry ghost after participating in a bizarre weight-loss ritual involving — yes — eating human ashes.

If this is the new frontier of Oz horror, we’re all in trouble.

Starring Midori Francis, Danielle Macdonald, and Madeline Madden.

UNDERTONE

Dir. Ian Tuason | Canada/U.S.

This one has been on our radar for a while. A paranormal podcast host becomes haunted by mysterious recordings sent anonymously — and the supernatural bleed between audio and reality begins to unravel her life.

Starring Nina Kiri, Adam DiMarco, Michelle Duquette, Kina Lynn Bastidas, and Jeff Young. Expect analog dread mixed with digital-age paranoia, and a perfect Sundance midnight vibe.

The 2026 Midnight lineup is stacked — inventive, global, diverse, and unapologetically weird. Sundance often sets the tone for genre cinema for the entire year, and looking at this slate, horror fans should feel confident: we’re starting 2026 with ambition, craft, and a whole lot of chaos.

Sundance may be leaving Park City, and Robert Redford’s absence will be felt everywhere, but the heartbeat of discovery — the same heartbeat that launched filmmakers across generations — is alive and loud in this year’s program.

As always, Horror Movies Uncut will be on the ground covering the festival from day one.

Stay tuned. Midnight is coming.