Our favorite movies from the Sundance Film Festival
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
A still from "Cassandro." Photo: Courtesy of the Sundance Institute
The 2023 Sundance Film Festival wrapped on Sunday, but that doesn't mean your chance to take in the movies is gone.
Here's a list of our top five festival films. Most will be streamable or in theaters later this year.
- Of note: We used a 1-5 mountain peak rating system.
1. "Cassandro"
Details: Starring Gael García Bernal, this tells the true origin story of Cassandro, a gender-bending and charismatic gay wrestler known as the "Liberace of Lucha Libre."
The bottom line: This is worth watching for Bernal's performance alone.
Rating: 🏔️🏔️🏔️🏔️🏔️
How to watch: "Cassandro" will be released on Amazon Prime Video this year.
2. "Fair Play"
Details: The financial thriller centers around a secretly engaged couple, Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich), who work at the same cutthroat hedge fund.
- Yes, but: After Emily gets a promotion over Luke, their relationship unravels and underlines the power dynamics and gender roles in a post-#MeToo world.
Rating: 🏔️🏔️🏔️🏔️
How to watch: Netflix secured the film's rights in a $20 million deal, per Deadline.
3. "Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields"
Details: This two-part documentary spotlights the life and career of model and actor Brooke Shields and the sexualization she experienced as a child star.
Rating: 🏔️🏔️🏔️🏔️
How to watch: It will stream on Hulu this year.
4. "Going Varsity in Mariachi"
Details: This documentary follows the highs and lows of Edinburg North High School's Mariachi Oro as the students try to win an upcoming state championship.
Rating: 🏔️🏔️🏔️
Of note: A buyer for the film has not been announced.
5. "Eileen"
Details: This psychological thriller, based on the 2016 book of the same name, centers around a young woman, Eileen (Thomasin McKenzie), pursuing a friendship with her new coworker Rebecca St. John (Anne Hathaway) at a youth prison.
- Things take a turn when her friend implicates Eileen in a crime.
Rating: 🏔️🏔️🏔️
Of note: A buyer for the film has not been announced.