O’Shea Jackson Jr., Dave Franco, and Mason Thames appear in “Idiots” by Macon Blair, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
By Ramona Flume
The sweltering dog days of summer are still lingering, with temperatures tipping into triple digits, but the Sundance Institute–supported films scheduled for theatrical and streaming releases this month are far from lackadaisical. Our lengthy August lineup leans hard into fascinating, heavy-hitting subject matter, both fiction and nonfiction, with a few gleeful detours into chaos — giving us plenty of reasons to beat the heat at the cinema or in the air-conditioned comfort of our own homes.
On the documentary side, we’ve got an unflinching look at American doctors providing emergency care in Gaza, a years-in-the-making chronicle of restoring a colonial-era library in Nairobi, and a nail-biting account of a real-life rescue in the mountains of Pakistan. Rounding out the nonfiction slate is an in-depth look at Girl Scout Cookie season and the young sellers who keep the boxes moving.
And on the narrative front, quieter dramas about addiction recovery in Ohio, a class-conscious slow-burn set on a Manila golf course, and a marriage unraveling as war erupts next door share space with louder, weirder fare: a beloved kids’ show mascot turned menace, and a bawdy road trip comedy about delivering a rehab-bound teen against all odds. It also seems to be the summer of Gregg Araki as we’re excited to see his 2005 Festival cult classic Mysterious Skin return to theaters in a stunning 4K restoration.
Cookie Queens — Turns out, selling Thin Mints is serious business. And director Alysa Nahmias takes viewers deep into Girl Scout Cookie season, shadowing record-setting sellers, first-timers, and entire family-run operations through their busiest stretch of the year. What emerges is a sweet but substantial look at the $800 million enterprise behind the nostalgic American tradition, as four girls grapple with sky-high expectations, financial pressures, and the complicated reality of chasing big goals at a young age. Supported by Sundance Institute’s Catalyst program, the doc — executive-produced by Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex — premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival in the Family Matinee section. Coming to theaters August 7.
American Doctor — Director Poh Si Teng’s unflinching documentary follows three American physicians — Palestinian, Jewish, and Zoroastrian — who are providing emergency medical care in Gaza amid violence that shows no signs of stopping, pushed past their limits not just as doctors, but as human beings bearing witness to senseless catastrophe. Between surgeries (and bombings), they turn to broadcast news channels as raw, frustrated talking heads, determined to force the reality of the war into view for audiences who keep looking away. A powerful entry in the 2026 Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. Documentary Competition, American Doctor is dedicated to health care workers in Palestinian territories. Coming to select theaters August 14.
Mysterious Skin — Longtime Festival alum Gregg Araki’s 2005 Sundance Film Festival title, Mysterious Skin, was recently restored in 4K, and the cult classic has never looked better. Based on the book by Scott Heim and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Brady Corbet, this hauntingly unforgettable coming-of-age drama navigates identity, self-worth, and the inextricable effects of trauma and sexual abuse. Captivating performances, dreamy suburbia imagery, and a supernatural layer of purported UFO abductions — revitalized from its original 35mm with a radiant digital polish — left audiences with a renewed appreciation for this groundbreaking indie darling when it screened in the Park City Legacy section at the 2026 Festival. Coming to select theaters August 14.
Union County — Set amid the opioid crisis in rural Ohio, this restrained, tenderhearted drama follows Cody (Will Poulter), a man rebuilding his life through court-ordered addiction treatment. As he cautiously opens himself up to recovery and other people in the community — including his foster brother, Jack (Noah Centineo) — the film avoids sensationalizing addiction, while showing how the best intentions and hard-earned progress can still unravel. Writer-director Adam Meeks draws on his own roots in the region and blends his lead actors’ performances with unscripted moments from real people in active recovery, giving this understated drama an authentic grit and texture. Adapted from Meeks’ short film of the same title, Union County premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival as part of the U.S. Dramatic Competition. Coming to select theaters August 14.
How to Divorce During the War — A distant political war seeps into a fracturing marriage in this feature that premiered in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, with Lithuanian filmmaker Andrius Blaževičius taking home the Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic. Marija (Žygimantė Elena Jakštaitė) decides to split from her husband, Vytas (Marius Repšys), one day before Russia invades neighboring Ukraine, throwing the couple’s already tenuous domestic life further off balance. Caught between them is their daughter, Dovile (Amelija Adomaitytė), who must adjust to a divided household as her parents wrestle with clashing, sometimes darkly comedic, priorities — all while the encroaching war next door closes in on their sense of a safe, stable home life. Coming to select theaters August 21.
How to Build a Library — This film chronicles the ambitious journey of author Shiro Koinange and publisher Angela Wachuka as they endeavor on a daunting, yearslong project: restoring Nairobi’s McMillan Memorial Library, a colonial-era institution built in 1931 for whites-only use. Filmed over eight years, this documentary by writer-directors Maia Lekow and Christopher King depicts Koinange and Wachuka’s multipronged, uphill battle to reshape the cultural touchstone for a new generation, from overhauling an outdated Dewey decimal system that didn’t accommodate African languages to wrangling government funding and rebuilding trust in the local community. This inspiring film premiered in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Airing on PBS “POV” August 24.
Buddy — What if a beloved kids’ show mascot didn’t just fade into cringey nostalgia, but twisted into something far more sinister? Director Casper Kelly’s (creator of the short film Too Many Cooks) 2026 Festival Midnight selection centers on Grace (Cristin Milioti), a mother whose sense of reality starts to disintegrate, and her husband (Topher Grace), who is caught alongside Grace between mounting levels of fear and disbelief as their lives spiral out of control — all under the watchful eye of Buddy (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key), a once-wholesome orange unicorn TV show character from their ’90s childhood days. Co-written by Kelly and Jamie King, this gleefully deranged horror-comedy sent audiences into fits of shocked gasps (and laughter) at its premiere. Coming to theaters August 28.
Filipiñana — Set entirely within one day on the grounds of an elite Manila country club, Rafael Manuel’s feature debut — an expansion of his short film of the same title — portrays the goings-on at the pristine golf course as a microcosm of society in the Philippines. Isabel (Jorrybell Agoto), a 17-year-old newly hired tee girl, starts fixating on the club’s president, Dr. Palanca (Teroy Guzman), and her curiosity carries her across a world sharply stratified (and stifled) by class. Her small gestures of rebellion start to build against an oppressive backdrop of sweltering stillness as she slowly peels back the layers of a system built to protect a select few. Filipiñana premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Creative Vision. Coming to select theaters August 28.
Hanging by a Wire — When a support cable failed in a remote stretch of Pakistan’s northern highlands in 2023, it left an aerial transport car — carrying eight passengers, most of them children headed to school — stranded 900 hundred feet above the ground with no safety net (or any kind of emergency government infrastructure) to catch them. Director Mohammed Ali Naqvi’s documentary rebuilds the day’s nail-biting suspense, using footage captured by the small village’s community and featuring testimonies from witnesses, relatives, local reporters, and the rescue team who eventually pulled the passengers to safety. This 2026 Sundance Film Festival World Cinema Documentary Competition title plays with the tension of a high-wire thriller while keeping the story rooted in the real experiences of the survivors. Coming to select theaters August 28.
Idiots — Two unlikely partners find themselves suddenly saddled with a strange job: escorting a wealthy, possibly sociopathic teen to rehab — no matter what chaos unfolds along the way. Writer-director and Festival alum Macon Blair’s raucous new road trip comedy stars Dave Franco as a burned-out screwup and O’Shea Jackson Jr. as his reluctant, straight-man counterpart, with Mason Thames turning in an unhinged performance as their unruly, rehab-bound charge. Kiernan Shipka, Nicholas Braun, and Peter Dinklage round out the stacked supporting cast in this madcap ride that swings freely between broad comedy and unexpected gut punches. Idiots premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. Coming to theaters August 28.
The 2026 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour is underway! Traveling to all corners of the United States and beyond in the following months, the program features six short films selected from the 2026 Festival, including three Festival Award–winning titles. Check here for dates and venues; see below for dates in August.
- Rogers, Arkansas, August 6, The Victory Theater
- Portland, Maine, August 16, Space Gallery
- Taos, New Mexico, August 16–24, Taos Center for the Arts
- Ann Arbor, Michigan, August 28–30, Michigan Theater
- Houston, Texas, August 28–30, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
