From one corner of the world to another, Sundance remains one of the few major festivals that still keeps a meaningful online component. For anyone who can’t travel to Salt Lake City, Utah, the at-home run is scheduled for one weekend, from January 29 to February 1, 2026.
Other festivals that have confirmed online offerings include Chattanooga and Panic Fest. Virtual access is often geo-locked due to licensing agreements. Some viewers use VPNs to get around those restrictions, but that’s a personal call, and not one I’m about to moralise for you. For geeks who must see a film, the cleanest option is often the most annoying one: wait until it’s legally available in your region.
With that in mind, here are five essentials I’m keeping my eye on, including one title that should be available online.
In the Blink of an Eye
This isn’t necessarily a time travel film, but it plays with time the way memory does. Past, present, and future overlap as three lives cross paths in ways humans can’t fully grasp.
In the distant past, a Neanderthal family struggles to survive after being displaced, doing what they can to protect their children with little more than primitive tools. In the present day, Claire (Rashida Jones), a driven post-grad anthropologist studying proto-human remains, begins a relationship with fellow student Greg (Daveed Diggs). And two centuries later, on a spaceship bound for a distant planet, Coakley (Kate McKinnon) and a sentient onboard computer confront a disease afflicting the ship’s oxygen-producing plants.
This one sounds more philosophical than anything else. Mortality, legacy, maybe reincarnation, it’s all on the table. Life can disappear in the blink of an eye. That’s true whether it’s an asteroid, an illness, or a single choice made at the wrong moment.
Continue reading “A Geek’s Essential Guide to the Sundance Film Festival 2026”
Although a bit late, here’s what’s playing for the Winter 
This adaptation of Rocket Shōkai’s light novel flips heroism into a sentence rather than a calling. In a world where being a “hero” is punishment, Xylo Forbartz, a condemned goddess killer, is assigned to Penal Hero Unit 9004, forced into endless combat against monstrous abominations. Death offers no release, only resurrection and more violence. I’m drawn to how openly this interrogates systems of power, turning the usual fantasy reward structure into something oppressive and cyclical. When Xylo encounters a mysterious new goddess, their uneasy alliance threatens to unravel the machinery of eternal punishment itself.
Spoiler Alert
When the wait for new network episodes of alien curiosities and conspiracies feels long, I’m sure other folks have looked elsewhere for their fix. Whether that’s on YouTube, Paraflixx or Gaia, there are plenty of services to search for. As for who are the best hosts depends on their ability to convince, charm and persuade. When the list of programs is vast, there’s no number one show to explore every single subtopic out there. Neither is there one individual who can cover it all.
As Spring Equinox is officially in full bloom, just what I want to view is not your regular fare. My recommendations better reflect the season than any spiritual aspect; my top five favorite animated works include more than just current movies. I have short films on this list too.