THR Critics Pick the 15 Best Films of Sundance 2025

A sexy gay cruising thriller, an all-too-timely drama about post-wildfire recovery and a shocking doc about U.S. prisons are among our critics’ faves from the fest.

Prime Minister

Directors Lindsay Utz and Michelle Walshe’s doc about Jacinda Ardern is a timely and bracingly intimate portrait of a woman in power, examining the left-wing prime minister’s work and life choices during her five-year term as New Zealand’s galvanizing head of government. Deftly editing together home videos, candid contemporaneous interviews and archival news clips, the film offers a rare firsthand look at the toll and demands on politicians when crises come flying at them. — CARYN JAMES