Long a mainstay of the European festivals, standing ovations have been gaining traction stateside at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. It could be the feelings of nostalgia for the final festival in Park City. Or the spirit of cinema. Or maybe it’s just the altitude. No matter the reason, it is undeniable that the 2026 iteration of the Utah festival is overindexing on rapturous responses.
On Saturday afternoon, the Olivia Colman fantasy drama Wicker received a double standing ovation. The audience first got on their feet when the film ended and as credits were rolling, and again when the filmmakers and cast were welcomed to the stage by Sundance director of programming Kim Yutani. Right after that premiere in the Eccles was the Olivia Wilde-directed dramedy The Invite, which also had the crowd on its feet. During that ovation, Wilde was seen wiping away tears from the Eccles stage.
But these Saturday screenings weren’t the first of the fest to get the audience out of their seats.
Earlier in the day, Australian children’s offering Fing! also got a standing ovation from the Eccles crowd following its 9 a.m. screening. While the Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan-starring drama Josephine received one after its Friday premiere, with director Beth de Araújo tearing up at the response.
Weighed down by parkas, scarves, gloves and other cold weather accoutrement, Sundance audiences have long opted to keep their seats at festival screenings. But there has been a notable uptick in standing ovations out of the fest as of late, including several at the 2024 festival like comedy My Old Ass, Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain and documentary Will & Harper.
“The movie ended and people were clapping. I realized everyone was standing up. You read about crazy standing ovations lasting for 30 minutes in Venice or Cannes, but this was totally surreal for Sundance,” remembered My Old Ass director Megan Park in THR’s Sundance oral history. Darren Aronofsky and Kenneth Lonergan also reminisced to THR about their own standing ovations for their festival films Pi and Manchester by the Sea, respectively.
As the festival is just wrapping up its third day, there are still plenty of chances for standing ovations at the 2026 fest.
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