Sundance Film Festival is delivering some serious star power this year.
Three major premieres hit Park City, Utah’s iconic Eccles Theatre back-to-back Friday evening, featuring projects from Channing Tatum, Olivia Wilde, and pop sensation Charli xcx.
The waitlists are already stretching long, and these films are among the most coveted tickets at this year’s festival.
Here’s what audiences experienced during this star-studded evening of cinema.
Channing Tatum Tackles Childhood Trauma
The evening kicked off with “Josephine,” writer-director Beth De Araújo’s deeply personal drama exploring childhood trauma through an 8-year-old’s eyes.
Young Mason Reeves plays Josephine, whose world shatters after witnessing a crime in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Tatum and Gemma Chan portray parents struggling to help their daughter process overwhelming new emotions and fears.
The film, competing in the U.S. Dramatic Competition, stems from De Araújo’s own childhood experience of seeing something scarring at that vulnerable age. This personal connection infuses the raw drama with authentic emotional weight that promises to resonate with audiences navigating similar conversations with their own children.
Olivia Wilde Gets Provocative in Decade-Long Passion Project
Following “Josephine,” director Gregg Araki’s “I Want Your Sex” brought a dramatically different energy to Eccles Theatre.
Cooper Hoffman stars as a college graduate landing his first job as assistant to Erika Tracy, a controversial art world provocateur played by Wilde. Araki describes his character as existing somewhere between Robert Mapplethorpe and Madonna.
It’s the story of their affairs and the impact it has on this kid’s life and how it kind of turns his whole world upside down. It’s fun, it’s colorful, it’s sexy. And it’s a ride.
Araki told The Associated Press he’s been developing this project for over 10 years, watching it evolve significantly from its original concept.
How #MeToo Changed Everything
Originally conceived as a comedic take on “Fifty Shades of Grey” featuring a female intern, the cultural reckoning of #MeToo fundamentally altered Araki’s vision.
After #MeToo and Harvey Weinstein, all the stuff that was going on, it was literally like, I don’t really want to see a woman getting dragged around by the hair. I don’t want to seed that kind of patriarchal dynamic, even if it’s consensual.
Flipping gender roles proved more compelling for Araki, who describes himself as “a filmmaker who has always been heavily influenced by feminist film theory and feminism in general.”
Exploring Gen Z’s Relationship With Intimacy
While reimagining his film’s dynamics, Araki absorbed emerging stories about Gen Z’s changing relationship with sex and romance. This generational shift became central to the narrative.
What I knew as an old person, as an old-timer, in terms of socialization, dating, sex, all of this stuff that seemed to be kind of falling away. And so that kind of became a major theme of the movie.
Wilde’s character engages in generational debates about sexuality, echoing statements Araki himself has made in interviews. The director emphasized his commitment to creating something fundamentally sex-positive.
It was very important to me to make something sex positive. ‘I Want Your Sex’ is like the opposite of ‘Babygirl,’ which I found to be very sex negative.
Charli xcx’s Surprising Casting
Pop star Charli xcx makes a supporting appearance as Hoffman’s girlfriend, playing against type in ways that delighted Araki.
The singer was already an Araki fan—her iconic “Brat” album cover drew partial inspiration from title credits in his film “Smiley Face.” When she heard about this new project, she reached out asking for a role.
Araki wasn’t offering special treatment, though. He told her agent she needed to audition “like everyone else” through a self-tape.
The character is not her. That’s what’s so fun. She’s American, she’s super uptight and kind of pill.
Charli filmed all her scenes in one intense day during a two-day break from her Brat tour.
I don’t want to give it away, but she’s in one of my favorite scenes in the whole movie where her and Cooper’s character are having kind of bad sex.
Charli xcx Double Feature Caps the Night
Dedicated audience members who remained at Eccles Theatre experienced a Charli xcx double feature.
Following “I Want Your Sex,” the world premiere of “The Moment” offered a self-referential mockumentary about a rising pop star. The film hits theaters January 30, giving broader audiences quick access to Charli’s cinematic exploration of fame.
Earlier Friday Premiere Explored Grief Through Art
Before the evening’s star-studded lineup, William David Caballero’s mixed-media film “TheyDream” premiered to receptive audiences.
The intimate story follows a Puerto Rican family learning to process grief through artistic expression. Caballero and cowriter Elaine Del Valle previously screened short films at Sundance but felt particularly honored bringing their first full-length feature.
Sundance has always been about possibility for me — about artists being given space to take creative risks and tell personal stories. Bringing our first feature, especially in Sundance’s final year in Utah, carries a different weight.
Del Valle, who also produced the film, captured what makes this year’s festival particularly poignant—it marks Sundance’s final year in Park City before relocating.
What These Films Mean for Cinema
Friday’s premieres showcase cinema’s evolving relationship with difficult subjects—from childhood trauma to intergenerational debates about intimacy and sexuality.
Araki’s decade-long evolution of “I Want Your Sex” particularly demonstrates how cultural moments reshape artistic vision. His willingness to completely reimagine gender dynamics in response to #MeToo reflects thoughtful filmmaking that prioritizes meaningful representation over predetermined concepts.
Meanwhile, “Josephine” tackles conversations many parents struggle to navigate—how to help children process traumatic experiences while maintaining their sense of safety and normalcy.
These aren’t easy films promising simple answers. They’re complex explorations of human experience that trust audiences to sit with discomfort and ambiguity.
That’s precisely what makes Sundance essential—providing space for artists to take creative risks and tell deeply personal stories that challenge, provoke, and ultimately expand our understanding of ourselves and each other.