"Fair or not, it always sucks when everyone wanders back from Sundance talking about how bad the movies were"

Each year, as the Sundance Film Festival wraps up, there’s a familiar refrain among attendees and industry watchers: the chorus of opinions, often veering toward dissatisfaction, that floods conversations and media coverage. Donal Logue’s observation taps into this annual ritual, the ritual of post-festival grumbling, where the disappointment feels amplified by the number of voices chiming in together. There is an emotional sting embedded in realizing that, for all the buildup and anticipation, the films presented didn’t live up to expectations, not just for a handful of critics or viewers, but across the board.

But what makes this particular scenario sting more deeply is the communal aspect inherent in festivals like Sundance. Thousands of filmmakers, actors, critics, and cinephiles gather in hopes of discovery, finding ardent gems, sharing excitement, championing new voices. When the dominant mood shifts instead toward disillusionment, it isn’t merely personal; it’s shared. The disappointment isn’t localized; it spreads, infuses conversations, and colors perceptions of the year’s entire cohort of films. For filmmakers and artists who trek to Park City with hope, it’s especially dispiriting to hear a widespread negative verdict. Even if some of the films had merit, their potential brilliance is often drowned out by the overall tone of letdown.

There’s a complicated fairness, or lack thereof, in such collective assessments. Films are received in batches, immediately compared, and subjected to scrutiny that can feel overwhelming. The festival structure encourages snap judgments, as attendees rush from screening to screening, sometimes seeing multiple films per day. Fatigue, hype, personal taste, or festival trends can all sway opinions. When these opinions coalesce into a prevailing narrative of disappointment, the process feels arbitrary, unfair, and almost inevitable.

Yet despite the cyclical nature of these reactions, the underlying disappointment is real and hard to shake, both for those who participate in crafting the films and those who come searching for something special in the darkened theaters.