Top 20 Films From Sundance

Film critics from New York braved the hobnobby world of Sundance and returned home with a list of their favorites. Many of these films, they note, have already secured distribution and will be coming to a theater near you:

• The Surrogate. A handicapped writer (John Hawkes) employs a sex surrogate (Helen Hunt) to pluck his long-overdue virginity. The Verdict: "This note-perfect, modest little movie ... sends you out on a sex-positive high."

• Room 237. Ever dwelled on Stanley Kubrick's The Shining in the wee hours, convinced it all means something more? Then Room 237, an ode to fanatical theories about the horror film, is for you. The Verdict: "It's both hilarious and electrifying, a must-see for any true film buff."
• For a Good Time, Call... Seth Rogen's wife, Lauren Anne Miller, and Ari Graynor play roommates who start up a phone-sex line at home. The Verdict: It "isn't so much about sex as the intricacies of female friendship."
• Beasts of the Southern Wild: Beautifully shot, this episodic film follows Hushpuppy (Quevenzhane Wallis) around her flooded town. The Verdict: It has a "terrific, galvanizing ending" and could snag a Best Picture nomination.

See 16 more picks from New York here. (More Sundance Film Festival stories.)