Danielle Brooks and J. Alphonse Nicholson are set to lead the family drama If I Go Will They Miss Me, which will have its world premiere at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
Written and directed by Walter Thompson-Hernández, If I Go Will They Miss Me centers on Lil Ant, a 12-year-old boy struggling to connect with his father as he begins to experience surreal visions of boys wandering through his neighborhood.
The film uses these spectral encounters to explore the deep, often unspoken bonds between father and son, and the ways family, memory, community, and legacy intertwine in a young person’s life.
The project, which transitions from a short to a feature format, has been shaped by support from the Sundance Institute, including participation in the Sundance Institute Screenwriters & Directors Lab.
At its heart, If I Go Will They Miss Me is a portrait of childhood on the edge of understanding, a story about how the imagination reaches for connection when the emotional world around it feels uncertain. The film’s mix of intimate performances and surreal imagery promises to offer audiences a deeply felt meditation on love, absence, and the invisible threads that bind family.
With its world premiere scheduled for January at Sundance, the film joins a slate of impactful new works that continue the festival’s legacy of championing bold voices in American cinema.
Photo Credit: Sundance
