Appworthy

Sundance Now: Indie Films

Sundance Now is the premium streaming home for independent film.

AMC Global Media Inc.
Get it onGoogle Play
Google Play rating3.4★1.9K ratings
PriceFreeIn-app purchases
Age12+Store age rating
CategoryLifestyle
DeveloperAMC Global Media Inc.

What we found

Full report

Some warnings 22 users report trouble cancelling; 21 users report unexpected charges and 1 more report. Nothing confirmed. Checked: 400 reviews, the store listing and the privacy label.

Money

From our automated analysis, 26 Oct 2026. Every label links to its evidence in the full report below.

We cannot tell which version of the app this analysis describes. It was run 2026-10-26 .

The store lists the version as varying by device, updated 2026-01-22.

Preview

Screenshot 1Screenshot 2Screenshot 3Screenshot 4Screenshot 5Screenshot 6Screenshot 7Screenshot 8

Store screenshots supplied by the developer.

About this app

Sundance Now is the premium streaming home for independent film. Experience a curated selection of festival darlings and filmmaker favorites with new titles added every week, including new premieres direct from theaters—all for less than the price of a movie ticket. Sundance Now. The scene starts here.

Features:

• The home of independent film, from festival favorites to cult classics

• New movies direct from theaters

• Curated collections from A-list stars and award-winning filmmakers

• Thought-provoking true crime and documentaries

• 7-day free trial. Cancel anytime free of charge or continue for only $6.99/month

From the developer’s store description.

For developers and the curious

The full report

The evidence, sources, measurements and versions behind every label above.

Findings and evidence

1 published · 3 shown, not confirmed

Positives 1

Specific evidence of a useful property, within the stated scope.

Developer says data deletion can be requested

Measured

The developer's store data-safety disclosure states that data deletion can be requested; we have not seen a deletion control in the app's own text

Sources
The store listing
Agreement
A measured fact from one deterministic, checkable source.
Where measured
From the Google Play listing
Definition

The developer's data-safety disclosure on the store states that users can request deletion of their data, or the app's own text offers a way to delete the account. This restates what the developer declares; it is not a test of whether deletion works. Apple publishes no equivalent disclosure, so on an Apple-only listing only the app's own text can support it.

Open evidence

One source only — shown, not confirmed 3

Open observations that have not cleared the evidence bar.

Hard to cancel

One source only

Hard to cancel: raised by 22 distinct reviewers (about 1 in 18 reviews we read)

Sources
User reviews
Agreement
Only one kind of source so far. Shown, not counted.
Where measured
From Google Play reviews

This observation has not cleared the required evidence standard.

Definition

Cancelling the subscription is blocked, hidden, multi-step, or simply does not take effect.

Open evidence
How we know
Share and sample
5.5% of the 400 reviews read.

Trial converts to a charge

One source only

Trial converts to a charge: raised by 6 distinct reviewers (about 1 in 67 reviews we read)

Sources
User reviews
Agreement
Only one kind of source so far. Shown, not counted.
Where measured
From Google Play reviews

This observation has not cleared the required evidence standard.

Definition

The free trial demands a payment method up front and/or rolls into a paid subscription with no usable warning.

Open evidence
How we know
Share and sample
1.5% of the 400 reviews read.

Reports of unexpected charges

One source only

Surprise charges: raised by 21 distinct reviewers (about 1 in 19 reviews we read)

Sources
User reviews
Agreement
Only one kind of source so far. Shown, not counted.
Where measured
From Google Play reviews

This observation has not cleared the required evidence standard.

Definition

A large number of reviewers report being charged when they did not expect it — including being charged after cancelling during a free trial, or when a trial turned into a paid plan without warning. We cannot see anyone's billing, so this is published as an attributed user report: what reviewers say, and how many of them said it.

Open evidence
How we know
Share and sample
5.3% of the 400 reviews read.

Nothing was published as a thing to watch for in this assessment. That is not a finding that nothing is wrong with the app.

What reviewers report

400 reviews read · 3 review-based observations

400 reviews read for this analysis. Each observation keeps the sample and store it was based on.

Hard to cancel

Shown, not confirmed

If I could give zero stars, I would. I changed my password, and it still wouldn't let me log in, though they happily accepted a $6.99 debit for a subscription update, which I'm unable to cancel. I removed the app from my phone and though…

1★ · Google Play · 2020-11-14

Despite having paid, or at least, having started the trial to subsequently pay, I cannot play anything from the app. I am redirected to pay for a plan, and then an error message tells me I've already paid for a plan. This happened on my…

1★ · Google Play · 2021-01-11

Worst app ever. Signed up for the 7 day trial, couldn't cancel so they took $59.99 from my account and I can't get into the app to watch anything.

1★ · Google Play · 2020-07-15

Trial converts to a charge

Shown, not confirmed

Keeps telling me I need a sub to watch anything, so I follow the prompts to pay for a sub, do... And the loop begins again. Gave up. Update: on closer inspection, it's worse. They charged me an annual subscription (instead of free trial)…

1★ · Google Play · 2021-01-06

This app is pathetic and a scam. They are clearly so desperate for subscribers and money, that they have resorted to tricking people into a free trial and when they try to cancel, sundance gives them a free month instead of cancelling and…

1★ · Google Play · 2021-01-01

Terrible service! AVOID AT ALL COSTS! I used the free trial but they still charged me and refused to refund after waiting WEEKS to hear back from them!

1★ · Google Play · 2020-08-11

Reports of unexpected charges

Shown, not confirmed

Very frustrating. I was charged a year subscription for my supposedly free 7 day trial and I have not even been able to watch anything. Instead of the selected show playing, I have repeatedly been sent back to a screen to start a 7 day…

1★ · Google Play · 2020-12-13

Horrible! They charged me for a year subscription and for a months subscription after saying i wouldn't be charged until the 16th of this month!! They charged me twice!!! On top of the false advertising I can't watch anything!!! How is…

1★ · Google Play · 2021-01-09

As others have mentioned, this app is a scam. I tried a trial subscription and cancelled almost immediately, but I was charged for a year's subscription with no help from customer support. What they do is after you cancel, instead of…

1★ · Google Play · 2020-10-20

A sampled review illustrates one person’s experience. It does not establish a finding on its own.

Measurements

5 measured · 3 not assessed

“Not assessed” means we could not measure it. It is never a zero and never a pass.

From store data and reviews

Developer replies to reviews
Replies to fewer than 1 review in 20
Price in the store description
The store description lists a price and how often it bills
Cancelling, in the store description
The store description doesn’t say how to cancel (most don’t)
Themes reported by reviewers
3 or more themes reported
Counted from the reviews we have read for this app. "No theme reported" means no theme reached our reporting threshold — it is not a finding that nothing is wrong with this app, and we do not say it is.
Five-star share of ratings
Under 65% five-star
Arithmetic on the stores' own published rating counts. It says nothing about why the ratings fall where they do.

In the app package we scanned

No package has been scanned for this app, so nothing is published about what it ships. That is an absence of evidence, not a finding.

Sensitive permissions
Not assessed
No package has been scanned for this app
Analytics or tracking SDKs in the scanned package
Not assessed
No package has been scanned for this app
Advertising SDKs in the scanned package
Not assessed
No package has been scanned for this app
How we know

Supporting measurements: not a complete list of possible harms or positives. Measurement vocabulary 1.4 · how these are measured

Versions and dates analysed

Assessed 26 Oct 2026

We cannot tell which version of the app this analysis describes. It was run 2026-10-26 .

The store lists the version as varying by device, updated 2026-01-22.

Store update history

Each store’s release notes, as the developer wrote them. They are the developer’s words, not ours.

Google Play

Version varies by device · 2026-01-22

No release notes were provided for this version.

Assessment record

Status
Automated analysis
App identifier
sundance-now
Assessment date
26 Oct 2026
Sources used
3 independent signals: user reviews, the store listing and the store privacy disclosure
Reviews read
400
Package examined
No package scan
Human inspection
Not completed

Assessed 2026-10-26 from 400 user reviews, the store listing and its privacy label. We have not scanned the app's package, so nothing on this page was read from inside the app itself.

How we know
Measurement vocabulary
1.4

How this page was produced

Analyzed 2026-10-26 Version analyzed: unknown3 independent signals400 reviews scannedConfidence: HighNot human-reviewedVocabulary v1.13Methodology v1.3
Signals run: user reviews, the store listing and the store privacy disclosure. Not yet checked: SDKs in the app package, the app's own on-screen text and the app manifest.

Store facts

Google Play

What the stores publish. Store ratings are the stores’ numbers, not Appworthy’s, and are never averaged across stores.

Google Play

Store rating
3.35 ★ · 1,943 ratings
Version
Varies by device
Updated
22 Jan 2026
Price
Free · In-app purchases
Age rating
12+
Size
Not supplied
Open in Google Play
Developer
AMC Global Media Inc.
Category
Lifestyle
Listing price
Free · In-app purchases

Purchases the store lists

 What this app sells
Google Play doesn’t publish per-purchase prices.

Method and limits

What this report can and cannot show

How the automated analysis works

This assessment is produced automatically. Three independent signals are read — user reviews, the store listing and the store privacy disclosure — and each candidate finding is filed under the sources that support it.

No charge stands on one kind of evidence — with one published exception. A finding is either a measured fact that anyone can reproduce (an ad SDK is in the package; every subscription bills weekly; the privacy label omits a tracker we can see), or it is an interpretation — and an interpretation needs independent sources to agree before it reaches the catch list. The exception is a harm only users can see: a charge may publish from reviews alone, as “Reported by N users”, once enough reviewers raise it to clear that charge’s own published bar. That agreement rule is what replaced the human reviewer, not a model’s confidence.

There is no overall score, on purpose. A 0–99 number was published here until 2026-09-15. It was withdrawn because it discriminated too weakly to be the instrument — 44.7% of every pair of apps tied — and because a single number is a verdict where a count is an observation. What publishes instead is a row of measurements, each of which says what was counted and, where we could not look, says that instead.

Findings under One source only are real reports we do not stand behind as findings. They are shown because withholding them entirely would hide a genuine complaint, and labelled because publishing them as charges would be an accusation off a single source.

Limits of this report

  • A package scan is static. It identifies code and text in one Android build. It does not measure a live ad session, test a deletion request, or count the steps needed to cancel.
  • Reviews keep their sample. A review-only charge shows distinct reviewers, the share and the sample size, and is published only once it clears that label’s published threshold. Calibration labels are machine-drafted and not yet confirmed by a person.
  • Not assessed is a state. It is never a zero and never a pass.
  • A missing label is not a clean bill of health. It means the evidence did not support one, not that the app is problem-free.
Not yet human-reviewed. A hands-on test can confirm or contradict a finding and adds its own measurements; it does not change a measurement row. Hands-on inspections are not yet open.
Review thresholds Read the methodology For developers

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