PARK CITY, Utah – Believe it or not, Morgan Spurlock did not track down Osama bin Laden — not that this stopped the superstar documentary filmmaker from strolling into this year’s Sundance Film Festival on a wave of speculation that he may actually have found the world’s most wanted man.

The hysteria began almost a year ago at the Berlin International Film Festival, when Mr. Spurlock — creator of the 2005 documentary “Super Size Me,” as well as an increasingly prolific producer of other artists’ work — screened 15 minutes of a new film called “Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?” for a handful of buyers. It was a provocative title conceived by a most provocative filmmaker. Based just on those 15 minutes, the Weinstein Co. bought the rights to the film for a reported low seven-figure amount. Within days, the film’s director of photography, Daniel Marracino, threw gasoline on the fire when he told Variety, “We’ve definitely got the Holy Grail.” It wasn’t long before the industry was buzzing: Had Mr. Spurlock actually succeeded in doing what the American government and its billions of dollars has failed to do?

Flash-forward 11 months to this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and the movie arrives here in Park City as the talk of the town. Tickets to Monday night’s world premiere were likely the single most sought after pass to any festival screening. And Tuesday afternoon, the movie was finally screened for attending members of the press and the entertainment industry.

The hype, alas, is much ado about nothing — not that Mr. Spurlock didn’t already know that. “Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?” isn’t so much a literal chase film as it is a metaphorical scheme for taking American audiences into the homes of Middle Eastern families and leaders. If the film is notable for anything, it is for turning the microphones away from American politicians and soldiers and turning them to those on the other side of the globe.

Reached mere moments after Tuesday’s press premiere, Mr. Spurlock said it was those very conversations with subjects spread out across the Middle East — from Egypt to Pakistan, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and elsewhere — that illuminated the way a wanted terrorist is able to accrue power and influence in the first place.

“We started with the intention of actually finding the man, but at the end of the story, of course it comes out that we didn’t find him,” Mr. Spurlock said. “But there are so many other answers here as to what helps create someone like Osama bin Laden, what pushes rational people to come to him with this idea of, ‘If I strap myself with explosives, it will solve these problems.'”

Mr. Spurlock, who uses an array of techniques to make “Where in the World” seem lighter in tone — from cartoon sequences to a subplot involving the birth of Mr. Spurlock’s first child to a mock-up of a video game that pits a digitized Mr. Spurlock against a digitized Mr. bin Laden — said he believes his more humorous approach to the subject matter will have a better chance of connecting with audiences that have thus far ignored a wave of Iraq-based documentaries and dramas.

“I think it’s important to not give people medicine,” Mr. Spurlock said. “It’s not my goal to preach to you, or tell you what to think. I really hope what comes out of this is a film that offers an accessible look at these issues and what’s going on in this world. And if you can get audiences more engaged, and make it more fun to watch and listen to, then hopefully it will get people talking.”

***

Mr. Spurlock is not the only filmmaker at this year’s festival making headlines with provocative titles and scandalous subject matter.

Early audiences have emerged shell-shocked from Johan Renck’s sexual thriller “Downloading Nancy,” a movie about a woman who, decades after being molested as a child, seeks out a man on the Internet to assault her sexually and, eventually, kill her.

Sundance attendees have reportedly squirmed and even walked out as star Maria Bello subjects herself to an array of sexual violations — notably being cut by shards of glass during a sex scene.

Even before the festival, critics were left scratching their heads about Bill Maher’s “Sleepwalking.” The story, about a brother and sister who cannot, as adults, overcome the physical and emotional abuse they endured as children, isn’t as confounding as the sudden appearance of Dennis Hopper as the family patriarch. As Mr. Hopper’s character lashes out at his son and granddaughter, tossing out insults before adding a few slaps and fists to the mix, the actor seems to be doing his best imitation of himself, evoking memories of his fiery sexual abuser in “Blue Velvet.” As such, the dark final chapter of “Sleepwalking” isn’t just awkward — it’s downright uncomfortable.

In the “uncomfortable” category, though, it is Alan Ball’s “Towelhead” that takes the cake. Dubiously dubbed “kiddie porn” by one prominent critic, the movie concerns a 13-year-old girl who travels back and forth between a Caucasian mother living in upstate New York and a Lebanese father living in Texas. The girl (played by Summer Bishil) is drawn into an array of sordid, horrifying sexual assaults, including a sequence of molestation at the hands of a U.S. Army reservist. Yet that is merely the most extreme image in a film overflowing with racist diatribes, parental abuse, and extreme depictions of underage sex. Lots of people have been talking about “Towelhead” since its Saturday evening debut — and very little of it has been good.

ssnyder@nysun.com