Indie Movies
Independent movie reviews from film festivals, theaterical releases, video-on-demand, home video and streaming.
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Whores’ Glory
Whores’ Glory is the conclusion to director Michael Glowagger’s globalization trilogy. Glowagger puts his focus on one of the oldest and most controversial jobs in his triptych on prostitution. Looking at three different countries, Glowagger and cinematographer Wolfgang Thaler...
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Surviving Family
Directed by Laura Thies, Surviving Family is an indie film about a dysfunctional family and the struggles of facing the truths behind its troubled past. Accompanying the film is the appropriate tagline, “You can’t escape the family tree.” However,...
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The Loneliest Planet
The Loneliest Planet is an experimental film that observes more than it explains and will ultimately test your patience as a viewer. The film is based on the short story by Tom Bissell entitled, Expensive Trips Nowhere. It definitely...
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Rid of Me
What Rid of Me was supposed to be was a film about a woman who is trying to figure out who she is, what it ends up being is an indie film trying to figure out what it is....
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The Imposter
Bart Layton’s The Imposter relates a story that’s so bizarre it would be impossible to believe it was true. Of course, truth is stranger than fiction and The Imposter seems to reinforce that old saying. Using a hyper stylized...
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Sleep Tight
When you’re a kid and your mother and father tuck you in for bed, you sometimes think there are monsters under your bed. This happened to me on many occasions, mainly because I have a wildly active imagination. Of...
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The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a film about adapting to new circumstances and learning to trust from the most unexpected places. Converted into a screenplay by Ol Parker based on the novel These Foolish Things by Deborah Moggach,...
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Turn Me On, Dammit!
The traditional role of a teenage sex coming of age story tends to be centered around males but Turn Me On, Dammit! changes things up a bit by telling it from a female perspective. Adapted by the novel written...
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Moonrise Kingdom
Moonrise Kingdom is unmistakably a Wes Anderson film. It features presumptuous children who seem to be more intelligent and mature than the adults and a simple but whimsical storyline that is completely overshadowed by its presentation. Everything is exaggerated...
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Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
Never have I written so many notes for a film where so little happens than with Once Upon a Time in Anatolia. Mainly because I was struck over and over on how well shot the film is and how...
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Super Spree
Super Spree is an indie short film written and directed by Matt Post about the work life of one employee that is overworked and underappreciated. One of the best things the film does is not take itself too...
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Natural Selection
Robbie Pickering’s Natural Selection, which swept the SXSW film festival last year, is an assured debut feature for the most part. The story and odd couple pairing of its two leads might make the movie come off as a...
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American Animal
To put it nicely, American Animal is an absurd indie movie about a man living with his reckless best friend who is not only mentally ill but physically ill as well. To put it bluntly, it is an art...
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Headshot
Headshot is self-described as crime noir film about an assassin who was shot in the head which ends up causing him to see the world upside down. Thailand’s Pen-Ek Ratanaruang chooses to present a slow burning film rather than...
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Code Blue
When Code Blue premiered at Cannes last year, a warning was posted outside the theatre saying the film might “hurt audience feelings.” The Cannes audiences always love a good provocation, and based on the reports coming out of the...
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Beyond the Black Rainbow
To say Beyond the Black Rainbow is trippy is an understatement, I have a feeling some LSD trips are less intense as this. It is visually stunning with plenty of color filters, distortions, and off-the wall compositions that takes...
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Oslo, August 31st
Oslo, August 31st is magnificent. A film that succeeds on many levels. It is brilliantly made by its director Joachim Trier and brilliantly acted by his actors. I honestly don't know if I can even find anything wrong with...
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This Is Not A Film
By now all of the information surrounding This is Not a Film has been regurgitated in every review or article about it, but it’s necessary to know the context before watching it. Jafar Panahi, the Iranian director of...
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Indie Game: The Movie
Indie Game: The Movie is a fascinating documentary about the obsession and dedication that goes into indie game making for which many make huge sacrifices in their lives for their precious creations. Most documentaries contain interesting subjects but not...
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Goodbye First Love
There is nothing overly complicated about the French film Goodbye First Love, a story about a young woman who is torn between two men, one of which is her fist love that she cannot seem to get over. The...
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Lucky Girl
Let me start off by saying, Jazz really isn’t my thing. I have nothing against it in the slightest. I have actually enjoyed Jazz when I’ve listened to it. It’s just that, I’ve never really gotten into the genre....
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The Woman in the Fifth
Pawel Pawlikowski returns after an eight-year hiatus with The Woman in the Fifth, a thriller that moves at a snail-like pace despite its 80 minute runtime. While its two strong lead performances help anchor the film, the storyline ranges...
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The Rock ‘n’ Roll Dream of Duncan Christopher
The Rock n Roll Dream of Duncan Christopher is an indie film that feels like an Oklahoma version of Flight of the Conchords about karaoke. The film is about a man’s dream to become a rock and roll star...
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The Pact
After getting a warm reception at Sundance in 2011 with his short film of the same title, Nicholas McCarthy was able to get funding for a feature-length expansion of his short. One year later McCarthy came back to Sundance...
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The Road
Location-based horror is the name of the game for Yam Laranas’ new feature The Road, the first ever Filipino film to get a commercial U.S. release in theatres (a fact that’s more sad than shocking). Laranas, who is probably...
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Take This Waltz
Take This Waltz plays out more like a fantasy than the traditional romantic comedy it is based upon. This sophomore feature from director Sarah Polley contains an outcome that leaves you with something to chew on, but it’s attempts...
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Las Acacias
Las Acacias, which won the award for best first feature at Cannes in 2011, shows how powerful simplicity can be in a film. Director Pablo Giorgelli takes what sounds like a mawkish premise and strips away any sentimentality or...
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Pariah
Better than your average coming of age story is Pariah, about a teenager who finds it difficult to be herself when her parents will not accept that she is gay. The title of the film means one that is...
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Kidnapped
Very rarely does a film start with so much promise and then go on to waste it all with just a few misguided steps. The new Spanish thriller from director Miguel Angel Vivas, Kidnapped, is that rare film. This...
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Your Sister’s Sister
Having liked Lynn Shelton’s previous feature, Humpday, I was anxious to see if she could duplicate her efforts in Your Sister’s Sister. I will tell you right now, she does just that and then some. Shelton’s greatest achievement here...