Do you love indie films? If so, you’ll be pleased to know Netflix is overflowing with indie options for indie film lovers of all kinds.
The Squid and the Whale
If you like indie darling Noah Baumbach, chances are it’s at least in part thanks to this film. Set in 1986, the Squid and the Whale pairs the drama of a divorce with Baumbach’s trademark wit. If you’re looking for an individualistic indie voice on an all too cliché subject, this is a whale of an indie film.
A Ghost Story
If you like ghost stories but don’t like the manufactured nature of Paranormal Activity films being churned out one after another, you might want to give this indie ghost story a try. Dabbling in a fair bit of existentialism, the film stars a man (Casey Affleck) who comes back to haunt a woman (Rooney Mara) after his death. If that sounds simple, it is – and so is the white sheet Affleck wears. No big special effects, no big artificial scares, just the raw dread of the situation made all the more vivid with its Brechtian staging with that sheet.
The Florida Project
This indie heartbreaker features a 6-year-old girl who lives near DisneyWorld with her single mother. While the girl sees the whole thing as a great adventure, the adults are faced with the reality of crushing poverty. It’s a film all about perspective and the role fantasy and reality play in our lives.
Hostiles
A solid cast headed by Christian Bale and Rosamund Pike brings this bleak Scott Cooper film to life. A Western film without the old John Wayne/John Ford clichés, the film is set in 1892 and features a captain (Bale) escorting a Cheyenne war chief to their tribal land in the vast stretches of Montana. They are then joined by a widow (Pike) whose family was killed in the border violence resulting from the very Westward expansion those old Westerns celebrated. It’s a film that critiques American history by reimagining a classic American genre.
Indie films are more popular than ever, and that can only mean good things for the film industry at large.