Best Indie Movies For Those Who Appreciate Auteur Cinema

God's Own Country

2017 | Director: Francis Lee

In his directorial debut God’s Own Country, Francis Lee tackles some of the more unconventional topics. Johnny lives on a sheep farm with his father and grandmother and is the only one to take care of the family business. Frustrated and lonely, he finds solace in drinking and engaging in fleeting encounters with other men. One day, a Romanian temporary worker Gheorghe is hired to assist Johnny during the lambing season. After the first few clashes, Gheorghe teaches Johnny how to express his feelings with various emotions, not only anger.

Sightseers

2012 | Director: Ben Wheatley

Chris decided to treat his girlfriend Tina to a road trip holiday in northern England. Traveling around the area, they visit every big museum or sight there is to see. They both immensely enjoy spending time together and also killing everyone who crosses their path in one way or another. Sightseers is dark, but it is also incredibly funny. However, critics were not unanimous in their assessment, some of them claiming that the film runs out of ideas before it reaches the end. 

Get Out

2017 | Director: Jordan Peele

There is no chance you missed Get Out in 2017 or at least didn’t watch it in the subsequent years. Right from its release, it became one of the most celebrated and broadly discussed indie films. Filled with tension and a sense of foreboding you would expect from a horror movie, it also explores the topic of racism and the way black people are treated in American society. When protagonist Chris gets to meet his girlfriend Rose’s white family for the first time, they seem to be quite welcoming, despite him being of a different race. And yet, subtle, often unconscious racism, paired with bizarre occurances, trigger Chris’ sense of danger. What he eventually finds in the house is far more disturbing than he expected.

Bait

2019 | Director: Mark Jenkin

Gentrification is a modern-day problem that has affected many communities. It caused Martin Ward, a fisherman from a Cornish village, to lose his father’s cottage and his boat. The cottage now belongs to an upper middle class family from London who use it as their summer house. Martin’s brother uses the boat to give cruises to tourists, while Martin struggles to make ends meet as he is forced to fish without his own boat. To amplify the atmosphere of tension and bereavement, Director Mark Jenkin chose a vintage black and white aesthetic for Bait.

Local Hero

1983 | Director: Bill Forsyth

MacIntyre is a typical corporate executive from Texas, who thinks in deals and profit. With the hope that his Scottish-sounding surname will help him connect with the local population, he is sent to the remote village of Ferness in the Highlands. Mac, who in reality has no connection to Scotland whatsoever, is initially very annoyed to find himself far from the conveniences of urban life but begins his mission to convince the residents to sell the village to his company. The plan is to erect an oil refinery in the area. Villagers seem to be very indifferent to Mac’s offer at first, but little does he know that they are thrilled at his offer because for them it means the possibility to start a better life. Apart from breathtaking locations in the Scottish Highlands, of which Local Hero has plenty, it can also boast of great writing and directing that earned the film critical acclaim.

Winter's Bone

2010 | Director: Debra Granik

Ree Dolly became an adult much earlier than most of her peers. At 17, she has to take care of her mentally ill mother and two younger siblings. In order to not lose their family home, Ree has to find her father, who was previously involved in meth manufacturing. Now neither the authorities nor the local drug gang are happy that Ree is trying to get to the bottom of her father’s disappearance. Winter’s Bone turned Jennifer Lawrence who played Ree into a star and received universally positive independent film reviews.

Rocks

2020 | Director: Sarah Gavron

We often assume that our childhood and teenage years are the most carefree times of our lives. Rocks is here to remind you that we all, young and adult alike, have our struggles and try to do our best to create a brighter future for ourselves. The titular character is a teenage girl whose mother leaves her and her younger brother one day without much of an explanation or money. It is now up to Rocks to not only take care of her brother but also to make sure social services don’t learn about their situation and don’t separate her from her brother to put them in foster care. 

The Squid and the Whale

2005 | Director: Noah Baumbach

Divorce is never easy, even less so if the spouses are deliberately trying to make each other’s lives difficult. When Bernard and Joan finally separate, their two teenage sons are left on their own to decide which parent they support and find to be right in the entire mess of a situation. This inevitably leads to trouble for both of them, until finally Walt, the older one, manages to break free from under their influence with the help of the school psychologist and face his real fears. The Squid and the Whale was largely praised for the way it handled the topic and managed to intertwine comedy with drama.

Parasite

2019 | Director: Bong Joon-ho

It took the Academy Awards 77 editions to give the Best Picture award to a foreign film. But Parasite, made by South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho, stole the thunder from other nominees, and deservingly so. The film revolves around a poor family of four who unexpectedly find their way into an upper class household. From day one, they scheme and plot to secure their position and benefit from their employers as much as possible. But things take a dark turn when they discover that the house holds a disturbing secret. Combining comedy with very dramatic moments, Bong Joon-ho addresses the class differences in Korea that are very relatable to people all over the world.

Whiplash

2014 | Director: Damien Chazelle

When Andrew joined the Shaffer Conservatory studio band, he expected long practice hours and a lot of work. What he didn’t expect though was the teaching methods of the band conductor Fletcher, who resorts to physical and emotional abuse every time a student makes the slightest mistake. Ambitious and goal-driven Andrew is not ready to give up playing the drums, no matter how hard it gets. His involvement with the band influences all his relationships outside the conservatory, and not in a good way. Continuous abuse from Fletcher results in an open confrontation between him and Andrew that changes a lot of things for both of them. Made with a minimal budget, Whiplash is a great example of indie cinema at its finest.