The 10 absolute best indie films to get excited about in January
Does a new year mean a new you? Probably not, but what is does mean is new movies, and what better way to get through the dreaded January slump than checking out the fresh cinematic talent 2018 has to offer? Here are the ten January indie releases we’re most excited about. It’s like Christmas all over again.
10. Please Stand By
Director Ben Lewin, who saw success with The Sessions back in 2012, returns with a sci-fi comedy and some rather familiar faces. The most notable is Dakota Fanning (The Alienist), starring as an autistic Star Trek fan determined to make waves in the screenwriting industry. Beam me up, Scotty.
Watch the trailer for Please Stand By
9. Saturday Church
Saturday Church has been described as Moonlight meets La La Land, and with a hodgepodge like that, you know you’re in for an interesting ride. Director Damon Cardasis’s coming-out musical has already received glowing reviews for tackling multiple sides of the LGBTQI experience.
Watch the trailer for Saturday Church
8. The Final Year
In this political documentary, director Greg Barker (We Are the Giant) and his crew followed President Barack Obama’s foreign policy team for the final year of their term in office. We all know how this one turns out, with Trump’s shock victory casting the film in a completely different light than originally intended.
Watch the trailer for The Final Year
7. Small Town Crime
John Hawkes (Winter’s Bone) takes us down some dark streets as an alcoholic ex-cop drunk on seeking justice in this entertaining neo-noir melodrama from Ian and Eshom Nelms (Waffle Street).
Watch the trailer for Small Town Crime
6. Vazante
There are no rose-tinted spectacles in Daniela Thomas’ monochromatic tragedy about slavery and the subjugation of women in 1821 Brazil, combining beautiful shots with upsetting themes.
5. American Folk
The 9/11 tragedy saw the birth of an entire collection of cinematic retellings, but perhaps this is the first time it’s been told through the story of a cross-country musical. In David Heinz’s indie, real-life musicians Joe Purdy and Amber Rubarth play a pair of strangers who travel the country in the aftermath, sharing their mutual love of music.
Watch the trailer for American Folk
4. The Insult
Ziad Doueiri (The Attack) provides a profound look at the effect of historical trauma on a modern Lebanese society in this calculatedly explosive drama. This one is not for the faint-hearted.
Watch the trailer for The Insult
3. Django
Time to get those dancing shoes on, as Django’s on stage. In the backdrop of Nazi-occupied Paris, Etienne Comar (Of Gods and Men) tells the story of the infamous jazz guitarist and his flight from the city of love back in 1943.
2. The Strange Ones
A camping trip is not what it seems in this suspenseful drama from directors Christopher Radcliff and Lauren Wolkstein. Unpredictable, bracing, and packed full of suspense.
Watch the trailer for The Strange Ones
1. Blame
This directorial debut from Quinn Shephard (Hostages) offers an intriguing new telling of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, where a high school student played by Shephard forms a taboo bond with her drama teacher. Forbidden fruit strikes again.
