Independents Day: The best indie movies of 2023 (so far)

When it came to adapting her most celebrated book into a film, beloved author resisted the siren call of Hollywood for decades. It turns out that was a smart choice. Writer-director Kelly Fremon Craig’s big-screen version of was worth the wait. Anchored by heartfelt performances, including Abby Ryder Fortson as Margaret and Rachel McAdams as her mother, Barbara, the film breathes new life into Blume’s characters and bridges the generational divide for her fans, both old and new.

This year we’ve seen a lot of movies about products and the people who brought them to market. While , and were all released with more fanfare, the quiet winner (at least in terms of filmmaking) of the bunch was , the story of the innovative team who launched the wildly popular smartphone brand, then crashed and burned in spectacular fashion. Matt Johnson—who directed, co-wrote, and plays Doug in the film—embraces the lo-fi indie aesthetic of handheld camerawork and unconventional framing to bring a voyeuristic intimacy to the film, not to mention a wry sense of humor thanks to the opposing yet equally vital energies of stars Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton.

British filmmaker Georgia Oakley was best known for making award-winning short films before writing and directing . Her feature debut, about a closeted gym teacher forced to live a double life in England during the late ’80s, received a BAFTA nomination, the People’s Choice award at the Venice Film Festival, and four British Independent Film awards. As Jean, Rosy McEwen inhabits her character’s claustrophobic blue world (literally and figuratively) with a brittle intensity that pulls you in and traps you inside along with her.

There’s no trickery in that title— delivers exactly what it promises, and then some. Told in the style of a compact thriller, it explores the issue of climate change through the eyes of a disparate group of characters brought together through a shared cause. The production was a team effort behind the scenes too, led by writer-director Daniel Goldhaber and supported by Ariela Barer (actor, writer, producer), Jordan Sjol (writer, executive producer), and Daniel Garber (editor). Together they’ve created a confident work of activist filmmaking with an emphasis on what it takes to collectively make a difference in the world.

The grotesque excesses of the wealthy elite continues to be a subject of fascination for innovative filmmakers in 2023, and Brandon Cronenberg’s dives deep into that concept with disturbingly effective results. Alexander Skarsgård (last seen walking away with all the marbles at the end of Succession) and Cleopatra Coleman (Dopesick) play a couple who run into trouble while vacationing at a luxury resort in an unnamed foreign country. When he’s offered a way out in exchange for a hefty fee, things get weird. And then they get weirder. Indie horror queen Mia Goth is also on hand to do her thing as an agent of chaos.

Set in the Warsaw ghetto in 1942, is a harrowing account of life under Nazi rule and a Jewish theater troupe’s determination to maintain the values of beauty, art, and romance despite their dire circumstances. Director Rodrigo Cortés returns to the real-time filmmaking techniques that made his acclaimed 2010 film so compelling, this time in the service of a historical love story centered around a young actress (Clara Rugaard) forced to make an impossible choice. The musical play performed within the film is like a little added bonus.

You’ve got to admire the French and their ability to find fanciful charm in the most unexpected places. In , it can be found in the story of a widowed mother (Léa Seydoux) who has an affair with a married man while worrying about her father’s declining health. The plot has all the elements of an overwrought melodrama, but in the hands of French filmmaker Mia Hansen-Løve, it becomes a lovely, intimate portrait of a woman unraveling—slowly and gracefully, so as not to attract the scrutiny of those in her life who depend on her most.

A24’s has been buzzed about since its Sundance premiere in January, and its stature as one of most critically acclaimed films of the year has only grown since then. Greta Lee is radiant as Nora, a writer who can’t deny the strong connection she feels to Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), a boy she met in Korea as a child and never forgot, even after her family moved away. When the two meet up again years later it complicates things between her and her husband (John Magaro), but if you’re expecting something as simple from this film as a histrionic romantic triangle, you’re in for a revelation. Writer and director Celine Song expertly dismantles those expectations and instead crafts a thoughtful and emotional tale of destinies interrupted and what might have been without making anyone a villain.

As funny as it is action-packed, is just a straight-up good time at the movies (or on your couch if you stream it). The feature directing debut from We Are Lady Parts creator Nida Manzoor centers on Ria (Priya Kansara) and Lena (Ritu Arya), a pair of sisters with big dreams that seem just out of reach. Ria desperately wants to be a stuntwoman, while Lena has returned home after dropping out of art school. When Lena gets engaged to a rich, handsome doctor (Akshay Khanna) after only a few dates, Ria becomes suspicious and hatches a plan to break them up. The twist is that she may not be wrong to suspect nefarious motives from the guy, or his scheming mother (Nimra Bucha), whose plans for her future daughter-in-law are bonkers, but also make a kind of sense.

So far, 2023 has been a terrific year for love stories that veer off the beaten path. It’s also been pretty good for first-time directors coming out strong in their debut features. has both of those things going for it. Raine Allen-Miller has a self-assured point of view, masterfully capturing the undeniable chemistry between her two romantic leads, David Jonsson and Vivian Oparah, as they ramble through the London neighborhood of the film’s title. Allen-Miller knows exactly what kind of film she’s making, leaning into slow-burn rom-com territory while keeping everything smart and grounded. You fall for them as steadily and surely as they fall for each other.

Documentary filmmaker Alice Diop turned her unblinking lens toward a fictional narrative for the first time with , a legal drama based on the true story of a Senegalese-French immigrant accused of abandoning her infant daughter on a beach. Diop, who is also of Senegalese descent, actually attended the trial that inspired the film, and used the transcripts from it in the film’s courtroom scenes. The main characters, Laurence Coly (Guslagie Malanda) and Rama (Kayije Kagame), are stand-ins for the defendant and for Diop herself, allowing her to more fully examine the issues of colonialism, racism, and generational trauma from a distance without losing the personal connection that attracted her to the case in the first place.

Who says that independent films have to be artsy or dour or in some way enlightening? Can’t they also be juicy, twisty, unserious fun? is that kind of film. The non-linear structure might be the most unconventional thing about this story of a handful of characters—including Tom (Justice Smith), Sandra (Briana Middleton), Max (Sebastian Stan), and Madeline (Julianne Moore)—wrapped up in a confidence game. Sharper may not be out to change the world or anyone’s mind, but that’s not to say it isn’t smart or ambitious. It throws so many curves at its audience that you eventually stop trying to guess what’s going to happen next and just sit back and enjoy the ride.

is easily the most beautiful supernatural road-trip romance between a girl and a chair ever rendered in two-dimensional animation. The latest film from renowned anime director Makoto Shinkai (, ) takes you on a journey across Japan with 17-year-old Suzume and her cursed companion Souta (temporarily transformed into the aforementioned chair by a mischievous spirit cat) as they try and close a series of interdimensional gateways only they can see. It’s a feast for the eyes that also keeps your imagination well-fed.

This heartfelt drama has been on our radar since it won the grand jury prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. , from first-time feature director A.V. Rockwell, tells the decade-spanning story of Inez (Teyana Taylor), an ex-con raising her son (Aaron Kingsley Adetola as a young child, Aven Courtney at 13, Josiah Cross as a teenager) under an assumed name after the foster system took him away from her. Taylor brings a fierce determination to Inez, who holds on as tightly to her son as she does her disappearing Harlem neighborhood.

We included on our list of , and we’re happy to say in hindsight that it was a good call. Acclaimed filmmaker Nicole Holofcener (, ) turns to the subject of the intricacies of trust and honesty in marriage in this film, her first in five years. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who worked with Holofcener previously on , stars as a novelist forced to reevaluate her relationship with her husband (Tobias Menzies) and her chosen career when she overhears him telling a friend (Arian Moayed) what he really thinks about her latest book. The film got a warm reception at Sundance, with critics praising its sharp wit, emotional candor, and engaging performances.