Indie/Lesser known/art/polarizing films I've enjoyed
by daniellediamond | created - 24 Jun 2015 | updated - 27 Nov 2022 | PublicThese left me thinking, took me completely by surprise, and definitely were not big budget Hollywood.
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1. Blindspotting (2018)
R | 95 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
While on probation, a man begins to re-evaluate his relationship with his volatile best friend.
Director: Carlos López Estrada | Stars: Daveed Diggs, Rafael Casal, Janina Gavankar, Jasmine Cephas Jones
Votes: 32,891 | Gross: $4.33M
2. Buddy Boy (1999)
R | 105 min | Drama, Thriller
An introvert relieves the tedium of caring for his invalid mother by spying on his neighbor.
Director: Mark Hanlon | Stars: Aidan Gillen, Emmanuelle Seigner, Susan Tyrrell, Mark Boone Junior
Votes: 1,141 | Gross: $0.01M
3. The Uninvited Guest (2004)
R | 90 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
In the dark corridors of Félix's house, an intruder is hiding. Is he real, or is he a manifestation inside the obscure maze of his mind?
Director: Guillem Morales | Stars: Andoni Gracia, Mónica López, Francesc Garrido, Agustí Villaronga
Votes: 6,149
4. Mulholland Drive (2001)
R | 147 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
After a car wreck on Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesiac, she and a Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Justin Theroux, Jeanne Bates
Votes: 384,128 | Gross: $7.22M
5. Blue Ruin (2013)
R | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A mysterious outsider's quiet life is turned upside down when he returns to his childhood home to carry out an act of vengeance. Proving himself an amateur assassin, he winds up in a brutal fight to protect his estranged family.
Director: Jeremy Saulnier | Stars: Macon Blair, Devin Ratray, Amy Hargreaves, Kevin Kolack
Votes: 78,945 | Gross: $0.26M
6. Caché (2005)
R | 117 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A married couple is terrorized by a series of surveillance videotapes left on their front porch.
Director: Michael Haneke | Stars: Daniel Auteuil, Juliette Binoche, Maurice Bénichou, Annie Girardot
Votes: 85,283 | Gross: $3.63M
7. Lake Mungo (2008)
R | 87 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Strange things start happening after a girl is found drowned in a lake.
Director: Joel Anderson | Stars: Rosie Traynor, David Pledger, Martin Sharpe, Talia Zucker
Votes: 29,042
8. Kill List (2011)
Not Rated | 95 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Nearly a year after a botched job, a hitman takes a new assignment with the promise of a big payoff for three killings. What starts off as an easy task soon unravels, sending the killer into the heart of darkness.
Director: Ben Wheatley | Stars: Neil Maskell, MyAnna Buring, Harry Simpson, Michael Smiley
Votes: 45,370 | Gross: $0.03M
9. The Last of Sheila (1973)
PG | 120 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A year after Sheila is killed by a hit-and-run driver, her wealthy husband invites a group of friends to spend a week on his yacht playing a scavenger hunt mystery game. The game turns out to be all too real and all too deadly.
Director: Herbert Ross | Stars: Richard Benjamin, James Coburn, James Mason, Dyan Cannon
Votes: 8,420
10. Barton Fink (1991)
R | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Thriller
A renowned New York playwright is enticed to California to write for the movies and discovers the hellish truth of Hollywood.
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: John Turturro, John Goodman, Judy Davis, Michael Lerner
Votes: 129,018 | Gross: $6.15M
11. Sightseers (2012)
Not Rated | 88 min | Adventure, Comedy, Crime
Chris wants to show girlfriend Tina his world, but events soon conspire against the couple and their dream caravan holiday takes a very wrong turn.
Director: Ben Wheatley | Stars: Alice Lowe, Kenneth Hadley, Steve Oram, Eileen Davies
Votes: 30,281 | Gross: $0.04M
12. Absentia (I) (2011)
R | 87 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A woman and her sister begin to link a mysterious tunnel to a series of disappearances, including that of her own husband.
Director: Mike Flanagan | Stars: Katie Parker, Courtney Bell, Dave Levine, Justin Gordon
Votes: 20,088
13. Inland Empire (2006)
R | 180 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
As an actress begins to adopt the persona of her character in a film, her world becomes nightmarish and surreal.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Karolina Gruszka, Krzysztof Majchrzak, Grace Zabriskie, Laura Dern
Votes: 62,445 | Gross: $0.75M
14. Blow Out (1981)
R | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A movie sound recordist accidentally records the evidence that proves that a car accident was actually murder and consequently finds himself in danger.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: John Travolta, Nancy Allen, John Lithgow, Dennis Franz
Votes: 63,388 | Gross: $13.75M
15. Murder Party (2007)
Not Rated | 79 min | Comedy, Horror
A random invitation to a Halloween party leads a man into the hands of a rogue collective intent on murdering him for the sake of their art, sparking a bloodbath of mishap, mayhem and hilarity.
Director: Jeremy Saulnier | Stars: Chris Sharp, Kate Porterfield, Tess Porterfield Lovell, Puff Snooty
Votes: 12,301
16. Julia's Eyes (2010)
Not Rated | 118 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
The story of a woman who is slowly losing her sight whilst trying to investigate the mysterious death of her twin sister.
Director: Guillem Morales | Stars: Belén Rueda, Lluís Homar, Pablo Derqui, Francesc Orella
Votes: 37,441
17. Sexy Beast (2000)
R | 89 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Brutal gangster Don Logan recruits "retired" safecracker Gal for one last job, but it goes badly for both of them.
Director: Jonathan Glazer | Stars: Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley, Ian McShane, Amanda Redman
Votes: 69,351 | Gross: $6.95M
18. The House of the Devil (2009)
R | 95 min | Horror, Mystery
In 1983, financially struggling college student Samantha Hughes takes a strange babysitting job that coincides with a full lunar eclipse. She slowly realizes her clients harbor a terrifying secret, putting her life in mortal danger.
Director: Ti West | Stars: Jocelin Donahue, Tom Noonan, Mary Woronov, Greta Gerwig
Votes: 51,315 | Gross: $0.10M
19. Lost Highway (1997)
R | 134 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Anonymous videotapes presage a musician's murder conviction, and a gangster's girlfriend leads a mechanic astray.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, John Roselius, Louis Eppolito
Votes: 153,304 | Gross: $3.80M
20. Timecrimes (2007)
R | 92 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A man accidentally gets into a time machine and travels back in time nearly an hour. Finding himself will be the first of a series of disasters of unforeseeable consequences.
Director: Nacho Vigalondo | Stars: Karra Elejalde, Candela Fernández, Bárbara Goenaga, Nacho Vigalondo
Votes: 68,820 | Gross: $0.04M
21. Once (I) (2007)
R | 86 min | Drama, Music, Romance
A modern-day musical about a busker and an immigrant and their eventful week in Dublin, as they write, rehearse and record songs that tell their love story.
Director: John Carney | Stars: Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová, Hugh Walsh, Gerard Hendrick
Votes: 121,311 | Gross: $9.44M
22. Creep (I) (2014)
R | 77 min | Horror, Thriller
A young videographer answers an online ad for a one-day job in a remote town to record the last messages of a dying man. When he notices the man's odd behavior, he starts to question his intentions.
Director: Patrick Brice | Stars: Katie Aselton, Patrick Brice, Mark Duplass
Votes: 68,353
23. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)
Not Rated | 101 min | Drama, Horror, Romance
In the Iranian ghost-town Bad City, a place that reeks of death and loneliness, the townspeople are unaware they are being stalked by a lonesome vampire.
Director: Ana Lily Amirpour | Stars: Sheila Vand, Arash Marandi, Marshall Manesh, Mozhan Navabi
Votes: 38,662
24. Body Double (1984)
R | 114 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A young actor's obsession with spying on a beautiful woman who lives nearby leads to a baffling series of events with drastic consequences.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Craig Wasson, Melanie Griffith, Gregg Henry, Deborah Shelton
Votes: 38,269 | Gross: $8.80M
25. Dear Wendy (2005)
Not Rated | 105 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A young boy in a nameless, timeless American town establishes a gang of youthful misfits united in their love of guns and their code of honor.
Director: Thomas Vinterberg | Stars: Jamie Bell, Alison Pill, Chris Owen, Bill Pullman
Votes: 10,475 | Gross: $0.02M
26. The Anniversary (1968)
Approved | 95 min | Comedy, Drama, Thriller
Three sons who work in the family construction business help their overbearing mother celebrate her anniversary to her late husband.
Directors: Roy Ward Baker, Alvin Rakoff | Stars: Bette Davis, Sheila Hancock, Jack Hedley, James Cossins
Votes: 2,848
27. Bug (2006)
R | 102 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
An unhinged war veteran holes up with a lonely woman in a spooky Oklahoma motel room. The line between reality and delusion is blurred as they discover a bug infestation.
Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Ashley Judd, Michael Shannon, Harry Connick Jr., Lynn Collins
Votes: 37,837 | Gross: $7.01M
28. Cheap Thrills (I) (2013)
Not Rated | 88 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A scheming couple put a struggling family man and his old friend through a series of increasingly twisted dares over the course of an evening at a local bar.
Director: E.L. Katz | Stars: Pat Healy, Ethan Embry, Sara Paxton, David Koechner
Votes: 20,461 | Gross: $0.06M
29. The Guest (I) (2014)
R | 100 min | Action, Mystery, Thriller
A soldier introduces himself to the Peterson family, claiming to be a friend of their son who died in action. After the young man is welcomed into their home, a series of accidental deaths seem to be connected to his presence.
Director: Adam Wingard | Stars: Dan Stevens, Sheila Kelley, Maika Monroe, Joel David Moore
Votes: 107,000 | Gross: $0.32M
30. Spring (I) (2014)
Not Rated | 109 min | Horror, Romance, Sci-Fi
A young man in a personal tailspin flees from US to Italy, where he sparks up a romance with a woman harboring a dark, primordial secret.
Directors: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead | Stars: Lou Taylor Pucci, Nadia Hilker, Francesco Carnelutti, Nick Nevern
Votes: 31,423 | Gross: $0.05M
31. Locke (2013)
R | 85 min | Drama
Ivan Locke, a dedicated family man and successful construction manager, receives a phone call on the eve of the biggest challenge of his career that sets in motion a series of events that threaten his carefully cultivated existence.
Director: Steven Knight | Stars: Tom Hardy, Olivia Colman, Ruth Wilson, Andrew Scott
Votes: 159,656 | Gross: $1.36M
32. The Invitation (I) (2015)
Not Rated | 100 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
When a man accepts an invitation to a dinner party hosted by his ex-wife, the unsettling past reopens old wounds and creates new tensions.
Director: Karyn Kusama | Stars: Logan Marshall-Green, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Michiel Huisman, Tammy Blanchard
Votes: 119,160 | Gross: $0.23M
33. Green Room (2015)
R | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
A punk rock band is forced to fight for survival after witnessing a murder at a neo-Nazi skinhead bar.
Director: Jeremy Saulnier | Stars: Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, Alia Shawkat, Patrick Stewart
Votes: 139,340 | Gross: $3.22M
34. Darling (II) (2015)
Not Rated | 78 min | Horror, Thriller
A lonely girl's violent descent into madness.
Director: Mickey Keating | Stars: Lauren Ashley Carter, Sean Young, Brian Morvant, Larry Fessenden
Votes: 3,367
35. The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)
R | 121 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Steven, a charismatic surgeon, is forced to make an unthinkable sacrifice after his life starts to fall apart, when the behavior of a teenage boy he has taken under his wing turns sinister.
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos | Stars: Barry G. Bernson, Herb Caillouet, Bill Camp, Raffey Cassidy
Votes: 187,669 | Gross: $2.29M
36. The Lobster (2015)
R | 119 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
In a dystopian near future, according to the laws of The City, single people are taken to The Hotel, where they are obliged to find a romantic partner in 45 days or they're transformed into beasts and sent off into The Woods.
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos | Stars: Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Jessica Barden, Olivia Colman
Votes: 296,965 | Gross: $8.70M
37. Mother! (2017)
R | 121 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A couple's relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence.
Director: Darren Aronofsky | Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer
Votes: 249,861 | Gross: $17.80M
38. Enemy (2013)
R | 91 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A man seeks out his exact look-alike after spotting him in a movie.
Director: Denis Villeneuve | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mélanie Laurent, Sarah Gadon, Isabella Rossellini
Votes: 215,403 | Gross: $1.01M
39. Prisoners (2013)
R | 153 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
When Keller Dover's daughter and her friend go missing, he takes matters into his own hands as the police pursue multiple leads and the pressure mounts.
Director: Denis Villeneuve | Stars: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Melissa Leo
Votes: 810,443 | Gross: $61.00M
40. The Neon Demon (2016)
R | 117 min | Horror, Thriller
An aspiring model, Jesse, is new to Los Angeles. However, her beauty and youth, which generate intense fascination and jealousy within the fashion industry, may prove themselves sinister.
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn | Stars: Elle Fanning, Christina Hendricks, Keanu Reeves, Karl Glusman
Votes: 103,985 | Gross: $1.33M
41. Free Fire (2016)
R | 91 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Set in Boston in 1978, a meeting in a deserted warehouse between two gangs turns into a shoot-out and a game of survival.
Director: Ben Wheatley | Stars: Sharlto Copley, Brie Larson, Armie Hammer, Cillian Murphy
Votes: 50,750 | Gross: $1.80M
42. Dressed to Kill (1980)
R | 104 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A mysterious blonde woman kills one of a psychiatrist's patients, and then goes after the high-class call girl who witnessed the murder.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen, Keith Gordon
Votes: 48,279 | Gross: $31.90M
43. After Hours (I) (1985)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
An ordinary word processor has the worst night of his life after he agrees to visit a girl in Soho he met that evening at a coffee shop.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Griffin Dunne, Rosanna Arquette, Verna Bloom, Tommy Chong
Votes: 81,518 | Gross: $10.60M
44. Eighth Grade (2018)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Drama
An introverted teenage girl tries to survive the last week of her disastrous eighth grade year before leaving to start high school.
Director: Bo Burnham | Stars: Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton, Emily Robinson, Jake Ryan
Votes: 82,524 | Gross: $13.54M
45. Sorry to Bother You (2018)
R | 112 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
In an alternate present-day version of Oakland, telemarketer Cassius Green discovers a magical key to professional success, propelling him into a universe of greed.
Director: Boots Riley | Stars: LaKeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Jermaine Fowler, Omari Hardwick
Votes: 88,290 | Gross: $17.49M
46. Shallow Grave (1994)
R | 89 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Three friends discover their new flatmate dead but loaded with cash.
Director: Danny Boyle | Stars: Kerry Fox, Christopher Eccleston, Ewan McGregor, Ken Stott
Votes: 66,271 | Gross: $2.88M
47. Man Bites Dog (1992)
NC-17 | 95 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A film crew follows a ruthless thief and heartless killer as he goes about his daily routine. But complications set in when the film crew lose their objectivity and begin lending a hand.
Directors: Rémy Belvaux, André Bonzel, Benoît Poelvoorde | Stars: Benoît Poelvoorde, Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert, Nelly Pappaert, Hector Pappaert
Votes: 43,748 | Gross: $0.21M
48. The Last Picture Show (1971)
R | 118 min | Drama, Romance
In 1951, a group of high schoolers come of age in a bleak, isolated, atrophied North Texas town that is slowly dying, both culturally and economically.
Director: Peter Bogdanovich | Stars: Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd, Ben Johnson
Votes: 52,423 | Gross: $29.13M
49. Velvet Goldmine (1998)
R | 118 min | Drama, Music
In 1984, British journalist Arthur Stuart investigates the career of 1970s glam superstar Brian Slade, who was heavily influenced in his early years by hard-living and rebellious American singer Curt Wild.
Director: Todd Haynes | Stars: Ewan McGregor, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Christian Bale, Toni Collette
Votes: 38,321 | Gross: $1.05M
50. Living in Oblivion (1995)
R | 90 min | Comedy, Drama
This ultimate tribute to all independent filmmakers takes place during one day on the set of a non-budget movie.
Director: Tom DiCillo | Stars: Steve Buscemi, Catherine Keener, Dermot Mulroney, Danielle von Zerneck
Votes: 20,173 | Gross: $1.15M
51. Japanese Story (2003)
R | 106 min | Drama, Romance
Against the background of an Australian desert, Sandy, a geologist, and Hiromitsu, a Japanese businessman, play out a story of human inconsequence in the face of the blistering universe. ... See full summary »
Director: Sue Brooks | Stars: Toni Collette, Gotaro Tsunashima, Lynette Curran, Matthew Dyktynski
Votes: 6,762 | Gross: $0.65M
52. The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)
NC-17 | 124 min | Crime, Drama
At Le Hollandais gourmet restaurant, every night is filled with opulence, decadence and gluttony. But when the cook, a thief, his wife and her lover all come together, they unleash a shocking torrent of sex, food, murder and revenge.
Director: Peter Greenaway | Stars: Richard Bohringer, Michael Gambon, Helen Mirren, Alan Howard
Votes: 41,776 | Gross: $7.72M
53. The Endless (I) (2017)
Not Rated | 111 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
As kids, they escaped a UFO death cult. Now, two adult brothers seek answers after an old videotape surfaces and brings them back to where they began.
Directors: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead | Stars: Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson, Callie Hernandez, Tate Ellington
Votes: 49,471 | Gross: $0.27M
54. Resolution (III) (2012)
Not Rated | 93 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A man imprisons his estranged junkie friend in an isolated cabin in the boonies of San Diego to force him through a week of sobriety, but the events of that week are being mysteriously manipulated.
Directors: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead | Stars: Peter Cilella, Vinny Curran, Emily Montague, Kurt David Anderson
Votes: 19,550
55. The Strange Color of Your Body's Tears (2013)
Not Rated | 102 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Returning home from a business trip to discover his wife missing, a man delves deeper and deeper into a surreal kaleidoscope of half-baked leads, seduction, deceit, and murder. Does anyone in the building know something?
Directors: Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani | Stars: Klaus Tange, Ursula Bedena, Joe Koener, Birgit Yew
Votes: 4,363 | Gross: $0.01M
56. Good Time (2017)
R | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
After a botched bank robbery lands his younger brother in prison, Connie Nikas embarks on a twisted odyssey through New York City's underworld to get his brother Nick out of jail.
Directors: Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie | Stars: Robert Pattinson, Benny Safdie, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Buddy Duress
Votes: 140,405 | Gross: $2.03M
57. Braid (2018)
R | 82 min | Crime, Horror, Mystery
Two wanted women decide to rob their wealthy psychotic friend who lives in the fantasy world they created as children; to take the money they have to take part in a deadly perverse game of make believe.
Director: Mitzi Peirone | Stars: Madeline Brewer, Kurt Affair, Imogen Waterhouse, Sarah Hay
Votes: 4,016
58. The Art of Self-Defense (2019)
R | 104 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
After being attacked on the street, a young man enlists at a local dojo, led by a charismatic and mysterious sensei, in an effort to learn how to defend himself from future threats.
Director: Riley Stearns | Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Alessandro Nivola, Imogen Poots, Steve Terada
Votes: 40,928 | Gross: $2.41M
59. Uncut Gems (2019)
R | 135 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
With his debts mounting and angry collectors closing in, a fast-talking New York City jeweler risks everything in hope of staying afloat and alive.
Directors: Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie | Stars: Adam Sandler, Julia Fox, Idina Menzel, Mesfin Lamengo
Votes: 318,528
60. The Lighthouse (I) (2019)
R | 109 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Two lighthouse keepers try to maintain their sanity while living on a remote and mysterious New England island in the 1890s.
Director: Robert Eggers | Stars: Robert Pattinson, Willem Dafoe, Valeriia Karaman, Logan Hawkes
Votes: 255,390 | Gross: $0.43M
61. The Death of Dick Long (2019)
R | 100 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Dick died last night, and Zeke and Earl don't want anybody finding out how. That's too bad though, cause news travels fast in small-town Alabama.
Director: Daniel Scheinert | Stars: Michael Abbott Jr., Virginia Newcomb, Andre Hyland, Sarah Baker
Votes: 7,348
62. The Duke of Burgundy (2014)
Not Rated | 104 min | Drama, Romance
A woman who studies butterflies and moths tests the limits of her relationship with her lesbian lover.
Director: Peter Strickland | Stars: Sidse Babett Knudsen, Monica Swinn, Chiara D'Anna, Kata Bartsch
Votes: 14,362 | Gross: $0.03M
63. A Single Man (2009)
R | 99 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
An English professor, one year after the sudden death of his boyfriend, is unable to cope with his typical days in 1960s Los Angeles.
Director: Tom Ford | Stars: Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Matthew Goode, Nicholas Hoult
Votes: 117,800 | Gross: $9.17M
64. Night on Earth (1991)
R | 129 min | Comedy, Drama
An anthology of 5 different cab drivers in 5 American and European cities and their remarkable fares on the same eventful night.
Director: Jim Jarmusch | Stars: Winona Ryder, Gena Rowlands, Lisanne Falk, Alan Randolph Scott
Votes: 66,045 | Gross: $2.02M
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