The Best Indie Films To Keep On Your Radar In 2022
There’s no doubt about it: 2022 is looking to be a corker for films in terms of Hollywood big-hitters alone (The Batman, come at us). But when you delve into the gem-filled mine that is indie cinema, that’s when you’re bound to discover something unforgettable: a quiet, simmering masterpiece for the ages, let’s say.
Year in, year out, Sundance Film Festival remains our go-to for all the best indie films to look out for and this year was certainly no exception, with its second virtual edition throwing up coruscating titles that have us cinephiles foaming at the mouth.
From rollicking feminist documentaries to gruesome dating-app horrors and sex worker comedies, here are the top 10 to keep on your radar this year…
Am I Ok
Coming out in your 30s is bound to be confusing and stressful, and this is the basis of Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allynne’s (queer spouses, comedians and co-directors extraordinaire) refreshing debut film. Lucy (Dakota Johnson) and Jane (Sonoya Mizuno) are lifelong best friends whose friendship is thrown into question when Jane reveals she’s moving to London and Lucy reveals she is a lesbian. In the aftermath, the pair reckon with their identity and sexuality as two friends finding their way in the world together. Photo Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
The Janes
Between 1968 and 1973 a group of anonymous women who called themselves the Janes performed approximately 11,000 underground abortions in Chicago. This rousing and emotional documentary looks at the extraordinary network of female activists helping others who were prisoners of the medical system at a time when women didn’t have access to birth control unless they were married. It puts faces to the stories and we see marches, miniskirts and familiar scenes of police officers using force against peaceful female protestors. You’ll wonder how much things have really changed. Photo Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
Meet Me In The Bathroom
The Strokes. LCD Soundsystem. Yeah Yeah Yeahs. For anyone who thinks of the early 2000s music scene as the glory days, this is one for you. The documentary/time capsule looks at the New York rock scene at the turn of the millennium and examines how the heady concoction of cheap Brooklyn rent and endless dive bars churned out some of the greatest bands we love to love. Enjoy with the sound turned up loud and a warm beer, as the rock gods intended. Photo Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
Sharp Stick
Lena Dunham is back and her next project is a coming-of-age film meets sex comedy. Sarah Jo (Kristine Froseth) is a sheltered 26-year-old – who had a radical hysterectomy at 15 – living with her deadpan, five-time divorcee mom, Marilyn (Jennifer Jason Leigh), and wannabe-influencer sister Treina (Taylour Paige). She makes it her aim to lose her virginity and embarks on an affair with a married man. It’s bound to be Dunham’s most personal project yet, especially considering the writer/director underwent a hysterectomy herself in her early 30s. Photo Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
Emily the Criminal
Everything Aubrey Plaza touches turns to gold – and this bleak, highly relatable crime thriller is at the top of our watch list. Emily’s dreams of being an artist have amounted to nothing more than a stressful waitressing job to make ends meet and mounting student loan debt. It’s no surprise she jumps at an opportunity to earn some quick cash; the only thing is, it’s technically credit card fraud. But it’s easy and only temporary, right? How far is she willing to go? Photo Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
Fresh
You’ll remember Daisy Edgar-Jones from beloved sob-fest Normal People. The Irish actress is back, alongside Pam & Tommy’s Sebastian Stan, navigating the dark side of modern dating. A pitch-black cocktail of social commentary and horror, we meet single woman Noa, who believes she’s met her Prince Charming on a dating app: reconstructive surgeon Steve. When he invites her on a weekend away, she realises he’s not all cookies and cream, and that’s when the gore starts. He’s a surgeon – you might be able to guess the rest… Photo Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
Phoenix Rising
Evan Rachel Wood has been commendably brave for going public with her experiences of sexual assault and abuse at the hands of Marilyn Manson – and this gruelling, two-part HBO documentary sees the actress tell her story in full. It’s certainly not an easy watch but delves into Wood’s inspiring creation of the Phoenix Act, which understands that survivors of domestic violence need time to break the cycle and extends the statute of limitations on domestic violence felonies from three to five years. Photo Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
Sirens
For any fans of We Are Lady Parts, this is one for you. The head-banging documentary follows guitarists Shery Bechara and Lilas Mayassi, who became Lebanon’s first all-female metal band with Slaves To Sirens. It shows their rollicking fight to stay together after a previous romance and is set against the backdrop of a country in ongoing social and political flux, where ingrained sexist and homophobic attitudes are still in place. Photo Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
Good Luck To You, Leo Grande
Nancy Stokes (queen Emma Thompson) is a lonely widow and retired schoolteacher yearning for some human connection and, well, sex. So she hires a sex worker for an afternoon of fun in an upmarket Norwich hotel room. It sounds cringe and crass but the result is a surprisingly tender comedy with a lot of things to say about sensuality, ageing and keeping the fire inside us alive. Photo Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
Master
Take a prestigious, historically white university built in the shadow of the Salem witch trials, add three new Black students trying to survive the semester and you’ll get Master – a thriller that certainly tips into the supernatural. Starring Regina Hall as longtime faculty member Gail, it ramps up the dread with stares, microaggressions and, later, straight-up racist vitriol. The horror is that the horror isn’t too far removed from reality. It’s a harrowing watch with Get Out vibes for sure. Photo Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
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