The home stretch of 2017 is upon us, a time for winter festivities, holiday celebrations, and best of all, Awards season for cinema. The summer blockbusters now fill the shelves at department stores and the flicks of the dreary box office Autumnal months disappear, succinctly forgotten. Soon, theaters will be packed with moviegoers in ripe anticipation for the greatest films of the year. The slate is chock full of beloved promises, both on a grand scale (The Last Jedi) and small stage (The Disaster Artist). Quality assurance almost guaranteed.
Before we delve into the beauty of Oscar season, however, let’s quickly review 2017’s finest indie films that may have slipped through the cracks. There’s been no shortage of prestige cinema and it’s important to shine the spotlight on the small slices of the independent industry.
The Big Sick
A classic romantic comedy with a refreshing spin on characters, Kumail Nanjiani and Zoe Kazan come together in The Big Sick and deliver 2017’s funniest flick. Holly Hunter and Ray Romano round out the impeccably cast and performed lineup of quirky lovers and multilayered human beings. Michael Showalter’s direction blends the true-story inspired script with deep rooted emotion. One of this year’s finest screenplays, the heart of the story sticks to the theme of “in sickness and in health,” and reflects on the human reaction to both.
Good Time
The Safdie brother’s crime thriller took Cannes by storm, and swirled into theaters in late summer. The atmosphere is sparked by a neon New York pulse, saturated with grit, and cemented in edge-of-your-seat realism. Robert Pattinson turns in a career defining performance, and the movie could claim best original score and best cinematography of the year. As one reviewer on Letterboxd interpreted it: “Imagine your worst panic attack. Times it by 100. Five stars.”
Stronger
A soft exposure to not what happens during disaster or tragedy, but how it affects the common human being, Stronger manages to avoid the cliches of biographical redemption fairytales and deliver a powerful, spiritual gut punch. Exploiting local tragedy can be difficult to manage, but David Gordon Green gives good grace to an inspirational man of memory. Both Jake Gyllenhaal and Tatiana Maslany deserve any awards talk they may find themselves in, channeling saturated yet minimal performances.
The Killing Of A Sacred Deer
Yorgos Lanthimos’ newest black comedy revenge thriller can best be summed up as tension stitched into madness of the coldest blood. Little can be said to step around spoilers, and the film works best when each scene is a surprise. Convulsive and alcoholic, Sacred Deer never steers from unbelievable to unwatchable whilst constantly scratching its nails on the chalkboard of grotesque, weird cinema. The cast marvels in their deadpan, quirky settings, the camera capturing each image with careful sterility. By the time the credits role, you’ll only be left with the brilliance of satirical renderings of guilt.
Wind River
Jeremy Renner’s stoic yet thoughtful character, Cory Lambert, says “Out here, you survive or you surrender. Period.” He not only encapsulates the terrors of the unknown American frontier, but the sense of dread and mystery within the film itself. Taylor Sheridan’s directorial debut shines light on a subject that needs to be shared, complete with atmospheric perfection. Wind River is masterful storytelling, a visceral portrait of the human spirit enduring pain, both in the short-term and long-haul.
The Florida Project
Basked in soft serve sunlight and youthful innocence, The Florida Project tugs at the heart strings while telling a narrative in a part of the world that doesn’t normally get its narrative told. The ensemble of non-actors spark a life into the Orlando wonderland. Realism drips through the performances, the locations, the dialogue, and especially the accuracy of kids in their self-subscribed worlds. Alongside brilliant filmmaking and evocative storytelling, The Florida Project provides one of the most important themes of all: you can remove a child from their childhood, but you cannot remove childhood from the child. It’s eternal.
Now, here’s to the next wave of independent cinema set to keep blessing 2017’s lineup of incredible films.
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