Indie Film Release Guide: May 7th [An ONTD Original]
Mother’s Day weekend brings us several wide releases - Wrath of Man, Here Today, and The Water Man - along with another week of Scott Pilgrim vs the World in rerelease, and a truckload of new indies to choose from.
The films listed are from studios other than the “Big Six” - Paramount, Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, Universal, Columbia/Sony and Disney. Note that some of the movies listed are in their first week or two of limited release in the USA, so it may take them a few more weeks (or months) to show up in your local arthouse theater or on VOD. Check out the posts from the past few weeks for more movies that may have just opened near you: April 30th, April 23rd, and April 16th.
Mainstream
Click to viewStars: Andrew Garfield, Maya Hawke, Nat Wolff, Jason Schwartzman
Writer: Gia Coppola, Tom Stuart
Director: Gia Coppola
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Plot: In this cautionary tale, three people struggle to preserve their identities as they form an eccentric love triangle within the fast-moving internet age.
What you should know: This is writer/director Gia Coppola’s second feature film, after 2013’s Palo Alto.
Where to watch: Select theaters
Monster
Stars: Kelvin Harrison, Jr., John David Washington, Jennifer Ehle, Jeffrey Wright
Writer: Janece Shaffer, Colen C. Wiley
Director: Anthony Mandler
Genre: Crime, Drama
Plot: Steve Harmon is a seventeen-year-old honor student whose world comes crashing down around him when he is charged with felony murder. The film follows his dramatic journey from a smart, likeable film student from Harlem attending an elite high school through a complex legal battle that could leave him spending the rest of his life in prison.
What you should know: Based on the book by Walter Dean Myers.
Where to watch: Netflix
The Water Man
Stars: Rosario Dawson, Maria Bello, Alfred Molina, David Oyelowo
Writer: Emma Needell
Director: David Oyelowo
Genre: Adventure, Family, Drama
Plot: A boy sets out on a quest to save his ill mother by searching for a mythic figure said to have magical healing powers.
What you should know: This is actor/director David Oyelowo’s first feature film as a director.
Where to watch: Wide release
The Paper Tigers
Stars: Peter Adrian Sudarso, Yuji Okumoto, Ron Yuan, Yoshi Sudarso
Writer/Director: Quoc Bao Tran
Genre: Action, Comedy
Plot: Three Kung Fu prodigies have grown into washed-up, middle-aged men, now one kick away from pulling their hamstrings. But when their master is murdered, they must juggle their dead-end jobs, dad duties, and old grudges to avenge his death.
What you should know: This is writer/director Quoc Bao Tran’s first feature film.
Where to watch: Select theaters
In Our Mothers' Gardens
Director: Shantrelle P. Lewis
Genre: Documentary
Plot: Celebrates the strength and resiliency of Black women and Black families through the complex, and oftentimes humorous, relationship between mothers and daughters.
What you should know: From Ava DuVernays’ Array Now.
Where to watch: Netflix
The Columnist
Stars: Genio de Groot, Katja Herbers, Rein Hofman, Bram van der Kelen
Writer: Daan Windhorst
Director: Ivo van Aart
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Plot: Columnist and author Femke is flooded with anonymous nasty messages and death threats on social media. One day she has enough and decides to take revenge.
What you should know: The original Dutch title of the film is De Kuthoer, which, uh… doesn’t exactly translate to The Columnist.
Where to watch: In virtual cinemas, and available VOD.
Enfant Terrible
Stars: Oliver Masucci, Hary Prinz, Katja Riemann, Felix Hellman
Writer: Klaus Richter, Oskar Roehler
Director: Oskar Roehler
Genre: Biography, Drama
Plot: The life and the impact of iconic German New Wave director, Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
What you should know: It’s in German, French and English.
Where to watch: Select theaters; available VOD June 15th
Silo
Stars: Jeremy Holm, Jill Paice, Jack DiFalco, Jim Parrack
Writer: Marshall Burnette, Jason Williamson
Director: Marshall Burnette
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Plot: Disaster strikes when teenage Cody becomes the victim of a grain entrapment accident.
What you should know: This is writer/director Marshall Burnette’s first feature film, and it was inspired by true events.
Where to watch: Select theaters and virtual cinemas
Initiation
Stars: Froy Gutierrez, Lochlyn Munro, Yancy Butler, Jon Huertas
Writer: John Berardo, Brian Frager, Lindsay LaVanchy
Director: John Berardo
Genre: Crime, Horror, Mystery
Plot: Whiton University unravels the night a star-athlete is murdered, kicking off a spree of social media slayings that force students to uncover the truth behind the school's hidden secrets and the horrifying meaning of an exclamation point.
What you should know: Originally scheduled to premiere at SXSW 2020.
Where to watch: Available VOD
Above Suspicion
Stars: Emilia Clarke, Jack Huston, Sophie Lowe, Johnny Knoxville
Writer: Chris Gerolmo
Director: Phillip Noyce
Genre: Action, Biography, Crime
Plot: Based on the true story of one of the most notorious crimes in FBI history, a young woman desperate to escape a seedy life of crime and drugs in a Kentucky coal mining town is recruited as an informant for a high-profile FBI case.
What you should know: Based on the book by Joe Sharkey.
Where to watch: Select theaters, and available VOD
More New Releases
Here Today (Trailer) from Sony
Wrath of Man (Trailer) from MGM
Benny Loves You (Trailer)
Paper Tigers (Trailer)
Undergods (Trailer)
The Unthinkable (Trailer)
Locked In (Trailer)
State Funeral (Trailer)
New on Streaming
Greenland (Trailer) on HBO
Little Fish (Trailer) on Hulu
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What have you been watching lately, ONTD?