This post originally appeared on the DVD Netflix blog “Inside the Envelope.” That company folded in 2023, and the blog was shut down, but you might find some good stuff here.
Independent films can often bring an audience much closer to their characters than big-budget films produced by major studios. This is especially true of independent dramas. Independent filmmakers often have more freedom to express their individual styles and are able to small budgets stretch. Often, you’ll find indie films at local, independent movie theaters, but many smaller cities (like my own) aren’t lucky enough to have one. That’s where DVD Netflix comes in. Its vast library makes it easy to bring independent films of all flavors into your living room.
Here are a dozen independent dramas worth renting.
Room – 2015 (R)
During the past decade, many cases of long-term abductions around the world have made the news. These inspired a fictional story in which a young woman is kidnapped and placed in a windowless room for five years. Giving birth in captivity, Joy raises her son in primitive conditions and keeps him safe from her abductor. Eventually, she must plot her escape, but freedom won’t come easily. Room stars Brie Larson and Sean Bridgers and is based on the novel of the same name by Emma Donoghue.
Boyhood – 2014 (R)
Only in independents could a movie be filmed in just 45 of the more than 4,000 days between 2002 to 2013. In this family drama we follow the development of a boy from the age of 7 to 19, so the character grows at the same rate of the actor. It takes patience and commitment to carry out a film project that long. Richard Linklater possesses those qualities and so do the principal actors, Ellar Coltrane, Ethan Hawke, and Patricia Arquette.
Luce – 2019 (R)
Octavia Spencer and Naomi Watts star in Luce, a film that explores dangerous stereotypes. Watts plays a mother who adopted Luce from war-torn Eritrea. It seems to be a success story, with Luce taking his place as a star athlete and champion debater, until a teacher (Spencer) makes a startling discover in his locker, which threatens his promising future.
Carol – 2015 (R)
Independent dramas often explore sensitive topics including those prominent throughout history. In Carol, a wealthy, married socialite (Cate Blanchett) and a store clerk (Rooney Mara) become friends, and then much more. That’s a problem in the 1950s, and it could cause Carol to lose custody of her child. Carol is an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel, The Price of Salt.
Melancholia – 2011 (R)
Combine family drama with a bit of science fiction and you have Melancholia starring Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg. They play sisters trying to preserve their relationship while a newly discovered planet hurtles toward Earth. Veteran actress Charlotte Rampling plays their mother. This film has a dreamlike quality throughout, and you might find yourself feeling a bit unsettled by its end.
Before Sunrise – 1995 (R)
What’s better than one movie filmed over an 11-year period as in Boyhood? How about three movies filmed ten years apart? In Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise, a young man and women meet by chance on a train and spend a day walking and talking through the streets of Vienna, promising to meet at the same place in six months. That doesn’t happen, but ten years later, they reconnect in Paris in Before Sunset. A decade later, we find them in Greece in Before Midnight. The main characters, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy expertly portray characters involved in a compelling, evolving, and sometimes rocky, relationship.
Philomena – 2013 (PG-13)
Based on journalist Martin Sixsmith’ memoir, this film takes on the subject Irish adoptions in the 1950s. Philomena (Judi Dench) wants to find the son whom she gave up for adoption nearly 50 years prior and Sixsmith (Steve Coogan) reluctantly agrees to help her, intending to write a human-interest story. Although Philomena is somewhat exasperating, the two become dear friends through this journey.
Strange Weather – 2017 (R)
Holly Hunter stars in Strange Weather as the grieving mother of a young man who committed suicide. She feels that if his friend hadn’t stolen his restaurant concept, which made millions, he might still be alive. She and her friend take a road trip to confront the friend and settle the score.
Nebraska – 2013 (R)
This father/son road-trip drama stars Bruce Dern and Will Forte. Woody (the father) is an elderly alcoholic who has received a notice that he’s won a mega-million-dollar sweepstakes, and even though his son, David, tells him it’s all a scam, Woody is determined to travel from Montana to Nebraska to claim his prize, even if he has to walk.
The Way – 2010 (PG-13)
Think Appalachian or Pacific Crest Trail as a pilgrimage and you’ll get a feel for the 500-mile Camino de Santiago route through northern Spain. It is also known as the Way of St. James, hence the title of the movie, which stars Martin Sheen as a grieving father. Tom’s son, Daniel (played by real-life son Emilio Estevez), died while walking the trail, and Tom decides to walk it to try to gain some insight into his son’s life.
