Must Watch British Indie Films
It’s not a secret that indie films have already won the hearts of their admirers. However, a lot of people associate indie projects with the modest-budget production, which doesn’t always result in a high-quality film that’s worth viewing.
But indie films are not only about the production level and the rank of the actors involved. They are about the novelty, uniqueness, and the artistic expression that touches your mind and soul in a surprising, yet thrilling way.
The best ones have the power to glue the audience to the screen, show sincere, humoristic, loving, realistic, psychological, mysterious stories that won’t leave the viewers indifferent to the characters and will be remembered for a long time. These indie films express the unconventional vision and shine the light on the issues big production companies normally don’t concentrate on when choosing the storylines for their projects.
If you’re into watching indie films or would love to explore the world of the independent film production, here is a list of the must-watch British indie films you may start with.
- That Good Night (2017)
This tragic love story is about Ralph (John Hurt), a former famous screenwriter, who’s now in his seventies and suffers from an illness. As he became ill, the screenwriter decided that he has only two things left to do before passing away: to renew a friendly relationship with his son and to make sure that he will not burden his devoted, loving wife as he goes “into that good night”.
The events of the film are revolving around the remote hilltop of the Portuguese coastline, bringing up the dramatic issues of euthanasia, life and death, and our attitude to it.
The film was produced by GSP Studios, partially funded by Red Rock Entertainment and directed by Eric Styles.
2. Life of Brian (1979)
Life of Brian became a box-office film and was recognized by some critics as “the best comedy of all times”. It’s an independent British comedy which tells the story of a young man, who was born on the same day as Jesus and is mistaken for the Messiah. The film is full of religious satire, thus, when it was released, it was met with the disapproval by certain religious groups and even banned in some countries. However, bringing down the criticism not on Christ, but rather his fanatic followers, the producers managed to create a story that resonated with the wide audience and managed to secure a decent profit from its screening and distribution.
3. Nowhere Boy (2012)
The film describes the life of John Lennon in his teenage years. It unveils the story of Lennon’s reunion with his mother and the start of his enduring friendship with a young man called Paul McCartney, who eventually turned into his Beatles bandmate.
4. Lady Macbeth (2016)
Despite its title, this British drama doesn’t reveal the relationship between the husband and wife with the ruthless ambitions. Based on the novel of Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District by Nikolai Leskov, this film is about a woman of the 19th century, who suffered from the loveless marriage with a much older dull man. As he turned her life into a depressing routine with a strict schedule, she experienced a whole new range of emotions during her relationship with a man of her own age.
5. The Lobster (2015)
An absurdist dystopian love story that unfolds in the near future, where single people are arrested and sent to a spooky hotel. There, they have to find a significant other in 45 days. If they do not succeed, they are turned into animals and have to roam around the forests surrounding cities and resorts. Even if the plot seems strange and doesn’t intrigue you at all, the film is worth watching only because of the incredible Colin Farrell’s character.
6. London Heist (2017)
London Heist is about a man called Jack Cregan, career criminal, family man and viscious armed robber, who is on a mission for revenge. When Jack´s father Alfie is brutally murdered and the money from the Heathrow airport heist stolen, Jack, his cousin Sammy and the other gang members Eddie and Frank, realise there is more to the stolen money and Alfie´s murder than meets the eye — and once Jack begins to dig, he knows that his life will never be the same again.
7. Tell Tale Heart (2017)
The Tell-Tale Heart is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe first published in 1843. It is told by an unnamed narrator who endeavours to convince the reader of his sanity, whilst describing a murder he committed. The victim was an old man with a filmy “vulture eye”, as the narrator calls it. The murder is carefully calculated, and the murderer hides the body by dismembering it and hiding it under the floorboards.
8. High-Rise (2015)
Before he was even known as Taylor Swift’s summer boyfriend, Tom Hiddleston starred in this dystopian drama about the class warfare contained in a single apartment building. The plot develops in a luxury tower block during the 1970s. The infrasructure of this building consists of all luxurious amenities one can imagine, and thus, when the heroes get exposed to the imperfections of the outside world, they start to distance themselves from it. But soon, the tensions between the tower block residents unfold and the infrastructure begins to fail, turning into the pure chaos.
9. Sing Street (2016)
This touching musical comedy-drama film is an adorable story of a teen who creates a band to get the girl. He stumbles upon something that makes him truly happy — and that could offer him a ticket out of his small town.
10. Love & Friendship (2016)
Based on Jane Austen’s novel, this comedy film follows the beautiful young widow Lady Susan Vernon (Kate Beckinsale) as she arrives at the estate of the deceased husband’s family. She settles in to wait until the high society stops gossiping about her adventures, and figure out how to fix her financial situation. Without wasting time, she decides to find a rich husband for herself and her young daughter. For this matter, she uses not only her beauty and charm, but also a sharp, mocking mind and an incredible talent to weave the intrigue.
