The 11 Indie Films You Must See This March
#1. It Follows (March 13)
(Film Page)
Director: David Robert Mitchell
Cast: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Daniel Zovatto, Jake Weary, Olivia Luccardi, Lili Sepe
Criticwire Average: A-
Why is it a “Must See”? Director David Robert Mitchell follows up “The Myth of the American Sleepover” with an expressionistic teen horror movie that’s like nothing else. While “Myth of the American Sleepover” took the whiny young archetypes of a John Hughes movie in an expressionistic direction, “It Follows” turns to eighties teen slashers of the “Halloween” and “Nightmare on Elm Street” variety while elevating them to a more abstract plane, rendering the looming threat of adulthood in ominous terms.
#2. While We’re Young (March 27)
(Film Page)
Director: Noah Baumbach
Cast: Ben Stiller, Amanda Seyfried, Naomi Watts, Charles Grodin
Criticwire Average: B+
Why is it a “Must See”? Noah Baumbach’s witty portrait of a documentarian coming to grips with his age is the filmmaker’s most accessible comedy to date. It engages in a provocative dialog with Baumbach’s previous film, “Frances Ha,” which magnified the travails of being young and directionless. “While We’re Young” flips the equation and is, in fact, a perceptive ode to getting old.
#3. Jauja (March 20)
(Film Page)
Director: Lisandro Alonso
Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Ghita Nørby, Viilbjork Agger Malling, Adrian Fondari, Esteban Bigliardi, Brian Patterson
Criticwire Average: B+
Why is it a “Must See”? The film won the International Federation of Film Critics prize at Cannes. A sweeping Western set in the late 1800s, “Jauja” has received advanced praise from critics for its haunting imagery and Mortensen’s lead performance.
#4. Seymour: An Introduction (March 13)
(Film Page)
Director: Ethan Hawke
Cast: Seymour Bernstein
Criticwire Average: A-
Why is it a “Must See”? Ethan Hawke’s career is distinguished by contemplative roles, notably the ones associated with Richard Linklater, though in his limited output as a director — the two narrative dramas “Chelsea Walls” and “The Hottest State” — he hasn’t found the same degree of perceptive material. But that has changed with his endearing documentary “Seymour: An Introduction,” a sweetly affecting portrait of creative genius existing outside of marketplace concerns that may as well serve as the actor’s mission statement.
#5. Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (March 18)
(Film Page)
Director: David Zellner
Cast: Rinko Kikuchi, Nathan Zellner, David Zellner
Criticwire Average: A-
Why is it a “Must See”? Austin-based sibling directors David and Nathan Zellner have been cranking out offbeat, surrealist comedy features and shorts that have gained a minor cult following on the film festival circuit for over a decade, but the profoundly engaging “Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter” successfully broadens their sensibilities. Anchored by the remarkably sensitive presence of lead actress Rinko Kikuchi in every scene, the Zellners’ elegant portrait of an alienated Japanese woman intent on discovering the fictional buried treasure from “Fargo” elevates its zany premise to poetic heights.
#6. She’s Lost Control (March 20)
(Film Page)
Director: Anja Marquardt
Cast: Brooke Bloom, Marc Menchaca, Robert Longstreet, Dennis Boutsikaris, Laila Robins, Tobias Segal, Roxanne Day, Ryan Homchick, Robert Longstreet
Criticwire Average: B+
Why is it a “Must See”? From the opening minutes of “She’s Lost Control,” it’s clear that Anja Marquardt’s portrait of a sex surrogate in New York City will take its subject matter seriously, using a studied manner that gives the material fresh context. With Brooke Bloom’s central performance giving the movie its dramatic anchor, “She’s Lost Control” strikes a fascinating mood between slow-building angst and cold remove not unlike the Joy Division song that provides its title.
#7. Buzzard (March 6)
(Film Page)
Director: Joel Potrykus
Cast: Joshua Burge, Joel Potrykus, Teri Ann Nelson, Alan Longstreet, Rico Bruce Wade, Katie Call, Joe Anderson, Chris Kotcher, Michael Cunningham, TRPL BLK
Criticwire Average: A-
Why is it a “Must See”? “It features the sexiest spaghetti-eating scene since ‘Lady and the Tramp.'” So says Oscilloscope Laboratories’ Dan Berger and David Laub of “Buzzard,” a film about a scam-artist who ends up drifting to Detroit.
#8. White God (March 27)
(Film Page)
Director: Kornél Mundruczó
Cast: Zsófia Psotta, Sándor Zsótér, Lili Horváth, Szabolcs Thuróczy, Lili Monori, László Gálffi, Ervin Nagy, Kornél Mundruczó, Hagen
Criticwire Average: B-
Why is it a “Must See”? Winner of the Un Certain Regard Award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the drama centers around a young girl who is forced to give up her beloved dog, Hagen, because of his mixed-breed heritage. As the two embark on a dangerous journey back to one another, Hagen rallies all of the unwanted mutts to join him in a rebellion to bite the hands that used to feed them.
#9. Merchants of Doubt (March 6)
(Film Page)
Director: Robert Kenner
Cast: Naomi Oreskes, Bob Inglis, James Hansen, Stan Glantz, Marc Morano, Patricia Callahan, Sam Roe, Jamy Ian Swiss, John Passacantando
Criticwire Average: B
Why is it a “Must See”? Documentarian Robert Kenner (“Food, Inc.”) investigates the shadowy world of professional skeptics, whose services are bought and paid for by corporations, think tanks and other special interests to cast doubt and delay public and governmental action on climate change.
#10. The Riot Club (March 27)
(Film Page)
Director: Lone Scherfig
Cast: Natalie Dormer, Sam Claflin, Jessica Brown Findlay, Max Irons, Douglas Booth, Holliday Grainger
Criticwire Average: C+
Why is it a “Must See”? Lone Scherfig came to international attention thanks to the success of “An Education,” though her followup “One Day,” was disappointing. Her new film, a scathing dissection of the British class system, tells the story of a privileged young man who is inducted into the exclusive, debaucherous company of Oxford’s elite “Riot Club.”
#11. Man From Reno (March 27)
(Film Page)
Director: Dave Boyle
Cast: Ayako Fujitani, Pepe Serna, Kazuki Kitamura
Criticwire Average: B
Why is it a “Must See”? Dave Boyle’s neo-noir won Best Narrative Feature at the 2014 Los Angeles Film Festival. Praised by the jury for examining “barriers of age, language and success, set against a noir plot line infuses a pop energy into the well observed portrayal of its unique characters.”
