The 11 Must-See Indie Films of Summer 2016

In recent years, “blockbuster fatigue” has gone from a rumored social phenomenon into a diagnosable medical condition. As summer blockbusters have gotten bigger and bigger, certain audience members – longing for any film without scenes of superbeings firing CGI at one another – have begun to more and more passionately seek out the occasional salve. And while Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Cemetary of Splendour might carry you a month or two, a regular injection of daring cinematic art is perhaps more effective.

Luckily, daring things are happening all the time in the world of indie film, and the Summer of 2016 has seen the glorious return of some notable arthouse directors, and the debuts of certain auteurs to look out for. Thrills and spills and chases and escapes are all well and good, but occasionally, these people will provide us with angst, abstract terror, misery, antisocial behavior, period romance, and characters who are at risk of turning into lobsters. This is why we go to the movies. 

Also: The 12 Must-See Mainstream Films of Summer 2016

If you live in L.A. or New York, you will likely have ready access to the cinemas playing the following 11 films. If not, then you have something to seek out through home video or streaming services in the post-summer season. Either way, you are henceforth offered that most valuable of cinematic resources: variety. 

The 11 Must-See Indie Films of Summer 2016

Top Photo: Amazon Studios

Witney Seibold is a contributor to the CraveOnline Film Channel, and the co-host of The B-Movies Podcast and Canceled Too Soon. He also contributes to Legion of Leia and to Blumhouse. You can follow him on “The Twitter” at @WitneySeibold, where he is slowly losing his mind.

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