Subscription
Classic American Indie
Celebrating the outsiders and mavericks whose independent methods rewrote the rulebook for American cinema.
This collection features both landmark features from, and illuminating documentaries about, some of the movement’s key practitioners, including Kenneth Anger, John Cassavetes, Gregg Araki and John Waters. Told together their stories are testimony to a movement that changed the way Hollywood operates and revitalised American cinema.
Subscribe to watch
Enjoy subscription-only classic and cult films from across the decades. Free for 14 days, then £4.99 a month - cancel any time

Out of the BlueOut of the Blue
Drama198096 minsDirector: Dennis Hopper
Directed by Dennis Hopper (Easy Rider) this story of a blue-collar family coming apart features an astonishing performance from Linda Manz (Days of Heaven).

BallastBallast
Drama200796 minsDirector: Lance Hammer
Three haunted souls are thrust into co-existence in this searing debut work from Lance Hammer, a double prize winner at the Sundance Film Festival.

LuckyLucky
Drama201688 minsDirector: John Carroll Lynch
Harry Dean Stanton gives the performance of a lifetime as an irascible nonagenarian maverick grappling with his mortality.

Listen Up PhilipListen Up Philip
Drama2014109 minsDirector: Alex Ross Perry
Jason Schwartzman is a hotshot writer with pathological intimacy problems in this caustic comedy of over-achievement.

Spanking the MonkeySpanking the Monkey
Comedy199495 minsDirector: David O. Russell
David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook) made his feature debut in 1994 with this biting black comedy, which caused a stir with its incestuous subplot and portrayal of adolescent restlessness.

Dark HorseDark Horse
Drama201186 minsDirector: Todd Solondz
Todd Solondz directs Selma Blair and Jordan Gelber in this delightfully dark satire as romance blooms between a toy collector and a depressed woman.

Frozen RiverFrozen River
Crime200893 minsDirector: Courtney Hunt
Nominated for two Oscars (Best Actress – Melissa Leo - and Best Original Screenplay) Frozen River is a riveting thriller that raises questions about the borders we construct, between countries, communities and each other.

Heaven Knows WhatHeaven Knows What
Drama201497 minsDirector: Joshua Safdie
From the directors of Good Time, this electrifying drama about a homeless addict on the streets of New York pulsates with a dark, raw energy.

Assault on Precinct 13Assault on Precinct 13
Police drama197691 minsDirector: John Carpenter
Besieged in an abandoned police station, a lone cop and his skeleton staff recruit a condemned killer from the cells in a desperate battle to survive the night, in John Carpenter's brutal and unrelenting cult classic.

King of New YorkKing of New York
Crime1990103 minsDirector: Abel Ferrara
Christopher Walken is the dogged drug-lord determined to keep his empire together, in Abel Ferrara's brutally gritty crime thriller.

Who Loves the SunWho Loves the Sun
Comedy200694 minsDirector: Matt Bissonnette
Lukas Haas and Adam Scott play two old friends with a tempestuous history in this delightfully witty character comedy.

SocietySociety
Horror198999 minsDirector: Brian Yuzna
A teenager uncovers an elite ritualistic society in Brian Yuzna's stomach-churning mix of body-horror and social commentary.

I Am DivineI Am Divine
Documentary201390 minsDirector: Jeffrey Schwarz
A unique documentary about a unique person – follow Divine’s life from humble Baltimore beginnings to superstar status as the Queen of Cult.

Interior. Leather Bar.Interior. Leather Bar.
201360 minsDirector: James Franco
James Franco and Travis Mathews recreate explicit footage cut, rumoured to be lost, from one of the most notorious gay features ever made.

The Killing of a Chinese BookieThe Killing of a Chinese Bookie
Gangster1976109 minsDirector: John Cassavetes
John Cassavetes’s uncompromising character study of a gangster, with Ben Gazzara as the small-time club owner whose life begins to spin out of control.

VivaViva
Sex comedy2008116 minsDirector: Anna Biller
Anna Biller's outrageous sexploitation satire follows bored housewife Barbi as she searches for adventure in predatory 1970s Los Angeles.

ShadowsShadows
Drama195982 minsDirector: John Cassavetes
John Cassavetes' directorial debut follows the relationship between a mixed-race woman and a white man.

Opening NightOpening Night
Drama1977144 minsDirector: John Cassavetes
John Cassavetes’s emotionally charged film stands as one of the great American movies about theatre and the art of performance.

Pink NarcissusPink Narcissus
Fantasy197165 minsDirector: James Bidgood
With its highly charged hallucinogenic quality, its atmosphere of lush decadence, and its explicit erotic power, Pink Narcissus is a landmark of gay cinema.

HoneydripperHoneydripper
Drama2007124 minsDirector: John Sayles
Acclaimed writer-director John Sayles brings the birth of rock 'n' roll to life with electrifying effect, with Danny Glover heading up a stellar cast.

SutureSuture
Thriller199496 minsDirector: Scott Mcgehee
David Siegel and Scott McGehee's sumptuously shot neo-noir is a moody, monochrome meditation on race and identity politics.

Why We FightWhy We Fight
Documentary200499 minsDirector: Eugene Jarecki
An unflinching and award-winning look at the anatomy of American war-making.

A Woman Under the InfluenceA Woman Under the Influence
Drama1974146 minsDirector: John Cassavetes
John Cassavetes's powerful drama stars Gena Rowlands and Peter Falk as a blue-collar couple struggling to cope with the wife's slide into mental illness.

White of the EyeWhite of the Eye
Thriller1986111 minsDirector: Donald Cammell
British visionary Donald Cammell directs this kaleidoscopic, highly stylised thriller about a series of brutal murders in an isolated desert community.

Short Term 12Short Term 12
Drama201397 minsDirector: Destin Daniel Cretton
A care-worker is confronted by a troubled teen whose case history provokes an unwelcome reminder of her own concealed and traumatic past.

Night MovesNight Moves
Thriller2013113 minsDirector: Kelly Reichardt
Jesse Eisenberg and Dakota Fanning star in a taut political thriller about radical environmentalists planning to commit an act of eco-terrorism.

FacesFaces
Drama1968130 minsDirector: John Cassavetes
Richard and his wife Maria seek solace from their disintegrating marriage in the arms of other lovers in John Cassavetes's powerful 1968 feature.