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Staff Picks: Must-Watch Indie Films
Too much choice, not enough time? Let the BFI Player team do the choosing.
Browse a hand-picked selection of standout movie suggestions our team can’t stop talking about. Our favourites, for your watchlist. Updated weekly.
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PressurePressure
Drama1978121 minsDirector: Horace Ové
Hailed as Britain's first black feature film, Pressure is a hard-hitting, honest document of the plight of disenchanted black youths in 1970s London.

Cléo from 5 to 7Cléo from 5 to 7
Drama196291 minsDirector: Agnès Varda
Agnes Varda’s classic character study follows a pop singer as she wanders around Paris awaiting the results of serious medical tests.

HolidayHoliday
Thriller201888 minsDirector: Isabella Eklöf
A lavish trip to the Turkish Riviera goes horribly awry in this disturbing tale of power, exploitation and complicity from the writer of Border.

TangerineTangerine
Drama201588 minsDirector: Sean Baker
A big-hearted film shot on a small phone, this LA tale of two transgender working girls out for vengeance fizzes with wild energy.

Before the Devil Knows You're DeadBefore the Devil Knows You're Dead
Thriller2008117 minsDirector: Sidney Lumet
Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke star as criminal brothers whose botched heist leads to escalating turmoil, in Sidney Lumet's twisty thriller.

Eastern CondorsEastern Condors
Crime198798 minsDirector: Sammo Hung Kam-bo
A high-kicking tribute to The Dirty Dozen, which sees ten convicts offered amnesty if they undertake a deadly mission behind enemy lines.

A White, White DayA White, White Day
Drama2019109 minsDirector: Hlynur Pálmason
Ingvar Sigurðsson gives a heart-breaking performance as widowed cop who becomes increasingly obsessed with his wife’s death.

The Day the Earth Caught FireThe Day the Earth Caught Fire
Science Fiction1961100 minsDirector: Val Guest
The BFI’s HD remaster of the British sci-fi classic. A journalist discovers that the Earth has been knocked off its axis and is moving ever closer to the sun. Is the Earth doomed?

Me without YouMe without You
Drama2001103 minsDirector: Sandra Goldbacher
Anna Friel and Michelle Williams star as two troubled girls whose tumultuous friendship takes many twists and turns.

MauriceMaurice
Drama1987140 minsDirector: James Ivory
Merchant Ivory’s landmark adaptation of E M Forster’s classic LGBTQ+ novel and a precursor to the James Ivory-scripted Call Me By Your Name.

Four MothersFour Mothers
Drama202389 minsDirector: Darren Thornton
Hilarious, uplifting tale of an Irish son juggling four very different mothers over one chaotic weekend in Dublin.

ScumScum
Drama197997 minsDirector: Alan Clarke
Director Alan Clarke examines the grim reality of borstal life in this searing remake of his previously banned television play.

PatersonPaterson
Comedy2016118 minsDirector: Jim Jarmusch
Adam Driver excels in this effortlessly charming tale of a bus driver poet in New Jersey, filmed with typically groovy elan by Jim Jarmusch.

Paris, TexasParis, Texas
Drama1984145 minsDirector: Wim Wenders
The late, great Harry Dean Stanton's finest role came as the near-mute Travis, on a journey across America to reunite his family, in Wim Wenders' moving tale of loss and redemption.

Four Adventures of Reinette and MirabelleFour Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle
Comedy198699 minsDirector: Eric Rohmer
Eric Rohmer's delightful, episodic account of the blossoming friendship between a gauche, highly opinionated country girl and a more laid-back Parisian student.

Red RoomsRed Rooms
Thriller2023118 minsDirector: Pascal Plante
The allure of the serial killer is explored in this deeply unsettling and unforgettable exploration of the impact of extreme violence.

Àma GloriaÀma Gloria
Drama202384 minsDirector: Marie Amachoukeli
Six-year-old Cléo spends a final summer with her beloved nanny Gloria, in this profoundly moving story of chosen family, duty and innocence lost.

Memories of MurderMemories of Murder
Detective drama2003131 minsDirector: Bong Joon Ho
A pair of detectives clash trying to solve the brutal murder of two women, in Bong Joon Ho’s masterful blend of true crime and dark social satire.

MM
Crime1931111 minsDirector: Fritz Lang
Peter Lorre is unforgettable as the compulsive child murderer on the run from both police and criminals alike, in Fritz Lang’s seminal crime film.

The HandmaidenThe Handmaiden
Period drama2016146 minsDirector: Park Chan-wook
Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, Stoker) channels Sarah Waters’ novel Fingersmith, to create a sumptuous twisty psychological thriller full of erotic intrigue.

Force MajeureForce Majeure
Drama2014120 minsDirector: Ruben Östlund
A gutless moment comes to define a man in this glorious comedy of unease from the creator of Triangle of Sadness.

TótemTótem
Drama202295 minsDirector: Lila Avilés
A poignant birthday party exposes a series of family tensions in Lila Avilés’ outstanding follow-up to The Chambermaid.

Ghost in the ShellGhost in the Shell
Animation & Artists Moving Image199583 minsDirector: Mamoru Oshii
Mamoru Oshii's beautifully animated and disturbingly prophetic anime classic about the hunt for a supreme hacker in a transhumanist dystopia.

La HaineLa Haine
Drama199598 minsDirector: Mathieu Kassovitz
Mathieu Kassovitz’s landmark mid-90s drama throws a cinematic Molotov cocktail at structural racism, police brutality and media manipulation.