Subscription

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.

Read more Close

Special offer: Save £15

Subscribe annually today using voucher code SUMMER50

Enjoy a year of streaming for just £50 (usually £65). Includes a 14-day free trial for new customers.

Subscribe to watch

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.

Subscribe to watch

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.

Subscribe to watch

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.

Subscribe to watch

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.

Subscribe to watch

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.

Subscribe to watch

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.

Subscribe to watch

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.

Subscribe to watch

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?

Subscribe to watch

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.

Subscribe to watch

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.

Subscribe to watch

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.

Subscribe to watch

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.

Subscribe to watch

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.

Subscribe to watch

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.

Subscribe to watch

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.

Subscribe to watch

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.

Subscribe to watch

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.

Subscribe to watch

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.

Subscribe to watch

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.

Subscribe to watch

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.

Subscribe to watch

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.

Subscribe to watch

TótemTótem

Drama202295 minsDirector: Lila Avilés

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

Subscribe to watch

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.

Subscribe to watch

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.