A Glean movie guide
Hidden Gems: The Best Recent Indie Cinema
Beyond the mainstream.
Discover the most creative, intimate, and overlooked films from the last few years.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
Hundreds of Beavers
A surreal, slapstick epic that uses silent-film magic to tell a wild tale of survival and beavers.
In the 19th century, a drunken applejack salesman must go from zero to hero and become North America's greatest fur trapper by defeating hundreds of beavers.
- 02
Sing Sing
A deeply moving look at the transformative power of art within the walls of a maximum-security prison.
Divine G, imprisoned at Sing Sing for a crime he didn't commit, finds purpose by acting in a theatre group alongside other incarcerated men in this story of resilience, humanity, and the transformative power of art.
- 03
Ghostlight
A tender drama about a construction worker finding healing through a local community theater production.
When a construction worker unexpectedly joins a local theater's production of Romeo and Juliet alongside his estranged teenage daughter, the drama onstage starts to mirror his own life.
- 04
Rye Lane
A visually stunning and witty romantic comedy that breathes fresh life into the 'walk and talk' genre.
Two twenty-somethings, both reeling from bad break-ups, connect over the course of an eventful day in South London – helping each other deal with their nightmare exes, and potentially restoring their faith in romance.
- 05
The Artifice Girl
A sharp, dialogue-driven sci-fi that tackles the ethics of AI through a gripping chamber-drama lens.
A team of special agents discovers a revolutionary new computer program to bait and trap online predators. After teaming up with the program's troubled developer, they soon find that the AI is rapidly advancing beyond its original purpose.
- 06
The Quiet Girl
A breathtakingly intimate Irish-language film about a young girl finding a sense of home for the first time.
A quiet, neglected girl is sent away from her dysfunctional family to live with relatives for the summer. She blossoms in their care, but in this house where there are meant to be no secrets, she discovers one.
- 07
Fremont
A stylish, black-and-white deadpan comedy about an Afghan translator finding her footing in California.
Donya, a lonely Afghan refugee and former translator, spends her twenties drifting through a meager existence in Fremont, California. Shuttling between her job writing fortunes for a fortune cookie factory and sessions with her eccentric therapist, Donya suffers from insomnia and survivor's guilt over those still left behind in Kabul as she desperately searches for love.
- 08
Scrapper
A vibrant and imaginative debut following a resourceful young girl living on her own terms in London.
A resourceful 12-year-old, who secretly lives alone in her flat in a working-class suburb of London, makes money stealing bikes with her best friend Ali and keeps the social workers off her back by pretending to live with an uncle. But when her estranged father turns up out of the blue, she's forced to confront reality.
- 09
Mass
An emotionally staggering chamber piece that explores grief and forgiveness through a single conversation.
Two couples meet for a painful and raw conversation in the aftermath of a violent tragedy.
- 10
How to Blow Up a Pipeline
A high-stakes environmental thriller that plays like a heist movie with a radical heart.
A crew of young environmental activists execute a daring mission to sabotage an oil pipeline.
- 11
The Novice
A visceral psychological thriller that captures the grueling physical and mental toll of competitive rowing.
A college freshman joins her university's rowing team and undertakes an obsessive physical and psychological journey to make it to the top varsity boat, no matter the cost.
- 12
Janet Planet
A quiet, observational masterpiece about the complex bond between a mother and daughter over one summer.
In rural Western Massachusetts, 11-year-old Lacy spends the summer of 1991 at home, enthralled by her own imagination and the attention of her mother, Janet. As the months pass, three visitors enter their orbit, all captivated by Janet.