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Your quick weekly guide to notable indie film releases.

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Each week, I highlight five indie films worth knowing about, three in theaters, one on demand, and one classic. Here are this week’s picks

HOKUM
In theaters now

What it is
Directed by Damian McCarthy, Hokum follows a reclusive horror novelist who travels to a remote Irish inn to scatter his parents’ ashes. What starts as a grief-soaked retreat turns into something far stranger when the inn’s stories about a witch begin to feel less like folklore and more like a threat closing in around him.

Why it stands out
Adam Scott is a great fit for this kind of slow-burn dread, and the setup sounds built for atmosphere rather than jump-scare overload. Premiering at SXSW, it looks like a horror film where grief is not just backstory, it is the thing that gives the haunting its shape.

OUR LAND
In theaters now

What it is
Directed by Lucrecia Martel, Our Land is a documentary about the 2009 killing of Indigenous community leader Javier Chocobar during an attempted eviction in northern Argentina. The film follows the long fight that comes after, as the community pushes back against delay, denial, and a legal system that seems built to exhaust them.

Why it stands out
This is not just a courtroom or issue documentary. It sounds like a film about land, power, and the way institutions drag out justice until delay becomes its own form of violence. Martel’s eye for landscape and politics should make this one hit hard.

THE LAST ONE FOR THE ROAD
In theaters now

What it is
Directed by Francesco Sossai, The Last One for the Road follows two middle-aged drinking buddies who pull a shy architecture student into their wandering day across the Italian countryside. What unfolds is part road movie, part accidental mentorship, as talk, booze, and old disappointments start loosening everyone up.

Why it stands out
The appeal here is character, rhythm, and voice. The two older men sound ridiculous and oddly wise in equal measure, and the film seems more interested in mood, companionship, and drifting identity than in conventional plot. This feels like a good lane for anyone who likes funny, melancholic European indies.

The latest episode of Indie Film Weekly covers all five picks in more detail, in about 10 minutes.

JANET PLANET
Now on demand

What it is
Directed by Annie Baker, Janet Planet is set in rural western Massachusetts during the summer of 1991 and follows Lacy, an eleven-year-old girl deeply attached to her mother, Janet. The film watches their home life through quiet, specific moments as different adults drift through Janet’s orbit and Lacy tries to make sense of the grown-up world by studying it up close.

Why it stands out
Julianne Nicholson sounds excellent here, playing Janet with warmth and complexity rather than turning her into a stock eccentric mother figure. This looks like a film that trusts small moments and emotional observation, which is usually a very good sign

CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS
Classic pick of the week

What it is
Directed by Werner Herzog, Cave of Forgotten Dreams is a 3D documentary shot inside the Chauvet Cave in southern France, home to some of the oldest known human paintings. With rare access to a site closed to the public, Herzog and his crew move carefully through the cave’s narrow chambers, bringing viewers face to face with art made tens of thousands of years ago.

Why it stands out
The hook is not just history; it is the feeling of proximity. Herzog turns the experience of looking into something eerie, moving, and almost surreal, as modern viewers confront evidence of ancient imagination at full scale. It recently had a theatrical re-release, so find it in a theater near you!.

Circus Road Films helps independent filmmakers with festival strategy, US film sales, and distribution consulting.

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