We're in full support of grabbing some popcorn and streaming blockbuster action films like The Avengers or Mad Max Fury Road, but occasionally our moods dictate an under-the-radar indie film. Thankfully, Netflix has a fully stocked selection of some of the best indie films from the past decade, and these 25 films offer a whole plethora of amazing plots and performances.
This film got all sorts of attention at the Sundance Film Festival, so you know it's worth watching. In I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore, Melanie Lynskey plays a depressed nurse who teams up with her neighbour (played by Elijah Wood) to find the man who robbed her home.
We can get down with anything that has to do with The Beatles, but this biopic of John Lennon's teenage years is phenomenal in its own right. Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays a young Lennon in Nowhere Boy exceptionally well, and we think you'll agree.
Director Noah Baumbach (of The Meyerowitz Stories and Frances Ha) has been giving us a steady stream of great indie movies for some time now. While We're Young, starring Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Adam Driver, and Amanda Seyfriend, is another amazing addition to his list that will leave you enchanted.
Blue Is The Warmest Colour continues to top must-see lists because of its beautiful attention to a heartfelt love story between two young women. Not to mention, it was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globes.
We have a feeling we don't have to twist your arm to get you to watch a film starring Ryan Gosling, but we'll still state our case. Half Nelson stars the actor as a drug-addicted history teacher who befriends one of his students. It earned Gosling his first Oscar nomination.
If you're looking for a movie that will inspire you to get up off your couch and start dancing, Sing Street is the indie film for you. It tells the story of an Irish schoolboy in 1980s Dublin who starts a band to impress a woman, and the soundtrack is unmatched.
It's hard to believe Fruitvale Station was Ryan Coogler's directorial debut because it is a masterpiece. Based on a true story, Michael B. Jordan portrays Oscar Grant, a man from Hayward, California, who is shot and killed by a police officer.
We don't have to tell you how amazing Greta Gerwig is, and her role as Frances, a dancer in New York City forced to confront her life path when her best friend moves out, will have a lasting impact on you. Frances Ha is a black and white film that still manages to be timeless.
Mudbound tells the story of a black family and a white family in postwar Mississippi forced to confront the tense, brutal realities of racism and prejudice. It stars Mary J. Blige and Carey Mulligan, and earned four Oscar nominations.
To The Bone stars Lily Collins as a young anorexic woman going through her fifth trip to an inpatient rehab facility. It is emotional and controversial, but it's an important film to see.
In her directorial debut, Mr. Roosevelt, Noël Wells also plays the role of Emily, a struggling comedian who returns to Texas to take care of her beloved cat. While there, she is forced the encounter her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend.
Netflix original Tallulah packs a serious punch. Ellen Page plays a drifter who kidnaps a baby from a neglectful situation and pretends the child is hers when confronted by her absent boyfriend's mother (played by Allison Janney).
You've probably heard the story of Christine Chubbuck, a young broadcast news journalist who killed herself on live television. They never truly uncovered a motivation for her suicide, but Antonio Campo's Christine starring Rebecca Hall as Chubbuck seeks to dig deep into the possibilities.
If you've watched Mr. Robot, you're familiar with the amazing energy of Rami Malek. He stars in this thriller from Sarah Adina Smith about how madness and paranoid can creep up on anyone.
Mark Duplass' film Blue Jay is a very relatable trip down memory lane. Duplass and Sarah Paulson play high school sweethearts who bump into each other and reconnect over a cup of coffee. The result is the discovery of unresolved feelings.
Greg Kinnear stars in Little Men as a family man who inherits a building from his father, only to realise he has to charge the mom and pop dress shop downstairs more rent than they can afford. His son and the shop owner's son become friends, but their parents tenant-landlord relationship threatens everyone's happiness.
It's hard to think of Good Will Hunting as an indie movie, but this star-studded, deeply moving film is one you must add to your list if you've never seen it. It stars Matt Damon as a troubled young man who works as a janitor at Harvard while possessing the ability to do the most advanced maths in the world.
Netflix original The Tramps tells the story of strangers Danny and Ellie who spend the night together after their planned briefcase swap goes awry. It's an adorable, unexpected romantic comedy you are sure to enjoy.
2016 film Miss Stevens stars favourites Timothee Chalamet, Lili Reinhart, and Lily Rabe, and it deserves your attention. In the midst of her own personal struggles, Miss Stevens has to chaperone three of her students on a weekend trip to a drama competition, and ends up forming an important bond with her at-risk student.
Other People is one of those films that will stay with you long after you've finished it. Jesse Plemons stars as a struggling writer who moves home to help his dying mother (played by Molly Shannon) after a bad breakup with his boyfriend.
Adventureland explores the lives of theme park staffers in a sleepy Pittsburgh town in 1987. It's an in-depth look at slow summers, good friends, messy relationships, small towns, and the unending need for escape and adventure.
In Manson Family Holiday, Jay Duplass plays a man who has his life together, until the unexpected arrival of his estranged brother Conrad. Conrad decides that he wants to spend all his time tracking the infamous Manson Family murder locations, and Duplass' character goes along for the ride.
Nightcrawler, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, made quite the splash when it landed on the cinema scene in 2014. Gyllenhaal plays a man who is obsessed with selling breaking news footage to a news station, so much so that he goes to dangerous lengths to get ahold of the footage.
You can't have an indie flick roundup without beloved Wes Anderson on the list. In Moonrise Kingdom, two young kids start a panicked frenzy when they fall in love and run away together.
Richard Linklater's Boyhood is one of his greatest cinematic triumphs of all time. It was filmed over the course of 12 years, so we could watch the main character go from boy to young man, and it is extremely touching and eye-opening.
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