With new additions to the MCU such as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Black Panther: Wakanda Foreverto long-awaited sequels like Scream, Top Gun: Maverick and james cameronis highly anticipated Avatar following The way of the water Closing out the year, 2022 was a big year for big movies.
Beyond these blockbuster hits, some low-budget indie underdogs like Everything everywhere all at once also met with huge success and rave reviews. But like every year, there are always films that go unnoticed. Ranging from silent meditative dramas, emotional sci-fi to Aussie horror, 2022’s lineup of indie cinema is seriously underrated. Luckily, there’s still time to check out these hidden indie gems of 2022!
‘Little Mama’ (2022)
After eight years, Nelly (Josephine Sanz) loses his beloved grandmother, his family visits his mother’s childhood home. While exploring the house and the surrounding woods, Nelly meets a young girl who looks like her. The girl’s name is Marion (Gabrielle Sanz), just like his mother.
After the huge success of Portrait of a lady on fire, Celine Sciammathe follow up movie Little mom is a small story but with a big heart. A delicate and powerful meditation on grief, Sciamma brings the tender tale to life through the eyes of a young girl who befriends her young mother of old.
“After Yang” (2022)
2022 has been a big year for blockbuster sci-fi with Jurassic World: Dominion, The Adam Project and moon fall with some of the biggest names in Hollywood. But not all sci-fi movies are action-packed adventures. Some are quiet, meditative dramas about family, grief and what it means to be human – as seen in Gonadadait is After that.
After the android Yang of a family (Justin H. Min) dysfunctions, they try to come to terms with the loss and along the way learn about the secret life Yang led. In what has been a great year for Colin Farrel starring in The Batman and The Banshees of Inisherinhis most endearing performance is in After that as he plays a father learning to appreciate the little details in life.
‘Really Smooth Cha Cha’ (2022)
Andrew (Cooper Raiff) just got out of college and with the world of opportunity ahead of him, he’s stuck with no clear path forward in New Jersey. But when he starts working as a party planner at bar mitzvahs, he strikes up a unique friendship with a young mother (dakota johnson) and her autistic daughter Lola (vanessa burghardt).
Cha Cha real smooth is a wholesome independent film with a lot of heart from actor/writer/director Raiff. Although it was released internationally via Apple TV+, competition with more popular streaming services saw this indie darling fall under the radar.
“The Phantom of the Open” (2022)
Biopics have become increasingly popular over the past few years, and 2022 has been no different with movies like Elvis and Blond bring the lives of iconic real-life characters to the big screen. But not all biopics are based on the big names in pop culture, and some choose instead to tell the small-town story of a character like Maurice Flitcroft in The Phantom of the Open.
Featuring Marc Rylance as the worst golfer in the world, The Phantom of the Open is a charming story of trying your best and chasing your dreams. A beautiful mix of comedy and heartfelt drama, Craig Robert‘, with its unique style and small-scale story, redefines the kind of stories made into biopics.
‘The Remembrance: Part 2’ (2022)
There has been a recent trend of filmmakers making semi-autobiographical films with Steven Spielbergit is The Fabelmans and Kenneth Branaghit is Belfast. In 2019, Introducing Joanna Hogg the world as it passes through film school in Memoryand now three years later continued the story with The memory: part 2.
A more thoughtful film from A24, The memory: part 2 resumes shortly after the first film with Julie (Honor Swinton Byrne) struggles to adjust to life after Anthony (Tom Burk) the death. A unique meta-film in many ways, Hogg cleverly structures the film around her own life while allowing her filmmaker character Julie to do the same in the film.
‘Sissy’ (2022)
2022 has been a big year for horror with huge hits like Barbaric, pearland Nope, so it was easy for a queer Aussie horror movie to slip under the radar. But with its quirky Aussie comedy, friendship dramas and tale of revenge, Kane Senes and Hannah Barlowit is sissy is a must-have for any horror fan who can’t get enough of the satisfying “good for her” narrative.
sissy follows Cecile (Aisha Dee), a successful mental health advocate with a large following on social media. But when she meets her ex-best friend from childhood and is invited to her bachelorette party weekend, old memories resurface when she finds herself stranded in a remote cabin with her school bully and his taste for revenge.
“Emily the Criminal” (2022)
Due to a minor criminal record, Emily (Place Aubrey) is struggling to find a job and hasn’t been able to pay off his ever-increasing student debt. So when the opportunity arises to make a quick buck, she takes it, but is quickly drawn into the criminal underworld of Los Angeles credit card fraud.
John Patton Fordit is Criminal Emily is a stunning feature debut and the first film produced by Plaza’s own production company, Evil Hag Productions. With its authentic portrayal of class struggle in an unjust system, enhanced with a tense thriller atmosphere, Criminal Emily follows in the footsteps of blockbuster anxiety films like Uncut Gems.
“On the Count of Three” (2022)
Val (Jerrod Carmichael) and Kevin (Christopher Abbott) are two best friends facing their own struggles in life. After helping Kevin escape from his mental hospital, the two make a pact to leave their lives behind. but first they want to enjoy one last day.
Carmichael’s feature debut as a director On the count of three is a dark comedy that offers a raw look at mental health. A beautifully realistic blend of drama and comedy, with its tight script confined to a story told in a single day, On the count of three is a serious meditation on what it means to find happiness in life.
“Spin Me Around” (2022)
Amber (Alison Brie) is the manager of an Italian restaurant chain in California who wins the opportunity, along with several other highest-paid managers in the United States, to participate in the franchise education program in Italy. But after meeting the chain’s charismatic owner, Nick (Alexandre Nivola) and his mysterious assistant Kat (Place Aubrey), the romantic getaway that was promised to him soon turns to chaos and disaster.
In many ways Jeff Baenait is spin me around – with its romantic Italian setting, mystery and intimate escapades – is a spiritual companion to the second season of The White Lotus. Constantly changing tone as the mystery unfolds, spin me around is a rare, quirky and unpredictable mystery full of surprises.
‘Double’ (2022)
After receiving a terminal diagnosis, Sarah (Karen Gillan) opts for a cloning procedure to mitigate the loss of her friends and family. But when she makes a sudden and miraculous recovery, her attempts to have her clone dismantled fail and lead to a court-mandated duel to the death.
In the third feature film of Riley Stearnsthe cleverly titled Double is an absurd meditation on life, death and identity. Playing with morality in an unmoved world with a unique perspective on grief, Double establishes itself in its own world as a sci-fi dark comedy that questions what it means to be alive.