Indie Fresh List

The Indie Fresh List: A Suburban Nightmare, a Tech Fraud, and a Teen Romance

Check out the latest Fresh indie releases now streaming on VOD and what's coming soon.

by Jacqueline Coley | March 25, 2020

Join us weekly as Rotten Tomatoes reports on what’s indie features are streaming. From promising releases by new voices to experimental efforts from storied filmmakers – or perhaps the next indie darling to go the distance for end-of-year accolades – we will break it all down for you here each week.

For the foreseeable future, the specialty box office and all theatrical releases will be on hold as we all make efforts to socially distance ourselves and reduce the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. With that in mind, we have reshaped our Indie Fresh List to reflect the specialty box office releases that are newly available on streaming services and VOD. This week we have a documentary about a disgraced Silicon Valley CEO, a millennial break-up romantic comedy, and a perfectly timed sci-fi horror film about a young couple trapped in a labyrinthine suburban neighborhood. In our Spotlight section, we call back to a capital punishment drama that features a brilliant performance by Alfre Woodward.

Streaming This Weekend

Vivarium (2020)

73%

Hitting a bit too close to home – pun intended – Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots star in this sci-fi horror film about a couple trapped in a labyrinthine suburban nightmare. A simple trip to see an open house traps the young couple in a neighborhood of eerily identical houses. Unable to escape and forced into parenthood, the pair are tortured and driven slowly insane by this macabre prison of domesticity. “Through focused storytelling, expansive imagination, and calibrated madness, Vivarium becomes a wild ride within the confines of a nightmarish lifestyle,” writes Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com.

Available 3/27 on FandangoNow, iTunes, Vudu, and GooglePlay.

The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley (2019)

78%

Alex Gibney’s (Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief) latest documentary takes on one of the strangest and most tragic figures of Silicon Valley. Stanford Biology dropout Elizabeth Holmes looked to make a machine that would replace traditional blood testing. Touting that her “Edison” would revolutionize medicine, Holmes was the toast of the town, boasting influential financial backers and board members while gracing the covers of Fortune and Forbes. She modeled herself (including her dress and voice) after other “titans of tech innovation,” and her Theranos start-up was once evaluated at $9 billion — then it all came crashing down. When people took a peek inside her ultra-secretive tech, they found it was built on nothing more than bravado and false hope. Newly available on VOD Charles Solomon of FilmWeek called The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley “a fascinating story of corruption, greed, and fraud.”.

Available now on FandangoNow, Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, and GooglePlay and streaming on HBONow.

Banana Split (2018)

89%

Hannah Marks co-wrote and stars in this millennial update on the traditional rom-com. April (Marks) embarks on a whirlwind high school romance with Nick (Dylan Sprouse), only to break up with him shortly after their graduation. In the aimless summer between high school and college, April finds comfort and friendship from an unexpected place — Nick’s new girlfriend Clara. Smartly written and acted, this Ten Things I Hate About You-meets-Booksmart mash-up displays “so much genuine glee and heartbreak… it really doesn’t matter who gets the guy in the end,” writes Josh Bell of Crooked Marquee.

Available 3/27 on FandangoNow, iTunes, Vudu, and GooglePlay.

Fresh & Available Now on VOD – Spotlight Pick

Clemency (2019)

92%

If, by chance, you missed it in theaters last fall, Clemency, is still available for download, and it’s our spotlight pick for the weekend. One of the greatest disappointments of the 2020 awards season was the lack of love shown for Alfre Woodard, who played a beleaguered prison warden struggling to find meaning after presiding over countless executions. The film won the dramatic competition Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, but outside Woodard’s Independent Spirit Best Actress Nomination, she was sadly ignored for end-0f-year recognition. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone agreed and went as far as to say, “Woodard is one of the best actors on the planet. Shockingly, she has only been nominated for an Oscar once… It would be a case of blatant neglect to ignore her artistry in the dramatic powerhouse that is Clemency.”

Available to download now on FandangoNow, Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, and GooglePlay.

Along with…

Swallow (2019) 87% , about an affluent housewife who develops a deadly case of pica — the urge to swallow inanimate objects.
The Wild Goose Lake (2019) 91% , about a Chinese gangster who meets a woman with a deadly secret.
The Dog Doc (2019) 89% , a documentary about a compassionate vet who tries to save vulnerable animals.
Parasite (2019) 99% , a darkly comedic satire about the terrifying antics that ensue when an underprivileged family latches on to a more affluent one and things go sideways.
Stray (2018) 100% , about two damaged strangers who meet and fall into a tumultuous relationship.
EMMA. (2020) 86% , a new adaptation of the Jane Austen novel about a naive, privileged heiress who plays matchmaker, to detriment of her own romantic prospects.
VHYes (2019) 79% , a 1980s throwback anthology of comedic sketches shot entirely on VHS.
The Lighthouse (2019) 90% , a surreal psychological drama about two men who are tortured by the elements and by each other while isolated at a remote lighthouse.
Jojo Rabbit (2019) 81% , a satire about a naive Hitler youth who discovers his mother is hiding a Jewish girl during World War II.
Color Out of Space (2019) 86% , a psychedelic horror film about an eerie meteorite that falls in a family’s back yard and wreaks havoc.
Come as You Are (2019) 94% , a road trip sex comedy about a group of disabled men to travel to a brothel in Canada that solely caters to disabled people.
Pain and Glory (2019) 96% , a drama about an aging director who reflects on his films, collaborators, and legacy after he’s sidelined by severe back pain.