The Indie Fresh List: British Gangsters, an Unlikely Friendship, and a Feisty Hustler

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 in our Fresh picks we have a gritty London crime thriller, a quarter-life crisis comedy, and a thought-provoking documentary about an artist and the man who stole her work. In our Spotlight section, we have the final installment of Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan’s comedy travel series.

Streaming This Weekend

Villain (2020) 70%

Known for his gruff cockney voice and intimidating stature, veteran character actor Craig Fairbrass has been a recognizable face in action films for over three decades. Keeping with that formula, Fairbrass takes the lead role in Villain, a gritty London crime thriller about an ex-con trying to stay out of trouble and save his criminal brother from ruin. In his feature directorial debut, actor-turned-director Phillip Barantini captures an authentic version of modern-day London “with more depth of character than the usual crime thriller, [which] finds some surprising resonance in between the usual scenes of vicious threats and gruesome violence,” according to Rich Cline of Shadows on the Wall.

Available to rent or buy May 22 on FandangoNOW and Vudu.

The Painter and the Thief (2020) 97%

 

If there was a Stockholm Syndrome for theft, some might argue that artist Barbora Kyusilkova was afflicted with it. When two of her paintings were stolen from an art gallery, she decided to approach and eventually befriend one of the men accused of stealing it. Despite the original sin that brought them together, the artist and the criminal formed an unexpected friendship, with Kyusilkova eventually asking the thief to sit for a portrait. A Sundance award-winner, Benjamin Ree’s gripping documentary is “a remarkable, transformative story, in which the director explores the relationship between the subjects, gets to deeper truths and is a soul-stirring, life-affirming watch,” writes Leslie Combemale of AWFJ Women on Film.

Available to rent or buy on May 22 on FandangoNOW, Google Play, iTunes & Neon Virtual Cinema.

Buffaloed (2019) 80%

In Buffaloed we follow a twenty-something played by Zoey Deutch who is struggling to get enough cash to leave her hometown. An acceptance letter to her dream school signals her ticket out of town until her hopes are dashed when she realizes she can’t afford the tuition. Hellbent on stacking enough cash to get out town, she is suddenly caught of in a web of shady dealings and left with only one choice: scam the scammers. “Buffaloed moves at breakneck speed, led with aplomb by Deutch, who is absolutely magnetic onscreen as the fast-talking, fourth-wall-breaking Peg,” writes Hoai-Tran Bui of Slashfilm. 

Available to rent or buy on FandangoNOW, Vudu, Amazon, Google Play, and iTunes.

Available Now on VOD – Spotlight Pick

The Trip to Greece (2020) 88%

In the final installment of the beloved Trip series starring Ron Brydon and Steve Coogan, the duo travel to all the idyllic locations of the Greek isles. Led by their captivating arguments, history lessons, enviable restaurant outings, and local adventures, the simple concept has lost nothing after four films, four seasons of television, and countless locations. The patter between Coogan and Brydon, framed by director Michael Winterbottom‘s intimate lens, “is so unforced and natural and not just because this is their fourth go-round. They make you feel as if they are personally connected and enjoy each other’s company,” writes Bob Bloom of Journal and Courier. 

The Trip to Greece is available to stream now on IFC Film Unlimited and available to rent or buy on Vudu, Amazon, iTunes, and Google Play.

Along with…

• Swallow (2019) , about an affluent housewife who develops a deadly case of pica — the urge to swallow inanimate objects.
• The Lodge (2019) , about a woman who descends into madness while caring for her new boyfriend’s children in a remote cabin.
• The Assistant (2019) , about a young Hollywood assistant to a predatory producer who struggles when presented with daily evidence of his abuse of women.
• Circus of Books (2019) , a documentary about an iconic gay pornographic bookstore and the quiet heterosexual couple who ran it.
• Parasite (2019) , 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.
• True History of the Kelly Gang (2019) , a stylistic re-telling of the Ned Kelly legend.
• Extra Ordinary (2019) , a supernatural comedy about an unassuming widower is introduced to a cast of characters with extraordinary powers.
• Blue Story (2019) , a drama about two childhood friends who are torn apart by gang violence.
• () , about a man on a mission to murder his girlfriend’s father.
• EMMA. (2020) , a new adaptation of the Jane Austen novel about a naive, privileged heiress who plays matchmaker, to detriment of her own romantic prospects.
• The Lighthouse (2019) , 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) , 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) , a psychedelic horror film about an eerie meteorite that falls in a family’s back yard and wreaks havoc.
• Come as You Are (2019) , a road trip sex comedy about a group of disabled men who travel to a brothel in Canada that solely caters to disabled people.
• Working Man (2019) , about a duo of laid-off factory workers who inspire their fellow employees to keep working after their plant is closed.
• The Wretched (2019) , about a child who discovers a dark wiccan force is kidnapping children in the forest near his house.
• Porno (2019) , a horror comedy about a group of theater employees who unleash a succubus when they watch a horror film they find in storage.
• Spaceship Earth (2020) , a documentary about the group of geological dreamers who locked themselves in Biosphere 2 in 1991 and slowly descend into chaos.

Thumbnail images by Neon, & Magnolia, Sabab Film