If you are a big indie film fan, 2016 has been a great year as we have been treated to some truly wonderful movies and spellbinding performances.

Chevalier

Chevalier

July has been another great month for this genre of film and there are more unmissable movies on the horizon as we head into the autumn.

We take a look at the indie film year so far and pick out some of the movies that you need to go back and check out.

- Room

Room was one of the most talked about and acclaimed movies of early 2016 and it kicked off the indie film year in fine style.

Room was an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Emma Donoghue and was adapted into a screenplay by the author herself. The movie also marked the return of Lenny Abrahamson to the director's chair, in what was his first feature film since Frank back in 2014.

Ma has created a whole universe in 'Room' for five-year-old Jack, where they have both lived for Jack's whole life. But when Ma decides they have to escape, she risks everything to give Jack the chance to make a thrilling discovery: the world.

Brie Larson took on the central role of Ma, in what proved to be her major breakout role. Larson has been making a name for herself with the likes of Short Term 12 and The Gambler, but this was to be the film and performance that catapulted her onto the A-list.

The movie also introduced us to the acting talents of Jacob Tremblay, who played Ma's young son Jack. Together, Larson and Tremblay were an incredible partnership and delivered devastatingly powerful and, at times, harrowing performances.

Of course, there is a darkness to this film, but there is warmth and an uplifting side to Room. It is one of those films that stays with you long after the credits have rolled.

The movie was met with acclaim upon release and went on to be nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture. Larson went on to win the Best Actress gong for her performance. Room was also a commercial success as it grossed $36 million at the box office - easily making back its $13 million budget.

Room

- Anomalisa

Anomalisa was a movie that had been playing well on the festival circuit before it hit the big screen... and it remains one of the most original animated films of the year so far.

Anomalisa saw Charlie Kaufman back in the director's chair as he teamed up with Duke Johnson for the first time. This was only the second big screen feature for Kaufman, while Johnson was making his feature film directorial debut.

The film was based on Kaufman's play and it was the writer/director who turned it into a screenplay.

Anomalisa follows Michael Stone, a man crippled by the mundanity of his life experiences something out of the ordinary. David Thewlis voiced the character of Michael and Jennifer Jason Leigh brought Lisa to life.

Anomalisa is a movie that has been met with acclaim since it started playing on the festival circuit last year. It is not hard to see why this movie has been winning over critics and audiences as it is a thought-provoking and touching film that reminds you just how powerful the animation genre can be.

However, there is quite a dark side to the story - something which I thoroughly enjoyed - as Kaufman explores the depths of loneliness and the impact that it can have on an individual and their life. It really is a wonderful and somewhat unexpected exploration of this subject. In fact, it deals with this topic better than most live-action film; and that all comes down to Kaufman's wonderful script.

Anomalisa went on to be nominated for Best Animated Feature at both the Golden Globes and at the Oscars, losing out to Inside Out on both occasions.

Anomalisa

- Black Mountain Poets

Jamie Adams is one of the British filmmakers who has been making a splash this year, returning with his new feature film Black Mountain Poets.

This was the third feature for Adams and came after Benny & Jolene and A Wonderful Christmas Time. As well as being in the director's chair, Adams also penned the film's screenplay.

Two professional con artist sisters Lisa and Claire go on the run after being caught trying to steal a JCB. They decide to lie low by assuming the identities of the owners of their escape vehicle and become The Wilding Sisters, guest stars of the Poet's Poetry Society retreat in the depths of the Black Mountains.

Alice Lowe and Dolly Wells take on the central roles of sisters Lisa and Claire and have a wonderful on-screen chemistry. And the deliver performances that are full of humour as well as full of heart.

At times, the movie is a little bit silly but it is a film that really is a whole lot of fun. Adams strikes the perfect balance between humour and the relationship between the two sisters.

Black Mountain Poets is one of those rough gem movies that I really did enjoy very much.

Black Mountain Poets

- Son Of Saul

Son Of Saul was a movie that triumphed at the Oscars are the beginning of the year, winning the Best Foreign Language film. However, we had to wait until April before the film was finally released here in the UK.

Son of Saul marked the feature film directorial debut for László Nemes, who was making the move away from shorts for the first time. As well as being in the director's chair, Nemes teamed up with Clara Royer to pen the harrowing screenplay.

In the horror of 1944 Auschwitz, a prisoner forced to burn the corpses of his own people finds moral survival upon trying to salvage from the flames the body of a boy he takes for his son.

There's no denying that Son of Saul is a harrowing movie as Nemes explores life within a concentration camp during World War II. This may be his feature film debut, but he has not shied away from showing the hardships and the horrors that faced those who were imprisoned there.

Géza Röhrig takes on the central role of Saul in the film and he delivers one of the most memorable performances of 2016 so far. It is this actor alone who carries this film and makes it what it is - he truly delivers a spellbinding performance.

Together, Nemes and Röhrig have created one of the most intimate Holocaust movies that will take the audience on a true rollercoaster of emotions.

Son of Saul is one of the most acclaimed foreign movies of the year and remains one of the most powerful.

Son Of Saul

- Departure

Andrew Steggall is one of the filmmakers to watch out for going forward as he made his feature film directorial debut earlier this year with Departure.

Steggall has brought us short films such as The Door and The Red Bike, but Departure marked his first leap into features. As well as being in the director's chair, he also penned the film's screenplay.

Departure follows a nuclear middle-class family as they face the end of a marriage as well as the end of childhood.

Juliet Stevenson and Alex Lawther take on the central roles of mother and son Beatrice and Elliot and deliver two touching performances.

Steggall wonderfully weaves together to very different coming of age stories; that of Elliot, who is finding his feet in the world, coming to terms with the state of his parent's marriage as well as his own sexuality. While Elliot's mother Beatrice is on a journey of her own; she is finding her way through the collapse of her marriage and is on the cusp of a new and very different life.

But, at this film's heart, it is a love story and a love story between a mother and her son. Throughout this film we see the characters of Elliot and Beatrice go on very different and separate journeys but they lead to each other and the acceptance that they are both flawed individuals who are capable of making mistakes.

Departure is a movie that has played well on the festival circuit this year and it is up there as one of the best British movies that we have been treated to so far in 2016.

Departure

- Sing Street

John Carney is the filmmaker that brought us the fantastic Once back in 2007 - hard to believe that this film is almost a decade old - and he returned earlier this year with Sing Street.

Sing Street is a film that saw him tackle the music/drama genre once again... and he delivered another gem of a film that you really have to check out if you have not seen it yet.

The movie premiered at the Sundance Film festival at the beginning of the year and went on to win over critics and audiences on the festival circuit.

The movie follows Conor, a young boy growing up in Dublin during the 1980s. He escapes his strained family life by starting a band to impress a girl that he likes.

Ferdia Walsh-Peelo made his acting debut in the central role of Conor and was joined on the cast list by Aidan Gillen, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Jack Reynor, and Kelly Thornton.

Sing Street is a charming and warm-hearted film that will win you over from the word go. Not only is it a loving nostalgia fest to the eighties, but it is also a celebration of how music can bring people together and a fantastic coming of age tale.

Carney mixes great dialogue, wonderful characters and some great humour with some fantastic musical numbers that celebrates the music from that era. It really is a trip down memory lane if you were a child of the eighties.

Sing Street

- Adult Life Skills

Adult Life Skills is a movie that I have talked about quite a lot this year and, for me, it remains one of the best British films of the year so far.

The movie saw Rachel Tunnard make her feature film directorial debut, as Adult Life Skills was a feature adaptation of her Bafta nominated short film Emotional Fusebox.

Adult Life Skills saw Tunnard, who also penned the film's screenplay, reunite with actress Jodie Whittaker, who returned to the central role of Anna. Lorraine Ashbourne, Brett Goldstein, and Rachel Deering were also on the cast list.

The movie follows Anna, who hides away from the world following the death of her twin. However, when her school friend comes to visit, Anna's self-imposed isolation becomes impossible to maintain. Soon she is entangled with a troubled eight-year-old boy obsessed with Westerns, and the local estate agent whose awkward interpersonal skills continually undermine his attempts to seduce her.

Tunnard, who looks set to be one of the most exciting female filmmakers, paints an intimate and heart-breaking portrait of grief and how we all cope differently with it.

Yes, Adult Life Skills may be a movie that explores grief, but it is not a film that is all doom and gloom. Instead, Tunnard has weaved a funny and charming movie that is driven by this emotional core. The actors and the director really do strike the perfect balance between heartbreak and humour.

Tunnard has already won the Nora Ephron prize for best female director at the Tribeca Film Festival and I cannot wait to see what she does next.

Adult Life Skills

- Chevalier

Chevalier is a movie that has been lighting up the festival circuit - winning the Best Film in the Official Competition prize at the London Film Festival last year.

Now, the new Greek comedy movie is set to be released here in the UK and marks the return of Athina Rachel Tsangari to the director's chair.

This is the third live-action feature film of Tsangari's career and comes after success with The Slow Business of Going and Attenberg. She is another female director to keep an eye on going forward.

In the middle of the Aegean Sea, on a luxury yacht, six men on a fishing trip decide to play a game. During this game, things will be compared. Things will be measured. Songs will be butchered, and blood will be tested.

Friends will become rivals, and rivals will become hungry. But at the end of the voyage when the game is over, the man who wins will be the best man. And he will wear upon his littlest finger the victorious signet ring: the 'Chevalier'.

Chevalier is an interesting exploration of the modern male dynamic - set to a simple backdrop of a fishing trip. It is a funny look at how men try to outdo one another and try to be the dominant force - there really are some major laughs to be had along the way.

Chevalier

Chevalier is out now.


by for www.femalefirst.co.uk
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