As we slowly enter the first full month of Spring, we highlight some of the essential indie movies hitting theaters this month, including Olivier Assayas’ complex Clouds of Sils Maria and Wim Wenders’ touching celebration of Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado.
Clouds of Sils Maria
Director: Olivier Assayas
Starring: Chloe Grace Moretz, Kristen Stewart, Juliette Binoche, Brady Corbet, Angela Winkler
Opens April 10
Juliette Binoche turns in an affecting performance as a successful, but ageing, actress, whose relationship with her younger assistant (Kristen Stewart) leads to a deep inner conflict as she is faced with what she is perceiving as a younger version of herself (Chloe Grace Moretz). Oliver Assayas crafted a well-executed movie of strong, complex female characters that stays long after the closing credits have rolled.
The Salt of the Earth
Director: Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, Wim Wenders
Cast: Sebastião Salgado
In Cinemas Now
In Wim Wenders’ documentary, the life of Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado is captured with tasteful respect, so much so that the denouement, tragic as it is, becomes but another of Salgao’s tremendous shows of humanity.
True Story
Director: Rupert Goold
Cast: James Franco, Jonah Hill, Felicity Jones, Ethan Suplee, Gretchen Mol, Robert John Burke, Maria Dizzia
Opens April 17
After premiering to general acclaim at Sundance, Rupert Goold’s cat-and-mouse drama hits theaters this month, and there’s reasons to be excited: Jonah Hill, a disgraced New York Times reporter, and James Franco, a murderer who has taken on Hill’s identity face-off in this intense, and unusual, crime story that’s based on true events.
Felix and Meira
Director: Maxime Giroux
Cast: Hadas Yaron, Martin Dubreuil, Luzer Twersky, Anne-Élisabeth Bossé
Opens April 17
A cross-cultural romance between Meira, a Hasidic Jewish mother and Felix, a young Canadian man who is mourning the loss of his estranged father, is at the center of Maxime Giroux’ Felix and Meira. Meira’s rebellion against the strict religious structures of her faith and Felix’ attempts at finding deeper meaning in loss is what brings the two together, but romance in Montreal’s Mile End is not easy for the two. The film was awarded Best Canadian Feature at the Toronto Film Festival.
Ned Rifle
Director: Hal Hartley
Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Parker Posey, Liam Aiken, Martin Donovan
Opens April 1
Ned Rifle suitably played on Friday 13th at SXSW last month. The third and final installation in the trilogy that started with 1997’s Henry Fool, Ned Rifle wraps the project with what brings to mind Boyhood‘s 12-year gestation period: Liam Aiken is still involved, and this time he’s determined to kill his father for allegedly ruining his mother Fay Grim’s (Parker Posey) life. Along the way, he encounters the unsavoury but determined Susan (Aubrey Plaza) and things get fun.