Don’t Miss Indies: What to Watch in August
The independent spirit is thriving in theaters this summer, as we come together for life-affirming storytelling and a cool retreat from climbing temps. This month’s ten recommendations offer lots to share with friends and family, sparking conversations on grief, ambition, friendship and what it means to chase your dreams.
COOKIE QUEENS
When You Can Watch: August 7
Where You Can Watch: Theaters
Writer/Director: Alysa Nahmias
Cast: Ara, Shannon Elizabeth, Nikki, Olive
Why We’re Excited: Alysa Nahmias directed the Spirit Award winning Unfinished Spaces, and is a Film Independent member (as are executive producers James Costa and Ruth Ann Harnisch). After she interviewed dozens of Girl Scouts, Nahmias found four families providing a cross-section of American life, following their cookie season and the girls’ individual coming-of-age stories. This documentary celebrates the modern experience of girlhood ambition and vision. Ara, Shannon Elizabeth, Nikki and Olive get out to sell cookies, but also build relationships and memories, devoting weekends to differentiate in a competitive market – all while being super cute. EP Meghan Markle told The Hollywood Reporter, “…every time we’ve seen it, there’s not a dry eye in the house. There are so many meaningful, grounding moments that make it much more resonant, and that’s a testament to Alysa, the crew and how hard they’ve worked on the film.”
JULIAN
When You Can Watch: August 7
Where You Can Watch: Theaters
Director: Cato Kusters
Cast: Nina Meurisse, Laurence Roothooft, Rosalia Cuevas
Why We’re Excited: Belgian filmmaker Cato Kuster’s tragic drama is based on Fleur Pierets’ 2023 memoir. Fleur and Julian are tying the knot – in every country of the 2017 world that allows gay marriage. What starts as a big romantic writing project for journalist Fleur (played by Nina Meurisse, Souleymane’s Story) snowballs into an epic travel plan involving 22 wedding ceremonies around the world. Starting in their home city of Brussels, the couple joins forces to document their adventures on camcorder. We follow them from Europe to New York, when suddenly Julian (Laurence Roothooft, Blackout) comes face to face with cancer. Fleur races to complete her vision with the limited time she has left with her love, though it can never be enough.
TONY
When You Can Watch: August 7
Where You Can Watch: Theaters
Director: Matt Johnson
Cast: Dominic Sessa, Antonio Banderas, Emilia Jones
Why We’re Excited: An origin story for the kid who will become Anthony Bourdain is carefully crafted by Matt Johnson (Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie), touching on biopic tropes without leaning too far into any one romantic or coming-of-age plot point. Spirit Award winner Dominic Sessa (The Holdovers) does a fine job portraying the nuance of a brash 19-year-old finding himself in a Provincetown restaurant after his application for a writing fellowship is denied. Preparing food for tourists under the thoughtful supervision of Chef (Antonio Banderas, The Mask of Zorro), Tony’s bravado is met and challenged by the rest of the kitchen team. But a budding romance with his high school crush (Emilia Jones, CODA) reveals a softer side.
UNION COUNTY
When You Can Watch: August 10
Where You Can Watch: Film Independent Presents
Writer/Director: Adam Meeks
Cast: Will Poulter, Noah Centineo, Annette Deao
Why We’re Excited: Filmmaker Adam Meeks was inspired by the opioid epidemic in America, specifically as it relates to his home state of Ohio. After extensive research with people connected to addiction and recovery – people who have used or are using opiates, their family members, support groups and even police officers and lawyers – Meeks found that nearly everyone wanted to promote stories of recovery. This is the winding narrative of brothers Cody and Jack Parsons (Will Poulter, We’re the Millers and Noah Centineo, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before) in a court-mandated drug rehab program. Taking responsibility for their situation while exploring their options for work and a social life, each of the brothers walks their individual road while influencing one another for worse and for better. Film Independent member Anita Gou is an Executive Producer, with Martha Gregory and Theresa Steele Page credited as Producers.
HONEYJOON
When You Can Watch: August 11-13
Where You Can Watch: Film Independent Presents
Writer/Director: Lilian T. Mehrel
Cast: Ayden Mayeri, Amira Casar, José Condessa
Why We’re Excited: Lillian T. Mehrel was going through a difficult time when she traveled to a beautiful island in Portugal. There she had the idea to write about a mother and daughter grieving together in a romantic setting, surrounded by honeymooners. “As a filmmaker, the stories I love to tell are funny and moving,” she told Script magazine, “There was this blend of light and dark, and I was thinking about when hard things happen, life can still be sweet, and being alive means all those things.” Shot in San Miguel, Azores, Portugal, a Persian-Kurdish woman (Amira Casar from Spirit Award nominee, Call Me By Your Name) observes the one-year anniversary of her husband’s death. She clashes with her spirited American daughter (Ayden Mayeri, I Love That For You) on their uniquely individual grieving processes, but the romantic setting ultimately works its magic. Quality time and a little flirtatious energy can be very life-affirming.
EDIE ARNOLD IS A LOSER
When You Can Watch: August 18-21
Where You Can Watch: Film Independent Presents
Directors: Kade Atwood, Megan Rico
Cast: Adi Madden Cabrera, Cherish Rodriguez, McKenna Tuckett
Why We’re Excited: Film Independent member Kade Atwood co-directed Megan Rico’s script based on her own high school experience. It’s a first feature for both of them, which they made in four months and then premiered at SXSW. Edie energetically champions the virtue of making – even if the quality, function or beauty of the thing being made is up for discussion. Newcomers Adi Madden Cabrera and McKenna Tuckett star as Edie and Frances, the uncool best friends who start a punk band. Inspired by the trials of an all-girl Catholic school, disapproving nuns and her crush on an altar boy, Edie throws herself into the experimental question of cool and what that gets you in life.
COYOTE VS. ACME
When You Can Watch: August 28
Where You Can Watch: Theaters
Directors: Dave Green
Cast: John Cena, Lana Condor, Will Forte
Why We’re Excited: Thanks to indie distributor Ketchup Entertainment, this WBD production that has bounced around some odd bureaucratic maneuvers since 2022 is coming to theaters at last. “The movie ACME doesn’t want you to see” features Spirit Award nominee Will Forte (Nebraska) as billboard attorney Kevin Avery, who is representing Wile E. Coyote in a lawsuit. ACME products have failed him for the last time, and the live action Avery will make sure the animated Coyote gets his due. But Avery’s not exactly performing at the top of his game, and when the defendant hires Avery’s old boss (John Cena, The Suicide Squad), he’ll need some cartoon motivation to rise to the challenge. Thankfully the whole Looney Tunes cast is willing to comply.
MOUSE
When You Can Watch: August 25-27
Where You Can Watch: Film Independent Presents
Directors: Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson
Cast: Sophie Okonedo, Katherine Mallen Kupferer, Chloe Coleman
Why We’re Excited: Co-directed by the husband-and-wife team with Spirit Award nominations for two previous films (Ghostlight and Saint Frances), this coming-of-age friendship drama explores grief and rediscovering joy. It’s 2002 in Arkansas and Minnie (Katherine Mallen Kupferer, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret) is cruelly separated from her best friend, Callie (Big Little Lies). The loss showcases Minnie’s insecurities as a small, quiet high school senior accustomed to the shadow of Callie’s outgoing popularity. Left suddenly to herself, Minnie can’t handle her own mother in her own house and flees to Callie’s. Befriending Callie’s mom (Sophie Okonedo, Hotel Rwanda) becomes a lifeline for them both, and though the way forward is not easy or clear, it does involve human connection, humor and even a little excitement. Executive Produced by Film Independent members Jonah Disend and Anita Gou.
HANGING BY A WIRE
When You Can Watch: August 28
Where You Can Watch: Theaters
Director: Mohammed Ali Naqvi
Why We’re Excited: Spirit Award nominee Mohammed Ali Naqvi (Among the Believers) documents a real-life adrenaline ride in a remote area of Pakistan. In the absence of good roads, people commonly ride makeshift cable cars through the foothills of the Himalayas, depending on two long wires to shuttle across ravines. In 2023, one of them snapped – leaving eight passengers stranded. In a tense race to beat the second cable giving out, unlikely rescuers lend their unique qualifications to bring each one home. “The entire rescue played out on live television, online, on the ground, and even from inside the cable car,” Naqvi is quoted in Deadline. “With such rich archive, we knew we had to tell this story with the scale and tension of a Hollywood action thriller, one that just happened to be a documentary.” Film Independent member Rahdi Taylor is an Executive Producer.
PROGRAMMER’S PICK: BOORMAN AND THE DEVIL
When You Can Watch: August 5
Where You Can Watch: Film Independent Presents
Writer/Director: David Kittredge
Cast: John Boorman, Louise Fletcher, Spirit Award nominee Karyn Kusama
Why We’re Excited: From Film Independent Lead Programmer Jenn Wilson–
David Kittredge’s feature documentary which premiered at the 2025 Venice International Film Festival is a fascinating examination of a famous film flop – John Boorman’s 1977 Exorcist II: The Heretic. The original Exorcist (1973) which was directed by William Friedkin was a massive success at the box office and is widely considered an American horror classic. Excited fans turned out in droves to see what they thought would be a follow-up to the first film only to find that Boorman’s film was completely made in a different style from the first film and not exactly intended to match Friedkin’s film at all. The film was a box office bomb and audiences hated it. What everyone later came to discover is that behind the scenes the Exorcist II was one of Hollywood’s most ill-fated productions in every sense with almost everything going wrong on the film from the very start including massive fights between actors, illness, script rewrites, and last-minute re-edits. Given all the setbacks, it’s a miracle the film got completed and released at all. This documentary is an incredibly engrossing look back at a bygone era of filmmaking with in-depth interviews with Boorman as well as most of the living cast and crew members as they give their own perspectives on how everything went so wrong.
KEY
Film Independent Fellow or Member
Film Independent Presents Screening, Q&A
Microbudget
Filmmaker or Lead Characters of Color
Film Independent Spirit Award Winner or Nominee
Female Filmmaker
LGBT Filmmaker or Lead LGBT Characters
First-time Filmmaker
LA Film Festival Winner or Nominee
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