While Summer is one of the best times for movies [1], it can feel like wall-to-wall blockbusters, rather than quality theater. The action movies coming out [2] are fun, but if your film tastes demand just a little more, we have the answer for that. Summer also hosts a number of indie films full of substance and stars that you may not normally see on a giant billboard, not to mention tons of movies that impressed audiences at past film festivals but have yet to be seen by a wider audience. Your chance is coming, so check out the smaller movies that are being released soon for a welcome change of pace.
Welcome to Me
- Who's starring: Kristen Wiig and James Marsden.
- Why you should be interested: Wiig does drama again, but not straight-up drama: her character wins the lottery and buys herself a talk show, which has obvious inherent comedy in it.
- When it opened: May 1
- Watch the trailer for Welcome to Me [3].
Far From the Madding Crowd
- Who's starring: Carey Mulligan [4], Michael Sheen, and Tom Sturridge.
- Why you should be interested: Mulligan brings the high school required reading to vibrant life, and she even sings in the trailer.
- When it opened: May 1
- Watch the trailer for Far From the Madding Crowd [5].
The D Train
- Who's starring: James Marsden and Jack Black [6].
- Why you should be interested: This high school reunion comedy featuring Marsden as a small-time actor and Black as the suburban family guy who's trying to get him to attend their reunion takes an unexpected turn from your average bromance.
- When it opened: May 8
- Watch the trailer for The D Train [7].
Every Secret Thing
- Who's starring: Dakota Fanning [8] and Elizabeth Banks.
- Why you should be interested: The mystery of what happened to a child in the care of two girls is explored in this bestselling book by Laura Lippman.
- When it opened: May 15
- Watch the trailer for Every Secret Thing [9].
Slow West
- Who's starring: Michael Fassbender and Kodi Smit-McPhee.
- Why you should be interested: This Western may be a period piece, but it looks modern in so many positive ways, and hello: Fassbender's back!
- When it opened: May 15
- Watch the trailer for Slow West [10].
Results
- Who's starring: Cobie Smulders and Guy Pearce.
- Why you should be interested: Here we have a romantic comedy centered on physical trainers, and if that unconventionality doesn't get to you, Guy Pearce in a comedy should.
- When it opened: May 29
- Watch the trailer for Results [11].
Love & Mercy
- Who's starring: Paul Dano and John Cusack both play Brian Wilson at different ages, with Elizabeth Banks costarring.
- Why you should be interested: It's the inside look at the Beach Boys cofounder we've never seen, set to their iconic hits.
- When it opened: June 5
- Watch the trailer for Love & Mercy [12].
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
- Who's starring: Thomas Mann, Olivia Cooke, Connie Britton, and Nick Offerman.
- Why you should be interested: The indie was a hit at Sundance, tackling a teen friendship in which one of the kids has leukemia.
- When it opens: June 12
- Watch the trailer for Me and Earl and the Dying Girl [13].
The Overnight
- Who's starring: Adam Scott, Taylor Schilling, and Jason Schwartzman.
- Why you should be interested: Scott does what he does best as a straight man to kooky neighbor Schwartzman, who tempts Scott and his wife into a night they will not soon forget.
- When it opens: June 19
- Watch the trailer for The Overnight [14].
Dope
- Who's starring: Shameik Moore and Zoë Kravitz.
- Why you should be interested: This Sundance comedy tweaks its inner-city subject matter to follow a geek (Moore) as he gets involved in a drug deal he has no idea about.
- When it opens: June 19
- Watch the trailer for Dope [15].
Mr. Holmes
- Who's starring: Ian McKellen and Laura Linney [16].
- Why you should be interested: Rarely do we get to see what happens to Sherlock Holmes in his elderly years, but that's exactly what this mystery directed by Bill Condon provides.
- When it opens: July 17
- Watch the trailer for Mr. Holmes [17].
Irrational Man
- Who's starring: Joaquin Phoenix [18] and Emma Stone [19].
- Why you should be interested: Woody Allen [20] cast Phoenix as a professor having an existential crisis (shades of Her, anyone?) as he falls for his student, played by Stone. We're dying to see this pairing.
- When it opens: July 24
- Watch the trailer for Irrational Man [21].
The Gift
- Who's starring: Joel Edgerton, Jason Bateman [22], and Rebecca Hall [23].
- Why you should be interested: Not only does Edgerton play an unhinged classmate from Bateman's character's past in this thriller, but this is also the directorial debut of Australian star Edgerton.
- When it opens: Aug. 7
- Watch the trailer for The Gift [24].
The Diary of a Teenage Girl
- Who's starring: Kristen Wiig, Bel Powley, and Alexander Skarsgard.
- Why you should be interested: Wiig is a mother in 1970s San Francisco whose daughter sleeps with her boyfriend, yet the film festival hit is said to handle it with the right tone.
- When it opens: Aug. 7
She's Funny That Way
- Who's starring: Imogen Poots, Owen Wilson [25], and Jennifer Aniston [26].
- Why you should be interested: Legendary director Peter Bogdanovich is behind this screwball comedy, which doesn't look like highbrow comedy as much as it just looks like a ton of fun.
- When it opens: Aug. 21
- Watch the trailer for She's Funny That Way [27].
Sleeping With Other People
- Who's starring: Jason Sudeikis and Alison Brie [28].
- Why you should be interested: The movie's director describes this raunchy romantic comedy as "When Harry Met Sally for assh*les," which totally has us hooked.
- When it opens: Aug. 21