BY: Amanda Jane Stern

The summer blockbuster season is behind us and the winter holidays are quickly approaching. With 2019 nearing its end, let’s take a look at some interesting, independent films ready for release.

Waves

Set in South Florida, Trey Edward Shults’ Waves follows an African-American family navigating love and relationships in the aftermath of a personal tragedy. The film boasts a wonderful ensemble cast that includes Sterling K. Brown, Renée Elise Goldsberry and Lucas Hedges. It premiered at the Telluride Film Festival to wildly positive reviews. Given that this movie has been compared to both This Is Us and Moonlight, get your tissues ready. Waves comes out on November 15, 2019.

Queen & Slim

A modern-day take on Bonnie & Clyde, Queen & Slim is a romantic thriller about a young African-American couple (Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith). Their date takes a dark turn when they are stopped by a police officer. The officer escalates the situation and they end up killing him in self-defense and go on the run. The film, written by Lena Waithe and James Frey, marks the feature directorial debut of Melina Matsoukas. Universal Pictures owns the distribution rights, and it’s scheduled for release on November 27, 2019.

In Fabric

Halloween is over, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy campy thrillers and A24’s ensemble horror-comedy, In Fabric, promises to be a great addition to the genre. Set during the winter holidays, In Fabric follows a possessed dress. Everyone who wears the garment dies. Yes, the dress is the main character of this film written and directed by Peter Strickland. We follow it as it floats from owner to owner, leaving a trail of bodies in its wake. In Fabric’s release date is December 6, 2019.

A Million Little Pieces

In 2003 a book by James Frey, A Million Little Things, hit the stands. The memoir detailed the story of a 23-year-old alcoholic and drug addict’s struggles with rehabilitation. It was a huge success and Oprah picked it as a book club selection. It was later revealed the book was no memoir at all, but almost entirely a work of fiction. Now, Sam Taylor-Johnson has turned it into a movie starring her husband, Aaron Taylor-Johnson. A Million Little Pieces is scheduled for its U.S. release on December 6, 2019.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Winner of the Queer Palm at Cannes this year, Céline Sciamma’s historical drama focuses on two French women who fall in love at the end of the eighteenth century. Marianne (Noémie Merlant) is a painter hired to create a portrait of a young woman named Héloïse (Adèle Haenel). But, she refuses to sit for the portrait, so Marianne disguises herself as a maid to get close to Héloïse. As the two women bond, they realize their feelings are more than platonic. Portrait of a Lady on Fire comes out on December 6, 2019.

The Wolf Hour

Set in 1977 New York City during the “Summer of Sam,” The Wolf Hour stars Naomi Watts. She is June, a former member of the teen counterculture who cuts herself off from the world. Tensions come to a head when most of New York City experiences a massive blackout that leads to violent riots. Combining real-life events and a fictional story, The Wolf Hour is an interesting mash-up of true crime and fiction. It’s scheduled for release on December 6, 2019.

Seberg

Kristen Stewart stars as Jean Seberg in a political thriller and biopic from Benedict Andrews. The film follows Jean Seberg, an actress and French New-Wave icon who becomes a target of an FBI surveillance program. She is being watched because of her relationship with Hakim Jamal, the African-American activist and Malcolm X associate. Sometimes life is stranger than fiction and Seberg’s experiences during the 1960s seem too crazy to be true. But that could apply to many events that happened during that tumultuous time in American history. Seberg, which does not yet have a trailer, is scheduled for release on December 13, 2019 by Amazon Studios.