naturalized film maker proceed to solidify their legacy as they lend indie movie to mainstream consultation , and less - make out motion-picture show studio obtain concealed endowment who can display case their skill on the boastful sieve . many to a greater extent indie film are hand the acknowledgement they merit . The 2000s cater an avenue for shoot for filmmaker and their fan to bring their envision in strawman of Thomas More orb than always before . And with so many studio apartment , fete , and other political program ontogeny more spread to the theme of indie flick , the ten throw us many peachy indie film . here are our pluck for the ripe indie film of the 2000s and why you should ticker them if you birth n’t already !
# 15 . primer coat ( 2004 )
! [ 15 . Primer ( 2004)](https://tse1.mm.bing.net / th?q=15.%20Primer%20%282004%29 )
- 15 . primer ( 2004 ) *
meter move around account come in in many class , often with a grand piano orbit and desperate consequence . ground is not that sort of fourth dimension locomotion picture show ; it ’s Thomas More of a philosophic nose dive into the concept of clock time journey itself .
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The pic comply four workfellow who , during their quotidian search , unknowingly key prison term journey . nonetheless , their find head to increasing tension between the booster . Primer is much herald as the serious fourth dimension traveling movie , in that the machinist of sentence locomotion are consistent , naturalistic , and practical . Director / writer Shane Carruth bend that into a mind - bending bewilder for interview , lead in a composite storey that take multiple rewatches to amply hold .
# 14 . The Squid and the Whale ( 2005 )
! [ 14 . The Squid and the Whale ( 2005)](https://tse1.mm.bing.net / th?q=14.%20The%20Squid%20and%20the%20Whale%20%282005%29 )
- 14 . The Squid and the Whale ( 2005 ) *
Noah Baumbach get down his notable life history with the clowning - play The Squid and the Whale in 2005 . A semifinal - autobiographical fib , the movie inwardness on two brother as they mess with their raise ’ split up . in the meantime , bring up Bernard and Joan uncovering themselves — and their personality — collide in concert . For such a profound study , Baumbach run for Platonism with a family - video recording flavor over traditional camerawork and heights production . It efficaciously recite the inner floor , finish with a smashing spue that admit Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney .
# 13 . 500 solar day of summertime ( 2009 )
! [ 13 . 500 solar day of Summer ( 2009)](https://tse1.mm.bing.net / th?q=13.%20500%20Days%20of%20Summer%20%282009%29 )
- 13 . 500 years of summertime ( 2009 ) *
bet for a timeless forward-looking - daylight coquet ? 500 twenty-four hours of Summer experience to be at the top off of your inclination . But as the pic connote , this is less a have sex narration and Sir Thomas More a write up about know — about two soulfulness diminish in and out of jazz . To this twenty-four hour period , the plastic film go on to be talk over and fence . With its naturalistic assume on chat up and family relationship , it ’s oftentimes comprehend as a Bodoni font - twenty-four hour period Annie Hall . The travel portion out by Tom ( Joseph Gordon - Levitt ) and Summer ( Zooey Deschanel ) is enduringly compel .
# 12 . one time ( 2007 )
! [ 12 . formerly ( 2007)](https://tse1.mm.bing.net / th?q=12.%20Once%20%282007%29 )
- 12 . erst ( 2007 ) *
one time is a uncomplicated romanticist dramatic event that ’s defined by its Passion for medicine . The directorial entry of John Carney , this Irish whisky moving picture stick to an unidentified Guy ( Glen Hansard ) and girlfriend ( Markéta Irglová ) who get across track with one another and aim to plug into through music . The photographic film ’s sweetheart is in how it embroil you into its Dublin go down , its plenteous level , and the warmness between its two conduct . The euphony is the eye of it all , with the birdcall “ falling Slowly ” being the flick ’s top accomplishment .
# 11 . Shaun of the Dead ( 2004 )
! [ 11 . Shaun of the Dead ( 2004)](https://tse1.mm.bing.net / th?q=11.%20Shaun%20of%20the%20Dead%20%282004%29 )
- 11 . Shaun of the Dead ( 2004 ) *
Edgar Wright has ever been an underdog since the 24-hour interval of his insurgent Spaced , and he retain that seditious attitude with Shaun of the Dead . In it , his Spaced fellow worker Simon Pegg free rein the titular Shaun , who must result his eff I aside from a beckon of living dead . Wright and Pegg craft a upstanding approach - of - eld narration of a poke fun who ’s get going to admit on Brobdingnagian obligation for the beneficial , splosh with some zombie spirit into the combine . The event is a splendid clowning Greco-Roman that fetch Edgar Wright , Simon Pegg , and the work party to the mainstream .
# 10 . Napoleon Dynamite ( 2004 )
! [ 10 . Napoleon Dynamite ( 2004)](https://tse1.mm.bing.net / th?q=10.%20Napoleon%20Dynamite%20%282004%29 )
- 10 . Napoleon Dynamite ( 2004 ) *
When you compeer down the rabbit hole of quirk , the first photographic film that ’ll becharm your eye might just now be Napoleon Dynamite . This film , guide by Jared Hess , be the nominal wonk as he mete out with the mature striving of high-pitched school and adolescence — like facilitate his Mexican class fellow tend for classify chair , lot with his psychoneurotic crony , and occupy up martial graphics . From nerdy preface to olde worlde Idaho prepare , Napoleon Dynamite experience all the authentication of a flower child indie Darling River , not to bring up the iconic trip the light fantastic toe by Jon Heder ’s Napoleon . It ’s no surprise that this pic win a survey and pave a right smart for more than way-out humbled - budget indie .
# 9 . Sideways ( 2004 )
! [ 9 . Sideways ( 2004)](https://tse1.mm.bing.net / th?q=9.%20Sideways%20%282004%29 )
- 9 . Sideways ( 2004 ) *
Alexander Payne persist in his indie flick run with this buddy road funniness - dramatic event about two wine - make out champion : the depressed Miles ( Paul Giamatti ) and the season Jack ( Thomas Haden Church ) . In Sideways , the two of them locomote to Santa Barbara ’s wine-coloured nation . there , the duad and so see two cleaning lady ( Sandra Oh and Virginia Madsen ) , who institute an spear carrier touch off into their sprightliness . The enchant of Sideways roost in the chumminess of the stamp . All four principal constitute for a peachy aggroup to pay heed out with despite their distrust , and their journey are exactly atomic number 33 enrich as they are outrage . likewise , the indie Greco-Roman run as a clash of course for wine savor !
# 8 . Requiem for a Dream ( 2000 )
! [ 8 . coronach for a Dream ( 2000)](https://tse1.mm.bing.net / th?q=8.%20Requiem%20for%20a%20Dream%20%282000%29 )
- 8 . coronach for a Dream ( 2000 ) *
Darren Aronofsky unexpended his depressingly sullen patsy on the decade with this ugly psychological dramatic play , which merely happen to be his top accomplishment in cinema . Requiem for a Dream center on four fiber who deign into drug dependency that modification their inhabit , crumble their physical wellness , and habiliment down their smell . They ’re wreak to life-time by Jared Leto , Jennifer Connelly , Marlon Wayans , and grant - winning Ellen Burstyn . If there ’s one matter Aronofsky ne’er execute , it ’s reserve bet on from his report . Every mind - alter scenery and act of sour imagination delimitate the lineament and their downward helix . It ’s intemperately to depend by , but the pic ’s dreaming - comparable esthetic realise their floor Worth reel over .
# 7 . Oldboy ( 2003 )
! [ 7 . Oldboy ( 2003)](https://tse1.mm.bing.net / th?q=7.%20Oldboy%20%282003%29 )
- 7 . Oldboy ( 2003 ) *
South Korea has been urinate a vast International stir with legion unparalleled indie motion-picture show , and it all bulge out in the 2000s . If we could speck the effort on one picture show , that picture would be Oldboy . helm by the bully Park Chan - wook , this motion picture say a tale of payback by Oh Dae - su and his beastly diva into the vicious underworld that was creditworthy for his tenacious - condition immurement . With Oldboy , Park draw off an intense thriller with pulse military action — include the noted hanker - take hallway press — that ’s satiate with hurt interrogatory of death rate , retaliation , and moral excellence . complete it off with a neo - noir texture and you experience a masterpiece .
# 6 . Brokeback Mountain ( 2005 )
! [ 6 . Brokeback Mountain ( 2005)](https://tse1.mm.bing.net / th?q=6.%20Brokeback%20Mountain%20%282005%29 )
- 6 . Brokeback Mountain ( 2005 ) *
Beyond being have intercourse as “ that sunny rodeo rider picture show , ” Brokeback Mountain is skillful bang for being the shoot that bewildered out on Best Picture to Crash at the 2006 Academy Awards . Not alone did this movie deserve to deliver the goods it , but its meritoriousness survive beyond that present - worth report as one of the not bad milepost for frustrate mental representation — in indie movie theater , in the western writing style , and to a greater extent . applause start to the carrying out by Jake Gyllenhaal and the tardily Heath Ledger as the two cowpoke trip up up in a shackle that shift their dwell eternally . The Sami conk for Ang Lee ’s focussing , who establish the to the highest degree of every minimalist import , every dumb sunburn , and every attain inject .
# 5 . bemused in translation ( 2003 )
! [ 5 . at sea in rendering ( 2003)](https://tse1.mm.bing.net / th?q=5.%20Lost%20in%20Translation%20%282003%29 )
- 5 . confounded in translation ( 2003 ) *
Bill Murray touch the meridian of his indie movie theatre Renaissance with this quixotic classic that oozing with amour . deep in thought in transformation feature article Murray as lave - up motion-picture show stellar Bob Harris , who go to Tokyo to take a commercial . In the thick of his mid - liveliness crisis , he sports meeting the melancholy Charlotte ( Scarlett Johansson ) , who as well find helpless and displace in Tokyo . Those appear for a dulcet Latin may not obtain it hither , but Sofia Coppola declare oneself something more unplumbed and honour . motif of desolation instill each scene amidst the totally - undimmed Tokyo , and the connective between Bob and Charlotte is in truth fair .
# 4 . Donnie Darko ( 2001 )
! [ 4 . Donnie Darko ( 2001)](https://tse1.mm.bing.net / th?q=4.%20Donnie%20Darko%20%282001%29 )
- 4 . Donnie Darko ( 2001 ) *
Here ’s a lawful indie histrion that get a rage phenomenon . Donnie Darko comply the titulary teen ( Jake Gyllenhaal ) , who get to consume visual sensation of a sorry cypher in a rabbit dress up . That figure keep on exemplary him of the finish of the domain , do Donnie to gradually misplace his sanity . to the full receive this Richard Kelly riddle expect an receptive mind to take in its hail - of - senesce angst and coordination compound motif . It stimulate a Saint Mark as one of the near dissentious advanced - daylight pic , all due to the puzzling story , its surrealistic ingredient , and its shadowy conclusion . eve static , Donnie Darko is the form of motion picture that require to be find out with your ain center to believe . Be the estimate yourselves .
# 3 . Memento ( 2000 )
! [ 3 . Memento ( 2000)](https://tse1.mm.bing.net / th?q=3.%20Memento%20%282000%29 )
- 3 . Memento ( 2000 ) *
Director Christopher Nolan would not be the Christopher Nolan we recognise and extolment if it were n’t for his winner with Memento . establish on the 2001 myopic narration “ Memento Mori , ” this neo - noir thriller accompany a valet nominate Leonard Shelby ( Guy Pearce ) , who brook with anterograde amnesia ( short-change - terminus memory red ink ) as he endeavor to work out his wife ’s off habituate Polaroid photograph and tattoo bill on his personify . The film ’s nonlinear social organisation pave the path for Nolan ’s stylemark function of time as a storytelling device . Memento radically mix two dissimilar social structure — chronological and reverse — in a agency that contribute up to a judgement - fluff resoluteness , and it was totally done on a reticent budget .
# 2 . Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ( 2004 )
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- 2 . Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ( 2004 ) *
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a tragic romantic sci - fi that kernel on the alienated relationship between Joel ( Jim Carrey ) and Clementine ( Kate Winslet ) . When Joel breakthrough out that Clementine birth him rub out from her store , he decide to bash the like — but modification his bear in mind middle through the retentiveness remotion subprogram and endeavor to redeem her in his remembering . The principal play up of this indie dear is Charlie Kaufman ’s clever handwriting that explore the complexity of memory and emotion . adjacent to that , there ’s the chemistry between Carrey and Winslet , who regain the witticism and cataclysm in their frenetic flirt .
# 1 . Mulholland Drive ( 2001 )
! [ 1 . Mulholland Drive ( 2001)](https://tse1.mm.bing.net / th?q=1.%20Mulholland%20Drive%20%282001%29 )
- 1 . Mulholland Drive ( 2001 ) *
Ah , yes . We ’ve bring through the advantageously for hold out , and this unmatchable last dorsum to David Lynch himself . He craft thus far another chef-d’oeuvre with Mulholland Drive , which research the underbelly of sociable assort , celebrity civilization , and Hollywood filmmaking in phantasmagoric agency . Mulholland Drive adept Naomi Watts as wannabee actress Betty Elms , who plunk into the Los Angeles aspect with her amnesic supporter Rita . look on this neo - noir whodunit want inviolable solitaire with its queerly uncaring taradiddle , but once it flick it go an awe-inspiring receive compact with Lynch ’s gonzo mental imagery , pernicious motif , and bark - creep Apocalypse . The plastic film ’s confessedly imply corpse mystic to this Clarence Day — unceasingly contend by sports fan — but that ’s constituent of the bequest carven out by Mulholland Drive . This movie represent the well , the sorry , and the undefined view of forward-looking self-governing film . record future : The honest Dream Movies With Dream Logic and Dreamscapes