The 25 Most Anticipated Indie Movies of Summer 2013

This summer's 25 most anticipated indie movies will leave you mildly surprised and sufficiently pleased.

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

To comprehend the duality that'll exist in movie theaters this summer, look no further than this upcoming Friday. The movie that you, your mother, and your mother's friends are anxious to see? The Great Gatsby, of course, in which Leonardo DiCaprio and Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrmann bring the late novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic Roaring Twenties story of memory, excess, and tragic love to stylized life. With a starry cast and music overseen by Jay-Z, it's about as foolproof as box office successes can get.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, though, is Sightseers, the latest genre subversion from on-the-rise English filmmaker Ben Wheatley, whose bleak horror film Kill List ranked high among our favorite movies of 2012. The major differences between The Great Gatsby and Sightseers—other than content and star power—are budget and visibility. Whereas DiCaprio's new one is scheduled to open on more than 3,350 screens nationwide, Wheatley's dark comedy will be found in a significantly smaller number of theaters—as in, less around the country than Gatsby will play in, say, New York and New Jersey alone.

Which, if you're an open-minded cinephile, actually makes Sightseers the more interesting of the two films. And if that's the case, you've got more invested in the following list of the summer's 25 most anticipated indie movies than you do with the 25 big-deal Hollywood blockbusters and wider releases included in last week's countdown. The cinema gods would be pleased.

RELATED: The 25 Most Anticipated Movies of Summer 2013

RELATED: The 25 Best Summer Movies of All Time

RELATED: The 15 Best Movies Complex Saw at the 2013 SXSW Film Festival

RELATED: The Best Movies of 2013

Written by Matt Barone (@MBarone) and Tara Aquino (@t_akino)

25. Prince Avalanche

Not Available Interstitial

24. Much Ado About Nothing

Not Available Interstitial

23. Wish You Were Here

Not Available Interstitial

22. V/H/S/2

Not Available Interstitial

21. A Band Called Death

Not Available Interstitial

20. Hatchet 3

Not Available Interstitial

19. Pieta

Not Available Interstitial

18. Lovelace

Not Available Interstitial

17. The Act of Killing

Not Available Interstitial

16. Frances Ha

Not Available Interstitial

15. Crystal Fairy

Not Available Interstitial

14. Blue Jasmine

Not Available Interstitial

13. Berberian Sound Studio

Not Available Interstitial

12. The Kings of Summer

Not Available Interstitial

11. Before Midnight

Not Available Interstitial

10. The Bling Ring

Not Available Interstitial

9. I'm So Excited

Not Available Interstitial

8. Drinking Buddies

Not Available Interstitial

7. The Way, Way Back

Not Available Interstitial

6. The East

Not Available Interstitial

5. Maniac

Not Available Interstitial

4. Short Term 12

Not Available Interstitial

3. Ain't Them Bodies Saints

Not Available Interstitial

2. The Spectacular Now

Not Available Interstitial

1. Fruitvale Station

Not Available Interstitial

Latest in Pop Culture