Let the Counterprogramming Begin!

Hollywood's summer blockbusters often leave older and more literate movie-goers out in the cold. Specialty distributors know this creates an opportunity – counterprograming – for films driven by reviews and word of mouth to find their audience both in theaters and at home on VOD. There are also more theaters and screens available to smaller films in the summer months. Come fall, stretching all the way to the Academy Awards, art house theaters will be packed with titles directed by the big name auteurs and award season hopefuls, but in the summer there’s room for a word of mouth juggernaut like Ida – a black and white Polish film – to grow into 100+ theaters and rake in over $3.7 million. The result is dozens of the most buzzed about films coming out of festivals will be released this summer. The Hollywood Reporter has your guide to the most fascinating documentaries, foreign films and American indies that will be making their way to theaters over the next three months. All dates are limited release.

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‘When Marnie Was There’ (May 22)

Is this the last film from the famed Studio Ghibli? Anchored by the achingly beautiful films of co-founders Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away) and Isao Takahata (The Tale of Princess Kaguya) the Japanese animation studio has been an oasis for hand drawn films in the age of CGI. But with the two aging masters retiring and protégée Hiromasa Yonebayashi’s Marnie failing to rake in Miyazaki-like box office at home, Ghibli is taking a "brief pause" in production to re-evaluate their business model. Based on the novel by Joan G. Robinson, Marnie tells the story of the lonely and introverted Anna, who is sent from her foster home in the city to spend the summer in the sea town of Hokkaido, where she forms an unlikely friendship.

‘Heaven Knows What’ (May 29)

New York indie darlings Josh and Benny Safdie are primed to break out with this unflinching look at drug addicted street kids on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The film features new comer Arielle Holmes, who essentially is starring in her own biopic – Heaven is based on Holmes' soon-to-be published memoir, which the Safdies commissioned after meeting her on the subway. The story focuses on Holmes’ manic and dangerous love affair with Ilya (Caleb Landry Jones). Jones is the only real professional actor in a film filled with Holmes’ real life friends, who were very much still living the street life at the time of production.

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‘A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Reflecting On Existence’ (June 3)

At the end of every year there’s always one film that ends up on many top ten lists that leaves readers scratching their heads asking, "what is that movie?" This year don’t be surprised if it’s Pigeon, which beat out Birdman for the Golden Lion at last year’s Venice Film Festival. The culmination of Swedish auteur Roy Andersson’s long-in-the-making trilogy "about being a human being" (it follows Songs from the Second Floor and You, the Living) is a drier-than-dry comedy that takes an absurdist view of human existence through a series of vignettes, loosely tied together by two travelling salesmen characters. Andersson’s distinctive style – precisely orchestrated, static, deep focus long shots – is cranking on all cylinders, which has his devout supporters swooning, including Alejandro Inarritu and Darren Aronofsky, both of whom are lending their names to the film’s release.

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‘Testament of Youth’ (June 5)

This summer’s serving of classical British period drama encompasses nearly all of the genre’s virtues and "nearly none of the vices," according to THR’s Leslie Felperin. Based on Vera Brittain’s memoir of World War I, the film tells the story of youthful love set against the futility of war. Game of Thrones’ Kit Harrington stars opposite Swedish actress Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina), whose promising slate of upcoming films (seven major releases over the next nine months) and her unique screen presence made The Hollywood Reporter crown her 2015’s "Next Big Thing."

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‘Love and Mercy’ (June 5)

The troubled story of the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson is given a sensitive and unconventional portrayal in Love and Mercy. Using two different actors to portray Wilson, the film cuts back and forth between the legendary singer-songwriter at the height of his creative powers in the ‘60s and his battle to break free from his handler-doctor in the ‘80s. Paul Dano portrays Wilson while the pop icon was recording his seminal Pet Sounds album and signs of his mental illness were first starting to emerge. John Cusack plays the older Wilson, whose mental illness was used as way for his nefarious doctor (Paul Giamatti) to control him. The film marks producer Bill Pohlad’s first attempt at directing after backing prestige hits like 12 Years A Slave, Brokeback Mountain and Tree of Life.

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‘The Wolfpack’ (June 12)

After getting major buzz at Sundance, The Wolfpack will likely be the most talked about doc of the year. The six Angulo brothers have spent their childhoods trapped inside a New York City hi-rise on the Lower Eastside by their drunken, anti-establishment father. Now, the oldest boys are young men, and they begin to test their boundaries and venture into the city they spent their lives looking at through their windows. Beyond the intriguingly bizarre setup, director Crystal Moselle lucked into fascinating subjects. The brothers entertain themselves performing elaborate and spirited reenactments of their favorite movies and despite their anger over their living situation, they maintain a loving bond and optimism that’s incredibly endearing.

‘Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’ (June 12)

‘The Tribe’ (June 17)

You have likely never seen a film like The Tribe. It’s the story of an Ukrainian boarding school for the deaf where new students go through a hazing ritual that preps them to become part of a criminal gang. Not everything goes well for new student Sergey, who falls in love with one of the prostitutes he’s been charged with protecting. Writer-director Miroslav Slaboshpytskiy's filmmaking is as original as his storyline, with long choreographed shots where story is translated through character action rather than dialogue or subtitled sign language.

‘Eden’ (June 19)

Cannes award-winning filmmaker Mia Hansen-Love (Goodbye First Love) tackles the story of her generation by exploring the music scene that defined it. The ‘90s "French Touch" sound put a Parisian twist on house music and produced a number of big name musicians, most notably Daft Punk, who play supporting characters in Eden. The film is based on the life of Hansen-Love’s co-writer and brother Sven, who came up with Daft Punk and was a successful DJ in his own right, but later found himself in his 30s broke and with a drug problem, while his compatriots were becoming international superstars. The rise-and-fall storyline has become a trite convention of music biopics, but for the Hansen-Loves, Sven’s story mirrors how their generation’s optimism in 90s turned into post-9/11 disillusionment.

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‘Dope’ (June 19)

Malcom (Shameik Moore) gets bullied at school for being into "shit white people like" – ‘90s hip hop, dirt bikes and good grades. But the geeky kid focused on his college applications gets his chance to become "dope" when he gets invited to a cool underground party. Writer-Director Rick Famuyiwa’s (Our Family Wedding) fourth film walks a tonal tightrope that mixes madcap comedy and gun violence with a plot twist that involves a backpack full of drugs. The inner city coming-of-age story, which THR’s Boyd Van Hoeij calls a "crowd-pleaser from start to finish" sold to Open Road at Sundance for $7 million with a $15 million P&A minimum, as a number of distributors saw the film as having breakout potential.

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‘The Overnight’ (June 19)

Young parents Emily (Taylor Schilling) and Alex (Adam Scott) just moved to Los Angeles and are anxious to make new friends, but they get more than they bargain for when they meet Kurt (Jason Swartzman) in the neighborhood park. What starts off as a family pizza night at home turns into an entirely different type of "playdate" when the kids go to bed. The swinger comedy was a hot title at Sundance where THR’s David Rooney wrote the film has, "a breezy spirit and an agreeable touch of tenderness … that makes it hard not to like."

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‘Tangerine’ (July 10)

This film’s claim to early fame is that it was shot on an iPhone 5s, but that hardly captures what THR’s David Rooney describes as the "fierce energy [coursing] through every frame of this scrappy mosaic of Los Angeles street life." Tangerine immerses audiences in the world of Sin-Dee Rella (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) and Alexandra (Mya Taylor), two transgender prostitutes working the streets by Santa Monica and Highland. On Christmas eve, Sin-Dee is on a manhunt for her cheating pimp boyfriend, while Alexandra tries to promote her upcoming performance at a night club. This little indie-that-could was the out-of-competition breakout at Sundance and Magnolia hopes its word-of-mouth will propel it to being this summer’s surprise hit.

‘Amy’ (July 10)

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‘The Irrational Man’ (July 17)

‘The Look of Silence’ (July 17)

Josh Oppenheimer’s 2012 documentary The Act of Killing changed history. By holding a mirror up to the boastful leaders of the Indonesian death squads, most of whom still hold positions of power in the country, he pierced the bubble of silence that surrounded the 1965 genocide and started a dialogue that continues to affect national elections today. What wasn’t known at the time of Killing’s release was that before Oppenheimer left the country he had shot a second film in which he revisited his murderous subjects one last time. On this visit he brought with him a quiet ophthalmologist named Adi, whose family were victims of these men’s genocide. The result is riveting.

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‘The Stanford Prison Experiment’ (July 17)

In 1971, Stanford University professor Philip Zimbardo (Billy Crudup) ran an experiment to study the psychology of imprisonment. He paid male undergrads to play the roles of prisoners and guards in a mock prison he set up in the psych department’s basement. The results were shocking, as the basement descended into Lord of the Flies for six days before the plug was mercifully pulled on the study. This film adaptation of a book by Zimbardo, who also served as a consultant on the film, has been both praised and criticized for being dense and challenging. According to THR’s Leslie Felperin, SPE features a young cast of "all-stars-in-the-making" who star opposite Crudup, in one of the best performances of his career.

‘The End of the Tour’ (July 31)

In 1996, Rolling Stone writer David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg) spent five days on the road with author David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel), who at the end of his book tour was just starting to realize that his new novel, the groundbreaking Infinite Jest, was about to bring him fame. Lipsky never published an interview based on his five days of audio recording, but after Wallace killed himself in 2008, he did write a well-received memoir chronically their road trip together. Director James Ponsoldt’s (The Spectacular Now) adaptation of Lipsky’s book has been a hit with critics, but the film does come with a built-in-controversy as Wallace’s devoted fans and family are adamant the writer would never have consented to his interview transcripts being adapted into a movie. Adding to the film’s buzz is a potentially career defining-and-changing performance from Segel as the thoughtful and depressed Wallace.

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‘Best of Enemies’ (July 31)

In 1968, the struggling ABC network tried something different. During the tumultuous national party conventions they dedicated thirty minutes a night to letting conservative William F. Buckley and liberal Gore Vidal debate. Watching the erudite giants do battle in this new documentary from co-director Morgan Neville (the Oscar-winning 20 Feet From Stardom) and Robert Gordon is a joy, but also a painful reminder of just how bad in comparison today’s cable news hacks can be. The film welcomes the comparison between eras as one driving forces behind this examination of the Buckley-Vidal debates is trying to pinpoint the moment when TV stopped objectively reporting the news and spectacle started to trump substance. "For American viewers of an intellectual/historical persuasion," writes THR’s Todd McCarthy, "there could scarcely be any documentary more enticing, scintillating and downright fascinating."

‘The Diary of a Teenage Girl’ (August 7)

There’s no shortage of films about horny teenage boys, but filmmakers tend to tread lightly when dealing the emerging sexuality of young woman. That’s decidedly not the case with the frank, often humorous Diary of a Teenage Girl, which tells the story of 15-year old Minnie (Bel Powley) who loses her virginity to the boyfriend (Alexander Skarsgard) of her free spirited mother (Kristen Wiig). The film was one of the big hits at Sundance, where THR’s Todd McCarthy wrote "In this gutsy, intimate and assured debut, Marielle Heller accomplishes just about everything all young independent filmmakers say they want to do when starting out: to create a personal, fresh, distinctive work in their own ‘voice’ that will then, of course, make their careers."

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‘Mistress America’ (August 14)

‘Regression’ (August 28)

Dark and heady detective stories like Regression were once the staple of low budget American filmmaking, but have become a big screen rarity in age of True Detective and its quality TV counterparts. Regression tells the story of detective Bruce Kenner’s (Ethan Hawke) investigation into the case of young Angela (Emma Watson), who accuses her father, John Gray (David Dencik), of an unspeakable crime. When John unexpectedly and without recollection admits guilt, renowned psychologist Dr. Raines (David Thewlis) is brought in to help him relive his memories and what they discover unmasks a horrifying nationwide mystery. Writer-director-composer Alejandro Amenabar’s career highlights include an Academy Award (The Sea Inside), the most expensive film in Spanish history (Agora) and U.S box office success (The Others).

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‘The Second Mother’ (August TBD)

Val (Regina Case) has been a housekeeper and nanny for 13 years in Sao Paulo, while her daughter Jessica (Camila Mardila) has been raised by family members in northern Brazil. Val’s tranquil, but guilt-ridden existence is turned upside down when Jessica comes to town to apply to college. This little gem of a film got lost in all the hype and deal-making at Sundance, but didn’t escape the admiring eye of critics. "This densely layered yet almost fast paced-feeling drama, from writer-director Anna Muylaert (Collect Call)," writes THR’s Boyd Van Hoeij, "dissects with both chilling precision and humor such matters as class differences, real mothers vs. caretakers and whether privilege and one's own station are things that can be questioned or changed."

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