Independent Dramas on Netflix
Last updated May 11, 2025
Calvin Marshall
2009 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsThough he has no athletic ability whatsoever, college student Calvin Marshall (Alex Frost) is so blindly single-minded about making the school baseball team that Coach Little (Steve Zahn) -- a former minor league player -- relents and lets him on the squad. But when he's sidelined by an injury, Calvin has an opportunity to discover his true talent in life. Gary Lundgren directs this charming comedy that co-stars Michelle Lombardo.
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Triage
2009 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsColin Farrell stars in this psychological drama about a photojournalist who returns home from a harrowing news assignment without the colleague who'd accompanied him. Now, his girlfriend (Paz Vega) will not rest until she finds out what took place.
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Home of the Giants
2007 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsHigh school basketball star Matt convinces his best friend and aspiring journalist Gar to help him rob a drug dealer. But the job goes sideways, jeopardizing Gar and Matt's friendship and the team's chance at a state title.
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The Tree
2010 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsAfter her husband's sudden death, Dawn must provide for her four kids despite her grief, while young Simone is convinced her father's spirit now lives in a giant fig tree in the yard. But the tree's roots soon threaten the stability of their home.
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Restless
2011 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsAfter she is diagnosed with a terminal disease, a young girl (Mia Wasikowska) strikes up an unusually strong friendship with a boy (Henry Hopper) who deals with the problems in his own troubled family by attending funerals. Gus Van Sant directs.
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Another Earth
2011 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsAfter a strange Earth-like planet is discovered, astrophysics student Rhoda accidentally slams her car into the vehicle of John, killing his family. In time, Rhoda and John begin an unlikely romance, but Rhoda begins to wonder about the other planet.
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Turn Me On, Dammit!
2011 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsAlma is a sexually curious teenager living in a small town. To cope with her boring existence, she indulges in an active fantasy life with the help of a phone sex chat line. Soon her peers learn of Alma's ways, forcing her to stand up for who she is.
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Burning Man
2011 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsTom, a charismatic but moody chef at a chic Australian restaurant, has trouble controlling his temper, an issue that finally comes to a head when an angry outburst at his son's birthday party draws the police.
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Kiss Me
2011 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsWhile celebrating her own recent engagement, Mia travels to the Swedish countryside to attend the engagement party of her estranged father. When she meets her soon-to-be stepsister, sparks fly and Mia finds herself unexpectedly falling in love.
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Smashed
2012 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsKate and Charlie are a young married couple whose bond is built on a mutual love of music, laughter and lots of drinking. When Kate decides to sober up, her new lifestyle brings to the surface a troubling relationship with her mother, her employer and Charlie.
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House of Boys
2009 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsIn this colorful coming-of-age tale set in 1984, a gay teenage runaway travels to Amsterdam from Luxembourg in search of a new life. Taking up residence at a cabaret, he encounters love, friendship and, ultimately, tragedy with the outbreak of AIDS.
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Future Weather
2012 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsAfter her mother abandons her, 13-year-old Lauduree tries to hide the fact that she's living alone as she pursues her quest to help thwart global warming. But soon she must negotiate a difficult relationship with her alcoholic grandmother.
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Why Stop Now
2012 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsOn the day piano prodigy Eli is to audition for a famous conservatory, he gets sidetracked by an attempt to stash his cocaine-addled mother, Penny, in rehab. When Penny is denied admittance, Eli enters into a bizarre partnership with her dealers.
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The Colombian Connection
2011 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsJack Hooks is an ex-cop set up by his corrupt partner and sent to jail for a drug crime he didn't commit. Yanked out of prison with an early release deal by the DEA, he's sent on a mission to bring down the drug trade of his former partner.
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The Red Machine
2009 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsThis World War II thriller spins a tale of espionage aimed at stealing the secrets of Japan's most sophisticated encoding device, known as Red. Safecracker Eddie Doyle is persuaded to team up with Ellis Coburn, a naval officer with a dark past.
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City of Hope
1991 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsIn Hudson City, N.J., whites, blacks, unions and the police form their own tribes and jockey for influence over pieces of hard-won turf. This drama's multifaceted storyline follows several residents (Vincent Spano, Tony Lo Bianco, Angela Bassett, Joe Morton and Chris Cooper, among others), whose paths intersect amidst the decaying city. Writer-director John Sayles has said that this pungent and evocative film is his most autobiographical piece.
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Broken Flowers
2005 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsAfter being dumped by yet another girlfriend, serial bachelor Don vows he'll be alone forever. But when an anonymous letter informs him he has a 19-year-old son, Don sets out on a cross-country journey to confront his past -- and a few old flames.
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Swimmers
2005 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsIn this riveting indie tale set in coastal Maryland, the Tyler household's structure begins to crack when 11-year-old Emma (Tara Devon Gallagher) develops an ear problem requiring surgery that the Tylers can ill afford. As long-buried family squabbles come to the surface, Emma turns to an emotionally haunted young woman (Sarah Paulson) for solace and friendship. Cherry Jones (Tony Award winner for "Doubt" and "The Heiress") and Robert Knott shine as Emma's parents.
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Mister Foe
2007 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsIn a darkly twisted plot, teenage voyeur Hallam Foe spies on his stepmother through binoculars, finding himself irresistibly attracted to her even as he becomes convinced that she murdered his mother.
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Deal
2008 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsEx-card shark Tommy Vinson (Burt Reynolds) swore himself off the cards years ago, but when he takes on a cocky young player named Alex Stillman (Bret Harrison) as his protégé, he quickly finds himself drawn back into the world of high-stakes poker. Co-written and directed by Gil Cates Jr., this character-driven drama also stars Shannon Elizabeth, Jon Thomas and Maria Mason.
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Accidents Happen
2009 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsGloria Conway is a sharp-tongued mom in this darkly comic story of a family cursed with a streak of bad luck. But as life takes unexpected detours, Gloria manages to tear apart her pain to find humor in even the toughest things that happen to her.
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Life in Flight
2008 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsWith a beautiful wife (Amy Smart), an adoring son (Kevin Rosseljong) and an accomplished career, New York-based architect Will (Patrick Wilson) thinks he has it all -- until a new friendship with dynamic young designer Kate (Lynn Collins) reveals the cracks in his too-perfect life. With long-repressed doubts now in the open, Will must reconsider the direction of his life from the bottom up. Tracey Hecht directs this existential drama.
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Cracks
2009 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsMiss G., a teacher at a girls' boarding school, is unusually close with one of her charges, Di. But when the arrival of a new student evokes strong emotions, disrupting Miss G.'s relationship with the others, it is certain that someone will get hurt.
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Please Give
2010 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsLife gets knotty when successful Manhattan couple Alex (Oliver Platt) and Kate (Catherine Keener) develop a relationship with the granddaughters of Andra (Ann Morgan Guilbert), the cantankerous elderly woman who owns the apartment next to theirs -- and who must die so they can expand their home. The all-star cast includes Amanda Peet, Rebecca Hall and Lois Smith in this indie feature from writer-director Nicole Holofcener (Friends with Money).
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Every Day
2010 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsNed is fed up with his unfulfilling work as a writer on a flawed television show and his stagnant marriage to wife Jeannie. Just when he thinks life can't get worse, his teenage son announces he's gay and his ailing father-in-law moves in.
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