Indie Film Weekly [EP 25]: The Life of Chuck (2025) & Return of the Secaucus 7 (1980)
Welcome back, indie adventurers! You’re tuned into Indie Film Weekly, where we skip the billion-dollar box office and head straight into the soulful, strange, and stunning world of independent cinema. I’m Glen Reynolds from Circus Road Films, and as always, I’m your guide for this week’s theatrical highlights, digital discoveries, and one indie classic that still hits.
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New in Theaters
First up is The Life of Chuck, directed by Mike Flanagan and released by Neon. Based on a short story by Stephen King, this genre-bending drama unfolds across three surreal chapters in the life of one ordinary man, Charles Krantz.
Flanagan, best known for horror hits like Doctor Sleep and Midnight Mass, shows a more introspective side here—though the existential weirdness remains. It’s poignant, ambitious, and full of life-affirming melancholy. Fun fact: I actually sold one of Flanagan’s earliest films, Absentia, back in the day. It’s been amazing watching his evolution from DIY horror to poetic multiverse architect.
Next, I Don’t Understand You, from directors David Joseph Craig and Brian Crano, follows an American couple on the verge of adoption who find themselves stuck on an ill-fated Italian vacation. Lost in translation (literally), their emotional baggage unpacks itself in unexpected ways.
It’s like Scenes from a Marriage meets Eat Pray Panic. With the scenic backdrop of Italy and the pressure cooker of parental anxiety, this one delivers the relationship drama with humor, heartache, and a healthy dose of confusion.
And finally, The Ritual, directed by David Midell, drops us into a spiritual battle where two very different priests must team up to perform exorcisms on a possessed young woman. Naturally, the demons aren’t the only ones causing friction.
This one’s got Catholic horror vibes, some unexpected heart, and a few classic jump scares for good measure. Think The Exorcist meets a buddy-cop film where no one’s laughing and everyone’s haunted.
So that’s The Life of Chuck, I Don’t Understand You, and The Ritual in theaters this weekend—three wildly different windows into belief, breakdowns, and big questions.
Films to Rent or Download
On TVOD this week is A Different Man, directed by Aaron Schimberg. This unsettling character study follows Edward, an actor who undergoes a radical procedure to change his face and start a new life. But when he sees someone else playing a version of his old self in a play, things take a turn.
Sebastian Stan stars in this eerie, darkly funny meditation on identity, envy, and the shifting line between self and performance. Schimberg, who also made Chained for Life, digs deep into the body horror of transformation—and not just the physical kind.
A Different Man is now available to rent or download.
Indie Classic
For our Indie Classic, we’re heading back 45 years to Return of the Secaucus 7, the debut film from John Sayles. This low-budget ensemble drama follows seven former antiwar activists as they reunite for a weekend in New Hampshire and confront who they’ve become.
Often cited as the precursor to The Big Chill, Sayles’ film is all character, dialogue, and unvarnished emotion. The cast includes David Strathairn in his first film role and Sayles regular Maggie Renzi. Shot for under $50,000, it helped launch the American indie boom of the 1980s.
It’s streaming now on AMC+, and still feels deeply resonant—especially if you’ve ever wondered what happened to the idealists after the protests ended.
That’s a wrap for this edition of Indie Film Weekly! Whether you’re in the mood for spiritual battles, existential transformations, or just some sharply written group therapy disguised as a reunion, this week delivers.
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Until next week, keep it soulful, keep it surprising, and keep it indie!