Indie Film Weekly [EP 26]: Materialists (2025) & After Hours (1985)
Hey indie film lovers, welcome back to Indie Film Weekly—the podcast that ditches blockbusters for the movies you actually want to talk about. I’m Glen Reynolds from Circus Road Films, here with your weekly rundown of what’s new in theaters, on demand, and buried treasure from the past worth digging up.
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New in Theaters
First up is Materialists, the new film from Past Lives director Celine Song. This time, she trades reincarnated romance for a sharply observed rom-com about matchmaking, ambition, and the heartache of choosing between your fantasy and your past.
Set in New York City, the story follows a successful young matchmaker whose lucrative business hits turbulence when her messy, very imperfect ex reappears just as she’s on the verge of her own perfect match. Song brings her signature warmth and clarity, but adds a stylish gloss and screwball energy. Think Nora Ephron meets Wong Kar-wai with better lighting.
Next, Meeting with Pol Pot, from Cambodian auteur Rithy Panh. Based on a real-life visit in 1978, three French journalists are invited to meet the Khmer Rouge leadership and tour Cambodia. What begins as a rare diplomatic opportunity turns into a surreal descent into fear, surveillance, and unspoken horror.
Panh, whose past work includes The Missing Picture and S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine, is no stranger to reckoning with trauma through cinema. This film blends historical recreation and dread-soaked docudrama, offering both a journalistic thriller and a searing reminder of the cost of bearing witness.
And finally, Prime Minister offers a rare political documentary with actual optimism. Directed by Michelle Walshe and Lindsay Utz, the film chronicles Jacinda Ardern’s rise and leadership as New Zealand’s PM through crises including the Christchurch shooting and the pandemic. It captures her poise, clarity, and compassion—without turning her into a saint.
With a tone somewhere between The Final Year and Knock Down the House, Prime Minister feels like a refreshing portrait of what leadership can look like when grounded in empathy.
So that’s Materialists, Meeting with Pol Pot, and Prime Minister — a well-rounded lineup for anyone looking to be charmed, chilled, or inspired.
Films to Rent or Download
This week on TVOD, we get One to One: John & Yoko, a documentary that revisits Lennon and Ono’s post-Beatles years through the lens of love, activism, and music. Directed by Sam Rice-Edwards and Kevin Macdonald, the film weaves archival footage and intimate interviews into a portrait of a couple creating together and coping with fame, scrutiny, and personal evolution.
If you think you know everything about John and Yoko, this doc will surprise you. And if you don’t, it’s a great introduction to the raw, political, sometimes chaotic world they built around each other. Available now on Apple, Amazon, and Google Play.
Indie Classic
This week’s classic is turning 40—Martin Scorsese’s After Hours. It’s a dark comedy, a descent into downtown Manhattan madness, and one of the best “one bad night” films ever made.
Griffin Dunne stars as Paul, a mild-mannered word processor who follows a woman to SoHo and ends up on an odyssey of surreal encounters, existential dread, and neon-lit paranoia. A flying $20 bill sets off the chain of events, and from there it’s a maze of bizarre characters and escalating chaos.
Fun fact: After Hours was Scorsese’s indie rebound after his disappointment that Paramount pulled the plug on The Last Temptation of Christ. Frustrated and creatively adrift, he took on this small, edgy project—and it helped reinvigorate his love for filmmaking. The film went on to win Best Director at Cannes and became a cult favorite.
Another fun detail: Catherine O’Hara drives an ice cream truck—just one of many wonderfully absurd touches that turns a bad night into a cult classic fever dream.
It’s available to rent on Amazon Prime and well worth your insomnia.
That wraps it up for this edition of Indie Film Weekly. Whether you’re chasing a ghost of a relationship, facing political horror, or just trying to make it home before sunrise, there’s something indie for you this week.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the Indie Igniter newsletter for more picks and strategy tips. And if you enjoyed the pod, share it with a friend or leave us a review—preferably not during a surreal cab ride downtown.
Until next week, keep it heartfelt, keep it unpredictable, and keep it indie!