Indie Film Weekly [EP 23]: The Surrender (2025) & Repulsion (1965)
Indie Film Weekly
Hey there, indie explorers! Welcome back to Indie Film Weekly, your friendly neighborhood signal flare for what’s new and wild in independent cinema. I’m Glen Reynolds from Circus Road Films, here with your weekly download of theatrical releases, digital finds, and one unforgettable throwback.
This podcast is brought to you by Indie Igniter—helping indie filmmakers connect their art to their audience. Get tools, strategy, and good vibes at theindieigniter.com.
New in Theaters
Let’s kick things off with The Surrender, a fierce supernatural drama directed by Julia Max. When the family patriarch dies, a mother and daughter turn to an ancient resurrection ritual that involves blood, bone, and a terrifying amount of commitment. It's grief, trauma, and horror wrapped in a muddy, candlelit séance.
Julia Max makes her feature debut with confidence, creating a tactile world of grief and desperation. It’s gritty, emotionally raw, and not for the squeamish. Critics have compared it to Hereditary, but more feral. You’ll want a blanket, a crucifix, and maybe a tetanus shot.
Next up: The New Boy, from acclaimed Australian director Warwick Thornton. Set in 1940s rural Australia, the story follows a mysterious Aboriginal boy taken to a Christian orphanage run by a conflicted nun, played by Cate Blanchett. The arrival of a wooden crucifix sets off a quiet but powerful spiritual clash.
Thornton, who won the Camera d'Or at Cannes for Samson and Delilah, blends lyrical naturalism with sharp colonial commentary. Blanchett delivers a hushed, haunted performance, and newcomer Aswan Reid steals scenes with wordless intensity. It’s part ghost story, part meditation on belief systems in collision.
And finally, cheating slightly on release dates (don’t tell the film calendar police), Ghost Trail opens May 30, but it's too strong to skip. Directed by Jonathan Millet, it follows Hamid, a Syrian exile who joins a secret organization dedicated to hunting down war criminals. His mission takes him to France, where his past returns in the form of a man who once tortured him.
A tense psychological thriller with the soul of a political reckoning, Ghost Trail is taut, timely, and unflinchingly human. Millet crafts a journey through trauma and justice, where personal vengeance dances dangerously close to moral collapse.
So that’s The Surrender, The New Boy, and Ghost Trail – bringing you blood rituals, sacred relics, and underground justice this week in indie film.
Films to Rent or Download
On demand this week is At Her Feet, directed by Nadya Wynd. A group of archaeology students on a Hawaiian dig team up with a local guide as they try to rescue ancient artifacts from an impending volcanic eruption. But this isn’t just geology class with lava. Mystical protectors and ancient spirits get involved, and soon it becomes a full-on spiritual survival story.
Shot on location in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, the film blends indigenous folklore, adventure storytelling, and environmental urgency. It’s Indiana Jones meets Moana with an indie sensibility. Think less whips and more respect for cultural heritage.
At Her Feet is now available on TVOD.
Indie Classic
This week marks the 60th anniversary of Roman Polanski’s Repulsion, his first English-language film and arguably one of the most influential psychological horrors ever made. Catherine Deneuve stars as Carole, a young manicurist left alone in her London flat, where isolation and unresolved trauma unravel her psyche.
As the walls close in—literally and figuratively—the film pulls us deep into Carole’s mental spiral. There are no jump scares here, just creeping dread, surreal visions, and a building sense of unease that still holds up today.
Whether you’re revisiting it or watching for the first time, Repulsion remains a masterclass in tension, minimalism, and the horror of the mind. It’s streaming now on Amazon Prime and Tubi.
And that wraps up this week’s Indie Film Weekly. Whether you’re into ritual horror, cultural reckonings, volcanic quests, or classic psychodrama, there’s something waiting to shake up your screen.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the newsletter at theindieigniter.com. And if you love the podcast, leave a comment, share it with your film crew, or whisper it to a ghost on a hiking trail.
Until next time, keep it bold, keep it weird, and keep it indie!