eff's 2023 Secret Streamers
With 2023 being the year of Barbenheimer, blockbuster concert movies and broken box office records, we felt that many great indies (films and TV shows alike) flew under the radar. So, to keep you entertained over the festive period, we've put together a list of our favourite hidden gems of the year, all available to stream now.
TV Shows
Dreaming Whilst Black
Written by and starring Adjani Salmon, this new comedy series follows Kwabena, who is stuck in a dead-end recruitment job. He spends the majority of his time daydreaming about becoming a filmmaker. From A24.
The Gallows Pole
Also from A24, this series from director This is England Shane Meadows tells the fictionalised story of David Hartley and the Cragg Vale Coiners at the onset of the industrial revolution in 18th-century Yorkshire.
Lessons in Chemistry
Based on the hit novel of the same name, in this 1960s set miniseries Brie Larson stars as chemist Elizabeth Zott, who uses her new job hosting a television cooking show titled Supper at Six to educate housewives on scientific topics.
Film
Blue Jean
In this stunning debut from director Georgia Oakley, Rosy McEwen plays Jean, a lesbian PE teacher forced to live a double life under Conservative rule. Whilst she has been able to maintain these two sides of herself, the arrival of new student Lois (Lucy Halliday), who is also gay, heightens workplace suspicion as Jean is torn between staying true to her community and protecting herself.
They Cloned Tyrone
An inventive comedy-thriller whose release was somewhat ignored in the Barbenheimer noise, Juel Taylor’s debut feature follows an unlikely trio as they’re thrust into the middle of a nefarious government conspiracy. Starring John Boyega and Teyonah Parris.
Saint Omer
The first narrative feature from acclaimed documentary filmmaker Alice Diop, this tense courtroom drama follows writer Rama as she travels from Paris to Saint-Omer to witness the trial of Laurence, a young Senegalese woman accused of killing her own daughter.
Return to Seoul
Wanting to reconnect with her origins, 25-year-old Freddie impulsively returns to her birthplace of South Korea for the first time since she was adopted and raised in France. Freddie begins to track down her biological parents, embarking on an unexpected journey in a country she knows little about.
How to Blow Up a Pipeline
A crew of young environmental activists execute a daring plan to sabotage an oil pipeline, in Daniel Goldhaber's tense thriller based on the book by Andreas Malm.
Polite Society
In this debut feature film from We Are Lady Parts creator Nida Manzoor, Priya Kansara stars as Ria, a teenager who dreams of being a stuntwoman. After her older sister Lena (Umbrella Academy’s Ritu Arya) abandons her plan to become an artist and gets speedily engaged instead, Ria believes she must save her sister from her impending marriage and, with the help of her best friends, tries to pull off a wedding heist to end all others.