It's often said by cinephiles that most of the truly great movies are produced outside of the studio system, away from the interference of executives for whom the primary motivation for making films is to see as large a return on an investment as possible. It's certainly true that independent movies frequently brave new cinematic ground in a way rarely seen in Hollywood - their budgets might be considerably smaller but their ambitions often soar far higher than multiplex movies, defying genre conventions and challenging audiences to rethink the way in which cinema is used as a mode of expression. We're half way through 2015 and already the indie film scene has delivered some exceptional movies, some of which are all but guaranteed to end up on more than a few "Best Movies Of 2015" lists come the end of the year. Horror, Science Fiction and the Western movie conventions have been satirised and subverted to great effect, while powerful dramas cut to the core of what it means to be alive in the modern world. These are movies which take us beyond the explosions and action at the heart of the summer blockbuster and prove that a small budget is no obstacle to filming big ideas. Here are ten of the very best indie movies released so far in 2015.
