Before Mandalorian Lands Friday: 5 Indie Films Quietly Streaming Right Now
The Mandalorian and Grogu hits theaters this Friday and is about to eat every screen for ten days. Before then, here are five quietly excellent indie films that landed on streaming in the first half of May — verified platforms, no fake hype, all watchable tonight.
The Mandalorian and Grogu hits theaters this Friday, May 22, and for the next ten days every multiplex screen within driving distance is going to look like a beskar parade. Good news: streaming services quietly dropped some of the year's best indie films during the first half of May, and almost nobody is talking about them.
Below are five picks I have actually verified are streaming right now in the US — no "coming soon" filler, no fake hype. Most of them landed on a platform between May 1 and May 15, which means you can watch all of them this week without leaving the couch. I included where to watch, anticipation level, and a quick take so you can pick your evening fast.
1. Lurker (2025) — HBO Max
Where: HBO Max, added May 15 Anticipation: 9/10 — must-see
Alex Russell's directorial debut Lurker is the parasocial-thriller everyone at Sundance was whispering about in January 2025, and it just slid quietly onto HBO Max three days ago. A twenty-something retail clerk (Théodore Pellerin) edges his way into the inner circle of a rising pop star (Archie Madekwe), and the line between "friend" and "fan" disintegrates one uncomfortable favor at a time.
The film won Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay at the 2026 Independent Spirit Awards, and Rotten Tomatoes has it at 95% from 112 critics — those are not made-up numbers, those are "this is going to be on every year-end list" numbers. If you watch one thing on this list, watch this.
2. Petite Maman (2021) — Kanopy
Where: Kanopy, added May 1 Anticipation: 8/10 — worth-it
Céline Sciamma's Petite Maman finally landed on Kanopy at the start of May, which means if your local library gives you Kanopy access you can stream it for free. A grieving eight-year-old meets a girl her own age in the woods near her late grandmother's house, and the two of them build a tree fort together — that is the entire plot and also somehow the most quietly devastating film about motherhood made in the last decade.
Seventy-two minutes. No filler. The shortest cry-yourself-out you can have this week.
3. An Unfinished Film (2024) — Criterion Channel
Where: Criterion Channel, added May 2026 Anticipation: 8/10 — worth-it
Lou Ye's An Unfinished Film premiered in Special Screenings at Cannes 2024 and basically nobody outside the festival circuit got to see it for the next eighteen months. A director hauls his old cast and crew back together to finish a gay romance film he abandoned ten years ago, and then COVID lockdown traps the whole production in a hotel.
It is partly drama, partly meta-documentary, partly the closest thing we are likely to get to an honest mainland-Chinese film about 2020 — and the Criterion Channel is the only legal way to stream it in the US right now.
4. Closed Curtain (2013) — Metrograph at Home
Where: Metrograph at Home, part of the May Panahi collection Anticipation: 7/10 — worth-it
Jafar Panahi is back in the news because he is once again facing the threat of imprisonment in Iran, and Metrograph at Home picked exactly the right moment to bring back Closed Curtain alongside The Circle and Crimson Gold in a three-film collection. Shot in secret at Panahi's own beachfront villa on the Caspian during his filmmaking ban, it tells the minimal story of an unnamed screenwriter hiding from authorities with his illegal dog.
It is melancholy and claustrophobic in exactly the way you would expect from a film made under house arrest. If you have never sat with a Panahi film, start here — and read about why he keeps making them.
5. Four Letter Words (2000) — Criterion Channel
Where: Criterion Channel, available all month Anticipation: 7/10 — worth-it (and a curiosity)
Before The Florida Project, before Anora, Sean Baker shot Four Letter Words — his actual directorial debut, an ensemble piece about teenage boys talking trash at a backyard party. Until very recently this film was nearly impossible to see legally; Criterion Channel quietly added it as part of an early-Baker spotlight.
It is rough around the edges in the way first features should be rough. But you can see every Baker tic already in place: real-feeling dialogue, working-class specificity, and the patience to just let people talk until something true falls out. Worth ninety minutes for anyone who loved Anora last year and wants to see where the voice came from.
Honorable mentions
- Sirât (2025) — MUBI. Oliver Laxe's Cannes Jury Prize winner about five itinerant dancers crossing the desert; landed on MUBI US back in late March, still the best thing I have watched there this year.
- Mitski: The Land (2025) — MUBI. Grant James captures three nights at Atlanta's Fox Theatre. If you like Mitski, you already know. If you do not, watch fifteen minutes anyway.
- The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo (2025) — Diego Céspedes' Cannes Un Certain Regard winner, also on MUBI this month.
Your weekend plan
If you have one night this week, watch Lurker. If you have two, add Petite Maman. If you have a rainy Saturday afternoon and a good pair of headphones, An Unfinished Film will eat three hours of your life and you will not be sorry.
The Mandalorian crowd will be at the multiplex by next Friday. There is a real window this week to catch up on the films that did not get a wide release because they were never going to. Take it.
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