Best Film by Independent Spirit Awards
All winners of the 'Best Film' from 1985 through 2021.
Last updated: May 3rd, 2022
Weight: 25
Detractions
- Limited to ~50 years or less (-50)
- Yearly award (-25)
Films (37)
1. The Lost Daughter
Directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal | Rated R | 121 min | 2021
A woman's beach vacation takes a dark turn when she begins to confront the troubles of her past.
2. Nomadland
Directed by Chloé Zhao | Rated R | 107 min | 2020
After losing everything in the Great Recession, a woman embarks on a journey through the American West, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad.
3. The Farewell
Directed by Lulu Wang | Rated PG | 100 min | 2019
A Chinese family discovers their grandmother has only a short while left to live and decide to keep her in the dark, scheduling a wedding to gather before she dies.
4. If Beale Street Could Talk
Directed by Barry Jenkins | Rated N/A | 119 min | 2018
A woman in Harlem embraces her pregnancy while she and her family struggle to prove her fiancé innocent of a crime.
5. Get Out
Directed by Jordan Peele | Rated R | 104 min | 2017
It's time for a young African-American to meet with his white girlfriend's parents for a weekend in their secluded estate in the woods, but before long, the friendly and polite ambience will give way to a nightmare.
6. Moonlight
Directed by Barry Jenkins | Rated R | 111 min | 2016
A timeless story of human self-discovery and connection, Moonlight chronicles the life of a young black man from childhood to adulthood as he struggles to find his place in the world while growing up in a rough neighborhood of Miami.
7. Spotlight
Directed by Tom McCarthy | Rated R | 128 min | 2015
The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core.
2014.jpg)
8. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Rated R | 119 min | 2014
Illustrated upon the progress of his latest Broadway play, a former popular actor's struggle to cope with his current life as a wasted actor is shown.
9. 12 Years a Slave
Directed by Steve McQueen | Rated R | 134 min | 2013
In the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.
10. Silver Linings Playbook
Directed by David O. Russell | Rated R | 122 min | 2012
After a stint in a mental institution, former teacher Pat Solitano moves back in with his parents and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife. Things get more challenging when Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own.
11. The Artist
Directed by Michel Hazanavicius | Rated PG-13 | 100 min | 2011
A silent movie star meets a young dancer, but the arrival of talking pictures sends their careers in opposite directions.
12. Black Swan
Directed by Darren Aronofsky | Rated R | 108 min | 2010
A committed dancer wins the lead role in a production of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" only to find herself struggling to maintain her sanity.
13. Precious
Directed by Lee Daniels | Rated R | 110 min | 2009
In New York City's Harlem circa 1987, an overweight, abused, illiterate teen who is pregnant with her second child is invited to enroll in an alternative school in hopes that her life can head in a new direction.
14. The Wrestler
Directed by Darren Aronofsky | Rated R | 109 min | 2008
A faded professional wrestler must retire, but finds his quest for a new life outside the ring a dispiriting struggle.
15. Juno
Directed by Jason Reitman | Rated PG-13 | 96 min | 2007
Faced with an unplanned pregnancy, an offbeat young woman makes an unusual decision regarding her unborn child.
16. Little Miss Sunshine
Directed by Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris | Rated R | 101 min | 2006
A family determined to get their young daughter into the finals of a beauty pageant take a cross-country trip in their VW bus.
17. Brokeback Mountain
Directed by Ang Lee | Rated R | 134 min | 2005
The story of a forbidden and secretive relationship between two cowboys, and their lives over the years.
18. Sideways
Directed by Alexander Payne | Rated R | 126 min | 2004
Two men reaching middle age with not much to show but disappointment embark on a week-long road trip through California's wine country, just as one is about to take a trip down the aisle.
19. Lost in Translation
Directed by Sofia Coppola | Rated R | 101 min | 2003
A faded movie star and a neglected young woman form an unlikely bond after crossing paths in Tokyo.
20. Far from Heaven
Directed by Todd Haynes | Rated PG-13 | 107 min | 2002
In 1950s Connecticut, a housewife faces a marital crisis and mounting racial tensions in the outside world.
21. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Directed by Ang Lee | Rated PG-13 | 120 min | 2000
Two warriors in pursuit of a stolen sword and a notorious fugitive are led to an impetuous, physically skilled, adolescent nobleman's daughter, who is at a crossroads in her life.
22. Memento
Directed by Christopher Nolan | Rated R | 113 min | 2000
A man juggles searching for his wife's murderer and keeping his short-term memory loss from being an obstacle.
23. Election
Directed by Alexander Payne | Rated R | 103 min | 1999
A high school teacher's personal life becomes complicated as he works with students during the school elections, particularly with an obsessive overachiever determined to become student body president.
24. Gods and Monsters
Directed by Bill Condon | Rated R | 105 min | 1998
The last days of Frankenstein (1931) director James Whale are explored.
25. The Apostle
Directed by Robert Duvall | Rated PG-13 | 134 min | 1997
After his happy life spins out of control, a preacher from Texas changes his name, goes to Louisiana and starts preaching on the radio.
26. Fargo
Directed by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Rated R | 98 min | 1996
Jerry Lundegaard's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of the quite pregnant Marge Gunderson.
27. Leaving Las Vegas
Directed by Mike Figgis | Rated R | 111 min | 1995
Ben Sanderson, an alcoholic Hollywood screenwriter who lost everything because of his drinking, arrives in Las Vegas to drink himself to death. There, he meets and forms an uneasy friendship and non-interference pact with prostitute Sera.
28. Pulp Fiction
Directed by Quentin Tarantino | Rated R | 154 min | 1994
The lives of two mob hit men, a boxer, a gangster's wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.
29. Short Cuts
Directed by Robert Altman | Rated R | 187 min | 1993
The day-to-day lives of a number of suburban Los Angeles residents.
30. The Player
Directed by Robert Altman | Rated R | 124 min | 1992
A Hollywood studio executive is being sent death threats by a writer whose script he rejected - but which one?
31. Rambling Rose
Directed by Martha Coolidge | Rated R | 112 min | 1991
Rose, is taken in by the Hillyer family to serve as a 1930s housemaid so that she can avoid falling into a life of prostitution. Rose's appearence and personality is such that all men fall ...
32. The Grifters
Directed by Stephen Frears | Rated R | 110 min | 1990
A small-time conman has torn loyalties between his estranged mother and new girlfriend--both of whom are high-stakes grifters with their own angles to play.
33. Sex, Lies, and Videotape
Directed by Steven Soderbergh | Rated R | 100 min | 1989
A sexually repressed woman's husband is having an affair with her sister. The arrival of a visitor with a rather unusual fetish changes everything.
34. Stand and Deliver
Directed by Ramón Menéndez | Rated PG | 103 min | 1988
The story of Jaime Escalante, a high school teacher who successfully inspired his dropout prone students to learn calculus.
35. Platoon
Directed by Oliver Stone | Rated R | 120 min | 1986
A young recruit in Vietnam faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man.
36. River's Edge
Directed by Tim Hunter | Rated R | 99 min | 1986
A high school slacker kills his girlfriend and shows off her dead body to his friends. However, the friends' reaction is almost as ambiguous and perplexing as the crime itself.
37. After Hours
Directed by Martin Scorsese | Rated R | 97 min | 1985
An ordinary word processor has the worst night of his life after he agrees to visit a girl in Soho whom he met that evening at a coffee shop.