Indie Film Spotlight: What If

Welcome to Indie Film Spotlight! In which I act as your guide through the mess of mediocre indie movies out there and bring to you a select few that are not only worth watching but are actually worthy of love and recommendation. But first, a quick primer: an indie film, or independent film, is one that is produced outside of a major film studio and usually distributed by the same. Indie films are also generally recognizable by the filmmaker's personal artistic vision and are lower budget than their media conglomerate cousins. Hence the reason many of them are quite bad. That being said, enjoy this spotlight on an incredible one!

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Synopsis

What If is a dramedy (a drama-comedy) following the lives of Wallace, a medical school dropout with a bad history of relationships, and Chantry, a quirky animator living with her long-time boyfriend. After swearing off relationships, Wallace meets Chantry, and the two hit it off immediately, becoming best friends. But they begin to wonder... what if your best friend is also the love of your life?

Why You Should Watch It

After getting over the whole boy wizard phase, Daniel Radcliffe lost nearly all taste in traditionally-acclaimed movies. And I'm so incredibly glad he did. This film is one of the quirkier of the indie films I'll feature, including random animated sequences and some slow-moving moments, but it's worth it. The supporting cast includes Adam Driver (The Force Awakens), Mackenzie Davis (The Martian), and Rafe Spall (Shaun of the Dead)--all fabulous--but Daniel Radcliffe is the adorkable star of this show. I don't really like Zoe Kazan (Chantry), but Radcliffe more than makes up for her. This film will speak to any complicated relationship you've ever had no idea what to do with. It will make you laugh, then it'll break your heart, and then it'll try to make it up to you again with the ending. You'll have to let me know if you think it succeeds.

It's complicated. All this love shit's complicated. And that's good. Because if it's too simple, you've got no reason to try, and if you've got no reason to try, you don't.

Have you seen What If? What did you think?