Comingsoon.net has decided to pay tribute to the polarizing mumblecore genre. Check out our favorites in the gallery below!
Mumblecore is a genre that you’re either going to love or hate. It’s a very idiosyncratic type of moviemaking, characterized by loosely-improvised dialogue, naturalistic performances, nonprofessional actors, and extremely low budgets. More often than not, the films concern very trivial drama that has little (or nothing) to do with the world at large. Think low-budget melodrama with a deadpan sense of humor.
Still, despite whatever you think of the film themselves, plenty of great talent has come from the genre. Greta Gerwig has done work both in front of and behind the screen, Noah Baumbach has practically cornered the market wit ha big-budget Netflix deal, Joe Swanberg continues to put out movies faster than almost anyone in the game, Lynn Shelton managed to bring the genre to new heights, and the Duplass brothers effectively transitioned the style from film to TV with relative ease. Not to mention Andrew Bujalski, who has worked his way into Disney’s rotation. With these names in mind, let’s take a look at the very best movies the mumblecore genre has to offer.
Mumblecore movies
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Daddy Longlegs (2009)
Written and directed by Good Time’s the Safdie Brothers, Daddy Longlegs showed what the two were capable of nearly a decade before their crime thriller helped them break new ground.
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Frances Ha (2012)
Definitely the most superior mumblecore film ever made, Noah Baumbach’s Frances Ha transcends the genre so well that it almost goes beyond the categorization of “mumblecore.”
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Frownland (2007)
Written and directed by Ronald Bronstein, Frownland is one of the more outlandish mumblecore films—that’s ultimately what earns it a spot here.
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Funny Ha Ha (2002)
Andrew Bujalski writes Disney movies now, but he actually helped start the mumblecore genre with his feature Funny Ha Ha.
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Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)
Another instance of mumblecore so good it almost isn’t mumblecore, Martha Marcy May Marlene is Sean Dunkin’s magnum opus (and one of the best films compiled here by far).
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Mutual Appreciation (2005)
Andrew Bujalski will always be credited as one of the filmmakers who had the most influence on the shape and the tone of the mumblecore genre, with Mutual Appreciation remaining a touchstone nearly fifteen years later.
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The Puffy Chair (2005)
The Duplass Brothers made quite an impact on the genre before mostly switching over to TV, with The Puffy Chair epitomizing their efforts the best out of all their features.
