Before Phelps opens up on Lochte, get your feet wet with the Duplass brothers’ low-budget/high-quality sports comedy about two flabby brothers drowning in sibling rivalry. Bachelor Jeremy takes on family man Mark in 25 homemade Olympic events; we’re talking arm wrestling, laser tag, and underwater breath holding. It made a splash at SXSW, and the Duplasses continue to have a ripple effect on independent film.
It’s like: Arrested Development meets The Ringer.
Take: A good sport.
Premieres: Today

Find showtimes at fandango.com.

Let’s go with its Swedish (and way more fun to say) name: Snabba Cash stars Joel Kinnaman as a broke grad student who makes a killing once he majors in double-crossing the Serbian mafia. Told through three interweaving plots, the Stockholm noir is based on the first of a Swedish book series written by a criminal attorney. Not into movie multitasking? Warner Bros. is working on an American remake rumored to star Zac Efron. Wonder if Scorsese’s free.
It’s like: A Prophet stuck in Layer Cake.
Take: Swedish fish, of course.
Premieres: July 11

Find showtimes at fandango.com.

The latest thriller from the man who put Ryan Reynolds in a box — Rodrigo Cortés. Cillian Murphy and Sigourney Weaver play paranormal researchers who bust John Edward types for otherworldly BS. Advice from the director: “Don’t expect anything; it has its own energy.” Any polarizing Sundance ghost story in which spoons bend, lights flicker, and De Niro floats gets the green light from us.
It’s like: Contact meets Carrie.
Take: A sidekick with an open mind.
Premieres: Freaky Friday, July 13

Find showtimes at fandango.com.

Not just another hair-raising wig show, Benoît Jacquot’s French twist on the Revolution hosts an Inglourious reunion between Diane Kruger and Léa Seydoux — and suggests Marie Antoinette likes girls. The story explores the intimate relationship between a reader (Seydoux) and the queen of her heart (Kruger) days before it’s off with their heads. So what if your French is shabby: The jaw-dropping costumes read loud and clear.
It’s like: Girl with a Pearl Earring meets Cracks.
Take: A bosom buddy.
Premieres: July 13

Find showtimes at fandango.com.

Hitch a ride to India via Michael Winterbottom’s modern take on Thomas Hardy’s classic novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles. Freida Pinto is Trishna, a young peasant who moves to Jaipur for a seat at the table but ends up the dish to her lover’s sexual appetite. At first, the festival hopper takes its time, moving at a camel-like pace. But once you’re over that hump, there’s no lack of satisfaction.
It’s like: Slumdog Millionaire meets Snapped.
Take: Indie movie fans hot for Winterbottom.
Premieres: July 13

Find showtimes at fandango.com.

Meet Jackie, the delusional fortysomething mother of eight married to timeshare king David Siegel and queen of the largest palace built on U.S. soil (that’s 90,000 square feet of vacant American dream). Sundance Directing Award winner Lauren Greenfield’s comment on American greed is painted with such bizarre crayons you can’t look away.
It’s like: Real Housewives meets Inside Job.
Take: A loyal subject.
Premieres: July 20

Find showtimes at fandango.com.

Paul Dano stars in the second gem from the Little Miss Sunshine team with real-life gal Zoe Kazan (who also penned the script). Calvin’s a writer who’s found his muse: a beguiling redhead born in ink and raised on the pages of his novel. It’s when he discovers his Ruby’s not a fake that he loses his grip on reality. Sure, he’s manifested his dream girl, but their destiny remains unwritten.
It’s like: 500 Days Pages of Summer.
Take: Your infatuation on date night.
Premieres: July 25

Find showtimes at fandango.com.

Hey, kids. The Best Comedy winner at Fantastic Fest turns the Danish countryside into a three-ring circus of debauchery, male bonding, and more debauchery. Frank takes his 12-year-old nephew along on an X-rated canoe trip with bozo of a BFF Casper. With line-stepping nature of that kind, it’s no wonder it caught the eye of ringmaster Danny McBride, as he’s signed on to star in and write America’s take.
It’s like: Heading Eastbound & Down tipped Sideways.
Take: A joker.
Premieres: July 27 (also on demand)

Find showtimes at fandango.com.

Mama always said don’t talk back. Ai Weiwei says screw that. The blogger, artist, cat lover, and dissident known as China’s Andy Warhol makes his own rules. Visits to the Eiffel Tower and Beijing Olympics (where he helped mastermind the Bird’s Nest) conjure flights of fancy all right — he flips ’em the bird. Alison Klayman’s doc reveals the man modeling the finger and the good fight he’s fighting.
It’s like: F for Fake meets Andy Warhol: the Complete Picture.
Take: A stand and a seat.
Premieres: July 27

Find showtimes at fandango.com.

Can’t stomach graphic violence and unkempt genitalia? Stop reading. Otherwise, chew on this: A Texas family wants its matriarch dead, hires the title character to do it, then fumbles payment. William Friedkin’s NC-17 thriller starring comeback kid Matt McConaughey served up quite the morsel for chitchat on the festival circuit, largely due to the kitchen scene where our cowboy and Gina Gershon misuse a Kentucky-fried drumstick.
It’s like: The Killer Inside Me with extra pulp.
Take: Up barbecuing. You’ll never look at the Colonel’s Original Recipe the same way again.
Premieres: July 27

Find showtimes at fandango.com.

In closing, we’d like to pay homage to the Batman Christopher Nolan has so brilliantly illuminated before the knight goes dark for good. Here’s to you, caped crusader; do not go gentle. Check back July 20 for more details on the legend: an inside peek at Tom Hardy’s Bane character and images straight out of Gotham.

Find showtimes at fandango.com.