Watched LOLA (2023) today while I worked. Great 'Found Footage' Sci-Fi movie about a pair of British girls in the 1930s who invent a device that can receive TV broadcasts from the future. Once Germany attacks the UK, they get involved and it starts to change the future, but of course, only they know the 'old' future. I had a few gripes about the high quality of the 'found' video being so high res, although they do explain why they have audio in the video at one point; the smart sister has figured out how to use the film to store sound as well. Only 79 minutes long, fairly thought provoking, good quick 'alternate past' watch and a creative use of the 'Found Footage' trope.
Don't think they are indie, and I have no idea about the budgets... but some movies I've enjoyed for a long time that no one I speak to has ever heard of is: Freeway (1996)- Reece Witherspoon, Kiefer Sutherland, and lots of familiar faces "A teenage juvenile delinquent on the run from a social worker travelling to her grandmother's house" doesn't fully encompass the wild ride you're about to go on. Thursday (1998)- "A former L.A. drug dealer has moved to Houston to make a new life for himself as a married architect. Everything falls apart when he is suddenly visited by an old friend." Niagra Niagra (1997)- An outsider and a young woman plagued by Tourette's syndrome meet and together journey to Canada.... <-- I haven't watched this one again to see if it holds up. Could be I just have a thing for Robin Tunney The Last Time I Commited Suicide (1997)- Thomas Jane, Keanu Reeves, Adrien Brody as characters from the beat generation. The Butcher Boy (1997)- Francie and Joe live the usual playful, fantasy filled childhoods of normal boys. However, with a violent, alcoholic father and a manic depressive, suicidal mother the pressure on Francie to grow up are immense. When Francie's world turns to madness, he tries to counter it with further insanity, with dire consequences. Pretty sure I saw this in high school, don't remember much of it but thought of it when I read this question, and it's a 7.1 on IMDB
Watched The Artifice Girl (2023) yesterday and today. Sci-Fi flick about an AI that was created to catch sexual predators, and it's evolution. Interesting premise, very low budget, like four rooms indoor with very low lighting and a brief shot of a shed. The great Lance Hendrickson shows up in the third act. Could have been better but worth a watch. It's free to stream on Tubi: https://tubitv.com/movies/100008504/the-artifice-girl?=undefined&startPos=5
I know that you know these things: Monsters Moon Blue Ruin Arkansas ... Something else with Willem Defoe, 6 or 8 movies, they're all good