Nothing new or extra good has crossed my path this past week. Instead I’ve been roaming among the indies and smaller films looking for something to watch. I didn’t find anything great, but I watched several fair to middlin’ things that I’ll give a short review about.

Surprised by Oxford

Surprised by Oxford had the best cast of the four with many skilled and accomplished actors who gave believability to their parts. It is a true story based on a memoir by Carolyn Weber. It’s the story of her years at Oxford and her journey from skeptic to believer. The cast included Rose Reid, Ruairi O’Conner, and Phyllis Logan.

The film was literary, intellectual, and religious. It almost gave the impression that students go to Oxford to find God it was so focused on faith.

You can see it on Prime or Plex.

Trinity Goodheart

The sweet film Trinity Goodheart is also focused on faith and angels. It was directed by Joanne Hock. The excellent Erica Gluck stars as a young girl who is convinced an angel brings her news of her missing mother. She goes on a quest to reunite her family, including all her grandparents.

Trinity and her father Jeremy (Eric Benét) live in a tiny apartment behind a Chinese grocery and deli owned by Mr. Kwon (James Hong). They live a quiet life without much money, a fact that her grandparents uniformly agree is a bad choice.

You can see it on Tubi or Fawesome.

Almost Sorta Maybe

Lindsay Weaver stars as a woman working in the corporate world. She has a horrible job with horrible people. She has a horrible mother. She dates horrible men, one of whom is Todd (Patrick Poe). Poe also directed the film.

She secretly longs to be a photographer like Ansel Adams or Annie Leibovitz.

The only good person in her life is her gay sister Amy (Lauren Pope), who is about to get married. Almost Sorta Maybe is the story of her sorting through all the horrible to find something right for her life.

You can see this one on Tubi or Prime.

Appalachian Dog

Appalachian Dog is set in 1946 in the Appalachian mountains. It’s a story of repressed homosexuality and longing. Colin Henning wrote and directed this one. He also plays the husband home from the war. He’s supposed to be straight, but Colin Henning playing a straight man is not convincing.

His wife Marion (Georgia Morgan) took over the family tailoring business while he was away at war. She hired Peggy (Hayleigh Hart Franklin) as a seamstress to help. They fell in love but can’t admit it. There are other both gay and straight subplots.

This one is streaming on Tubi.

There you go. Two films with religious themes. Two films with LGBTQ themes. An odd foursome, I admit. None of them are exceptionally good but they may appeal to you thematically. If you watch any of them, please share your reactions.