This weekend the New York Times published Sharon Waxman’s essay, “The Death of the Indie Film.” The lament from Waxman is that the audience for Indies is shrinking, and the streamers aren’t all that interested.

A notable exception is the independent studio A24. They continue to make critically acclaimed, financially successful films with an art-house aesthetic that explores bold, unusual themes.

We watched an A24 film last night: “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.” Almost all the reviews were glowing. It stars Rose Byrne, one of our favorite actors. Her performance as an exhausted, spiraling mother, raising a daughter with a pediatric feeding disorder is terrific.

The movie itself is a slog, and deliberately so, I think. It’s paced to keep you in the sort of enervating fog that Byrne’s character (Linda) is experiencing; a meta desperation and hopelessness that has her slowly unraveling. As entertainment It was  interesting, if a bit frustrating. Linda’s ennui is balanced with scenes of intense verbal tension, and some weird quasi-sci fi. But I kept wondering when the thing would lift off. It doesn’t.

I often love Indies, and certainly appreciate the need for them in the movie making landscape. But we also watched Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista’s new film “The Wrecking Crew” — essentially two hours of ass kicking, wise cracking and over-the-top mayhem. Guess which movie Elizabeth and I actually enjoyed more?

PHOTO: ©A24