{"id":658958,"date":"2026-05-22T18:35:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T18:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/658958\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T18:35:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T18:35:19","slug":"indie-films-opening-may-22-i-love-boosters-tuner-ask-e-jean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/658958\/","title":{"rendered":"Indie Films Opening May 22: ‘I Love Boosters’, ‘Tuner’, ‘Ask E. Jean’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tNeon\u2019s surreal crime comedy I Love Boosters<\/a> opens wide for the Memorial Day holiday frame a bit crowded with The Mandalorian And Grogu, Focus Features\u2019 breakout Obsession and studio holdovers. Boosters reviews are great and director Boots Riley<\/a> urged fans to turn out.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe didn\u2019t get the screen count we wanted for I Love Boosters \u2013 but we got 1700, which is good. This means: if it\u2019s not on a screen near u tomorrow, it won\u2019t get there- unless we blow it out on 1700, then we can get more. So- please travel to a screen even if it\u2019s not close!\u201d he posted on X Thursday. It\u2019s on 1,750 screens. Neon is reporting a $430k early gross from Thursday preview and early screenings. <\/p>\n

\n\tKeke Palmer, Naomi Ackie and Taylor Paige star as a crew of Bay Area professional shoplifters and resellers of designer goods who take aim at a cutthroat fashion maven played by Demi Moore. With Poppy Liu, Eiza Gonzalez, LaKeith Stanfield, Will Poulter and Don Cheadle. Riley\u2019s second feature (after 2018 breakout Sorry To Bother You) premiered at Sundance, Deadline review here<\/a>. It\u2019s 92% Certified Fresh with critics on Rotten Tomatoes.<\/p>\n

Ok-
We didnt get the screen count we wanted for I Love Boosters- but we got 1700, which is good.<\/p>\n

This means: if it’s not on a screen near u tomorrow, it won’t get there-<\/p>\n

unless we blow it out on 1700, then we can get more.<\/p>\n

So- please travel to a screen even if it’s not close!<\/p>\n

\u2014 Boots Riley (@BootsRiley) May 21, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tNeon\u2019s campaign included a merchandise collaboration at SXSW and live performance from Keke Palmer singing two songs from the soundtrack. Palmer and Stanfield hit LA to personally refuel cars for a \u201cboosted\u201d gas giveaway with the first 70 vehicles\u00a0receiving free gas and merch. Riley took the film on a tour of 11 universities. <\/p>\n

\n\tNeon produced and financed the film, which is part of a partnership slate with Waypoint Entertainment that\u00a0includes\u00a0Hokum, Sentimental Value, Sir\u00e2t, No Other Choice and\u00a0Arco.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tBlack Bear \u00a0is out with romcom crime thriller Tuner<\/a> on four screens in New York (AMC Lincoln Square, Regal Union Square) and LA (AMC Century City, AMC Grove) ahead of a rollout to 300+ locations next weekend. RT Certified Fresh at 95%, the first narrative feature by Oscar winner Daniel Roher (Navalny), stars Leo Woodall stars as a gifted young piano tuner whose heightened sense of hearing draws the attention of criminals who recruit him as a safe cracker. His once-promising musical career over, he works across New York with mentor Harry Horowitz (Dustin Hoffman), encountering a range of characters, including composition student Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu). But his safecracking work threatens their budding romance and pulls him into increasingly dangerous territory. <\/p>\n

\n\tWith Tovah Feldshuh, Jean Reno and Lior Raz.\u00a0Screenplay by Roher and Robert Ramsey. <\/p>\n

\n\tPremiered at Telluride, see Deadline review<\/a>, going on to TIFF, BFI London and\u00a0Sundance and a strategic partnership with Letterboxd, The Tuner Tour. Campaign beats included Dolby Cinema screenings in partnership with AMC theaters with an Atmos audio mix from\u00a0the film\u2019s Academy Award-winning sound designer Johnnie Burn (Zone Of Interest) on May 17.<\/p>\n

\n\tAn Atmos audio mix from the film\u2019s sound designer Johnnie Burn (2024 Oscar winner for Zone Of Interest) was released May 17.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIndependent Film Company\u2019s Saccharine<\/a>, Natalie Erika James\u2019 body horror starring Midori Francis, debuts on 385 screens. A lovelorn medical student becomes terrorized by a hungry ghost after taking part in an obscure weight-loss craze involving eating human ashes. With Danielle Macdonald and Madeleine Madden. Premiered at Sundance, see Deadline review<\/a>, and played Berlin. James made her feature directorial debut\u00a0at Park City with\u00a0Relic six years ago.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAsk E. Jean<\/a> from Abramorama, the Telluride-premiering documentary about the woman who won an $83 million civil judgment against Donald Trump after accusing him of sexually assaulting her in a New York City department store, opens \u00a0at the IFC Center in New York. Adds the Nuart in Los Angeles next weekend. The film directed by Ivy Meeropol explores E. Jean Carroll\u2019s work as a popular advice columnist and TV host and how trauma from the alleged sexual assault \u2013 for which Trump was found liable \u2013 scarred her. Carroll, Miss Cheerleader USA as a teen, became a journalist, author and the \ufb01rst female editor at Esquire, Playboy and Outside magazine. In recent years, she ignited public discourse by after beating Donald Trump in two separate civil trials, sparking a national conversation about accountability.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n