Opening This Week: LOCKDOWN: SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST, CITY OF VULTURES 2

In the days of big studio pictures like Moonfall and Jackass Forever, what about indie releases?

We've already premiered an exclusive clip from political thriller The Translator, and we'll have a review later this week of Air Doll, directed by Koreeda Hirokazu, which is finally gaining theatrical release in the U.S.

Here are five more options, listed in release date order:

Lockdown: Survival of the Fittest
The film is available today (February 1) on DVD and VOD via Uncork'd Entertainment .

How do you feel about WWE Hall of Famer Kevin Nash? He stars in an action-thriller that "tells of an angry mob, fed up with a deadly virus that has wiped out most of the population, that attacks a school to rid their city of those they suspect are spreading the disease. One man must rescue his sister and fight his way out, against the armed militia."

Hmm, sounds suspiciously like our ongoing pandemic. Will Kevin Nash wrestle his way out? Check the trailer below for a clue, though I suspect you've already made your mind up.

City of Vultures 2
The film is available today (February 1) on Digital HD and Cable VOD via Breaking Glass Pictures.

"A gangster ... rejects an opportunity to go straight and makes moves to take over the Southside of Chicago, but the police are closing in as street violence escalates to devastating levels." Marcus Carothers directed and stars in the action-thriller.

Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliche
The film opens Wednesday, February 2 in select theaters for one night only, and will thereafter be available Friday, February 4 via On Demand platforms via Utopia .

Directed by Celeste Bell and Paul Sng, the documentary features unseen archival material and narration by Ruth Negga. From the official synopsis: "Poly Styrene was the first woman of color in the UK to front a successful rock band.

"She introduced the world to a new sound of rebellion, using her unconventional voice to sing about identity, consumerism, postmodernism, and everything she saw unfolding in late 1970s Britain, with a rare prescience. As the front woman of X-Ray Spex, the Anglo-Somali punk musician was also a key inspiration for the riot grrrl and Afropunk movements."

"Oh Bondage, Up Yours." Yeah, I remember that. I'd love to learn the whole story.

Ghosts of the Ozarks
The film releases Thursday, February 3 in select theaters and Demand and On Digital via XYZ Films.

Per the official blurb: "Tim Blake Nelson, David Arquette, Angela Bettis, Thomas Hobson, Phil Norris and Tara Perry star in this exciting new take on the southern ghost story. In post-Civil War Arkansas, a young doctor is mysteriously summoned to a remote town in the Ozarks only to discover that the utopian paradise is filled with secrets and surrounded by a menacing, supernatural presence."

Matt Glass directed along with Jordan Wayne Long, who also co-wrote the film with Sean Anthony Davis and Tara Perry. Put on your spooky shoes and have a look at the trailer below, but first ...

[Full disclosure: XYZ Films is also where our site's founder and editor, Todd Brown, is the head of international acquisitions, but he had nothing to do with writing or editing or even suggesting that I cover this film. He doesn't call, he doesn't text. I don't think he likes me anymore. On to the trailer.]

The Other Me
The film releases Friday, February 4, in theaters and on digital platforms via Gravitas Ventures.

Written and directed by Giga Agladze and executive produced by David Lynch, the thriller stars Jim Sturgess, Rhona Mitra, Orla Brady Antonia Campbhell-Hughes, and Andreja Pejic. Here's the official synopsis:

"Irakli (Jim Sturgess) is an aspiring architect thrown into turmoil when diagnosed with a debilitating eye disease. As his condition worsens, a surreal visual world opens up to him causing him to question his life's choices, his career, and his marriage to an increasingly frustrated Nutsa (Antonia Campbell-Hughes) who struggles with her loyalties to her husband and the realities of daily survival.

"As the visions become more intense, he falls for a mysterious woman Nino (Andreja Pejic), a beautiful artist who lives alone. She becomes his artistic muse and they form a deep connection that turns from fascination to infatuation to love. They learn to speak in poetic language and understand each other completely, which helps Irakli confront the truth about his own identity."

Opening This Week covers international and indie genre films and TV shows that are available in movie theaters and via On Demand platforms.