Long Gone By premiered at HBO's New York Latino Film Festival in August of last year, and it really took us by surprise. Understated and emotionally raw, writer/director Andrew Morgan’s feature debut is an intimately unnerving portrait of a woman willing to sacrifice everything to give her daughter the chance at a life she never had, and it’s an indie we’d like more people to actively seek out. The film feels like Hell or High Water meets Good Time in the style of The Rider, complete with flourishes in the vein of Gus Van Sant and Jeff Nichols. Everything is grounded in a palpable sense of reality and presented in a very soft, understated, and intimate way. Morgan effectively puts us into the characters’ situation. If we’re not following the them from behind, literally walking in their shoes in a very Alan Clarke/Gus Van Sant way, we’re focused on the their face as they take in or react to their environment. Other than wanting it to bare its teeth and roar, it’s a very engaging and emotionally resonate thriller that promotes heathy discussion through its topical subject matter.

Before we get to our #1 pick, here's a few that just missed the cut:

And now, our pick for the most unsung film of 2019 goes to...