Kicking off the month of April, Maine’s indie theaters offer some needed, Oscar-winning uplift amidst creeping fascism, a pair of very different Maine-made movies, a scratch-and-sniff cult flick, a dream wedding gone darkly comic, and the latest mind-bender from a noted French provocateur. Here are our choices for brave moviegoers eager to strike out into the weird, wonderful world of big screen adventure. 

‘Mr. Nobody Against Putin’

Through April 2, Strand Theatre, 345 Main St., Rockland, rocklandstrand.com.

Recent Academy Award winner for Best Documentary Feature and more timely in America than many thought possible, this film shows what being an everyday hero under fascism looks like. When beloved Russian schoolteacher and videographer Pavel “Pasha” Talankin sees his school and students succumbing to mandatory pro-war propaganda after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the unassuming educator turns whistleblower. Alerting the world to the insidious, relentless misinformation and very real threats from Donald Trump’s No. 1 dictator pal, Talankin documents how government control of media and messaging primes his students to fight in an immoral war — and finds himself a target of one of the world’s most powerful and evil men.  

‘Hungry Now’

Tuesday, Colonial Theatre, 163 High St., Belfast, colonialtheatre.com

Maine director Alan Kryszak’s unsparing yet compassionate documentary examines the homelessness crisis happening all around us. From Waldo County middle schoolers relying on endangered food assistance programs to Mainers scrabbling for survival on the streets, this is Maine as much as lobsters and lighthouses. 

‘Donnie Darko’ 

April 1, Nickelodeon Cinemas, 1 Temple St., Portland, patriotcinemas.com

The Nick’s Wayback Wednesday series continues to bring some of your nostalgic favorites to the big screen. (Look for “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” on April 8 and “The Shining” on April 15.) April’s throwback film fest kicks off with Richard Kelly’s 2001 cult mind-bender “Donnie Darko,” starring a young Jake Gyllenhaal as a mentally troubled teen who may or may not be seeing the future. Or the end of the world. He’s definitely seeing an enormous, terrifying bunny named Frank. Thankfully, this is the original version and not the Director’s Cut, where the once-heralded Kelly over-explained his thrillingly weird vision so much that the fascinating film loses all its magic. 

‘Canoe Dig It?’

April 2, Nickelodeon Cinemas, 1 Temple St., Portland, patriotcinemas.com

If mockumentary master Christopher Guest made a cringe comedy about the eccentric participants in a strange canoe contest on Moosehead Lake, it might turn out like Brunswick-born filmmaker Samuel Dunning’s Maine-made 2025 film. Centered on the sport of freestyle canoeing (aka“canoe dancing”), Dunning’s movie treats the super-serious contestants’ pursuit of improbable excellence in the sedate almost-sport with utmost un-seriousness. 

‘The Drama’

Opening April 3, Maine Film Center,  93 Main St., Waterville, watervillecreates.org.

When former teen heartthrobs Robert Pattinson and Zendaya team up for a wedding movie, you might imagine you know what to expect. But in this increasingly dark (I mean dark) comedy from director Kristoffer Borgli (“Dream Scenario”), a playful pre-wedding game of “What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?” reveals way, way more than one of them was expecting. Both superstars have chosen far more interesting projects in their recent careers than their teen trajectories suggested, with this being another edgy, challenging film destined for awards consideration. 

‘Alpha’

April 11, PMA Films, 7 Congress Square, Portland, portlandmuseum.org/films.

The films of director Julia Ducournau are — and are not — exactly what they say on the package. “Raw” was about a young vegetarian turned cannibal. “Titane” was about a woman having sex with a car. Both were fascinating, horrifying examinations of the human condition in the guise of visceral body horror worthy of brainy Canadian squirm master David Cronenberg. In her new film, Ducournau’s heroine is a troubled 13-year-old girl whose decision to get a large, painful tattoo sends her already difficult life spiraling into an abyss of pain, grief and unthinkable transformation. As ever, the director’s work demands a strong stomach and an open mind, the striking, often nauseating visuals inextricably yoked to depths of pain and emotion at least as hard to stomach. 

‘Dead Lover’

April 13, Space, 534 Congress St., Portland, space538.org.

Following in the bold, filthy footsteps of all-time cinematic Prince of Puke, John Waters, writer-director-star Grace Glowicki seeks to bring movie audiences’ oft-neglected sense of cinematic smell into play. “Dead Lover” stars Glowicki as a lonely, dirt-caked gravedigger whose search for love is hampered by her lowly profession—and the fact that she’s constantly covered in unimaginable grime. When her long-awaited lover finally arrives, only to be snatched away by the grim reaper, the obsessed woman turns to grave robbing and Frankenstein-esque resurrection science. (This would make a great double feature with Maggie Gylenhaal’s “The Bride!,” also playing now.)

Told in a grubby, expressionistic style, the film’s resolute grossness includes a numbered scratch-and-sniff card (dubbed Stink-O-Vision) akin to Waters’ infamous “Polyester,” a gimmick intended to enhance the whole, sordid experience for those brave enough to partake in all this future cult film’s outrageous sensory pleasures. And not-pleasures. (We were all terrified waiting for Waters to order us to scratch off “Polyester”’s No. 2.) 

Dennis Perkins is a freelance writer who lives in Auburn with his wife and his cat.