Newton

Newton (2017) is a sharp Indian dark comedy worth watching online on iFILM if you want something smarter than the usual Bollywood fare. A by-the-book government clerk, Newton Kumar, is sent to run a polling station deep in the forests of central India, where armed Maoist rebels control the land and almost nobody plans to vote.

The soldiers escorting him just want to declare it done and leave. The villagers don't grasp why a ballot matters. Newton, stubborn to a fault, insists every single vote be counted by the rules. Rajkummar Rao plays the rigid idealist with zero showboating, while Pankaj Tripathi quietly steals the film as a worn-out security officer who has seen it all.

Director Amit Masurkar turns one absurd day into a quiet study of democracy that looks perfect on paper and stalls in the field. India picked it as its Oscar submission, and it took home a National Film Award. Stream Newton (2017) online on iFILM.