With spring blockbusters such as No Time To Die and A Quiet Place Part II on hold until autumn, cinema may appear cancelled for the foreseeable future.

But all is not lost. While mainstream cinema has pushed back release dates until the current crisis abates, arthouse distributors have decided to do things differently. Rather than hold back or observe the standard window between theatrical and online release, independent films are being made available on digital platforms immediately, with smaller film companies banking on the current moment as the perfect opportunity to get more bums on seats (at home, that is).

So, while our at home habit is to jump right into the sugar rush of a juicy Netflix series, now more cerebral cinema awaits on the small screen. We can still demolish a docu-series in one go or snack on long-running sitcoms, but since we’re all got more time at home, new arthouse cinema offers a chance to switch up our evening’s viewing habits and give our brains something more to chew on.

We suggest you start with Uncorked, (streaming on Netflix now), the breeziest of the arthouse bunch we’ve selected here, which should have had its red carpet debut at SXSW a few weeks back. The film festival’s cancellation means this low-key comedy, about a young black guy, Elijah (Mr Mamoudou Athie), with his sights set on a career in the not-exactly diverse wine industry, premiered on Netflix at the end of March. Light-bodied and smooth, this one’s best enjoyed with a bottle of whatever’s left on the shelves.

There will be less uncorking on the Croisette this May, with the cancellation of the Cannes Film Festival. All the more reason to celebrate one of last year’s big triumphs, Ms Céline Sciamma’s Portrait Of A Lady On Fire (streaming on Hulu US, Curzon Home Cinema UK), which only arrived in cinemas in late February. This romance about two young women in 18th-century France won best screenplay at the Queer Palm at Cannes 2019. It’s a visually appealing period drama with its eye firmly on contemporary conversations, exploring power, sex and the female gaze.

And Then We Danced (BFI Player UK, iTunes from 13 April) is a Georgia-set drama, which experienced a different kind of trouble at the cinema when far-right groups protested its premiere in Tbilisi, due to the film’s depiction of a young gay dancer who flouts the strictly masculine code of traditional Georgian dance. In spite of the off-screen drama, writer-director Mr Levan Akin’s film, which has pivoted to streaming after an all too brief theatrical release, moves to its own 1980s dance-movie inspired beat.

Very much its own thing is Bacarau (Kino Lorber US, Mubi UK), a Brazilian western crossed with a particularly gruelling episode of Black Mirror that has also had its cinema release cut short. If watching dystopian dramas about the end of the world is your coping mechanism in the current climate, then this psychedelic journey into a fictional Brazilian outpost, where locals fend off an unknown, deadly threat, is just the ticket.

Dogs Don’t Wear Pants (Shudder US, Curzon Home Cinema UK) might sound like the perfect distraction from rolling news. Fair warning: the title may suggest it’s a cute compilation video of canine capers, but this Finnish film is seriously arthouse. Mr JP Valkeapää’s movie is the story of a widower who seeks solace in BDSM, but finds more than he bargains for in the dominatrix’s dungeon. Critically acclaimed on its recent cinema release, Dogs Don’t Wear Pants is frank, funny and quite unlike anything else you’ll see at the cinema any time soon.