7 Best Movies to Watch by Eric Lange

The story is so jaw-dropping that it almost had to be put to film: steadily sawing through pipes and cutting through walls, two convicted murderers managed to break out of a maximum-security prison in upstate New York in 2015. The elegant and realistic dramatization was released by Showtime in 2018 and directed by none other than Ben Stiller in what marks his TV directorial debut.

The protagonists of this unlikely feat included the shrewd, boss-type felon Richard Matt (Benicio del Toro) and the much younger, excitable David Sweat (Paul Dano). You will hardly recognize Patricia Arquette in her role as Joyce 'Tilly' Mitchell, a married prison employee overseeing the sewing workshop, who supported and had sexual relations with both men. She rightly received a slew of awards, including a Golden Globe in 2019, for her stunning transformation and brilliant performance.

While the pacing of this somber thriller might be a bit too slow for some, the stellar performances of the main cast are enough to keep you on the edge of your chair. It's a cinematic TV rendition of an unbelievable story and an engrossing view inside the life and minds of disenfranchised Americans.

Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Actor: Benicio Del Toro, Bonnie Hunt, David Morse, Eric Lange, Patricia Arquette, Paul Dano

Rating: TV-MA

Based on the 2015 Pulitzer-Prize-winning article "An Unbelievable Story of Rape", here is one of the best Netflix productions in a while and definitely the best detective-centric show since the first season of True Detective. The eight-part drama examines the case of a 16-year-old from Washington, who claims she has been raped in her bedroom before rescinding her statement after fierce questioning of the police. Later, her initial story is substantiated by a similar incident surfacing elsewhere. Two detectives, played masterfully by Toni Collette and Merritt Wever, refuse to assume the young girl's guilt and embark on a relentless journey to catch the perpetrator. In addition to being a thrilling watch and insanely bingeable, Unbelievable was highly praised for shifting the attention from the abusers to the victims and making their stories heard in a true crime format. Everybody should listen closely!

Genre: Crime, Drama

Actor: Austin Hebert, Dale Dickey, Danielle Macdonald, Elizabeth Marvel, Eric Lange, Kaitlyn Dever, Merritt Wever, Scott Lawrence, Toni Collette

Rating: TV-MA

Set in 1930s Hollywood, a decadent city festering with crime and corruption, Perry Mason is a stylish noir series that fully recalls the crime classics of its era. It has the hallmarks of an old-fashioned mystery, the most prominent of which is the titular detective himself, Perry Mason—a boozy antihero with a heart of rusty gold—but it keeps plenty of secrets up its sleeve, making it fresh and surprising at almost every turn. 

Sometimes, it gets ahead of itself and takes on too many plot lines for its own good, but if you can forgive the occasional convolutedness, the show rewards you with shocking twists and rich performances.  

Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery

Actor: Chris Chalk, Eric Lange, Juliet Rylance, Justin Kirk, Katherine Waterston, Matthew Rhys

Rating: TV-MA

1990s Los Angeles was both glamorous and seedy, and it’s this murky territory that filmmaker Lisa Nova (Rosa Salazar) enters as she tries to make her movie dreams a reality. Lisa is ambitious and polite enough—if not a bit naive—but when she gets screwed over, she enlists the help of a mysterious stranger (played to witchy perfection by Catherine Keener) and, together, they brew their revenge. Things then take a turn for the supernatural in this ambitious, eerie thriller that will surely sate any David Lynch fan’s appetite. 

Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Actor: Catherine Keener, Daniel Doheny, Eric Lange, Hannah Levien, Jeff Ward, Manny Jacinto, Mark Acheson, Rosa Salazar

Rating: 18+