3 Best Movies to Watch by Maia Mitchell

1. The Artful Dodger, 2023

The Artful Dodger’s leads might literally come from a Charles Dickens novel, but there’s something more playful about the way it deals with its historical social issues. Where Oliver Twist would change his fortune with fairytale-like goodness, former pickpocket Jack Dawkins aims to carve it out through quick amputations, which give him some status, though no wealth, and gambling bets, which risks his limbs. While the narrative isn’t as complex as the social criticism Dickens is known for, the series is undeniably entertaining with its novel approach, even if it pokes fun a little too often at the actual horrific hygiene practices of the 1800s.

Genre: Crime, Drama

Actor: Damon Herriman, David Thewlis, Maia Mitchell, Miranda Tapsell, Thomas Brodie-Sangster

Director: Jeffrey Walker

2. Good Trouble, 2023

Unabashedly embracing the ridiculous twists, rotating romantic pairings, and other tropes common to young-adult comedy-dramas, Good Trouble offers a massive number of storylines that are always delivered with an easygoing charm and real filmmaking flair. Set in a communal living space in Los Angeles, each character's personal drama often intersects with everyone else's—allowing the show to look at every issue through a wide range of perspectives, and letting the authentic mess of human emotion and miscommunication drive the stories forward. It's undeniably cheesy most of the time, but the energy in the show's filmmaking and the fun chemistry among its actors helps dignify even the smallest everyday occurrence as something meaningful.

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Actor: Booboo Stewart, Bryan Craig, Cierra Ramirez, Emma Hunton, Josh Pence, Maia Mitchell, Tommy Martinez, Zuri Adele

3. Sitting in Bars with Cake (2023)

Sitting in Bars with Cake's best qualities and roughest qualities stem from the fact that the story is apparently based on true events. Screenwriter Audrey Shulman (who based the script on her cookbook of the same title) clearly wants to honor the details of this very personal year in her life, but the effect is a story that often lacks thematic coherence. When the cancer diagnosis is inevitably revealed, the rest of the film's subplots just seem frivolous and underdeveloped in comparison. But there's also a charm to having this be a story about a friendship rooted in regular, random things—suddenly interrupted by a devastating illness. The film definitely doesn't escape the cliches of a cancer drama, but they're deployed in a more sedate, mature way here. And if the filmmaking doesn't do much to tell this story in a more interesting way, the performances are enough to let the emotions land when they really need to.

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Actor: Bette Midler, Maia Mitchell, Odessa A'zion, Ron Livingston, Yara Shahidi

Director: Trish Sie

Rating: PG-13