2200 Best Drama Movies to Watch (Page 126)

This movie will first confuse your perception of the narrative with a feud involving the two magicians (played by Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale), but you will soon be hooked by the twists and turns of the plot. The unveiling of the mystery will leave you in awe, however it is the storytelling and the process that Christopher Nolan puts together so beautifully that is the greatest thing about this movie.

Genre: Action, Drama, Mystery, Science Fiction, Thriller

Actor: Andy Serkis, Anthony De Marco, Brian Tahash, Chao Li Chi, Chi Chaoli, Chris Cleveland, Christian Bale, Christopher Neame, Daniel Davis, David Bowie, Edward Hibbert, Enn Reitel, Erin Cipolletti, Ezra Buzzington, Gary Sievers, Hugh Jackman, James Lancaster, James Otis, Jamie Harris, Jim Piddock, Jodi Bianca Wise, John B. Crye, Johnny Liska, Kevin Will, Mark Ryan, Michael Caine, Monty Stuart, Piper Perabo, Rebecca Hall, Ricky Jay, Robert W. Arbogast, Rock Anthony, Roger Rees, Ron Perkins, Russ Fega, Samantha Mahurin, Scarlett Johansson, Tim Pilleri, William Morgan Sheppard

Director: Christopher Nolan

Rating: PG-13

On one side, this is a look at the real-life efforts of local North Dakota Pastor Jay Reinke to provide shelter for Oil-working migrants in his Church for the course of well over two years – he ends up calling this The Overnighters Program. On another, it is the story of more than a thousand people living the broken American Dream, the pastor’s concerned, sensible neighbors, his well-meaning attempts backfiring, and all that’s in between. The Overnighters is an engaging, if not highly-aware, award-winning documentary that feeds on altruism, hope of redemption, and their ideal truth about the nature of human existence.

Genre: Documentary, Drama

Actor: Jay Reinke, Keegan Edwards

Director: Jesse Moss

Rating: PG-13

Fans of Netflix's The Queen's Gambit might be curious about its writer/director Scott Frank's first feature, this small, suspenseful thriller about a young man with anterograde amnesia and the eccentric cast of characters he encounters leading up to a bank heist. These people are brought to life by a number of high-profile actors doing relatively unusual work outside their wheelhouses: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jeff Daniels, and an almost unrecognizable Matthew Goode as a scheming robber. It might be a little unclear what The Lookout is trying to say, exactly, but it works as a brief look into a fractured mind trying to hold on to something good in his life.

Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller

Actor: Aaron Berg, Alberta Watson, Alex Borstein, Brian Edward Roach, Bruce McGill, Carla Gugino, Charles Crossin, Chuck Robinson, Courtney-Jane White, David Huband, Greg Dunham, Harry Nelken, Isla Fisher, Janaya Stephens, Jeff Daniels, John Bluethner, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Kalyn Bomback, Laura Vandervoort, Leslie Bais, Marc Devigne, Martin Roach, Matthew Goode, Morgan Kelly, Sergio Di Zio, Stephen Eric McIntyre, Suzanne Kelly, Thanya Romero, Tinsel Korey, Toni Reimer

Director: Scott Frank

The late German actor Ulrich Mühe plays Gerd Wiesler, a merciless Stasi officer who has doubts about the loyalty of a famous playwright (Sebastian Koch) and his wife Christa-Maria (Martina Gedeck) to the communist party. To say he spies on the artist couple is an understatement: in true Stasi fashion, he watches them day and night, listens in on their conservations, reads their mail, and watches them have sex. However, it turns out this was a tad too close, because Wiesler becomes increasingly absorbed in them and is forced to question his obedience as a Stasi officer. In his feature film debut, German director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck delivers a quietly chilling melodrama on a topic that still affects the lives of many East Germans and was deserving of more attention. It is also a telling piece on the inhumane nature of totalitarianism and the humanity of individuals that are forced to live with it. A special film that will stay with you for a long time.

Genre: Drama, Thriller

Actor: Anabelle D. Munro, Bastian Trost, Charly Hubner, Fabian von Klitzing, Gabi Fleming, Gitta Schweighöfer, Hans-Uwe Bauer, Harald Polzin, Herbert Knaup, Hildegard Schroedter, Hinnerk Schönemann, Hubertus Hartmann, Inga Birkenfeld, Jens Wassermann, Kai Ivo Baulitz, Klaus Münster, Ludwig Blochberger, Marie Gruber, Martin Brambach, Martina Gedeck, Matthias Brenner, Michael Gerber, Paul Faßnacht, Paul Maximilian Schüller, Sebastian Koch, Sheri Hagen, Susanna Kraus, Thomas Arnold, Thomas Thieme, Ulrich Mühe, Ulrich Tukur, Volker Michalowski, Volkmar Kleinert, Werner Daehn

Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

Rating: R

Besides the futuristic tech that pops in and out, there’s not a lot about The Kitchen that signals it as a sci-fi film. Neglected housing projects and violent raids have become too common to count as dystopian, so it often feels like The Kitchen could’ve gone without labeling itself as part of the genre (the real world is bad enough). But underneath those layers is a subtle but sublimely tender story about father and son finding each other amid the rubble of real life. First-time directors Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, The Black Panther) and Kibwe Tavares delicately balance the personal and the political, never undermining the former as many socially aware films do. If Kaluuya and Tavares had fleshed the world it built a little more and removed the parts, such as the sci-fi elements, that did not work out, then Izi and Benji’s story would have been memorably devastating, instead of just affecting.

Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Science Fiction, Thriller

Actor: BACKROAD GEE, Cristale, Dani Moseley, Demmy Ladipo, Ewart James Walters, Fiona Marr, Henry Lawfull, Hope Ikpoku Jnr, Ian Wright, Jedaiah Bannerman, Kane Robinson, Karen Williams, Lola-Rose Maxwell, Neville Watson, Rasaq Kukoyi, Rhys Yates

Director: Daniel Kaluuya, Kibwe Tavares

Rating: R

For a romantic comedy with a fairy tale premise (a star falls in love with a regular person, and a much older one at that), The Idea of You is surprisingly relevant. It interweaves its romance with discussions of ageism and sexism, making it more self-aware than other movies in the same genre. But with that relevance comes a certain dryness; The Idea of You, for all its steamy scenes, lacks the sensuality and charm of a legitimate romcom. Solene is overly cautious, which doesn’t give much way to mystery and mistakes. She makes for a wise role model sure, but not necessarily a rootable heroine. If you like your romcoms to be more on the smart and predictable side, then you’ll enjoy The Idea of You. But if you prefer more hearty laughs and big gestures, then you’re better off looking for another title to stream.

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Music, Romance

Actor: Adele, Angela Davis, Anne Hathaway, Annie Mumolo, Bethany Brown, Brent Bailey, Chandler Lovelle, Cheech Manohar, Demi Castro, Dustin Lewis, Ella Rubin, Grace Junot, Graham Norton, Hedy Nasser, Holly Morris, Jon Levine, Jordan Aaron Hall, Lauren Revard, Mathilda Gianopoulos, Meg Millidge, Melanie Kiran, Nicholas Galitzine, Nina Bloomgarden, Perry Mattfeld, Rashal James, Raymond Cham Jr., Reid Scott, Roxy Rivera, Tiffany Morgan, Trevor David

Director: Michael Showalter

Rating: R

Set during the swingin' seventies, two small town Connecticut families are the subject of this visually stunning and somewhat disturbing drama. With an all-star cast that includes Sigourney Weaver as Janey Carver, an unsatisfied housewife and mother of two and Elijah Wood as her eldest son, there's plenty of star power and drama. In addition, director Ang Lee brings his signature sense of trial and unease while unleashing a quirky and pointed 70's aesthetic.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Adam Hann-Byrd, Allison Janney, Barbara Garrick, Bettina Skye, Byron Jennings, Christina Ricci, Christine Farrell, Colette Kilroy, Colleen Camp, Courtney Peldon, Daniel McDonald, David Krumholtz, Dennis Gagomiros, Donna Mitchell, Elijah Wood, Glenn Fitzgerald, Henry Czerny, Ivan Kronenfeld, Jamey Sheridan, Jessica Stone, Joan Allen, Joe O'Connor, John Benjamin Hickey, Jonathan Freeman, Kate Burton, Katie Holmes, Kevin Kline, Larry Pine, Maia Danziger, Marcell Rosenblatt, Michael Cumpsty, Miles Marek, Nancy Opel, Robert Westenberg, Sarah Thompson, Scott Wentworth, Sigourney Weaver, Tobey Maguire, William Cain

Director: Ang Lee

Rating: R

In this neo-noir crime drama, John Cusack, Anjelica Huston and Annette Bening play a trio of con-artists in modern day (1990) California. Roy (Cusack) is a small-stakes hustler prone to swindling bartenders and drunken sailors for pocket money, while Lilly (Huston) plays his estranged mother who reappears in his life while working a series of horse track bluffs. Myra (Bening) notches in between the two of them as Cusack’s boisterous yet conniving girlfriend, and the instant mutual dislike between her and Lilly sets the film’s course of action in motion. It’s a fun, edgy thriller that will leave you guessing up until it's shocking finale. Elevated immeasurably by Elmer Bernstein’s old-fashioned, hard boiled music score, The Grifters is a real feather in the hat for both director Stephen Frears and producer Martin Scorsese.

Genre: Crime, Drama

Actor: Anjelica Huston, Annette Bening, Billy Ray Sharkey, Charles Napier, David Sinaiko, Eddie Jones, Frances Bay, Gailard Sartain, Gregory Sporleder, Henry Jones, Ivette Soler, J.T. Walsh, Jan Munroe, Jeff Perry, Jeremy Piven, Jimmy Noonan, John Cusack, Jon Gries, Juliet Landau, Lou Hancock, Martin Scorsese, Michael Laskin, Micole Mercurio, Noelle Harling, Pat Hingle, Paul Adelstein, Richard Holden, Robert Weems, Sandy Baron, Stephen Tobolowsky, Steve Buscemi, Sy Richardson, Teresa Gilmore, Xander Berkeley

Director: Stephen Frears

Rating: R

Between Air, Pinball, Blackberry, and Tetris (is nothing sacred anymore?), 2023 has seen its fair share of business biopics. Unfortunately for The Beanie Bubble, it’s coming at the tail end of a trend that has overstayed its welcome in theaters. The Beanie Bubble isn’t very different from its predecessors in that it depicts its product as revolutionary and game-changing for the industry (it’s really not) and attempts to simplify the business phenom via cute graphics and quirky dialogue. Those aspects of the film are fine, if a bit forgettable, but The Beanie Bubble deserves some praise for exploring the power imbalance between Warner and his female partners, whose ideas he milked to no end. Robbie (Elizabeth Banks), Sheila (Sarah Snook), and Maya (Geraldine Viswanathan) are the ones telling this story, and even though the constant time hopping can get irritating, there are times when it feels inspired, like when Robbie starts one sentence and Maya ends her thought. They may be years apart but they’re all falling victim to the same greedy man who has a pattern of exploiting the talented women around him. 

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Actor: Adelle Drahos, Ajay Friese, Brian Troxell, Callie Johnson, Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Chris Mayers, Delaney Quinn, Elizabeth Banks, Geraldine Viswanathan, Hari Dhillon, Jason Burkey, Javier Vazquez Jr., Jeff Schine, Julia Farino, Kurt Yaeger, Laura Palka, Laura Whyte, Madison Johnson, Mariana Novak, Myke Holmes, Nils Onsager, Paul Kim, Paul Ryden, Robert Mello, Sam Salary, Sarah Snook, Scott Hanson, Stephanie Hong, Sweta Keswani, Tatyana White, Toru Shimoji, Tracey Bonner, Veanna Black, Vince Pisani, Zach Galifianakis

Director: Damian Kulash, Kristin Gore

Rating: R

Testament of Youth isn’t totally unique. Plenty of period dramas, even those that are true to life, have a similar approach of capturing the loveliness of a teenage summer vacation to better juxtapose the ugliness of war and how terrible it is to put young adults through it at a time when they should be exploring their lives. But it’s not terribly made– the film gets better as it goes, Max Richter’s excellent score is captivating, and there’s a certain novelty of watching the fresh faces of some of Britain’s biggest actors, even if their better known works have eclipsed this film. Testament of Youth may not be as devastating as war films like Atonement, but it’s a fairly decent watch, if you’re specifically craving for a period drama you haven’t watched before.

Genre: Drama, History, War

Actor: Alexandra Roach, Alicia Vikander, Anna Chancellor, Charlotte Hope, Colin Morgan, Daisy Waterstone, Dominic West, Emily Watson, Hayley Atwell, Heather Nicol, Henry Garrett, Jenn Murray, Joanna Scanlan, Jonathan Bailey, Josh Taylor, Kit Harington, Laura Elsworthy, Miranda Richardson, Naomi Everson, Niamh Cusack, Nicholas Farrell, Nicholas Le Prevost, Taron Egerton, Teresa Churcher, Xavier Atkins

Director: James Kent

Rating: PG-13