2423 Best Drama Movies to Watch (Page 109)

In life and cinema, drama is everywhere. You’ll find it in thrillers, animations, romances, you name it. For entertainment that explores the human experience with sensitivity and sincerity, here’s a mixed bag of the best dramas to stream now.

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1621. Tore, 2023

When a loved one dies in front of you, immediately, suddenly, and unexpectedly, the normal reaction is to freak out. Tore portrays a man, who, upon that death, turns back to his work, focusing on the logistics of the event his company is hosting. Tore’s grief isn’t the histrionics we’re used to– instead, it spurs him to seek out experiences that he’s not used to, given that he’s still living in his parents’ house at 27. This strange disconnect is compelling to watch, as the show studies the way he avoids anything related to the death, just to keep his normal demeanor, in a steady and economical way. It makes for a unique and honest depiction of grief that still packs an emotional punch.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Hannes Fohlin, Karin Bertling, Peter Haber, Sanna Sundqvist, William Spetz

Rating: TV-MA

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1622. Tomboy, 2011

I don't want to go too much into detail, but this film is an acting masterpiece. From start to finish it drags you into the characters' life and really makes you feel for the main character. It shows you how hard it really is for the main character to struggle with what she's going through. I hate being left in the dust to wonder like I was left after Tomboy and this film did it and it really gets on my nerves, but it is so good. A true masterpiece.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Cheyenne Laine, Christel Baras, Jeanne Disson, Malonn Lévana, Mathieu Demy, Noah Vero, Rayan Boubekri, Sophie Cattani, Valérie Roucher, Yohan Vero, Zoé Héran

Director: Céline Sciamma

Rating: Not Rated

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1623. Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould, 1993

It’s virtually impossible to capture the complexity of a person’s life in just a few short hours, which is why many biopics are so unsatisfying. François Girard avoids this problem by ditching the usual format altogether, creating a rich tapestry of evocative vignettes that gives us a real sense of who the famous concert pianist actually was.

The short films never show Gould playing the piano, although we do have one short sequence filmed inside the instrument during a concert, and another eccentric moment of him shot in X-ray while in full flow. These internal moments give us the sense that music was part of his very being.

Colm Feore delivers a generous performance, playing Gould as a verbose eccentric who is constantly amused by the normal rhythms of human life while being forever detached from it by his genius.

Genre: Drama

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1624. Thelma, 2017

Much like the 1976 horror classic Carrie, Thelma centers on a young telekinetic woman whose religious upbringing and sexual repression give way to unpredictable moments of fury and rage. When she meets the cool, charismatic Anja, she falls in love immediately, but the wave of emotions that overwhelm her threaten to destabilize not just their budding romance, but other relationships and lives as well.

Thelma recalls Carrie in other ways too, most notably in the way it uses supernatural elements to allude to female fury and lust, but it also stands on its own as a singular piece of work; the mesmerizing transitions, the slow-burn pace, and the undercurrent of melancholia are all known trademarks of director Joachim Trier. This layering of old and new makes Thelma an intriguing watch, at once recognizable and wholly original.

Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller

Actor: Anders Mossling, Camilla Belsvik, Eili Harboe, Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Grethe Eltervag, Henrik Rafaelsen, Ingrid Jørgensen Dragland, Ingrid Unnur Giæver, Irina Eidsvold Tøien, Isabel Christine Andreasen, Kaya Wilkins, Lars Berge, Marte Magnusdotter Solem, Sigve Bøe, Steinar Klouman Hallert, Tom Louis Lindstrøm, Vanessa Borgli

Director: Joachim Trier

Rating: Not Rated

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1625. Their Stories, 2023

A house isn’t just a building– it’s a space where one can be one’s self, where one can have control over one’s space. Of course, houses can differ between social classes, as the rich often hire househelp, while those less fortunate manage their own, or might not even have one. Their Stories draws its drama from this disparity, as the rich Isabel and Rosa lose control of their assets and have to move to the house where working class Marta and Jasmim live. It’s an interesting dynamic, a twisted mix of gratitude and resentment forged between former employer and employee, and all four leads portray this with the nuance and complexity that it requires. A Historía Delas might literally be hard to search on Hulu, but it’s an interesting story, one that feels unique and real enough to follow.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Bia Arantes, Cris Vianna, Emma Araujo, Johnnas Oliva, Letícia Spiller

Director: Luciana Baptista, Maria Farkas, Pablo Uranga

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1626. The Wife, 2018

Directed by the award-winning Swedish filmmaker Bjorn Runge and adapted by Jane Anderson from Meg Wolitzer's 2003 novel, The Wife has enjoyed great acclaim since premiering at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. The film follows the growing tension between acclaimed author Joseph Castleman and his wife Joan, who works as his secret ghostwriter, as Joseph is set to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. The direction is clean and careful with Glenn Close giving possibly one of the finest performances of her career as the supportive then increasingly resentful Joan. Emotional and funny at times, The Wife is a profound character exploration, celebrating womanhood and liberation.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Alix Wilton Regan, Anna Azcárate, Annie Starke, Björn Runge, Björn Runge, Carolin Stoltz, Christian Slater, Elizabeth McGovern, Glenn Close, Grainne Keenan, Harry Lloyd, Jan Mybrand, Jane Garioni, Johan Widerberg, John Moraitis, Jonathan Pryce, Karin Franz Körlof, Mattias Nordkvist, Max Irons, Michael Benz, Morgane Polanski, Nick Fletcher, Ossian Skarsgård, Peter Forbes, Richard Cordery, Suzanne Bertish

Director: Björn Runge

Rating: R

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1627. The Wedding Banquet, 1993

Even with a plot that wholeheartedly embraces the tropes of a fake marriage and of found families, The Wedding Banquet never falls into the trap of histrionic melodrama. There's a calmness to this film that's made all the more poignant by how none of these characters are truly right or wrong, good or bad. Everyone is just trying to stay in their lane while nurturing the little bits of happiness they can find. The Wedding Banquet is a relatively early example of a lighthearted gay romance and an American co-production that's incredibly sensitive about representing Taiwanese culture properly on screen.

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Actor: Ang Lee, Dion Birney, Gua Ah-leh, Jennifer Lin, John Nathan, Lung Sihung, Mason Lee, May Chin, Michael Gaston, Mitchell Lichtenstein, Neal Huff, Sihung Lung, Winston Chao

Director: Ang Lee

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1628. The Vertical Ray of the Sun, 2000

What strikes most people about The Vertical Ray of the Sun is how idyllic Tran Anh Hung captures Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital– lush greens, the summer sunshine softened by mosquito nets, scored by the birds and the neighborhood kids and a mix of early 00s soft rock and traditional Vietnamese songs. These visuals are so beautiful that it distracts from fairly turbulent conflicts in the three relationships present in the film, the unfulfilled desires they feel, some totally forbidden, some stemming from past generations, which makes the PG rating all the more surprising. But even as the drama unfolds, the feeling of a languid summer afternoon never fades, painting the melodramatic troubles under a peaceful veneer, made subtle and humorous with the way the sisters joke, make innuendoes, and decide on family matters together.Genre: Drama, Romance
Actor: Chu Hung, Do Thi Hai Yen, Doan Viet Ha, Le Khanh, Le Tuan Anh, Le Vu Long, Ngo Quang Hai, Nhu Quynh, Tran Nu Yên-Khê
Director: Tran Anh Hung
Rating: PG-13

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1629. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, 1988

The only Kundera film adaptation frankly hasn’t disproven that the source novel is unfilmable, but The Unbearable Lightness of Being is a pretty decent attempt. While Kundera’s meditations aren’t tackled in full depth, director Philip Kaufman manages to retain enough of the novel’s images to rein in the unwieldy plot, such as Sabina with the mirror, Tereza’s nightmare of naked women, their photography around Sabina’s studio and the black-and-white moment of Prague Spring, where editor Walter Murch adeptly inserts Tereza and Tomas within the historical footage. These images, along with the excellent cast, keep the wistful feeling that haunts Kundera’s novel.Genre: Drama, Romance
Actor: Anne Lonnberg, Bruce Myers, Clovis Cornillac, Consuelo De Haviland, Daniel Day-Lewis, Daniel Olbrychski, Derek de Lint, Donald Moffat, Erland Josephson, Jacques Ciron, Juliette Binoche, László Szabó, Lena Olin, Leon Lissek, Pascale Kalensky, Pavel Landovský, Pavel Slabý, Stellan Skarsgård, Tomasz Borkowy, Vladimír Valenta
Director: Philip Kaufman
Rating: R

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1630. The Twelve, 2020

In this compelling new Belgian legal drama, the story is as much about the jurors who are chosen to decide on the crime, as it is about the crime itself.

Usually, the jurors are quiet characters whose job is to be unmoved by hotshot lawyers. The Twelve, somehow the first TV show to do this, digs into how their personal pasts influence their decisions.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Luc De Ruelle, Maaike Neuville, Tom Vermeir

Rating: TV-MA

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1631. The Tiger, 2015

For a while, tigers roamed Korea, garnering fear and respect, as the clawed creature resembled the peninsula. However, tigers roam no more due to Japanese occupation in the early 20th century. The Tiger: An Old Hunter’s Tale takes these historical facts to create a thrilling adventure drama– where man versus the titular beast are compelled to meet again due to political pressure, the government bounty, and personal revenge on both parties. The CGI is occasionally spotty, and the relationship between father and son isn’t as developed as the one between hunter and tiger, but the face-off between the opponents and their shared history makes The Tiger a good movie to watch.Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, History
Actor: Ahn Sang-woo, Choi Min-sik, Han Dong-wook, Jeong Man-sik, Jo Ha-seok, Jung Ji-so, Jung Suk-won, Kim Sang-ho, Kim Seo-won, Kim Ye-joon, Kwak Jin-seok, Kwon Ji-hoon, Lee Na-ra, Seong Yu-bin, Yoo Jae-myung
Director: Park Hoon-jung
Rating: PG-13

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1632. The Science of Sleep, 2006

How does a standout director follow up to a film like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind? With a more profound exploration of style, a further exploration of his originality. Gael Garcia Bernal (who you might know from Y Tu Mama Tambien) plays an imaginative but awkward kind of guy who falls for his cute neighbor, played Charlotte Gainsbourg. Bizarre and whimsical dream sequences follow and a sweet, if hesitant, love story unfolds. An eccentric, funny and very French movie (with most scenes in English).

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy

Actor: Alain Chabat, Aurelia Petit, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Emma de Caunes, Eric Mariotto, Gael García Bernal, Jean-Michel Bernard, Miou-Miou, Pierre Vaneck, Sacha Bourdo, Stephane Metzger, Yvette Petit

Director: Michel Gondry

Rating: R

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1633. The Savages, 2007

Philipp Seymour Hoffman stars in this family drama next to Laura Linney as siblings. They have to unite to support their father who after the death of his girlfriend finds himself alone. The Savages, after the family name, have dynamics that are all too common and easily recognizable. This is a beautiful and real movie.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Cara Seymour, David Zayas, Debra Monk, Erica Berg, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Guy Boyd, Jennifer Lim, Joan Jaffe, Laura Linney, Maddie Corman, Margo Martindale, Michael Blackson, Peter Frechette, Peter Friedman, Philip Bosco, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rosemary Murphy, Sage Kirkpatrick, Salem Ludwig, Sandra Daley, Sidné Anderson, Tonye Patano, Zoe Kazan

Director: Tamara Jenkins

Rating: R

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1634. The Rescue, 2021

As a result of the miraculous success of the famed Tham Luang cave rescue, which saw the return of 12 kids trapped in a cave for more than 15 days, you’ll find no shortage of documentaries about the mission. Some take the point of view of the children, even others the locals and loved ones. But National Geographic’s The Rescue largely focuses on the volunteer rescuers, all of whom were foreigners who flew from different parts of the globe to risk their lives for the young victims. The film dives into their personal lives and their psyches, even going so far as their childhood to explain the motivations behind the heroic decisions they made at that moment. In less deft hands, The Rescue might seem like yet another White Savior Complex story, but directors Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (the same creative couple behind the Oscar-winning doc Free Solo) prove that the divers’ expertise, skill, and personal stakes make for a story worth telling.

Genre: Documentary, Drama

Actor: Anan Surawan, Chris Jewell, Craig Challen, Derek Anderson, Jason Mallinson, Jim Warny, John Volanthen, Josh Morris, Mikko Paasi, Mitch Torrel, Richard Harris, Rick Stanton, Siriporn Bangnoen, Somsak Kanakam, Thanet Natisri

Director: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin

Rating: PG

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1635. The Reader, 2008

The Reader is a German-American drama from 2008, based on the best-selling novel by author Bernhard Schlink. The storyline begins with adult Michael (Ralph Fiennes) reminiscing about his adolescence in post-World War II Berlin and his fateful relationship with an older woman named Hannah (Kate Winslet). 15-year old Michael is beset by Scarlet Fever and helped off the street one day by Hannah. Taken into her care, they soon begin a passionate affair, quickly forsaking family and friends for every opportunity to ensconce themselves in a world of lust and desire. As their time together progresses, Hannah begins urging Michael to read to her daily—to which he draws from many classic novels and delights in their rich interchange.
Hannah suddenly disappears from Michael’s life, however, only reappearing several years later when young law student Michael is stunned to find her facing a World War II war-crimes tribunal. Tied to a real-life series of trials against former Auschwitz employees, The Reader is a strikingly original and exceptionally well-made film that is recommended to those who appreciate sophisticated, emotionally mannered cinema.Genre: Drama, Romance
Actor: Alexandra Maria Lara, Benjamin Trinks, Bruno Ganz, Burghart Klaussner, Carmen-Maja Antoni, David Kross, Fabian Busch, Florian Bartholomäi, Hannah Herzsprung, Heike Hanold-Lynch, Jeanette Hain, Jürgen Tarrach, Karoline Herfurth, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Block, Lena Olin, Linda Bassett, Ludwig Blochberger, Margarita Broich, Marie Gruber, Martin Brambach, Matthias Habich, Moritz Grove, Ralph Fiennes, Susanne Lothar, Sylvester Groth, Vijessna Ferkic, Volker Bruch
Director: Stephen Daldry
Rating: R

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