970 Best Dramas Movies to Watch (Page 36)

Staff & contributors
Many people have forgotten that representation and diversity in media isn’t meant just to fill a quota or to signal virtue– the push for it is in response to the way many of these stories were silenced, repressed, and shut out. Lilies might have been overlooked for quite a while, but its 2023 restoration has thankfully enabled more viewers to watch the tale of an imprisoned gay man finally telling his story, turning the tables on a long overdue confession. Michel Marc Bouchard adapts his play through this play-within-a-film, with director John Greyson playing with the confession booth as a viewing booth for both the bishop and the audience to get fully immersed in a love triangle a century ago, juxtaposed with motifs of martyred Catholic saints and French lilies and fire. Lilies is a well-crafted and deeply emotional masterpiece.

Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance

Actor: Alain Gendreau, Aubert Pallascio, Brent Carver, Danny Gilmore, Gary Farmer, Ian D. Clark, Jason Cadieux, John Dunn-Hill, Khanh Hua, Marcel Sabourin, Matthew Ferguson, Michel Marc Bouchard, Pierre Leblanc, Rémy Girard, Robert Lalonde

Director: John Greyson

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Krisha opens with the image you see above, a bright yet stark portrait of the lead of the movie, staring with defiance at the camera. You are invited into the world of an unpredictable 65-year-old who returns home for Thanksgiving after a long disappearance. Her family greets her with mixed emotion, and her nephew (played by the director of the movie), doesn’t even want to be near her. In fact, Krisha is played by the director’s real-life aunt. His mother and grandmother also star in the movie. And the story is inspired by real-life pain: a member of his family who was a recovering addict and who fell back into drugs after a family reunion. This is a low-budget but high-dedication movie. The director, Trey Edward Shults, is a disciple of Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life, Knight of Cups), whose style will be easily recognizable to those familiar with it.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Alex Dobrenko, Atheena Frizzell, Augustine Frizzell, Bill Wise, Billie Fairchild, Bryan Casserly, Chase Joliet, Chris Doubek, Krisha Fairchild, Olivia Grace Applegate, Robyn Fairchild, Trey Edward Shults, Victoria Fairchild

Director: Trey Edward Shults

Rating: R

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Surreal, off-putting, and extremely disturbing, Infinity Pool plays with the concepts of cloning and the death penalty to craft an examination on colonial tourism. It’s a thematically rich horror film, with hazy neon-lit sex scenes and absolutely terrible behavior, enabled by their wealth and advanced technology that could have been put to better use. Mia Goth, in particular, is strikingly unhinged, as Gabi taunts and lures James into bigger and more terrible crimes, crimes that he can only pay off with the wealth of his father-in-law. And Alexander Skarsgård as James believably gets sucked into this extremely libertine lifestyle, fuelled by the nepotistic anxiety of not living up to his own potential. The film presents a scary notion that pushed by wealth and playground tactics, one will willingly kill their own conscience, again and again, to belong to their cohort.

Genre: Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller

Actor: Alexander Skarsgård, Alexandra Tóth, Amanda Brugel, Amar Bukvić, Caroline Boulton, Cleopatra Coleman, Gergely Trócsányi, Géza Kovács, Jalil Lespert, Jeff Ricketts, John Ralston, Kamilla Fátyol, Mia Goth, Roderick Hill, Romina Tonković, Thomas Kretschmann, Zijad Gračić

Director: Brandon Cronenberg

Rating: R

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In Between is a beautiful and poignant film that offers a sensitive and nuanced exploration of the lives and experiences of three Palestinian women living in Tel Aviv. The film follows their struggles to reconcile their traditional and cultural identities with their desire for independence, freedom, and self-expression. The stunning visuals, evocative and emotional score, and brilliant performances of the cast combine to create a powerful and moving portrait of resilience, sisterhood, and hope. Profoundly human and deeply affecting, In Between offers a fresh and important perspective on the complex realities of life in Israel and Palestine.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Amir Khoury, Elias Matar, Firas Nassar, Khawlah Hag-Debsy, Mahmoud Shalaby, Maisa Abd Elhadi, Mouna Hawa, Riyad Sliman, Samar Qupty, Sana Jammalieh, Shaden Kanboura, Suhel Haddad, Tamer Nafar

Director: Maysaloun Hamoud

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When vampires choose not to kill a human, it’s usually played up with so much drama, angst, and maybe a bit of romance. Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person on the other hand takes this choice as a comedic one. It may be a tad ludicrous for a vampire to refuse to drink blood on ethical grounds and trauma, but writer-director Ariane Louis-Seize takes this silly situation with a compelling sweetness, depicting Sasha with a familiar teen uncertainty made much more captivating with Sara Montpetit’s gothic ingénue charisma. Humanist Vampire does take a more quirky YA romance approach than expected from the title, but it’s funny, charming, and totally something new.

Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Horror, Romance

Actor: Arnaud Vachon, Félix-Antoine Bénard, Madeleine Péloquin, Marc Beaupré, Marguerite Bouchard, Marie Brassard, Micheline Bernard, Noémie O'Farrell, Patrice Dubois, Patrick Hivon, Pierre-Luc Lafontaine, Sara Montpetit, Sarianne Cormier, Sébastien Beaulac, Sophie Cadieux, Steve Laplante, Sylvie Lemay

Director: Ariane Louis-Seize

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The work of two people stand out here: the actor Christian Bale and the cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi (Silver Linings Playbook, Warrior, The Grey, Spotlight, etc.) Bale plays an Army Captain who agrees to escort a dying Cheyenne war chief and his family through treacherous lands. The general and the chief, being old enemies, embark on a journey where their conflict seems the least of their worries. The cinematography is lush and reminiscent of the classics of the Western genre. It is a harshly stunning film you should watch.

Genre: Drama, History, Western

Actor: Adam Beach, Austin Rising, Ava Cooper, Ben Foster, Bill Camp, Boots Southerland, Brian Duffy, Christian Bale, Christopher Hagen, David Midthunder, Dicky Eklund Jr., Francisco Peramos, Gray Wolf Herrera, James Cady, Jesse Plemons, John Benjamin Hickey, Jonathan Majors, Luce Rains, Paul Anderson, Peter Mullan, Q'orianka Kilcher, Richard Bucher, Robyn Malcolm, Rod Rondeaux, Rory Cochrane, Rosamund Pike, Ryan Bingham, Scott Cooper, Scott G. Anderson, Scott Shepherd, Scott Wilson, Stafford Douglas, Stella Cooper, Stephen Lang, Tanaya Beatty, Timothée Chalamet, Wes Studi, Xavier Horsechief

Director: Scott Cooper

Rating: R

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Set in 1970s Italian countryside, this is a quirky movie that’s full of plot twists.

Lazzaro is a dedicated worker at a tobacco estate. His village has been indebted to a marquise and like everyone else, he works without a wage and in arduous conditions.

Lazzaro strikes a friendship with the son of the marquise, who, in an act of rebellion against his mother, decides to fake his own kidnapping. The two form an unlikely friendship in a story that mixes magical realism with social commentary.

Genre: Drama, Fantasy

Actor: Adriano Tardiolo, Agnese Graziani, Alba Rohrwacher, Alessandro Genovesi, Alice Rohrwacher, Antonio Salines, Carlo Massimino, Carlo Tarmati, Daria Deflorian, Daria Pascal Attolini, David Bennent, Elisabetta Rocchetti, Gala Othero Winter, Leonardo Nigro, Luca Chikovani, Natalino Balasso, Nicoletta Braschi, Pasqualina Scuncia, Sergi Lopez, Tommaso Ragno

Director: Alice Rohrwacher

Rating: PG-13

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Modern day coming-of-age ennui isn’t a new subject at all, but there’s a charm to the way this was presented in Güeros. In his first film, Alonso Ruizpalacios beautifully shoots each scene in black and white, forming striking images of what the capital used to be and taking new approaches in depicting certain scenes (for example, that panic attack with the POV shot covered in feathers!). The cast also excellently portray this millennial emotion well, with their eyes glazed over as they try to seek moments of connection and grounding, as they try to make sense of it all. While some of the politics might fly under the radar to people outside the country, Güeros nevertheless serves as an interesting portrait of the time, as well as an interesting debut for one of Mexico’s avant-garde filmmakers.

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Actor: Adrián Ladrón, Alonso Ruizpalacios, Bernardo Velasco, Ilse Salas, Laura Almela, Leonardo Ortizgris, Marcelo Tobar, Raúl Briones, Sebastián Aguirre, Sophie Alexander-Katz, Tenoch Huerta Mejía, Yojath Okamoto

Director: Alonso Ruizpalacios

Rating: NR

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When caught between taking pro wrestling too seriously and looking at it like cosplay martial arts, I lean towards the latter precisely because of cultures like this. This documentary gets in the weeds of starry-eyed trainee aspirations, as well as the physical and psychological disfigurement of those dreams that come one dropkick to the face at a time. Saika Takeuchi getting to debut doesn’t even feel like a victory at all. I wonder how much of this only happened to the extent that it did because there were cameras present; then again, I try not to think about this documentary too much.

Genre: Documentary

Actor: Chigusa Nagayo, Hisako Sasaki, Kaoru Maeda, Meiko Satomura, Saika Takeuchi, Yuka Sugiyama

Director: Jano Williams, Kim Longinotto

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See, usually, when American violence in media is critiqued, it’s usually through analytic studies or overly exaggerated lectures stirring moral panic. Instead of doing this, however, auteur Michael Haneke decided to surpass the crime genre, playing with the form and emotions in Funny Games. It’s terrifying, not because it immediately delves into the violence, but because it starts off with an ordinary, innocuous visit, that gradually escalates into an unpredictable home invasion where two teenagers inflict needless violence in such a scary yet spectacular way, even involving the viewer into their shenanigans. Ironically, this led to Haneke creating a shot-for-shot American remake of this same story, but Funny Games’ break in form made Haneke a director to remember, as he started to film outside his native Austria after the standout thriller.

Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller

Actor: Arno Frisch, Christoph Bantzer, Doris Kunstmann, Frank Giering, Stefan Clapczynski, Susanne Lothar, Susanne Meneghel, Ulrich Mühe

Director: Michael Haneke

Rating: R

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Fighting with My Family manages to pull off a respectable pro wrestling movie with a lighthearted teen drama slant — a nice change of pace and a victory in itself. Saraya (Florence Pugh) and her family paint the movie with dorky crass jokes, but the film doesn’t seem to tread that line masterfully enough to where we look past her family’s obnoxiousness and find it purely charming instead. But there is more to like here than not: Vince Vaughn as levelheaded NXT coach Hutch Morgan, Dwayne Johnson as himself, and even the blonde girls posse were a little more than just clichés and added a sense of maturity to the portrayal of modern WWE.

Genre: Comedy

Actor: Adam Maxted, Aqueela Zoll, Ashley Darkwood, Bobbi Tyler, Brendon Burns, Charlie Sterling, Chloe Csengery, Christine Ozanne, Chuey Okoye, Ciaran Dowd, David Minton, Dwayne Johnson, Ellie Gonsalves, Elroy Powell, Florence Pugh, Hannah Dodd, Hannah Rae, Jack Gouldbourne, Jack Lowden, James Burrows, Jerome Fleisch, Jerry Lawler, John Cena, John Layfield, Jonathan Jules, Josh Myers, Julia Davis, Julia Hamer-Bevis, Justin Sysum, Kim Matula, Leah Harvey, Lena Headey, Michael Coulthard, Mike Mizanin, Mohammad Amiri, Nick Frost, Olivia Bernstone, Paul Robinson, Paul Wight, Rishi Ghosh, Rod Zapata, Roy Bevis, Samantha Allen, Samantha Alleyne, Saraya-Jade Bevis, Simon Kippen, Simon Musk, Stephen Farrelly, Stephen Merchant, Thea Trinidad, Thomas Whilley, Tori Ellen Ross, Vince Vaughn

Director: Stephen Merchant

Rating: PG-13

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With many iterations of Faust, Jan Švankmajer’s own take on the deal with the devil isn't absolutely terrifying, and can feel bizarre, sometimes even goofy, to those unfamiliar with the animation director. However, Lekce Faust is quite creepy, as he brings the legend to modern day Prague with a mysterious map and visually disturbing puppets that brilliantly mixes live action with stop-motion and claymation into folklorish cinematic magic. It's not the most faithful rendition of the classic tale, but it's one of the most inventive, proving that while the deals like this pop up only in past folklore, the devil still lingers in fairly absurd ways.

Genre: Animation, Drama, Fantasy

Actor: Antonín Zacpal, Jan Kraus, Jiří Suchý, Petr Čepek, Petr Meissel, Vladimír Kudla

Director: Jan Švankmajer

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Far From the Madding Crowd is a classic tale, but in terms of story, it has the familiar thread of a lady having to choose between multiple swoon-worthy suitors, which is a common story of many lengthy, overly melodramatic period dramas. However, with the restrained direction of Thomas Vinterberg, and the writing of David Nicholls, known best for his decades sprawling romance in One Day, the fifth film adaptation captures the magic of the classic countryside novel, elevating the old-fashioned romance with an easier, faster flow, and carried by the powerful performance of its cast. Fans of the novel or the 1967 adaptation might feel disappointed at how much was removed, but overall, Far From the Madding Crowd is an exemplary drama adaptation.

Genre: Drama, Romance

Actor: Belinda Low, Bradley Hall, Carey Mulligan, David Golt, Dorian Lough, Eloise Oliver, Harry Peacock, Hilton McRae, Jessica Barden, Jody Halse, Jon Gunn, Juno Temple, Mark Wingett, Matthias Schoenaerts, Michael Sheen, Pauline Whitaker, Richard Dixon, Sam Phillips, Stuart Davidson, Thomas Arnold, Tilly Vosburgh, Tom Sturridge, Victor McGuire

Director: Thomas Vinterberg

Rating: PG-13

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