114 Best International Movies Movies to Watch On Netflix (Page 4)

Familiarity breeds contempt, and Swedish Netflix’s new horror-comedy takes this idea to the extreme. Based on the novel by Mats Strandberg, who’s known as the Swedish Stephen King, The Conference is centered around a group of employees on their company retreat. With its ensemble, the film crafts a relatable dynamic, with the exact petty back-and-forth and the same exact corporate politics many adults have to deal with. It’s no wonder one of them snaps, and takes them out one by one. The film isn’t exactly new, with the decades’ collection of slashers all over the world, but this Swedish thriller is a fun take on it, with match cut transitions, quick paced sequences, and the gruesome murders of the group most adults spend time with - their colleagues. It’s an interesting watch as the world gets back to the office.

Genre: Comedy, Horror, Thriller

Actor: Adam Lundgren, Amed Bozan, Bahar Pars, Cecilia Nilsson, Christoffer Nordenrot, Claes Hartelius, Eva Melander, Jimmy Lindström, Katia Winter, Lola Zackow, Maria Sid, Marie Agerhäll, Martin Lagos, Robert Follin

Director: Patrik Eklund

A thrilling and fun film about a British working class bunch who find themselves in confrontation with the rich and powerful. This happens when their once-in -a-lifetime job lands them not on ly the expected money and jewelry, but documents with big secrets. The phrase "the good version of Jason Statham" applies not only to the actor but to the whole film - as it is enjoyable like all similar heist movies but adds that sadly forgotten thing called character. If you liked The Italian Job, The Town, or even films like Argo; you will love The Bank Job.

Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Actor: Alistair Petrie, Alki David, Andrew Brooke, Angus Wright, Antony Gabriel, Bronson Webb, Colin Salmon, Craig Fairbrass, Daniel Mays, David Suchet, Don Gallagher, Dylan Charles, Georgia Taylor, Gerard Horan, Hattie Morahan, James Faulkner, Jason Statham, Julian Firth, Julian Lewis Jones, Keeley Hawes, Michael Jibson, Mick Jagger, Peter Bowles, Peter de Jersey, Richard Lintern, Rupert Frazer, Rupert Vansittart, Saffron Burrows, Sharon Maughan, Stephen Campbell Moore

Director: Roger Donaldson

Rating: R

Classroom chatter and inside jokes; the rhythmic routine of class, band practice, and communal mealtime; colorful paints and a keen Shakespeare play; paperback books, pages bookmarked with dogears. These are the precious, ordinary wonders of Headfort, a preparatory boarding school in Ireland. 

School Life observes Amanda and John Leyden, who have each taught at Headfort for over four decades. As they both near retirement, so too looms the promise of a tranquil retreat into the countryside—and questions of what they leave behind in their school, their classrooms, and their students. Idyllic and gentle, this documentary offers a brief but meaningful look into the school lives of bright children indelibly influenced by their earliest mentors.

Genre: Documentary

Director: David Rane, Neasa Ní Chianáin

Rating: PG-13

As the first Zambian film on Netflix, Can You See Us? is an interesting portrayal of albinism. Inspired by the real-life story of musician John Chiti, the film’s plot feels grounded, even if it’s similar to other stories depicting discrimination. With newcomer Thabo Kaamba at the forefront, her performance of the albino boy Joseph shines brighter than even the older actors of the film’s cast. That being said, it is held back by repetitive dialogue and sped-up character development from certain characters. Despite this, Can You See Us? is still a remarkable film that stands out from the other tearjerkers available on the streaming platform.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Chilu Lemba, Fransisca Muchangwe, Kangwa Chileshe, Ruth Jule, Thabo Kaamba

Director: Kenny Mumba

Full of charm and nostalgia, Bang Woo-ri’s first feature film is a love letter to the late 90s—and to the heartstopping experience of first love, as high school student Na Bo-ra tries to get to know her friend’s crush Baek Hyun-jin. While at times immature, she comes across as endearing through Kim Yoo-jung’s charismatic, devoted performance. And as the Na Bo-ra goes through all the ways people wooed each other in the 90s—figuring out each other's phone numbers, filming each other through old camcorders, renting out VHS tapes—the film evokes memories of our own first loves. Even with some underdeveloped characters and certain contrived moments, 20th Century Girl is still a stunning picture of young love at the turn of the century.

Genre: Drama, Romance

Actor: Bang Woo-ri, Byeon Woo-seok, Gong Myeong, Gong Myoung, Han Hyo-joo, Jeon Hye-won, Jeong Seok-yong, Kim Sung-kyung, Kim You-jung, Lee Beom-soo, Lee Beom-su, Ong Seong-wu, Park Hae-jun, Park Jung-woo, Roh Yoon-seo, Ryu Seung-ryong

Director: Bang Woo-ri

Rating: TV-PG

The Queenstown Kings is a sports film that has plot points we’re all familiar with – alcoholic father trying to seek forgiveness from his son, a tempting offer for fame and riches, the standard training montage and more. These plot points sometimes go into melodramatic territory, but the film’s relationships make these scenes feel sincere, especially with the family dynamic that drives the film. And as Buyile strives to better himself to become a good example to the team, and Fezile makes different choices from his father, The Queenstown Kings feels sincere as a reminder of the better side of South African men, one that can be uncovered if they, and their community, believe in a higher dream.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Enhle Mbali Mlotshwa, Likhona Mgali, Patrick Ndlovu, Sandile Mahlangu, Tessa Twala, Thoko Ntshinga, Unathi Platyi, Zolisa Xaluva

Director: Jahmil X.T. Qubeka

When it comes to ghosts, plenty of films are centered around personal, unresolved business in the living world, but rarely do films examine how the spirit world would be, unless it’s for fantastical fights or horrific terror. The Parades instead focuses on a world of lost, but ordinary, and thankfully kind, souls. And as the film builds its calm world, Minako (and the viewers) get to meet the people who would form her eventual found family, whose various lives uncover the intimate and personal hopes of ordinary people, shaped by the events of their respective times. While the film doesn’t fully resolve all their stories, The Parades celebrates life, in all forms, and the powerful ways storytelling and community helps us go through it.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Akari Takaishi, Ayumu Nakajima, Daiken Okudaira, Denden, Go Ayano, Hana Kino, Hiroshi Tachi, Kentaro Sakaguchi, Kotone Hanase, Lily Franky, Mai Fukagawa, Masami Nagasawa, Nana Mori, Ron Mizuma, Ryusei Yokohama, Shinobu Terajima, Shun Sugata, Suon Kan, Takuya Wakabayashi, Tetsushi Tanaka, Yuina Kuroshima, Yukiya Kitamura

Director: Michihito Fujii

Rating: PG-13

In this French movie based on a true story, a med-school graduate from Congo is offered a job as the doctor to the president of Zaire. He refuses and chooses instead to move to a small town in France in hopes of getting French citizenship and securing a better future for his children.

The story, which starts in 1975, is set in a village where people had never seen a Black person. To that, Seyolo, the doctor, says: “so what? Now they will.”

The culture clash is both villagers-to-new-arrivals and the other way. Seyolo tells his family that he was hired in a village “north of Paris”, but all they hear is “Paris”, only to be shocked by the state of the rainy and muddy countryside village.

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Actor: Aissa Maiga, Bayron Lebli, Bernard Eylenbosch, Bwanga Pilipili, Christophe Lambert, Diogène Ntarindwa, Édith Le Merdy, Emilie Rouhart, Frédérick Bukolé, Ingrid Heiderscheidt, Jean Bediebe, Jean-Benoît Ugeux, Jean-Marie Barbier, Jean-Michel Balthazar, Jonathan Lambert, Julien Rambaldi, Kamini Zantoko, Laurent Caron, Marc Zinga, Marie-Philomène Nga, Marius Yelolo, Mata Gabin, Medina Diarra, Micheline Dieye, Narcisse Mame, Riton Liebman, Rodolphe Jonathan Lambert, Rufus, Stéphane Bissot, Stéphanie Crayencour, Sylvestre Amoussou, Tatiana Rojo, Thomas Vandenberghe, Thomas VDB, Vincent Lecuyer, Vincent Martin

Director: Julien Rambaldi

Rating: N/A

After Black Hawk Down (2001), the casual moviegoer would have thought that the rescue operation was only conducted by American soldiers. In reality, it was a multinational effort, and Malaysia’s side of the story has finally been depicted in MALBATT: Misi Bakara. Surprisingly, it doesn’t play out as a straightforward, action-packed rescue mission– writer-director Adrian Teh does deliver the action, but the film also contemplates about the team itself: how they made sense of their opposition towards a country they shared religions with, and how they experienced the ignorance from American soldiers that didn’t even know where Malaysia was. While some introductory sequences falter, and the film fumbles certain green screen moments, MALBATT: Misi Bakara brings both the spectacle and the drama that makes it stand out from other depictions of the rescue mission.

Genre: Action, Drama, History, War

Actor: Bront Palarae, Dini Schatzmann, Fauzi Nawawi, Gambit Saifullah, Hairul Azreen, Iedil Putra, Musa Aden, Paul Biddiss, Shaheizy Sam, Syazwan Zulkifly, Tony Eusoff, Zahiril Adzim

Director: Adrian Teh

With its grounded approach, A Day and a Half feels real, even if the exact events are fictional. Inspired by a couple of lines from a 2008 news article, Fares Fares crafts an intimate family drama for his first directorial debut, built in the bones of a hostage thriller. As a thriller, Fares consistently maintains its suspense, camera eyeing the gun present in most of the film. However, as the cop Lucas tries to defuse the situation with hostage-taker Artan, and the situation escalates to the National Task Force, Artan and Louise confront their broken family, lines opened by improvised hostage negotiations. While Artan’s understandable reasons shouldn’t absolve him of his actions, A Day and a Half effectively builds tension, only relieved at its slightly unrealistic but cathartic ending.

Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Actor: Alexej Manvelov, Alma Pöysti, Annica Liljeblad, Annika Hallin, Daniel Guldstrand, Fares Fares, Richard Forsgren, Stina Ekblad

Director: Fares Fares