473 Best Challenging Movies to Watch (Page 20)

At one of the world’s largest shipping hubs, packages (and sometimes people) can get easily lost. It can be disheartening to lose something important, but that’s why it’s important to remember to check the lost and found. Through the titular niche industry, writer-director Lee Chi-Ngai crafts a existential love story that intertwines the lost souls of Hong Kong with a mournful melancholy marked with each repetition of Dance Me to the End of Love. It’s beautiful and depressing, and yet somehow Lee manages to tie all of the pieces together eloquently into something hopeful, despite the inevitable, if abrupt, ending.

Genre: Drama, Romance

Actor: Alan Mak, Cheung Tat-Ming, Henry Fong, Hilary Tsui, James Yuen, Joe Ma, Jordan Chan, Josie Ho, Joyce Tang Lai-Ming, Kelly Chen, Maria Cordero, Michael Wong, Moses Chan, Steven Ma, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Teddy Chan

Director: Lee Chi-Ngai

If there’s one thing to say about House of Flying Daggers, it’s that it’s absolutely, absurdly, downright beautiful. The sets are lavishly designed, the landscapes are gorgeous, the colorful costumes are elaborately embroidered, the fight and dance choreography are breathtaking, every shot is colorful, and even the three leads in the love triangle are some of the most beautiful Chinese actors of the time (maybe, perhaps, of all time). That being said, some viewers might find that the beauty of each scene isn’t enough to carry through the film’s fairly convoluted plot, with everyone lying to each other all the time. There’s a thread here about being ordered into actions that would later be used to condemn you, and the way love intersects with that is fairly romantic stuff, but House of Flying Daggers doesn’t quite reach the emotional heights it could have had with a more streamlined script.

Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama

Actor: Andy Lau, Andy Lau Tak-Wah, Chengyuan Li, Dandan Song, Hao Bojie, Hongfei Zhao, Jiusheng Wang, Jun Guo, Li Qiang, Liu Tengyuan, Shu Zhang, Song Dandan, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Wang Jiusheng, Yang Guang, Yongxin Wang, Zhang Shu, Zhang Ziyi, Zheng Xiao-Dong, Zhengyong Zhang, Ziyi Zhang

Director: Yimou Zhang, Zhang Yimou

Rating: PG-13

Peter Jackson made the transition from splattery gross-out movies like Braindead to more respectable fare with Heavenly Creatures, the true story of an intense relationship between two teenage girls that culminates in the murder of one of their mothers.

As the girls’ friendship becomes unhealthier, they invent a secret world for themselves, amusingly including a heart-throb Orson Welles. This gives Jackson the opportunity to indulge in his love of fantasy, creating some dazzling hallucinatory sequences.

The fantasy element contrasts beautifully with the humdrum setting of ‘50s New Zealand, and the final tragedy is heart-breaking. The film also provided an auspicious debut for Kate Winslet, who is terrific as one of the misguided fantasists.

Genre: Drama, Fantasy

Actor: Barry Thomson, Ben Fransham, Clive Merrison, Darien Takle, Diana Kent, Elizabeth Moody, Geoffrey Heath, Gilbert Goldie, Glen Drake, Glenys Lloyd-Smith, Jed Brophy, Jesse Griffin, Kate Winslet, Liz Mullane, Lou Dobson, Melanie Lynskey, Moreen Eason, Peter Elliott, Peter Jackson, Ray Henwood, Sarah Peirse

Director: Peter Jackson

While zombies weren’t new in film, it wasn’t until writer-director George A. Romero’s Living Dead saga that the zombie as we know it today was created. Day of the Dead is the third in the franchise, and like Night and Dawn, Romero was more interested in the way humans were the threat, more so than the flesh-eating monsters, this time between scientific innovation and military force, both that are pushed to the extremes without any ethical restraint, and both being the very same concerns that America held at the time of release. And with Tom Savini and team’s groundbreaking special effects, it’s no wonder that Day of the Dead became a horror classic.

Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery

Actor: Anthony Dileo Jr., Barbara Russell, Bruce Kirkpatrick, David Kindlon, Debra Gordon, Don Brockett, Gary Klar, Geoff Burkman, George A. Romero, Greg Nicotero, Howard Berger, Jarlath Conroy, John Amplas, Joseph Pilato, Lori Cardille, Mark Tierno, Michael Deak, Sherman Howard, Taso N. Stavrakis, Terry Alexander, Tom Savini

Director: George A. Romero

Rating: NR

At times of great societal turmoil, sometimes stars are born, not just to entertain the masses but to challenge the way things are done. Amar Singh Chamkila is one such star, and his music captivated all of Punjab in part due to his brash lyrics. His assassination remains unsolved, but director and co-writer Imtiaz Ali takes the event, and uses it to frame his life– the ways Punjab remembered him after death, the ways Chamkila showed his light as well as the ways he was limited by studio oversight and state censorship. The film isn’t a perfect contemplation of artistic freedom, nor is it the most comprehensive take on the singer’s life, but Ali’s direction challenges the way we view the artist and acutely recognizes the way stardom reveals the society's conflicting desires.

Genre: Drama, Music

Actor: Anjum Batra, Anuraag Arora, Apindereep Singh, Diljit Dosanjh, Jasmeet Singh Bhatia, Kul Sidhu, Kumud Mishra, Mohit Chauhan, Nisha Bano, Parineeti Chopra, Sahiba Bali, Vipin Katyal

Director: Imtiaz Ali

Given the controversial subject matter, there’s something remarkably placid about the way About Dry Grasses proceeds. Amidst the snowy white steppes of Eastern Anatolia, writer-director Nuri Bilge Ceylan slowly lets the plot unfold through multiple conversations, where an accusation of inappropriate contact leads to a he-said, she-said investigation, all centered around a misanthropic protagonist Samet. By focusing the entire film on Samet, Ceylan takes the time to understand this difficult, exhausting character in a detached manner, with the camera oftentimes taking in the whole lived-in, rundown places where Samet lives and works in. It’s an interesting perspective, depicting the ways everyone’s fumbling around, trying to create boxes to understand one’s place in the world, but it’s not an easy one to explore. About Dry Grasses dares to do so, anyway.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Cengiz Bozkurt, Deniz Celiloğlu, Ece Bağcı, Elit Andaç Çam, Erdem Şenocak, Eylem Canpolat, Merve Dizdar, Münir Can Cindoruk, Musab Ekici, Nalan Kuruçim, S. Emrah Özdemir, Yıldırım Gücük, Yüksel Aksu

Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Formally speaking, 20 Days in Mariupol is little more than a compilation of footage bravely collected by Mstyslav Chernov in Ukraine, excerpts of which may seem familiar from when they were broadcast by major news stations. Unsure of whether or not Chernov would survive long enough to pass on his footage, he shot as much as he could day-in and day-out, resulting in this numbing, relentless compilation of anguish and death. As a documentary, there isn't exactly a unifying idea to 20 Days in Mariupol, with Chernov's narration only meant to provide necessary context and a foreboding score that probably didn't have to impose itself as much as it does.

And yet it's hard to deny the importance of the very existence of this footage, especially in a time when genocide is occurring elsewhere in the world with far fewer cameras on the ground to counter the denialist propaganda of those in power. Chernov's decision to let the images speak for themselves, without feeling the need to dissect every major moment for political analysis, isn't reductive; it's a statement that nothing can rationalize the indiscriminate killing of civilians and children. That the footage becomes overwhelming and hard to watch isn't a reason for us to look away.

Genre: Documentary, War

Actor: Irina Kalinina, Liudmyla Amelkina, Mstyslav Chernov, Vasily Nebenzya, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Zhanna Homa

Director: Mstyslav Chernov

Rating: NR

In response to violence, some people consider aggression as the only solution, especially in a place that cannot rely on institutions– fighting fire with fire, but fighting for the good. Tyrannosaur depicts a British town with men that only operate on a mix of this idea, but this rage becomes relentless, unceasing, and never lies to rest, oftentimes at the expense of those more vulnerable around them. The debut feature from indie anti-hero actor Paddy Considine is downright depressing and it’s not an easy watch, but there’s no denying that Tyrannosaur feels incredibly personal and the stellar performances from the three leads makes this bleak drama so compelling to watch.

Genre: Drama, Romance

Actor: Archie Lal, Eddie Marsan, Julia Mallam, Lee Rufford, Ned Dennehy, Olivia Colman, Paul Popplewell, Peter Mullan, Sally Carman, Samuel Bottomley, Sian Breckin

Director: Paddy Considine

Rating: NR

It’s not easy to watch films about child abuse, so it makes sense that This Boy’s Life wouldn’t be a hit blockbuster, but it’s still surprising how this 90’s film still remains an underrated gem. For starters, big names like Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio (in his breakthrough role), star as leads, and their performances are top-notch. But what ultimately makes the film a good movie to watch is how surprisingly nuanced it depicts child abuse and neglect. Part of this nuance is due to being based on a true memoir, but director Michael Caton-Jones and writer Robert Getchell capture the insidious way abuse can start and become normalized in a household while still highlighting the ways survivors can escape. It’s not an easy watch, but This Boy’s Life is a moving drama that deserves more time in the sun.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Carla Gugino, Chris Cooper, Eliza Dushku, Ellen Barkin, Frank C. Turner, Gerrit Graham, Jonah Blechman, Kathy Kinney, Leonardo DiCaprio, Morgan Brayton, Robert De Niro, Sean Murray, Tobey Maguire, Tracey Ellis, Travis MacDonald, Zachary Ansley

Director: Michael Caton-Jones

Rating: R

As a first feature, The Unbelievable Truth had a startlingly new style at the time, with deadpan humor, intentional stilted dialogue delivery, interrupting intertitles, and randomly posed existential questions, but these stylistic touches was what made Hal Hartley a key figure in the early aughts of American indie filmmaking. It’s a surprising twist to the romantic comedy, the first where Hartley pays homage to his hometown of Long Island. The two leads form an unconventional relationship, that at first, seems objectionable with Josh having a criminal background, and Audry just barely coming of age, but as they recognize the genuine emotion inside of each other– the existential despair, the want of a normal life, and the soul seeking they try to find through art, science, and literature– the romance just works. This, the leap of faith in another person despite appearances, forms the current that makes the portrait of small town America feel real and hopeful, even with its nihilistic humor.

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Actor: Adrienne Shelly, Bill Sage, Christopher Cooke, David Healy, Edie Falco, Gary Sauer, Jeff Howard, Julia McNeal, Katherine Mayfield, Kelly Reichardt, Mark Chandler Bailey, Matt Malloy, Mike Brady, Paul Schulze, Robert John Burke, Tom Thon

Director: Hal Hartley

Rating: R