711 Best Discussion-sparking Movies to Watch (Page 48)

It’s no coincidence that many of the highest-acclaimed movies are also controversial. Serving beyond entertainment, these stories provoke essential social dialogues. As a case in point, here are the best discussion-sparking movies and shows available to stream now.

Read also:

706. Ice Cold: Murder, Coffee and Jessica Wongso, 2023

All the little twists in the case of Mirna Salihin's murder are intriguing enough to speculate over, so Ice Cold is definitely a true-crime case worth revisiting. The problem is in how the documentary indulges sensationalist arguments and pure speculation with the same level of urgency as it does with expert counsel. A large part of the film has to do with how this trial started to become such a fixture in Indonesian public life, but it feels as if the movie would rather provoke even more baseless conspiracies through its gossipy tone than provide smarter analysis. There's an appeal to how simple this case is relative to other true-crime stories, but this shouldn't be an excuse to haphazardly throw opposing perspectives at each other for the sake of drama.

Genre: Crime, Documentary

Actor: Edi Darmawan Salihin, Jessica Wongso, Marcella Zalianty, Mirna Salihin, Otto Hasibuan

Director: Rob Sixsmith

Rating: PG-13

Read also:

707. What If (2023)

Trying to make a mostly two-hander drama with one primary location is much harder than it looks, and What If unfortunately doesn't succeed in taking on the challenge. It has a list of relationship issues that it wants to address (which, to be fair, come off as plausible sources of tension once they're finally brought up) and the performance from Alessandra de Rossi is reliably affecting. But a lack of chemistry between her and JM de Guzman—as well as a tedious first half that shows us their characters' blossoming relationship in the cheesiest ways—makes it very hard to care about them when the arguing eventually starts. Without a strong dramatic foundation, the conflict feels shallower than it should. And without a good use of setting, it all becomes tedious to watch.

Genre: Drama, Romance

Actor: Alessandra de Rossi, Ana Abad-Santos, Chard Ocampo, JM de Guzman, Nicole Omillo

Director: Manny Palo

Rating: R

Read also:

708. The Whale, 2022

At one point in The Whale, Brendan Fraser’s Charlie — a morbidly obese, reclusive teacher — describes an act of abject cruelty as “not evil” but “honesty.” Darren Aronofsky seems to believe the same about his movie, but alas, he's gravely misled, because The Whale is flooringly glib. From the outset, the film actively and incessantly tries to choreograph audience disgust for Charlie, all so that it can pull off a manipulative “he’s human, actually” swing later on — a “twist” that won’t work if you, you know, already accept people’s humanity irrespective of their appearance.

Cinematography, makeup, and score all conspire to paint Charlie as grotesque: the camera laboriously over-emphasizes his size and mobility issues, while histrionic music chimes in to frame trivial moments (like Charlie reaching to pick something up from the floor) as grand, tragic dramas. Even if you ignore all its needless cruelty, The Whale — which is adapted from a play — can never shed its stagy origins: the writing frequently reaches for transcendence, but its efforts are as subtle as its evidently retroactively-shoehorned-in-title. If it’s as sincere as it purports to be, this is one of the worst movies of recent years, and if it’s not — which is almost preferable — then it’s a landmark exercise in trolling.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Allison Altman, Brendan Fraser, Hong Chau, Jacey Sink, Lance Oppenheim, Sadie Sink, Samantha Morton, Sathya Sridharan, Ty Simpkins, Wilhelm Schalaudek

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Read also:

709. Bionic, 2024

The premise is really exciting to jump into: Paralympic domination feels original, but the cartoonish crime underbelly is not at all the best wrinkle to add to the initial idea. The sports and family drama side of the action feels grounded, full of heart, and far from being fleshed out to a satisfying degree. In contrast, the dark world side of the action has a Hollywood emptiness to it, which is ironic because the premise is heavy enough on its own, only to be overcrowded by this sci-fi noise. It could do without a lot of the elements, but maybe all the bloat is intentional to move the story away from a political conversation and into a safer albeit uneventful one.

Genre: Action, Adventure, Science Fiction

Actor: Bruno Gagliasso, Christian Malheiros, Danton Mello, Erika Januza, Gabz, Guta Ruiz, Jessica Córes, Klebber Toledo, Miguel Falabella, Miguel Nader, Nill Marcondes, Paulo Vilhena

Director: Afonso Poyart

Rating: R

Read also:

710. From the Ashes, 2024

From the Ashes is based on the real life fire tragedy, but upon searching, Netflix hasn’t mentioned which exact fire it was talking about. It’s possibly inspired by the 2002 Mecca girls' school fire, with the strict all-girl’s school, the closed gates and unattended cigarette, but the film starts off with a disclaimer saying that the characters and certain aspects of the story are fictional. One would think, with the freedom the film granted itself through fiction, the film would dare to critique certain controversial aspects of the tragedy that needs to be talked about – like the implications of emergency services being hindered due to modesty, or whether the media speculation was fair, or even the lack of safety regulations that the school administration failed to implement. Instead, most of the film plays out like an investigation, seemingly placing blame on fictional students, you know, the victims, for being the reason one fictional student wasn’t able to escape. Sure, it’s all fiction, but this is just not right.

Genre: Drama, Thriller

Actor: Adwaa Fahad, Aisha Al Rifaie, Alshaima'a Tayeb, Darin Al Bayed, Khairia Abu Laban

Director: Khalid Fahad

Read also:

711. Christmas As Usual, 2023

Christmas is a common setting for romance stories, because it’s obviously the best time to warm up… if you know what we mean. (Warm drinks, sweet treats, and snuggling with loved ones, of course.) Christmas as Usual seems to go along that vein, as Thea brings home her fiancé Jashan to meet the parents, and he tries to impress her family, as these family Christmas romances tend to go. This obviously brings about the relatable romantic troubles that anyone can empathize with, so it’s a bit of a shock when Thea’s Norwegian family treats Jashan so badly that it seems more insidious than good ol’ concern over their daughter. Had the story been approached with more sensitivity, Christmas as Usual would have been outstanding, but its current version never really questions the racism of the Norwegian family, or the passive way Thea just lets it all happen.

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Actor: Erik Follestad, Ida Ursin-Holm, Jonas Strand Gravli, Kanan Gill, Mads Sjogard Pettersen, Marit Andreassen, Veslemøy Mørkrid

Director: Petter Holmsen

Read also:

1 … 44 45 46 47 48