Genre: Drama
Actor: Austin Abrams, Krisha Fairchild, Megan Stott, Rhenzy Feliz
Slow pacing is a surprisingly common factory across some of the most engrossing movies in history. If you love to take your time and bask in the scenery, check out the best slow movies and shows to stream now.
Genre: Drama
Actor: Austin Abrams, Krisha Fairchild, Megan Stott, Rhenzy Feliz
It doesn’t feel quite right to call Pacifiction a political thriller — at 2 hours 45 minutes and with an unhurried, dreamlike pace, it’s hardly the adrenaline rush that that categorization suggests. But Albert Serra’s film is still suffused with all the paranoia and intrigue that the genre promises, just at a slower burn. The specters of colonialism and nuclear apocalypse hang low over the movie, which is set in an idyllic Tahiti, where Benoît Magimel’s Monsieur De Roller is stationed as France’s outgoing High Commissioner, a bureaucratic relic of the country’s imperialist history. As shady figures and strange rumors about a military submarine begin to arrive on the island, a paranoid De Roller struggles to exert political control — and, in the process, seems to lose some of his own sanity. With an ethereal score, defiantly murky plot, hallucinatory cinematography, and some of humanity’s greatest horrors hanging over it like a pall, Pacifiction feels like a fever dream in the truest sense.
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Actor: Alexandre Melo, Baptiste Pinteaux, Benoit Magimel, Cécile Guilbert, Lluís Serrat, Marc Susini, Montse Triola, Pahoa Mahagafanau, Sergi Lopez
Director: Albert Serra
Genre: Drama, Horror
Actor: Anders T. Peedu, Henrik Dahl, Ika Nord, Johan Sömnes, Kåre Hedebrant, Karin Bergquist, Karl-Robert Lindgren, Lina Leandersson, Malin Cederblad, Mikael Rahm, Pale Olofsson, Patrik Rydmark, Per Ragnar, Peter Carlberg, Tom Ljungman
Director: Tomas Alfredson
Genre: Drama
Actor: Arachaporn Pokinpakorn, Chayapak Tunprayoon, Christiaan Churaporn Bos, Jirayus Khaobaimai, Krit Amnuaydechkorn, Naphat Vikairungroj, Nat Kitcharit, Oabnithi Wiwattanawarang, Parada Thitawachira, Pongpol Panyamit, Putthipong Assaratanakul, Putthipong Assarattanakul, Theethat Suk-im
Director: Naruebet Kuno
Genre: Action & Adventure
Actor: Aju Makita, Kengo Kora, Kento Kaku, Tae Kimura, Yosuke Eguchi
Genre: Drama, Romance
Actor: Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Arya Babbar, Darshan Jariwala, Dhritiman Chatterjee, Madhavan, Mallika Sherawat, Manoj Joshi, Mithun Chakraborty, Nina Kulkarni, Prathap Pothan, R. Madhavan, Rajendra Gupta, Roshan Seth, Sachin Khedekar, Sanjay Mishra, Vidya Balan
Director: Mani Ratnam
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance, War
Actor: Alfred Hartung, Andreas Patton, Anton von Lucke, David Burnell IV, Fabian Stumm, Franz Rogowski, Georg Friedrich, Thomas Prenn, Thomas Stecher, Thomas Wehling
Director: Sebastian Meise
A sappy expository start like that only makes you suspicious how quickly all hell breaks loose, and boy does that distrust get rewarded. Grave Torture firmly blends religion and the supernatural, with the overarching theme being an exploration of the guilt-inducing belief that questioning faith is tantamount to having no faith, and having no faith leads to punishment. Getting from point A to point B is not the one of the film’s strengths, sometimes feeling like it’s just floating disjointedly. Even then, it nails every violent landing with visceral, satisfying impact. Religion isn’t just some distant theme, it’s our final monster.
Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Actor: Ahmad Ramadhan Alrasyid, Arswendi Nasution, Christine Hakim, Egy Fedly, Fachry Albar, Faradina Mufti, Happy Salma, Muzakki Ramdhan, Niniek L. Karim, Putri Ayudya, Reza Rahadian, Slamet Rahardjo, Teuku Rifnu Wikana, Tommy Dewo, Widuri Puteri, Zulfa Maharani
Director: Joko Anwar
In this stunning coming-of-age drama, Hou Hsiao-hsien takes us to the neon-lit streets of Taiwan and the dull beige house of the Lin family. The film is centered around the eldest daughter, Lin Hsiao-yang (portrayed by the Taiwanese pop star Lin Yang), who takes care of her whole family after her mother dies and her father gains employment in another city. Her sister is too young to work, and her older brother is a petty criminal. It’s easy to empathize with her struggles—many of them are issues children shouldn’t face. But she deals with them with a silent sort of strength, with Lin Yang’s stoic face hiding some simmering resentment. Similarly, the film’s slow pace and serene framing hide the underlying violence that affects the Lin family. Juxtaposing Taiwan’s urban and suburban life, Western and Eastern aesthetics, and the film's Egyptian mythos with the struggle of Taiwan’s youth, Hou presents a contemplative view of 1980s Taiwan.
Genre: Crime, Drama
Actor: Fu-Sheng Tsui, Grace Chen Shu-Fang, Hsin Shu-Fen, Jack Kao, Li Tian-Lu, Lin Ju, Tsui Fu-Sheng, Vega Tsai, Wu Nien-Jen, Yang Fan, Yu An-Shun, 吴念真
Director: Hou Hsiao-hsien
Mike Mills has always had an obsession with childhood and parenthood, often honing in on the beautiful, frustrating, and inevitable mess that comes with them. C’mon C’mon is no exception, but here, Mills blurs the lines between the two even more. Sometimes the kid acts more like an adult, and the adult more like a kid; sometimes the uncle acts as a surrogate mother, and the mother (unsurprisingly) takes on the role of an everywoman, attempting to be breadwinner, caretaker, and friend all at once.
C’mon C’mon has no allegiances; it simply shows us the dynamics between one family and mirrors what we already know about ours. Shot in black and white, grounded in simple conversations, and interwoven with moving essay excerpts and real interviews, C’mon C’mon feels at once personal and universal; a moving feat of a film.
Genre: Drama
Actor: Artrial Clark, Brandon Rush, Callan Farris, Cooper Jack Rubin, Deborah Strang, Elaine Kagan, Gabby Hoffman, Gaby Hoffmann, Gita Reddy, Jaboukie Young-White, Jenny Eliscu, Joaquin Phoenix, Joseph Bishop, Kate Adams, Keisuke Hoashi, Leslie Feist, Mahfuzul Islam, Mary Passeri, Molly Webster, Scoot McNairy, Sunni Patterson, Todd D'Amour, Woody Norman
Director: Mike Mills
Ashkal takes an audaciously hybrid approach to genre: it’s part-noir, part-supernatural thriller, and full political allegory. The investigation at the center of this slow-burn Tunisian police procedural is a gripping one, as burnt naked bodies keep turning up in abandoned construction sites in Tunis with no trace of a struggle or even a combustible on them. In post-revolution Tunisia, the deaths are an uncomfortable reminder of recent history: it was a young Tunisian man’s self-immolation that sparked the Arab Spring, after all.
The revolution’s complicated legacy looms over the film, as we watch the country’s Truth and Dignity Commission begin its work of uncovering the former government’s corruption and abuses. Ashkal’s two protagonists — the young Fatma (Fatma Oussaifi) and her more seasoned police partner Batal (Mohamed Grayaa) — find themselves on opposite sides of that political divide, he having been implicated in the abuses of power that are now being investigated by Fatma’s father. There are fascinating elements at play here, and the results of Ashkal’s ambitious genre experiment are mostly inspired. Much of the film’s energies are spent on building a paranoid atmosphere — efforts that can, at times, frustratingly slacken the tension — but its fantastical touches tauten things up enough to make it a haunting political commentary in the end.
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Actor: Aymen Ben Hmida, Mohamed Grayaâ
Director: Youssef Chebbi
The emotional sterility of modern life comes under the microscope of this understated Korean drama in which a young woman who has built self-preserving walls around her lonely existence begins to wonder if the trade-off is worth it. Outside of the soul-sucking call center job at which Jina (Gong Seung-Yeon) excels, her interactions with others are purely parasocial: she streams mukbangs on her phone as she eats alone, wakes up to the blare of her always-on TV, and checks in on her aging father via the security camera she’s surreptitiously installed in his home. When she reluctantly agrees to train the chatty, warm newbie (Jeong Da-eun) at work, Jina is confronted with a direct challenge to her aloofness, but the provocation is easily ignored until a similarly withdrawn neighbor is discovered long after his death.
This triggers a quarter-life crisis for Jina that’s predictably resolved, but Aloners transcends the neatness of this arc thanks to its quietly persistent challenging of the instinct to contort oneself to fit an inhumane world. Hong Sung-eun’s thoughtful first-time direction and Gong’s nuanced performance as a young woman waking up to the creeping dehumanization of herself make Aloners a genuinely thought-provoking reflection on 21st-century life.
Genre: Drama
Actor: Ahn Jeong-bin, Geum Hae-na, Geum Hannah, Gong Seung-yeon, Jeong Da-eun, Ju Seok-tae, Kim Hae-na, Kwak Min-kyu, Park Jeong-hak, Seo Hyun-woo
Director: Hong Sung-eun
Genre: Drama
Actor: Anders Hove, Benjamin Kitter, Bille August, Carsten Kressner, Claus Flygare, Eliza Rønsbæk, Elsebeth Steentoft, Esben Smed, Finn Nielsen, Hans Holtegaard, Jacob Holm, Jakob Højlev Jørgensen, Jens Albinus, Jesper Ole Feit Andersen, Johannes Nymark, Julie Christiansen, Karl Fischer, Katrine Greis-Rosenthal, Katrine Rosenthal, Laura Kjær, Margit Holzhaider, Mei Oulund, Mette Munk Plum, Mikael Holst Nørlund, Mikkel Hilgart, Morten Hauch-Fausbøll, Naja Spuur, Nicolai Dahl Hamilton, Ole Lemmeke, Paul Hüttel, Per Tofte Nielsen, Peter Hald, Peter Plaugborg, Petrine Agger, Rasmus Bjerg, Sara Viktoria, Sarah Viktoria Bjerregaard, Sophie Marie Jeppesen, Tammi Øst, Tammi Ost, Tommy Kenter
Director: Bille August
Genre: Drama
Actor: Avery Holliday, Blake Cameron James, Gian Knight Ramirez, Jurnee Smollett, Lil Rel Howery, Ora Jones, S. Epatha Merkerson
Director: Minhal Baig
Based on the short story “God Sees the Truth, But Waits” by Leo Tolstoy, The Woman Who Left is a film about people with nowhere to go. Set in 1990s Philippines, the film follows Horacia, an ex-convict seeking revenge on her former lover who masterminded her unjust 30-year imprisonment. Along the way, she meets various people—a hunchback balut vendor, vagabonds, and an epileptic trans woman, among others—all downtrodden in their own unique ways and united only by their nightly wanderings, with whom Horacia’s true nature is revealed and reconfigured with every encounter.
Lav Diaz’s signature slow cinema minimalism and sharp chiaroscuro lighting allow for a meditative experience, further enhancing the film’s immersive quality. Despite its bleak atmosphere, The Woman Who Left remains hopeful amidst moral quandaries, where things eventually fall into their rightful place, albeit in unexpected ways.
Genre: Drama
Actor: Charo Santos-Concio, John Lloyd Cruz, Kakai Bautista, Lao Rodriguez, Mae Paner, Michael De Mesa, Nonie Buencamino, Shamaine Buencamino
Director: Lav Diaz