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, Romance
Actor: André Julien, Béatrice Dalle, Catherine D'At, Claude Aufaure, Claude Confortès, Clémentine Célarié, Consuelo De Haviland, Dominique Besnehard, Dominique Pinon, Gérard Darmon, Jacques Mathou, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Nathalie Dalyan, Philippe Laudenbach, Raoul Billerey, Robin Bernard, Simon de La Brosse, Vincent Lindon
Director: Jean-Jacques Beineix
Ordinary people don’t choose to join a war, but oftentimes, they are dragged into it, forced to fight, and become victims of it because of people in power. Adrishya Jalakangal takes this idea in a dystopic future, where war has turned India into a police state, and mixes in a watchman who’s able to talk with the dead. While the message is necessary and the idea is novel, the execution feels uneven, as the anti-war and magic realist elements feel like elements from what should be two separate movies. Alongside the sluggish pace and the dialogue that’s a tad too on the nose, it’s hard to get through Adrishya Jalakangal when it can’t decide what it wants to focus on.
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Actor: Indrans, Krishnan Balakrishnan, Nimisha Sajayan, Tovino Thomas
Director: Bijukumar Damodaran
Genre: Family, Mystery, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Genre: Drama, Romance
Actor: De Ly Luu, Kaity Nguyễn, Ngọc Diệp, Quốc Huy, Thuan Nguyen
Director: Victor Vũ
As a sluggishly paced, three-hour spiritual drama with little dialogue and even less plot, Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell certainly won't convert anybody who isn't already interested in slow cinema. Even those who don't mind these types of films in which "nothing happens" might feel that it doesn't weave its themes of faith and suffering tightly enough. But there's more than enough beauty to contemplate here, courtesy of Dinh Duy Hung's stunning cinematography, which invites us to simply inhabit the world and to stop looking for answers. This may sound like a copout, but it's quite the experience to have a film force you to rethink how you're viewing it, as you're viewing it.
Genre: Drama
Actor: Chi Nguyen, Le Phong Vu, Nguyen Thi Truc Quynh, Nguyen Thinh, Vu Ngoc Manh
Director: Pham Thien An
Genre: Comedy, Horror
Actor: Carla Jimenez, Chris Elliott, Corey Fogelmanis, DJ Qualls, Elvis Nolasco, Jackson Kelly, Matthew Cardarople, Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Sasha Mason, Ted Ferguson, Wyatt Lindner
Director: Justin Harding
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Science Fiction
Actor: Adam Sandler, Carey Mulligan, Isabella Rossellini, Jessica Bechyňová, John Flanders, Kunal Nayyar, Lena Olin, Marian Roden, Mikuláš Čížek, Paul Dano, Sinéad Phelps, Sunny Sandler, Zuzana Stivínová
Director: Johan Renck
Frankly, In the Morning of La Petite Mort is not as provocative nor as erotic as implied by the title. Sure, there are sex scenes, with plenty of nude shots. But these scenes come about silently, nearly without dialogue, with a lack of passion in between most of the lovers, a lack of connectedness. It’s no less visceral, though, as it mirrors the same disconnection the characters feel, being at the margins of Taipei. While it’s sometimes muddled with certain subplots, the haunting, strikingly-shot images stirs some compassion, especially with the cast’s performances, but the indirect approach makes the film feel unclear and sometimes unrealistic.
Genre: Drama
Actor: Cres Chuang, Huei-ling Jan, Ivy Yin, Jieh-Wen King, Tzu-Chiang Wang, Yun-Chih Wang, Yûsuke Fukuchi
Director: Yu-Lin Wang
This story sounds a lot less ice-cold on paper. What is the heart of the show? Is it trusting in conscience? Is it finding out who the other is? When the show gets settled, it contains an intriguing game of cat and mouse, of push and pull through double-crossing, and you don’t really know who to hatch your wagon to. Imogen (Elisabeth Moss) is polarizing and dodgy, Adilah (Yumna Marwan) has a warm manner of speech, and together their arresting dynamic creates a steady heartbeat. But for a miniseries, it sure takes its sweet time getting there, if it ever does.
Genre: Crime, Drama
Actor: Dali Benssalah, Elisabeth Moss, Josh Charles, Thibault de Montalembert, Yumna Marwan
Sengoku Youko isn’t bad. With a historical setting, fantastic powers, decent action, and teenagers out to save the world despite societal differences, the anime has teen-friendly entertainment that anyone can enjoy. So far, the show is a better adaptation than mangaka Satoshi Mizukami’s other work Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer, so fans of the artist would appreciate the dedication in adapting this story. However, with early 2024’s slate of boundary-pushing fantasy anime, the show doesn’t really stand out with its dated 2010s tropes and slightly derivative character designs. For viewers seeking for more fantasy, Sengoku Youko isn’t a bad watch, but there’s far better series currently available right now.
Genre: Action & Adventure, Animation, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Actor: Aina Suzuki, Aki Toyosaki, Ayahi Takagaki, Hiroki Nanami, Hiroki Touchi, Kazuki Miyagi, Kenji Nomura, Kenjiro Tsuda, Maaya Uchida, Ryohei Kimura, Soma Saito, Tetsu Inada, Tomoyo Kurosawa, Yuuki Takada
If you love archeology and prehistory, you’ll love that this documentary is packed with mesmerizing footage of the infamous caves, as well as close-ups of the 130,000 year old skeletal remains that are in pristine condition. If you don’t, you might appreciate discoveries like how neanderthals held burials for their dead and things of that nature, but with a cold open that couldn’t pack any less heat if it tried, I wouldn’t blame you if you just dipped. This documentary is de-energizing and plodding, and that pace can make for a soothing portrayal of archeology at times, but other times it makes for a very run-of-the-mill broadcast.
Genre: Documentary
Actor: Caroline Colomei, Gabriel Andreu, Ibbi El Hani, Kareem Alexander, Patrick Stewart, Paula Parunov
Director: Ashley Gething
With expired film stock, seemingly random shots, not much dialogue, and virtually no plot, there is little to recommend It is Night in America for casual viewing. It is definitely experimental, and as director, editor, and sound designer Ana Vaz presents these shots of animals and urban landscapes, it doesn’t feel like it’s meant for entertainment. But there’s a curiously poignant tone, with the blue tint darkening the cityscape, in their eyes. Night falls for these creatures, who once had a home in this city, and all they can do is survive. É Noite na América isn’t quite the eco-horror it proclaims to be, but its moody and trancelike direction is an interesting approach to the nature documentary genre.
Genre: Documentary
Director: Ana Vaz
Genre: Crime, Drama
Actor: Ana Torrent, Chino Darín, Cosimo Fusco, Daniel Grao, Eduard Fernandez, Enric Auquer, Giannina Fruttero, Jaime Lorente, Melina Matthews, Natalia de Molina, Raúl Briones, Roberto Mateos, Salva Reina, Sergi Lopez
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Actor: Alexander Hodge, Avery Cole, Britne Oldford, Chase Liefeld, Genevieve Angelson, Jamie McRae, John Gallagher Jr., Laura Kai Chen, Lucy Hale, Marceline Hugot, Michael Mulheren, Mitzi Akaha, Nat Wolff, Reilly Walters, Ward Horton
Director: Peter Hutchings
When a group of people have to band together for survival, whether it be due to zombies, bus accidents, or being lost from civilization, there’s no higher stakes than life or death. If we care about the characters enough, the will to survive already drives the plot. However, Netflix show Pending Train doesn’t trust in the entertainment of this survival premise. Instead of focusing on the group’s survival, it constantly shifts to flashbacks depicting everyday drama. When the group finds out that they got lost way into the future, there’s less strategizing, and even more flashbacks. This strange episode structure makes the series feel less like a compelling survival show and more like a soapy melodrama.
Genre: Drama, Mystery
Actor: Ayaka Onishi, Eiji Akaso, Goki Maeda, Kai Inowaki, Kotone Furukawa, Miho Kanazawa, Moka Kamishiraishi, Sara Shida, Sayaka Yamaguchi, Sho Nishigaki, Shunya Shiraishi, Takayuki Hamatsu, Tetta Sugimoto, Yasuko Matsuyuki, Yoshiyuki Tsubokura, Yuki Yamada
Director: Kenta Tanaka, Naoki Katō, Okamoto Shingo