Genre: Drama
Actor: Ánne Biret Somby, Maj-Doris Rimpi, Olle Sarri
Director: Amanda Kernell
Challenging movies serve beyond entertainment, pushing us to ask new questions about humanity and the world around us. If you’re hungry for some food for thought, here are the best thought-provoking movies and shows available to stream now.
Genre: Drama
Actor: Ánne Biret Somby, Maj-Doris Rimpi, Olle Sarri
Director: Amanda Kernell
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance
Actor: Andreas Lust, Hanno Pöschl, Irina Potapenko, Johannes Krisch, Johannes Thanheiser, Johannes Zeiler, Linde Prelog, Magdalena Kropiunig, Max Schmiedl, Michael-Joachim Heiss, Toni Slama, Ursula Strauss
Director: Götz Spielmann
Genre: Comedy
Actor: Amy Zimmer, Bardia Salimi, Brian Belovitch, Carlos E. Navedo, Catalina Saavedra, Charlene Incarnate, Eudora Peterson, Glo Tavarez, Greta Lee, Greta Titelman, Isabella Rossellini, Jack P. Raymond, James Scully, Jason Furlani, Jordan Mendoza, Julio Torres, Kelly McCormack, Laith Nakli, Larry Owens, Logan J. Alarcon-Poucel, Megan Stalter, Miles G. Jackson, Paul Cooper, Roman Maldonado, Ronald Peet, Ruba Thérèse Mansouri, RZA, Sandra Caldwell, Shakina Nayfack, Sheila Moikangoa, Spike Einbinder, Theo Maltz, Tilda Swinton, Yvette Mercedes
Director: Julio Torres
Genre: Drama, Romance, Thriller
Actor: Adam Bakri, Adi Krayem, Doraid Liddawi, Eyad Hourani, Leem Lubany, Samer Bisharat, Waleed Zuaiter, Walid Abed Elsalam
Director: Hany Abu-Assad
Genre: Drama, Fantasy
Actor: Denis Lavant, Digbeu Jean Cyrille, Issaka Sawadogo, Koné Bakary, Rasmané Ouédraogo, Simon Rieber, Steve Tientcheu
Director: Philippe Lacôte
A dark and sophisticated slow-burning drama, Never Let Me Go is adapted from the highly acclaimed novel of the same name by Japanese-born British author Kazuo Ishiguro. It stars Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, and Andrew Garfield as boarding school raised teenagers eager to explore the outside world when they learn a secret that will threaten their very existence. Anything more is a spoiler, watch it.
Genre: Drama, Romance, Science Fiction
Actor: Amy Lennox, Andrea Riseborough, Andrew Garfield, Anna Maria Everett, Carey Mulligan, Charles Cork, Charlie Rowe, Charlotte Rampling, Chidi Chickwe, Damien Thomas, David Sterne, Domhnall Gleeson, Ella Purnell, Fidelis Morgan, Hannah Sharp, Huggy Leaver, Isobel Meikle-Small, Izzy Meikle-Small, John Gillespie, Kate Bowes Renna, Kate Sissons, Keira Knightley, Luke Bryant, Lydia Wilson, Monica Dolan, Nathalie Richard, Sally Hawkins
Director: Mark Romanek
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, History, Mystery, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Actor: Alex Essoe, Annabeth Gish, Annarah Cymone, Crystal Balint, Hamish Linklater, Henry Thomas, Igby Rigney, Kate Siegel, Kristin Lehman, Louis Oliver, Matt Biedel, Michael Trucco, Rahul Abburi, Rahul Kohli, Robert Longstreet, Samantha Sloyan, Zach Gilford
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Actor: Allie McCulloch, Andrea Frankle, Charles Green, Charles Melton, Chris Tenzis, Cory Michael Smith, D.W. Moffett, Drew Scheid, Elizabeth Yu, Gabriel Chung, Hailey Wist, Hans Obma, Joan Reilly, Jocelyn Shelfo, Julianne Moore, Julie Ivey, Kelvin Han Yee, Lawrence Arancio, Natalie Portman, Piper Curda, Zachary Branch
Director: Todd Haynes
Unlike plenty of time torn films, Maboroshi is the kind of film that doesn’t have a straightforward explanation for the town of Mifuse standing still in time. But even when it doesn’t have a logical reason, the way the film unfolds has a distinct feeling as it explores the illusions the town either could cling to, or release to grow. This kind of storytelling would be familiar to fans of the prolific screenwriter Mari Okada, who just started directing in 2018 with Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms, but even those new to her work would appreciate the pure emotion driving Maboroshi, if they can let go of reality and enjoy MAPPA’s exquisite art for a moment.
Genre: Animation, Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Actor: Ayaka Saito, Daiki Kobayashi, Junya Enoki, Kento Hayashi, Koji Seto, Maki Kawase, Misaki Kuno, Reina Ueda, Setsuji Sato, Taku Yashiro, Tasuku Hatanaka, Yukiyo Fujii
Director: Mari Okada, Seimei Kidokoro
Genre: Crime, Drama
Actor: Aleksei Zharkov, Aleksey Pavlov, Aleksey Rozin, Aleksey Serebryakov, Anna Pereleshina, Anna Ukolova, Dmitriy Bykovskiy-Romashov, Elena Lyadova, Igor Savochkin, Igor Sergeev, Lesya Kudryashova, Margarita Shubina, Marianna Shults, Mariya Shekunova, Olga Lapshina, Roman Madyanov, Sergey Bachurskiy, Sergey Borisov, Sergey Murzin, Sergey Pokhodaev, Valeriy Grishko, Vladimir Vdovichenkov
Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Actor: Agustín Almodóvar, Alfonso Vallejo, Antonio Banderas, Bibiana Fernandez, Carmen Maura, Eusebio Poncela, Fernando Guillén, Fernando Guillen, Fernando Guillén Cuervo, Germán Cobos, Germán Cobos, Helga Line, Lupe Barrado, Manuela Velasco, Marta Fernandez Muro, Miguel Molina, Nacho Martinez, Pedro Almodóvar, Rossy de Palma, Victoria Abril
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Genre: Drama
Actor: Amey Wagh, Arushi Sharma, Ashutosh Gowariker, Chinmay Mandlekar, Mona Singh, Sukant Goel, Vikas Kumar
Director: Amit Golani, Sameer Saxena
Jaane Jaan is one of those thrillers where you hope that the main characters would get away with murder. Based on the 2005 Japanese novel, the Hindi adaptation still has the cat-and-mouse dynamic between the relentless detective and math genius protecting the suspect, along with their elaborate chess-like mind games. However, the film changes a major plot point from the novel, and without spoiling too much, it turns the math teacher, now named Naren, into a less sympathetic character. Given today’s sensibilities, it’s easy to understand why the change was made. After all, just because someone’s a genius, it doesn’t mean that they’re someone to be admired. Jaane Jaan still keeps up the exciting thrills and suspense of the original novel, but in making its changes, it becomes unclear who the film is rooting for.
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Actor: Jaideep Ahlawat, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Karma Takapa, Lin Laishram, Naisha Khanna, Saurabh Sachdeva, Suhita Thatte, Ujjwal Chopra, Vijay Varma
Director: Sujoy Ghosh
Genre: Drama
Actor: Alice Krige, César Saratxu, Daniel Smith, Gottfried John, Jonathan Stone, Joseph Alessi, Mark Rylance, Peter Lovstrom, Uri Roodner
Director: Stephen Quay, Timothy Quay
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Actor: Aaron Eckhart, Emily Cline, Jesse D. Goins, Mark Rector, Matt Malloy, Michael Martin, Stacy Edwards
Director: Neil LaBute