771 Best Thought-provoking Movies to Watch (Page 48)

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.

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706. Long Live Love!, 2023

While marketed as a family drama, Long Live Love! plays out more like a romance film between parents Sati and Meta. Where Meta has dived in, and accepted her role as a wife and mother, former model Sati still clings to the immature lifestyle he’s used to, to the glimmers of fame that he used to have. The premise is genius– there’s something poetic in the way someone who’s constantly obsessed with the look of a photo now has to go on the quest for its behind-the-scenes. There’s something here that questions previous portrayals of toxic masculinity and of marriage primarily because of how they’ll be perceived. However, there seems to be some missing sequences that could have made the ending more devastating.

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Actor: Araya A. Hargate, Becky Armstrong, Bhumibhat Thavornsiri, Kittiphak Thongauam, Niti Chaichitathorn, Nopachai Jayanama, Panissara Arayaskul, Pannawit Phattanasiri, Paweenut Pangnakorn, Rebecca Patricia Armstrong, Sadanont Durongkhaweroj, Sunny Suwanmethanon, Thanakorn Chinakul

Director: Piyakarn Butprasert

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707. Lady in the Lake, 2024

	
With such a long career in film, it’s surprising that Natalie Portman has never starred in a television show, except, of course, the occasional voice over and guest appearances. The story that got her to television is Lady in the Lake, the 2019 bestselling crime noir thriller that weaves classic 60s noir with intersectional feminism all through a whodunit plot. Of course, it's no surprise that Portman performs well, and her and co-star Moses Ingram are excellent as mothers seeking change in their respective lives. The comparison between their lives drives home the tragedy of how unfair the odds were stacked against Ingram’s Cleo Johnson. However, the way director Alma Har'el alternates between lives is clunky and sometimes even confusing, even if it's in hopes to bring the original novel’s POV shifts onto the screen. The source material is ambitious, daring, and a worthy vehicle for both Portman and Ingram, so it's disappointing to see Lady in the Lake already sputtering at the start.Genre: Crime, Drama
Actor: Brett Gelman, Byron Bowers, Mikey Madison, Moses Ingram, Natalie Portman, Noah Jupe, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Y'lan Noel
Rating: TV-MA

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708. Inside, 2023

Inside is a technical wonder and a fascinating vehicle for Dafoe’s character Nemo, who holds the entire thing together with a singularly insane performance. It also poses interesting questions about art, namely, what value does it hold at the end of the day? When you’re seconds away from dying of hunger and thirst, what good is a painting, a sculpture, a sketch? Are they really only as good as what they’re materially made out of or can they contribute something more? Inside plays with these questions, but unfortunately, not in any engaging, thoughtful, or creative way. The movie stretches on and on, recycling the same ideas and leaning on the inevitably disgusting ways humans survive as a crutch. An argument could be made that that is the point, to reveal the emptiness and dullness of expensive art, but Inside tries so hard to capture that feeling that it becomes the thing it critiques in the end.

Genre: Drama, Thriller

Actor: Andrew Blumenthal, Cornelia Buch, Eliza Stuyck, Gene Bervoets, Josia Krug, Vincent Eaton, Willem Dafoe

Director: Vasilis Katsoupis

Rating: R

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709. I Used to Be Funny, 2024

	
In the same festival where she showcased her screenwriting chops, Rachel Sennott also showcased her dramatic side in I Used to Be Funny, a difficult drama that garnered less acclaim than Bottoms (2023). It’s understandable– while both films have a witty, gen-Z slant in its comedy, this drama is much harder to balance and heavy to watch, dealing with mental health and PTSD. The non-linear narrative occasionally does make the film feel a tad disjointed as well. However, there’s a care and a warmth from Ally Pankiw’s direction that makes this exploration of Sam’s complex trauma feel heartfelt, and Sennott holds each scene with compelling charisma.Genre: Comedy, Drama
Actor: Caleb Hearon, Dan Beirne, Dani Kind, Ennis Esmer, Hannah Spear, Jason Jones, Kathy Imrie, Matia Jackett, Miguel Rivas, Olga Petsa, Rachel Sennott, Sabrina Jalees
Director: Ally Pankiw
Rating: NR

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710. I Love Lizzy, 2023

Being a priest requires full devotion to God, so falling in love would naturally challenge a seminarian and make them question whether priesthood is the right path for them. I Love Lizzy portrays this conflict as the seminarian Jeff falls in love with Bicol tour guide Lizzy, on the break where he’s supposed to make his discernment. It’s an intriguing love story, especially as Jeff and Lizzy heal past wounds with each other, and Carlo Aquino adeptly navigates his second seminarian role with ease. However, it’s clear that more care and attention was given to Jeff’s storyline rather than Lizzy’s. Despite this, I Love Lizzy is a unique, if a bit uneven, take on the seminarian love story that continues to captivate the predominantly Catholic country today.

Genre: Drama, Romance

Actor: Andrew Gan, Barbie Imperial, Carlo Aquino, Meanne Espinosa, Robert Seña, Turs Daza

Director: RC Delos Reyes

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711. Brats, 2024

	
If you’re coming into this expecting to relive your favorite ‘80s coming-of-age moments from The Breakfast Club to St. Elmo’s Fire, then you’ll get a taste of that, but don’t expect to be fully satisfied. Instead, the reunion that happens in Brats resembles group therapy more than anything. Here, director Andrew McCarthy (Pretty in Pink, St. Elmo’s Fire) seems to be on a journey to heal from his troubled past, which he believes was caused, in part, by a defamatory article that called him and a crop of young actors in the ‘80s “The Brat Pack.” The film follows McCarthy as he travels across the country to discuss the label with fellow Brat Packers, who funnily enough, don’t share his contempt for it. Sure, they’re annoyed, but they’ve moved on for the most part. McCarthy on the other hand doesn’t possess the self-awareness to know this, which is perhaps why he’s fallen trap to the Streisand Effect. “The Brat Pack” isn’t nearly as negative as he thinks it to be, but because he keeps ranting about it, he's unwittingly fueling the accusations against him. He just might be the vain celebrity, the brat, he claims he's not. Still, the documentary has its moments. The way it’s modestly filmed is charming and inventive, the artful blend of old footage and 80s music hits the nostalgic spot, and the conversations can be interesting. Who would’ve thought Demi Moore would be the wisest person in the room?Genre: Documentary
Actor: Ally Sheedy, Andrew McCarthy, Bret Easton Ellis, Demi Moore, Emilio Estevez, Eric Stoltz, Howard Deutch, Jacqueline Bisset, James Spader, Joel Schumacher, John Ashton, John Cusack, John Hughes, Jon Cryer, Judd Nelson, Lauren Shuler Donner, Lea Thompson, Liza Minnelli, Malcolm Gladwell, Marci Liroff, Michael Oates Palmer, Molly Ringwald, Phil Donahue, Richard Schickel, Rob Lowe, Sammy Davis Jr., Sean Penn, Timothy Hutton, Tom Cruise, Tom Myers
Director: Andrew McCarthy

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712. A Killer Paradox, 2024

	
Life can be funny sometimes, with the way accidents can lead us to what would make the entirety of our lives. Usually, these accidents lead us to a new career, maybe the love of our life, and sometimes a new life path altogether, but for recently discharged Lee Tang in A Killer Paradox, it leads to finding that his talent is killing evildoers, accidentally or otherwise. It’s funny to see Lee accidentally getting away with murder and the way his imagination conceives of his serial killer victims, but the show also gets into intriguing thought experiments about the morality of his actions, as well as the way we try to reconcile the tragedy of a lost life, with the terrible consequences of the actions they did with their lives. It’s enjoyable, with the great cast and the unique cinematography, but the writing, structure, and thriller aspects fail to maximize what’s so interesting about A Killer Paradox.Genre: Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Actor: Choi Woo-shik, Lee Hee-jun, Son Suk-ku
Director: Lee Chang-hee
Rating: TV-MA

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713. Unseen, 2023

Like the action thriller Cellular (2004), Unseen plays with the idea of saving someone only through a phone. This time, however, Yoko Okumura’s directorial debut has video call instead of just audio, with video used to help nearly blind Emily run away from her kidnapper ex. Through split screen shots, occasional open hazy irises, and tiny phone screens, Unseen takes us on a desperate escape, an escape made possible by Emily’s connection with random stranger Sam. While some parts feel absolutely ridiculous, the thriller still feels like a wild ride, especially when focused on its two leads. It’s still enjoyable, if you can accept its silliness and the shallow way it approaches certain themes.

Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller

Actor: Brett Baker, Jolene Purdy, Michael Patrick Lane, Midori Francis, Missi Pyle, Nicholas X. Parsons, Ren Hanami

Director: Yoko Okumura

Rating: NR

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714. The Tailor, 2023

Even though the first season premiered this May, a second season was immediately produced for the Turkish Netflix series The Tailor and released this July. The series shines when focused on the clothes – the rock-n-roll rush of fashion week, the classically orchestrated imagined new creation, and the steamy blindfolded bridal fitting are lush spectacles that make the show look so stunning. And as the abused Esvet cares for Peyami’s father, the equally abused Mustafa, there’s an interesting theme of wealthy families that would do anything to cloak any secrets that would ruin their family’s reputation. However, it’s the clumsy handling of Mustafa’s illness and the inaccurate casting that drag the story down. The Tailor replaced nuanced depictions with too much stylish spectacle.

Genre: Drama, Mystery

Actor: Çağatay Ulusoy, Ece Sükan, Lila Gürmen, Olgun Şimşek, Salih Bademci, Şifanur Gül, Vedat Erincin

Rating: TV-MA

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715. New Religion, 2022

Loss can be straightforwardly heartwrenching, but it could also be bewildering, cryptic, and too sudden to even process. New Religion depicts a grieving mother, whose loss of her daughter, and her meet up with an eccentric photographer, causes her to behave strangely. The film goes through the events in a surreal, existential haze, with a skin-crawling scene that reveals the photographer’s nefarious reasons, but the sequences remain inscrutable and the themes and certain characters don’t mesh as well as they could have. New Religion might befuddle viewers just looking for a casual watch, but it’s definitely a thought provoking and promising debut from Keishi Kondo.

Genre: Drama, Horror

Actor: Daiki Nunami, Kaho Seto, Ryuseigun Saionji, Satoshi Oka, Yuki Nagata

Director: Keishi Kondo

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716. Michelle Wolf: It’s Great to Be Here, 2023

There's a laidback quality to It's Great to Be Here that makes the three-episode stand-up series a good introduction to Michelle Wolf's brand of comedy, but it also means there isn't anything particularly groundbreaking or powerful here. The miniseries format also doesn't do the show many favors, with each episode trailing off abruptly—when a single, longer compilation of Wolf's routines could've probably carried more momentum. Still, the comedian remains as insightful and as ruthless as ever, mostly taking aim at the grey area that white women like herself live in between liberal feminist empowerment and entitled white privilege. She doesn't take herself too seriously and doesn't make an exception of herself, which is a great tool to have.

Genre: Comedy

Actor: Michelle Wolf

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717. Maaveeran, 2023

The concept of Maaveeran is downright brilliant. As the timid comic strip writer is forced to be as brave as the hero he created, there’s something here that encourages its audience to listen to the yearnings already inside them. It allows for some cartoonish comedy that comes across as earnest. However, there's a certain hesitancy in the writing that makes the film’s second half a letdown. The film sticks too long to its protagonist’s cowardice that there’s so little time to wrap everything up. It’s still entertaining till the end, but a better sense of pacing would have kept the first half’s riveting comedy, and would have made a better case for being a hero.

Genre: Action, Drama

Actor: 'Jeeva' Ravi, Aditi Shankar, Balaji Sakthivel, Dhileban, Madhan Kumar Dhakshinamoorthy, Monisha Blessy, Mysskin, Ravi Teja, Saritha, Semmalar Annam, Sivakarthikeyan, Sunil Varma, Suresh Chakravarthy, Vijay Sethupathi, Yogi Babu

Director: Madonne Ashwin

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718. Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress: The Battle of Unato, 2019

	
Being bitten by a zombie is quite troublesome, but more so if you happen not to turn completely into the creature, keeping human sanity while still trying not to succumb to the creature’s hunger. While this premise isn’t totally original, we haven’t seen this in a steampunk version of Japan, where their successful industrial revolution and urbanification has been halted due to the zombies, named as Kabane here. It’s an interesting end to the alternate history franchise, made much more exciting with bloody fight scenes and intriguing reimaginings of the country, but viewers new to the franchise would be going in blind, and would likely be puzzled with the inconsistency and pacing.Genre: Action, Animation, Drama, Science Fiction
Actor: Eiji Hanawa, Hideaki Tezuka, Kanae Oki, Kensuke Sato, Maaya Uchida, Mariya Ise, Maxwell Powers, Rikako Aida, Ryota Osaka, Sayaka Senbongi, Shin-ichiro Miki, Shin'ichirō Miki, Tasuku Hatanaka, Toshiki Masuda
Director: Tetsuro Araki
Rating: R

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719. Hurricane Season, 2023

The atmosphere communicated within the title Hurricane Season comes off incredibly clearly on screen: this is a film that just feels humid and full of foreboding for a coming storm, with people feeling all manner of guilt while secluded in their own homes. Cinematographer María Secco's gorgeous colors and brown tones fill the 4:3 aspect ratio nicely, and director Elisa Miller lets events unfold with the stately pace of a long novel. There's something fascinating here about how each new "chapter" or perspective doesn't really lead to more answers, but simply to more anguish closing in from all sides.

So it would be understandable if some may be put off by how unrelentingly dark Hurricane Season is, especially as the trans woman whose death becomes the central event never enjoys the kind of characterization everybody around her gets. Apart from how the film illustrates that discrimination against women, against repressed "taboo" sexuality, and against access to proper reproductive health only threatens to grow under poverty, it can be difficult to grasp what point the movie is trying to make. Social realism certainly has its place in cinema, but the different perspective in this particular film still don't add up to more than the sum of its parts.

Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller

Actor: Andrés Cordaz, Edgar Treviño, Flor Eduarda Gurrola, Guss Morales, Kat Rigoni, Mónica Martínez, Norma Reyna, Paloma Alvamar, Rodrigo Corea, Said Sandoval

Director: Elisa Miller

Rating: R

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720. ear for eye, 2021

There's a mysterious, urgent power to Ear for Eye that survives the project's movement from the stage to the screen. Against moody, bare backgrounds, debbie tucker green's script becomes both story and setting—with words upon words overlapping, being repeated, and being used against each other, expressing the anxiety of entire generations of Black people trying to figure out how to endure all their persecution. What unfortunately <i>doesn't</i> translate well to the screen is the film's editing and its inability to take full advantage of the medium of cinema. Despite the importance of the things being discussed, the end product is a movie that feels like it gets in its own way too much, but still delivers plenty to think about.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Arinzé Kene, Carmen Munroe, Claire Driver, Danielle Vitalis, Danny Sapani, David Gyasi, Demetri Goritsas, Ilirian Bushi, Jade Anouka, Jamal Ajala, Kayla Meikle, Lashana Lynch, Nadine Marshall, Rochelle Rose, Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo, Sharlene Whyte, Sule Rimi, Tosin Cole

Director: Debbie Tucker Green

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