Genre: Drama, Thriller
Actor: Bea Alonzo, Camille Penaverde, Charlie Dizon, Gie Onida, Micko Laurente, Milo Elmido Jr., Mina Cruz, Paulo Avelino, Sheenly Gener
Director: Antoinette Jadaone
Usually, a good movie and great performances go hand-in-hand. If you’re looking to be blown away by acting talent, look no further. Here are the best movies and show featuring great acting.
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Actor: Bea Alonzo, Camille Penaverde, Charlie Dizon, Gie Onida, Micko Laurente, Milo Elmido Jr., Mina Cruz, Paulo Avelino, Sheenly Gener
Director: Antoinette Jadaone
Making a good erotic thriller out on Wall Street is no easy feat, but Fair Play has just the right ratio of wit, sex, and sleaze to spice up a Friday night viewing. There's also undeniable pleasure in watching a fairytale love story corrode, especially under the influence of money and power—here's one for the romantic capitalists! And even if the script feels a bit uneven and Emily's character a bit too silent until the film's third act, it's a heightened yet realistic depiction of exactly how solidified heteronormative standards still are: in bed, at home, at the workplace. Who would have guessed that's where the true horror lies?
Genre: Drama, Romance, Thriller
Actor: Alden Ehrenreich, Brandon Bassir, Buck Braithwaite, Eddie Marsan, Filip Todorovic, Geraldine Somerville, Greg De Cuir, Ivona Kustudić, Jamie Wilkes, Jelena Stupljanin, Jim Sturgeon, Katarina Gojković, Laurel Lefkow, Leopold Hughes, Linda Ljoka, Patrick Fischler, Phoebe Dynevor, Rich Sommer, Sebastian de Souza, Sia Alipour, Yacine Ramoul
Director: Chloe Domont
After working on Prime's TV series Verdict, Argentinian director Anahí Berneri has now made her Netflix debut with Elena Knows, a mother-daughter drama based on the book of the same name by famous novelist Claudia Piñeiro (International Booker Prize Shortlist). Berneri has not lost her arthouse touch, on the contrary, Elena Knows looks lush and minimal at the same time. With the use of shallow focus, the cinematography presents the world as an inhospitable place to the protagonist, Elena (Mercedes Morán, recently in Netflix's The Kingdom), whose advanced Parkinson's robs her of her agency, day after day. Very early on in the film, she loses her daughter and carer, Rita (Erica Rivas you might know from Wild Tales), and her absence leaves a gaping hole in the life of the grubby elderly woman. Berneri's newest film owns up to its investigative thriller elements as Elena insists her daughter has been murdered, but at its heart, it holds a paradox: that of maternal love and parental hatred.
Genre: Drama
Actor: Agustina Muñoz, Erica Rivas, Horacio Camandulle, Marcos Montes, Mercedes Moran, Mercedes Scápola, Miranda de la Serna, Mónica Gonzaga, Susana Pampín
Director: Anahí Berneri
Genre: Action & Adventure, Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Actor: Claes Bang, Dolly Wells, Mark Gatiss, Morfydd Clark
In a small Italian town, a dog cleaner’s wholesome days dealing with elderly owners and eager children are balanced with a series of messy nights. The small and frail man finds himself targetted by the town’s black-sheep, a strong and fearless ex-convict. Dogman is about the line between being bullied and wanting to be part of something, it’s a beautiful and often thrilling character study from Italian genius filmmaker Matte Garone. Won the Best Actor award at Cannes.
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Actor: Adamo Dionisi, Alida Baldari Calabria, Aniello Arena, Edoardo Pesce, Francesco Acquaroli, Giancarlo Porcacchia, Gianluca Gobbi, Laura Pizzirani, Marcello Fonte, Mirko Frezza, Nunzia Schiano
Director: Matteo Garrone
Genre: Crime, Drama
Actor: Clare-Hope Ashitey, David Tennant, Hayley Atwell, Isabella Laughland, Katherine Kelly, Lee Ingleby, Mark Stanley, Nicholas Pinnock, Rochenda Sandall, Shubham Saraf, Youssef Kerkour
Genre: Drama
Actor: Adabel Guerrero, Agustín Sullivan, Alan Sabbagh, Anna Favella, Diego Pérez, Fabián Arenillas, Federico Barón, Joaquín Ferreira, Juan Minujín, María del Cerro, Mayte Rodríguez, Mónica Antonópulos
Director: Ariel Winograd
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, Mahfuzul Islam, Mary Passeri, Molly Webster, Scoot McNairy, Sunni Patterson, Todd D'Amour, Woody Norman
Director: Mike Mills
Without focusing on just one team, career, or fateful game, Bull Durham avoids every sports movie cliche—using Minor League baseball as a way into the complicated relationships between a rookie, a veteran, and a longtime fan. By stripping away our expectations of there needing to be a winner and a loser, writer-director Ron Shelton allows these characters to blossom in their own unique ways, allowing us to observe how each of them views life from their stubborn, little boxes. Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon are sex appeal personified, while never smoothing over the thorniest parts of their characters. And Tim Robbins takes what could have been a two-dimensional caricature and gives him real depth.
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Actor: C.K. Bibby, Danny Gans, David Neidorf, Garland Bunting, George Buck, Henry G. Sanders, Jenny Robertson, Kevin Costner, Lloyd T. Williams, Rick Marzan, Robert Dickman, Robert Wuhl, Stephen Ware, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Tom Silardi, Trey Wilson, William O'Leary
Director: Ron Shelton
In the Mexican film A Cop Movie, director Alonso Ruizpalacios mixes fact and fiction, documentary and narrative, to tell the tale of Teresa and Montoya, two police officers whose dreams are dashed by the corruption of their trade and who, eventually, find love and comfort in each other.
Ruizpalacios takes thrilling risks in structuring this genre-bending story—cutting stories into parts, jumping back and forth between the harrowingly real and captivatingly non-real. For all the experimental maneuvers he makes, however, the through-line is always Teresa and Montoya: particularly, their love for each other and for an institution that should have, in an ideal world, supported them and the people they vowed to protect.
To its credit, instead of merely humanizing the controversial police force, A Cop Movie adds some much-needed nuance to the big picture. At the end of the day, they’re no different than any other underpaid laborers working desperately to make end meets. A Cop Movie doesn’t gloss over the fact that the police, like so many other workers, are stuck in a rotten system that’s long overdue for a major overhauling.
Genre: Action, Crime, Documentary, Drama, Thriller
Actor: Leonardo Alonso, Mónica Del Carmen, Olivia Lagunas, Raúl Briones
Director: Alonso Ruizpalacios
A delightful blend of romance, humor, and intrigue (as expected of many historical K-Dramas), this series takes us on a whimsical journey as Crown Prince Lee Yul, suffering from amnesia, is convinced to wed the headstrong Hong Sim due to his own decree. The drama plays into the comedic potential of his lost memory as he maintains his air of nobility—rendering him useless at daily chores and acts of labour to everyone's dismay. As the effects of political secrets and conspiracies affect the poor of the kingdom, Yul begins to use his intelligence, martial arts skills, and literacy to help people learn and protect themselves. Doh Kyung-soo and Nam Ji-Hyun beautifully perform a fun enemies-to-lovers dynamic of a foolish prince and a justice-oriented woman. 100 Days My Prince delivers ornate kingdoms, cherry blossom-filled sets, and secret coups, all in a comfortable watch.
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Mystery
Actor: Ahn Suk-hwan, Cho Han-cheul, Cho Seong-ha, Do Ji-han, Doh Kyung-soo, Han So-hee, Heo Jung-eun, Heo Jung-min, Ji Min-hyuk, Jo Han-chul, Jo Hyun-sik, Jung Hae-kyun, Jung Ji-hoon, Kim Jae-young, Kim Ki-doo, Kim Seon-ho, Lee Jun-hyeok, Lee Min-ji, Nam Ji-hyun, Oh Yeon-ah
Director: Lee Jong-jae
Remakes are a dime a dozen, but Prime Video’s Spanish reinterpretation of Zorro gives justice to the masked vigilante. With the sword fights, the vengeance, and the romance, the ten-episode series sticks close to the swashbuckler’s origin story, but explores certain nuances of the era that haven't been a focus, until now. This Zorro is more involved with the people of Los Angeles, not just the Spanish colonial inhabitants, but also the Native Americans, and he fights against the injustice that they face. It makes for a more grounded adaptation than the ones previously, but Zorro still feels just as exciting in this rodeo.
Genre: Action & Adventure, Drama
Actor: Andrés Almeida, Chacha Huang, Cristo Fernández, Dalia Xiuhcoatl, Elia Galera, Emiliano Zurita, Joel Bosqued, Luis Tosar, Miguel Bernardeau, Paco Tous, Peter Vives, Renata Notni, Rodolfo Sancho
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Actor: Agnès Hurstel, Blanche Gardin, Caroline Piette, Charlotte Laemmel, Félix Bossuet, Jean-Paul Solal, Laurent Nicolas, Mustapha Abourachid, Pio Marmaï, Raphaël Quenard, Sava Lolov, Sébastien Chassagne, Stéphane Pezerat
Director: Quentin Dupieux
Genre: Crime, Drama
Actor: Aiyana Goodfellow, Anoop Desai, Archie Panjabi, Chloe Guidry, Ella Dixon, Ezra Faroque Khan, Izzy G., Javon Walton, Lily Gladstone, Riley Keough, Vritika Gupta
Director: Geeta Patel
Child kidnapping is any parent’s nightmare, and it’s the nightmare that drives the events of Spanish crime thriller The Snow Girl. Based on the 2020 novel of the same name, the limited series takes a unique double-pronged approach to the case at hand. The show goes through the regular police investigations we’ve seen previously, but it also comes mainly from the perspective of journalist Miren Rojo, whose previous trauma understandably limits her trust with the authorities. As the show moves the story from New York to Malaga, and switches between perspectives, and timelines, The Snow Girl adeptly maintains the novel’s original suspense, without over sensationalizing the crime at hand.
Genre: Crime, Mystery
Actor: Aixa Villagrán, José Coronado, Loreto Mauleón, Milena Smit, Tristán Ulloa