220 Movies Like Call Me by Your Name (2017) (Page 13)

The lives of a single mother forced into prostitution and another woman who needs an operation to restore her virginity clash with the structure of Iran’s traditionally patriarchal society in Tehran Taboo.  The result is a story that sheds light on the double standards women face, especially surrounding sex and sexuality, and overall what it is like to be female in a society practically founded on institutional misogyny. 

To make up for not being able to shoot in Tehran, director Ali Soozandeh chose to use the method of rotoscope animation: an unconventional style of animation that involves first shooting live actors in a studio and then inserting extra sounds and backgrounds in the editing process. Tehran Taboo is fearless in its exploration of the social and sexual restrictions imposed in modern Iran.

Genre: Animation, Drama

Actor: Adem Karaduman, Aida Loos, Alireza Bayram, Arash Marandi, Elmira Rafizadeh, Gernot Polak, Hasan Ali Mete, Klaus Ofczarek, Morteza Tavakoli, Şiir Eloğlu, Thomas Nash, Zahra Amir Ebrahimi, Zar Amir Ebrahimi

Director: Ali Soozandeh

In Tina Mabry’s first full length feature film Mississippi Damned she tells the story of three poor, Black adolescents as they advance into adulthood. The story is mostly centered on Kari Peterson, portrayed by Tessa Thompson, who has fallen witness and victim to violence/abuse since her childhood. As she navigates her trauma while facing poverty and familial issues, we begin to understand the inner machinations of Kari and those who have harmed her.

While Mississippi Damned isn’t particularly easy to digest, I consider it essential. As unflinchingly brutal as this film is, it taught me a lot about trauma and how to navigate my own. With performances as powerful as these, it’s impossible to forget this film.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Adam Clark, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, D.B. Woodside, Malcolm David Kelley, Malcolm Goodwin, Michael Hyatt, Simbi Khali, Tessa Thompson

Director: Tina Mabry

Rating: TV-MA

With his dad in jail and mom lost to a drug overdose, Michael lives a lonely life with his grandpa in Dublin.

A minor drug bust sends him to jail for three months and implicates his grand-father with a gang.

Michael Inside uses this brief period of incarceration to offer commentary on the Irish underclass, both inside prisons and out. It's a tough watch that aims for realism and doesn't miss.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Ally Ni Chiarain, Dafhyd Flynn, Elaine Kennedy, Frank Berry, Hazel Doupe, John Burke, John Quinn, Lalor Roddy, Moe Dunford, Robbie Walsh, Shane Gately, Steve Blount, Steven Blount, Tony Doyle

Director: Frank Berry

Rating: N/A

In Fatih Akin’s In the Fade, Katja is seeking justice after the killings of her Turkish husband and their young son in a terrorist bomb attack. Diane Kruger in the role of Katja delivers a powerful and rather grueling performance, for which she was awarded Best Actress at Cannes Film Festival. Her grief is vivid and forces viewers to bear witness to her inescapable pain. In the Fade also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, beating astonishing films such as Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Loveless. This moving story about a fearless woman determined to take justice into her own hands to fight the cruelty of others delivers a message that needs to be heard.

Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller

Actor: Adam Bousdoukos, Aysel Iscan, Cem Akin, Denis Moschitto, Diane Kruger, Edgar Selge, Hanna Hilsdorf, Henning Peker, Jessica McIntyre, Johannes Krisch, Karin Neuhäuser, Laurens Walter, Numan Acar, Samia Chancrin, Şiir Eloğlu, Ulrich Brandhoff, Ulrich Tukur, Uwe Rohde, Yannis Economides, Youla Boudali

Director: Fatih Akin

Rating: R

This movie is a wild ride, literally, since it mostly takes place on a bus driving really fast. It's about one Russian-American social worker who gets hung-up between helping his community driving a group of elderly Russians to a funeral or helping the people he's hired to help.

In its essence, Give Me Liberty is a comedy where the chaos doesn't stop escalating, but thanks to impeccable character work and excellent acting, it's a relevant and poignant movie. You will find yourself in the same position as the social worker, trying to decide who needs his help more.

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Actor: Chris Galust, Darya Ekamasova, Lauren 'Lolo' Spencer, Lauren Spencer, Maxim Stoyanov, Tatyana Yegorova

Director: Kirill Mikhanovsky

Rating: Not Rated

Director Rachel Mason’s first documentary is an amusing study of accidental allies. Her mother Karen insists that there are better subjects for the film, but what would be better than the mom-and-pop bookstore that sells sex toys and gay pornography? The subject alone is inherently interesting, as these mild-mannered Jewish parents describe their unintentional journey through day-to-day selling and distribution. However, Mason is able to expand her discussion by contrasting her parents’ actions against the wider conservative moves done by the US government in the 1980s. Amidst censorship and epidemics, Circus of Books stood as a safe haven for the LGBTQ+ community, made possible by her parents. In learning about the store, we (and Mason) learn more about her parents. While their job choice was unplanned, the journey of accepting those other than themselves is one that we all should take.

Genre: Documentary, Drama, History

Actor: Alaska Thunderfuck, Jeff Stryker, Larry Flynt

Director: Rachel Mason

Rating: Not Rated

Genre: Adventure, Animation, Fantasy

Actor: Ajie, Ji Guanlin, Jie Zhang, King Shih-Chieh, Pan Shulan, Su Shangqing, Timmy Xu, Xue Lifang

Director: Liang Xuan, Zhang Chun

Rating: PG-13

A character study in the absolute purest sense, Anne at 13,000 Ft. doesn't even have the kind of satisfying closure one would expect from any story, nor does it explain anything about its protagonist's difficult, erratic behavior in the context of mental health. It's an exercise in testing how much empathy a character can earn solely on account of their being a human being having a hard time. Appropriately, the filmmaking on display makes for a deliberately uncomfortable experience, with tension ratcheting up in practically every given situation, enhanced by the fact that director Kazik Radwanski and star Deragh Campbell improvised much of the movie as they were making it.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Deragh Campbell, Dorothea Paas, Helly Chester, Joseph Simon, Lawrene Denkers, Lisa Aitken, Matt Johnson, Michael Kuthe, Suzanne Pratley, Tiffany Blom

Director: Kazik Radwanski