255 Best Drama Movies to WatchMovies Like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Page 6)

Boots Riley established himself as a wildly creative voice with 2018’s zany anti-capitalist satire Sorry To Bother You, and with his second project, he digs his heels even deeper into that singular approach. I’m A Virgo’s world feels deeply uncanny yet intimately familiar, what with its absurdly militarised authority figures, dog-whistling media, and greed-driven economy. It’s set in Oakland, where 13-foot Black teenager Cootie (Jharrel Jerome) lives in secrecy with his normal-sized family. Frustrated, Cootie decides to venture into the outside world, but he’s soon exploited, projected onto, and demonized. However, it’s also not long before he makes his first friends, falls in love, and unlearns everything he thought he knew about the world.

The biggest revelation is that Cootie’s favorite superhero, an Iron Man-esque billionaire called The Hero (Walton Goggins), isn’t actually doing good by enforcing the law to the letter. Though it takes many weird and wonderful detours, it’s this aspect of Cootie’s consciousness-widening that is the show’s ultimate destination. These radical politics give it a sharp overarching focus, meaning its mind-bending eccentricity never feels too indulgent. It all makes for a refreshingly original, gloriously weird watch that you’re guaranteed not to have seen the likes of elsewhere.

Genre: Action & Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Actor: Allius Barnes, Brett Gray, Carmen Ejogo, Jharrel Jerome, Kara Young, Mike Epps, Olivia Washington, Walton Goggins

A quick look at Anne Lister’s Wikipedia page will let you know that the English landowner lived a full life. She dutifully attended to her tenants, traveled widely, wrote frequently, and loved oh so deeply. With Gentleman Jack, a nickname Lister received during her lifetime, Director Sally Wainwright (Happy Valley) gives her story justice by telling it with sufficient skill and sensitivity. Wainwright isn’t afraid to explore her voracious sexual appetite, her intellectual rigor, and her at-times questionable stance on land tenure. Wainwright’s decision to make the show as much about Lister as the servants and tenants is reminiscent of dramas like Downton Abbey, which give us a fuller picture of life back in the 1800s. Though it can sometimes make the show tonally discordant (is this a lesbian erotica, a day in the life period piece, or a family drama?) it ultimately adds to the richness of the story.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Amelia Bullmore, Gemma Jones, Gemma Whelan, Joe Armstrong, Rosie Cavaliero, Shaun Dooley, Sophie Rundle, Suranne Jones, Timothy West, Vincent Franklin

Rating: TV-MA

What if the 1960s space race never ended? For All Mankind imagines such a world; here, Russia's cosmonauts arrive on the moon first, the galaxy holds resources beyond belief, and global wars have expanded in stakes and scale. More than just the final frontier, outer space is now the focal point of warring nations hungry to capitalize and claim new assets. 

For All Mankind's out-of-this-world premise alone make it a thrilling watch, but you'll be glad to know that the show also feels intimate and affecting thanks to its fully fleshed-out characters. If you're looking for an epic but grounded story to lose yourself in, this is it. 

Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Science Fiction, War & Politics

Actor: Casey Johnson, Casey W. Johnson, Coral Peña, Cynthy Wu, Edi Gathegi, Jodi Balfour, Joel Kinnaman, Krys Marshall, Michael Dorman, Sarah Jones, Shantel VanSanten, Sonya Walger, Wrenn Schmidt

Rating: TV-MA

Despite their rising popularity, K-dramas have sustained a reputation for being, at times, too sentimental for their own good. Extraordinary Attorney Woo is not exempt from that tendency, but when it does shoot for schmaltz, it makes sure to aim right at your heart. Thanks to clever twists and moving performances across the board, Extraordinary Attorney Woo is an excellently emotional series. Every romantic encounter will make you swoon, every courtroom scene will have you cheer, and every ending will leave you in tears. 

Moreover, it’s not a show that simply happens to be about lawyers. It is a law procedural that deals with each new case with the utmost care. It’s smart and educational, with the proceedings and resolutions blending seamlessly into the characters’ own arcs. 

There’s something for everyone in this series, and it’s sure to be an easy favorite for one reason or another.

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Actor: Baek Ji-won, Ha Yoon-kyung, Im Sung-jae, Jeon Bae-soo, Jin Kyung, Joo Hyun-young, Joo Jong-hyuk, Kang Ki-young, Kang Tae-oh, Park Eun-bin

Director: Yoo In-sik

Rating: TV-14

This bittersweet comedy centers on Sam Fox (Pamela Adlon), a single mother and working actress doing her best to get by in LA. In between juggling the pressures of both parenthood and Hollywood, Sam lets loose in brave and funny ways. Things often get the better of her and her three young daughters, but her bold, funny, and always loving approach to life is what makes Sam—and indeed the show—a true knockout.

Better Things is a semi-autobiographical story, with Adlon also having daughters of her own, so it's no surprise that many things ring true in this big-hearted show about single motherhood.

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Family

Actor: Celia Imrie, Hannah Alligood, Hannah Riley, Kevin Pollak, Mikey Madison, Olivia Edward, Pamela Adlon

Rating: TV-MA

With teen dramas crowding not just Netflix but all of TV, it’s easy to think that the Jordanian series AlRawabi School for Girls won’t be any different. But while it may share a lot of similarities with other coming-of-age stories, it stands out for its willingness to explore dark themes and cultural specificities without a pandering tone. It’s smart, mature, and complex enough to give us a feminist lead who weaponizes misogyny against other girls, for instance, or a fierce bully who eventually earns our sympathy. It’s hard to imagine the treatment being this sensitive, nuanced, and wholly engaging without the all-female cast and crew that AlRawabi thankfully has.

Genre: Drama

Alice in Borderland is a fast-paced heart-wrenching puzzle of a show that will have you wracking your brain and wiping your tears, often at the same time. It combines the wit of Hunger Games, the ruthlessness of Battle Royal, the goriness of Saw, and the social commentary of Squid Game, though sadly it has yet to receive the same renown as these titles. 

With each game, the characters must solve a given problem before the timer runs out—when it does, they die, often violently and for others to witness. While playing the games, leads Arisu (Kento Yamazaki) and Usagi (Tao Tsuchiya) also try to solve the bigger picture by figuring out once and for all who the gamemaster is. Like the story it names, Alice in Borderland drives its characters into increasingly dark and mad situations the deeper it gets. It's also built to last like the novel, a classic in the making bound to be rediscovered and re-enjoyed in the years to come.

Genre: Action & Adventure, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Actor: Aya Asahina, Ayaka Miyoshi, Ayame Misaki, Dori Sakurada, Keita Machida, Kento Yamazaki, Mizuki Yoshida, Nijiro Murakami, Nobuaki Kaneko, Riisa Naka, Sho Aoyagi, Shuntaro Yanagi, Tao Tsuchiya, Tsuyoshi Abe, Yuki Morinaga, Yutaro Watanabe

Rating: TV-MA

Led by fine-tuned performances from Ben Whishaw and Hugh Grant at the top of their game, this three-episode series dives headfirst into the sex scandal between Norman Scott and former Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe with devastating wit. Neither character is treated as morally superior over the other, as both become consumed by the media frenzy surrounding the English justice system's thirst for controversy. And Russell T Davies' writing and Stephen Frears' direction allow the show's tone to pivot from brilliantly timed notes of humor to profoundly sad stretches of tragedy and drama. Given its short length, A Very English Scandal seems to be designed for binge-watching, but it should still reward patient and attentive viewing.

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Actor: Alex Jennings, Ben Whishaw, David Bamber, Hugh Grant, Jason Watkins, Jonathan Hyde, Monica Dolan, Naomi Battrick, Patricia Hodge

Produced by National Geographic, A Small Light is a ten-part miniseries that tells the incredible true story of Miep Gies (Bel Powley), the Dutch woman who bravely hid her Jewish friends from the Nazis during World War II. Among these friends is her kindly mentor Otto Frank (Liev Schreiber) and his daughter Anne (Billie Boullet), both of whom form a tight bond with Miep. 

More than just re-adapting Anne Frank's story to the screen, A Small Light further fleshes it out by introducing other characters in depth and giving surrounding heroes their due. In fact, it's as much about courage as it is about survival as it highlights what it takes to lend a hand (and possibly lose it) when you don't need to. It also helps that this noble message comes with a massive budget and excellent performers, elements that tie everything together in this high-quality series.

Genre: Drama, War & Politics

Actor: Amira Casar, Bel Powley, Billie Boullet, Joe Cole, Liev Schreiber

Rating: TV-14

The Outlaws is an enjoyable BBC miniseries that centers on the lives and misadventures of seven lawbreakers sentenced to 120 hours of community service. The felons can’t be more different from each other, but as they gather every day to serve, they slowly bond in the process. It’s a bit like The Breakfast Club and The Good Place in that sense, although subplots of crime and heist make it a dash more thrilling.

The characters may appear as caricatures at first ("Everyone's a type," as one of them puts it), but don't be fooled: they're all nicely fleshed out with every episode, and each back story adds a new depth to the series. Stephen Merchant (co-creator of The Office UK) stars in, writes, and directs the series.

Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama

Actor: Charles Babalola, Christopher Walken, Clare Perkins, Darren Boyd, Eleanor Tomlinson, Gamba Cole, Jessica Gunning, Rhianne Barreto, Stephen Merchant

Rating: TV-MA

A true Cinderella story on TV if ever there was one, The Expanse went from the limited resources of Syfy for its first three seasons before receiving a massive boost in scale and ambition for its final three. But whether it was negotiating through political deals or engaging in dogfights in space, the series never lost sight of its sociopolitical foundations. Like the best sci-fi, The Expanse uses dense world-building and the idea of unexplained scientific phenomena to examine human nature. And in this case, humanity proves itself quick to draw lines in the sand and adhere to a hierarchy, as if colonization is something that needs to be expanded and reinforced when the universe opens up, rather than abolished. The Expanse is also notable for somehow still looking so good despite mostly being set in cold, metallic interiors and the colder emptiness of space. It's a great example of a show using its visual effects smartly, using spectacle ultimately to clear the way for its characters to take center stage. Some of these characters have rockier arcs than others or are given far less to work with, and the series' treatment of its final antagonist is too simplistic given how thoughtful its politics usually are. But there's more than enough interesting conflict among these characters' social and political differences to make watching them rewarding.

Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Science Fiction

Actor: Cara Gee, Dominique Tipper, Frankie Adams, Jasai Chase-Owens, Keon Alexander, Nadine Nicole, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Steven Strait, Wes Chatham

Rating: TV-14