4 Movies Like Sweat (2021)

Staff & contributors

This Oscar-nominated drama tells the story of the events leading up to the Srebrenica massacre, in which 8372 Bosnian Muslims were killed. It focuses on one U.N. worker who was caught between trying to protect her family, herself, and helping people in need.

The film is as horrific as it is relevant: up until the actual killing starts, people are constantly being assured that everything is under control and that there is no reason to panic. This gives an eerie feeling of resemblance to the tone many minorities in distress receive nowadays.

Still, Quo Vadis, Aida? stops at depicting any of the acts that were committed that day. Instead, it focuses on Aida’s unrelenting race against the clock to save whatever she can.

Genre: Drama, History, War

Actor: Alban Ukaj, Boris Isaković, Boris Ler, Dino Bajrović, Dražen Pavlović, Emina Muftić, Emir Hadžihafizbegović, Ermin Bravo, Ermin Sijamija, Izudin Bajrović, Jasna Đuričić, Job Raaijmakers, Joes Brauers, Johan Heldenbergh, Juda Goslinga, Micha Hulshof, Raymond Thiry, Reinout Bussemaker, Rijad Gvozden, Sanne den Hartogh, Sol Vinken, Teun Luijkx

Director: Jasmila Žbanić

This difficult movie is about a seventeen-year-old from the U.S. underclass who has to deal with an unplanned pregnancy. Autumn is creative, reserved, and quiet, but those are not qualities that her environment in rural Pennsylvania seems to value. On the opposite, she is surrounded by threats, including disturbing step-father and boss characters. 

Dangers escalate as Autumn decides to travel to New York to have an abortion. Never Rarely Sometimes Always is about unplanned pregnancies as much as it is about just how dangerous it is to be a teenage girl living in America.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Amy Tribbey, Brian Altemus, Carolina Espiro, Christian Clements, David Buneta, Denise Pillott, Drew Seltzer, Eliazar Jimenez, Lizbeth MacKay, Mia Dillon, Ryan Eggold, Salem Murphy, Sam Dugger, Sharon Van Etten, Sidney Flanigan, Sipiwe Moyo, Talia Ryder, Théodore Pellerin, Théodore Pellerin

Director: Eliza Hittman

Rating: PG-13

A light and simple feel-good movie with great performances from an impressive cast. Ewan McGregor plays the country's best fisheries expert who is approached by a consultant (Emily Blunt) to help bring the sport of fly-fishing to a desert in the Middle-East, a place at the peak of tensions. The Prime Minister's office, with the help of the media, try to then bring this story to the public as a show of something good happening in the region. It's a quirky movie with a beautiful love story and a few interesting ideas on the current state of journalism. Both leads are absolutely charming together.

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Actor: Amr Waked, Catherine Steadman, Conleth Hill, Emily Blunt, Ewan McGregor, Hugh Simon, Jill Baker, Kristin Scott Thomas, Peter Wight, Rachael Stirling, Tom Beard, Tom Mison

Director: Lasse Hallström

Rating: PG-13

Bree (Felicity Huffman) is an uptight transwoman who gets a phone call from her long lost son who is in trouble. She does not tell him she is his father but bails him out of jail and they end up on a long road trip to LA. Bree's high strung conservative personality intersecting with a wild young man and people they meet along the way leads to some comical situations. Felicity Huffman's performance is excellent. It is enjoyable to watch the characters develop over the film.

Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Drama

Actor: Amy Povich, Andrea James, Bianca Leigh, Burt Young, Calpernia Addams, Carrie Preston, Craig Bockhorn, Danny Burstein, Elizabeth Peña, Elizabeth Peña, Felicity Huffman, Fionnula Flanagan, Forrie J. Smith, Graham Greene, Grant Monohon, Jim Frangione, Jon Budinoff, Kevin Zegers, Maurice Orozco, Paul Borghese, Raynor Scheine, Richard Poe, Stella Maeve, Steve Hurwitz, Teala Dunn, Venida Evans

Director: Duncan Tucker

Rating: R