24 Movies Like Whiplash (2014) On Netflix Australia (Page 2)

Staff & contributors

Chasing the feel of watching Whiplash ? Here are the movies we recommend you watch right after.

Miles Teller plays Andrew Nieman, an ambitious young jazz drummer striving for greatness, who is edged towards breaking point by the sadism of his teacher and conductor, Terence Fletcher, played expertly by J.K. Simmons. Fletcher insults him, pressures him, and makes him cry in front of all his peers. Directed by Damien Chazelle, who was one of the youngest people to receive a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for the powerful La La Land, the aptly titled Whiplash poses some intense questions about artistry and ambition. Will Andrew survive? Will it lift him to a higher artistic level? Can his tormentor be appeased through accomplishment? It's almost impossible to single out the best part of this film, considering the flawless performances, masterful script, and meticulously crafted soundtrack. Cherishing the existential artist without giving easy answers, Whiplash is an inspiring watch.

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 Kurdish-Iraqi immigrant runs into serious immigration problems as he tries to immigrate from France to England in order to be reunited with his girlfriend. Eventually he begins to train in swimming, in an attempt to swim the channel between France and England. Welcome is a gripping tale of tolerance as well as relationships between locals and immigrants. It also gives a great look into the shortcoming of the European immigration system, and will have you crying by the end of it, no question.

Genre: Drama, Romance

Actor: Audrey Dana, Behi Djanati Atai, Blandine Pélissier, Bruno Tuchszer, Carine Bouquillon, Derya Ayverdi, Emmanuel Courcol, Éric Herson-Macarel, Firat Ayverdi, Firat Celik, Florence Hebbelynck, Jacques Herlin, Jean-François Fagour, Jean-Paul Comart, Jean-Pol Brissart, Joakim Latzko, Mehmet Selim Akgul, Murat Subasi, Olivier Rabourdin, Patrick Ligardes, Stéphane Butet, Thierry Godard, Vincent Lindon, Vincent Pietton, Yannick Renier

Director: Philippe Lioret

Rating: Not Rated, Unrated

In 2013, following the Ukrainian government’s termination of an EU agreement (in blatant disregard of what its citizens have been calling for), a wave of peaceful protests start to crop up at the country’s capital. Things escalate when the police violently disperse the protestors, but the people of Ukraine are not so easily held down. They fight back, growing in number and conviction each time they do, until an all-out war finally breaks out. 

Winter on Fire documents this series of events, staying close to the ground and allowing bits of humanity to shine through its subjects. In between chilling clips of the clashes, we're shown intimate interviews with people of all walks of life. They're doctors, actors, students, bankers, lawyers, and clergymen, from various classes, races, religions, and genders. Despite their many differences, all of them share one hope: to secure a better future for the people of Ukraine. 

Genre: Documentary, War & Politics

Actor: Bishop Agapit, Catherine Ashton, Cissy Jones, Kristina Berdinskikh, Kurganskyi Eduard, Natan Hazin, Serhii Averchenko, Valery Dovgiy

Director: Evgeny Afineevsky

Rating: Unrated

At the age of 17, Héctor runs away from a juvenile detention center and embarks on a journey to find a shelter dog he had befriended in a rescue center whom he has found out has just been adopted. Along his quest, he is joined by his ailing grandmother and older brother. 

Featuring beautiful landscapes of northern Spain, wonderful chemistry between the two central actors, and a simple yet dynamic story, Seventeen proves that what makes a movie great is the quality of its ingredients, not the quantity.

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Actor: Biel Montoro, Carolina Clemente, Chani Martin, Daniel Fuster, Edgar Costas, Inigo Aranburu, Itsaso Arana, Javier Cifrian, Jorge Cabrera, Kandido Uranga, Lola Cordon, Mamen Duch, Nacho Sanchez, Patxi Santamaria

Director: Daniel Sánchez Arévalo

Rating: TV-MA

, 2016

Lion is the award-sweeping movie based on the true story of a kid in India who gets lost in a train and suddenly finds himself thousands of kilometers away from home. 25 years later, after being adopted by an Australian couple, he embarks on a journey through his memory and across continents to reconnect with his lost family. Dev Patel plays Saroo, and Nicole Kidman plays his Australian adoptive mother. Two truly amazing performances that will transport you to the time and place of the events, as well as its emotions spanning tear-jerking moments and pure joy. An uplifting, meaningful, and beautiful movie.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Abhishek Bharate, Anna Samson, Arka Das, Benjamin Rigby, David Wenham, Deepti Naval, Dev Patel, Divian Ladwa, Eamon Farren, Emilie Cocquerel, Garth Davis, Keshav Jadhav, Khushi Solanki, Lucy Moir, Menik Gooneratne, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Nicole Kidman, Priyanka Bose, Riddhi Sen, Rooney Mara, Sachin Joab, Sunny Pawar, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Tegan Crowley

Director: Garth Davis

Rating: PG-13

This low-stakes coming-of-age movie stars SNL's Pete Davidson as Zeke, an aimless college dropout. His best friend, Monroe, is still in high school and is much younger and more innocent. Monroe doesn't realize that he has a very biased outlook on life through Zeke, as he starts drug dealing, partying, and dating according to rules that are not his own.

Big Time Adolescence tries to be a statement on destructive friendships but doesn't fully succeed. Its true value is that it's a movie that you can turn your brain off to, and those rarely come with statements.

Genre: Comedy

Actor: Aiden Arthur, Brielle Barbusca, Emily Arlook, Esteban Benito, Griffin Gluck, Jon Cryer, Jon Freda, Jordan Rock, Joseph Vincent Gay, Julia K. Murney, Kimberly G. Grader, Larry John Meyers, Machine Gun Kelly, Michael Devine, Nick Ziobro, Omar Brunson, Oona Laurence, Patsy Meck, Pete Davidson, Shaun Woodland, Sydney Sweeney, Thomas Barbusca

Director: Jason Orley

Rating: R

There is a great deal of disbelief to suspend with this film, arguably the weakest of Japanese animation director Makoto Shinkai’s oeuvre. It follows Hodaka, a broke high school student in Tokyo looking for a job. The story kicks off when he meets Hina, a cheerful girl who lives with her younger brother and has the power to control the weather.

Again, as with all of Shinkai’s work, it’s remarkably beautiful. Rainfall, skies, and cityscapes are eye candy here, probably more than in any piece of animation ever. But this has every high school romance trope elevated to an extreme level, like Shinkai’s best known film Your Name but on steroids—a teenage boy and cute girl fit together like pieces of a puzzle, a grand adventure starts, forces beyond their control threaten to separate them, and the standard anime couple seemingly never see each other again, until they dramatically meet years later.

For the sake of an against-all-odds romance, Weathering with You downplays its insane plot devices. It glosses over runaway kids wielding firearms, an underage girl almost going into sex work, and a climate disaster potentially displacing millions of people—all for a love story.

Genre: Animation, Drama, Fantasy, Romance

Actor: Aoi Yuki, Ayane Sakura, Chieko Baisho, Hidekatsu Shibata, Kana Hanazawa, Kana Ichinose, Kanon Tani, Kotaro Daigo, Masako Nozawa, Mone Kamishiraishi, Nana Mori, Ryo Narita, Ryohei Kimura, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Sakura Kiryu, Sei Hiraizumi, Shinjirou Gouda, Shun Oguri, Sumi Shimamoto, Tsubasa Honda, Yuki Kaji, Yuki Ominami

Director: Makoto Shinkai

Rating: PG-13

Do you know those movies where you just look at the poster and you go "damn this will be good"? This is absolutely not one of those, but I promise, it's still great. Warrior is surprisingly sophisticated for its genre, awesomely executed and what about the acting you say? Hardy and Edgerton are strong together (pun intended). Warrior is a movie filled with authentic emotions designed to give you hope that something unconventional can still come out of the genre.

Genre: Action, Drama

Actor: Aaron Kleiber, Amir Perets, Anthony Johnson, Anthony N., Anthony Nanakornpanom, Anthony Tambakis, Armon York Williams, Bryan Callen, Carlos Miranda, Dan Caldwell, Daniel Stevens, Denzel Whitaker, Etta Cox, Fernando Chien, Frank Grillo, Gavin O'Connor, Hans Marrero, Jace Jeanes, Jake McLaughlin, Jeff Hochendoner, Jennifer Morrison, Joel Edgerton, Jonathan Matthew Anik, Josh Rosenthal, Julia Stockstad, Kevin Dunn, Kurt Angle, Laura Chinn, Lexi Cowan, Maximiliano Hernandez, Nate Marquardt, Nick Lehane, Nick Nolte, Noah Emmerich, Panuvat Anthony Nanakornpanom, Rashad Evans, Raymond Rowe, Richard Fike, Sam Sheridan, Stephan Bonnar, Tammy Townsend, Tom Hardy, Tracy Campbell, Vanessa Martinez, Yves Edwards

Director: Gavin O'Connor, Gavin O'Connor

Rating: PG-13

, 2015

This  exploration of the complex and loving relationship between a mother and her son will take you through a variety of emotions: it's uplifting, disturbing, provocative, sad, and hopeful. We don't get many of these middle-class-budget films anymore, and this one might be one of the category's best.

A kidnapped girl (Brie Larson) has a son after being raped by her abductor. She tries to provide a "normal" environment for the kid in the room where they're being held captive until they can escape. Brie Larson won an Oscar for Best Actress in Room, so make sure to also check out Short Term 12, an equally impressive performance by her in an equally amazing movie.

Genre: Drama, Thriller

Actor: Amanda Brugel, Brie Larson, Cas Anvar, Chantelle Chung, Graeme Potts, Jack Fulton, Jacob Tremblay, Jee-Yun Lee, Joan Allen, Joe Pingue, Justin Mader, Kate Drummond, Katelyn Wells, Matt Gordon, Megan Park, Ola Sturik, Randal Edwards, Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll, Rory O'Shea, Sandy McMaster, Sean Bridgers, Tom McCamus, Wendy Crewson, William H. Macy, Zarrin Darnell-Martin

Director: Lenny Abrahamson

Rating: R