Genre: Drama
Actor: Ahmad Mehranfar, Golshifteh Farahani, Mani Haghighi, Marila Zare'i, Merila Zare'i, Payman Maadi, Peyman Maadi, Rana Azadivar, Saber Abar, Shahab Hosseini, Tarane Alidousti, Taraneh Alidoosti
Director: Asghar Farhadi
Find the best movies rated N/A, as per MPAA rating standards. These recommendations are at the same time acclaimed by critics and highly-rated by users.
Genre: Drama
Actor: Ahmad Mehranfar, Golshifteh Farahani, Mani Haghighi, Marila Zare'i, Merila Zare'i, Payman Maadi, Peyman Maadi, Rana Azadivar, Saber Abar, Shahab Hosseini, Tarane Alidousti, Taraneh Alidoosti
Director: Asghar Farhadi
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Actor: Adam Bousdoukos, Anna Bederke, Bernd Gajkowski, Birol Ünel, Birol Ünel, Catrin Striebeck, Cem Akin, Demir Gökgöl, Demir Gökgöl, Dorka Gryllus, Gustav-Peter Wöhler, Hendrik von Bültzingslöwen, Herma Koehn, Jan Fedder, Lars Rudolph, Lucas Gregorowicz, Marc Hosemann, Maria Ketikidou, Markus Imboden, Monica Bleibtreu, Moritz Bleibtreu, Peter Jordan, Peter Lohmeyer, Pheline Roggan, Philipp Baltus, Simon Görts, Till Huster, Udo Kier, Uğur Yücel, Wotan Wilke Möhring, Wotan Wilke Möhring, Zarah Jane McKenzie
Director: Fatih Akin
I can’t get a song out of my head from this movie: the 1985 UK hit Desire As from Prefab Sprout.
It plays when the two main characters, a sensitive kid who’s bullied by his school for not liking rugby, and the school’s rugby star; talk over the “Berlin Wall” that separates their dorm room.
The song echoes “It's perfect as it stands, so why then crush it in your perfect hands?”. These two seemingly incompatible personalities form a friendship that comes under threat from their school’s traditional authority, especially as one of them is revealed to be gay.
It might seem like a tough premise, but Handsome Devil is actually a comedy. It’s a sweet and easy coming-of-age comedy.
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Actor: Amy Huberman, Andrew Scott, Ardal O'Hanlon, Ardal O'Hanlon, Fionn O'Shea, Fionn O'Shea, Hugh O'Conor, Jamie Hallahan, Jay Duffy, John Butler, Lauterio Zamparelli, Mark Doherty, Mark Lavery, Michael McElhatton, Moe Dunford, Nicholas Galitzine, Norma Sheahan, Patrick McDonnell, Ruairí OConnor, Ruairi O'Connor, Stephen Hogan
Director: John Butler
This fun comedy-drama is about Bridget, a 34-year-old who hasn't quite got it all figured out, but at least she’s trying: after terminating an accidental pregnancy, she gets herself a summer gig as a nanny for a fearless six-year-old by the name of Frances.
Tackling a myriad of "taboo" topics including abortion, menstruation, and depression, the movie visually normalizes human experiences that remain underrepresented in mainstream cinema. And writer Kelly O’Sullivan, who also plays Bridget, has a screenplay that manages to do it all without feeling didactic.
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Actor: Bradley Grant Smith, Charin Alvarez, Courtney Rioux, Danny Catlow, Francis Guinan, Hanna Dworkin, Jackson Evans, Jim True-Frost, Kelly O'Sullivan, Lily Mojekwu, Mary Beth Fisher, Max Lipchitz, Meighan Gerachis, Ramona Edith Williams, Rebecca Buller, Rebecca Spence, Rebekah Ward, Roger Welp
Director: Alex Thompson
This drama is about two friends attempting to rave in 1994 Scotland, after a recent Thatcher-era law banned the act and all music “characterized by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats”.
Johnno and Spanner, one living in fear of his older brother and the other of his stepfather, want to turn things around by joining their first and probably last rave. They’re introduced to the world of illegal parties, a movement as influential as punk, that in the 1990s was born in reaction to the U.K.’s oppressive policies.
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Music
Actor: Amy Manson, Anthony Anderson, Ashley Jackson, Brian Ferguson, Chris Robinson, Christian Ortega, Dave East, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Gemma McElhinney, Kevin Mains, Khalil Everage, Laura Fraser, Lorn Macdonald, Martin Donaghy, Megan Sousa, Neil Leiper, Paul Walter Hauser, Rachel Jackson, Ryan Fletcher, Seandrea Sledge, Stephen McCole, Uzo Aduba
Director: Brian Welsh, Chris Robinson
Thunder Road is both a single-shot 13 minute short and a 91-minute feature-film expanding the story. Both are excellent and award-winning, but I really recommend the full experience!
Jim Cummings (above) is the director, writer, and main actor of this dark comedy. He plays a police officer having the worst day of his life as he tries to sing Bruce Springsteen’s Thunder Road at his mother’s funeral.
This sight is funny, and so is most of the story. But it’s also cringe-inducing, and because the main character is so sincere in his decline, will make you feel guilty about laughing so much.
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Actor: Ammie Masterson, Bill Wise, Chelsea Edmundson, Chris Doubek, Frank Mosley, István Mihály, Jacqueline Doke, Jim Cummings, Jocelyn DeBoer, Jordan Ray Fox, Kendal Farr, Macon Blair, Marshall Allman, Nican Robinson, Tristan Riggs
Director: Jim Cummings
There are two ways to sum up this documentary. One will make you decide against watching it. Here’s that pitch: This is the story of a homeless woman who was found dead.
Here’s the better pitch: That woman was highly educated and generally lived a happy life. But she also left behind a detailed journal that recounts her final days in one of the coldest winters on record. She lived on apples and rainwater and fought off insanity.
Her heartbreaking story is one of disappointment and betrayal by society at a time when she was most vulnerable. A haunting and compelling documentary that is sure to stay with you for a long time and, in a way, might help you take on adversity.
Genre: Documentary, Drama, History, Mystery
Actor: Doug Bixby, Joan Bishop, Kevin Carbone, Lori Singer, Michael Maggiani, Paul Appelbaum
Director: Jedd Wider, Todd Wider
A funny, feel-good French movie about a man who joins a synchronized swim team to get over his depression. Comprised only of other middle-aged men, they decide they want to compete for the world championship. Sounds like an unlikely story? It's actually based on a real-life documentary from Sweden called Men Who Swim. If you get French humor, this will make you laugh (a lot), and if not, you'll surely enjoy the easygoing tone of Sink or Swim.
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Actor: Alban Ivanov, Alexandre Courtes, Anderz Eide, Audrey Quoturi, Benoît Poelvoorde, Benoît Poelvoorde, Caroline Grant, Charlotte Levy, Christian Gazio, Claire Nadeau, Élodie Hesme, Erika Sainte, Félix Moati, Felix Moati, Fiorella Campanella, Guillaume Canet, Guillaume Cloud-Roussel, Ibrahim Koma, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Jonathan Zaccaï, Karim Adda, Leïla Bekhti, Leila Bekhti, Marina Foïs, Marina Fois, Mathieu Amalric, Mathieu Torloting, Maximilien Poullein, Mélanie Doutey, Michèle Clément, Noée Abita, Philippe Katerine, Pierre Pirol, Sam Chemoul, Stéphane Rouabah, Vincent Darmuzey, Virgile Bramly, Virginie Efira, Xavier Alcan
Director: Gilles Lellouche
If you like movies without plot, you'll love Korean master Hong Sang-soo's work in Grass. Sang-soo likes to write the script for his characters and not the other way around: he hires actors, then writes a script that would fit them every morning of the shoot.
The result is a personal movie that feels improvised and experimental, despite being quite simple: it's about a small café and a woman who observes the interactions of the guests.
Genre: Drama
Actor: Ahn Jae-hong, B-Real, Damian Marley, Gi Ju-bong, Gong Min-jeung, Han Jae-yi, Han Jai, Jin-young Jung, Ju-bong Gi, Jung Jin-young, Kang Tae-u, Kang Tae-woo, Ki Joo-bong, Kim Min-hee, Kim Myeong-su, Kim Myung-soo, Kim Sae-byuk, Lee Yoo-young, Lee You-young, Seo Young-hua, Seo Young-hwa, Shin Seok-ho, Snoop Dogg, Steven Hager
Director: Fab 5 Freddy, Hong Sang-soo
Genre: Documentary
Actor: Adil Brkovic, Gabriel Salazar, Gabriela Paterito, Patricio Guzman, Raul Zurita
Director: Patricio Guzmán