290 Best Drama Movies to WatchBest TV-MA Movies to Watch (Page 6)

In life and cinema, drama is everywhere. You’ll find it in thrillers, animations, romances, you name it. For entertainment that explores the human experience with sensitivity and sincerity, here’s a mixed bag of the best dramas to stream now.

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76. The Deuce, 2019

As has become typical of a David Simon series, The Deuce manages to bring myriad characters and perspectives into one setting, but somehow without resulting in information overload or stale drama. Simon's work (most famously, The Wire) has always been arguably more ethnographic than traditionally dramatic, and here it's no different: the portrait he and co-creator George Pelecanos paint of '70s New York feels so real that watching this is almost educational. The Deuce is a series all about change and freedom and the contradictions that come with ideas of sexual liberation and commodification, and it's endlessly fascinating to watch how these characters continue to dream big and redefine themselves in their own seedy little corner of the world.Genre: Crime, Drama
Actor: Chris Bauer, Chris Coy, Daniel Sauli, David Krumholtz, Emily Meade, James Franco, Lawrence Gilliard Jr., Luke Kirby, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Margarita Levieva, Michael Rispoli, Olivia Luccardi, Sepideh Moafi
Rating: TV-MA

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77. Terriers, 2010

Terriers is a fun take on the detective genre that lasted only one season and has been developing into a cult classic. An ex-cop and his best friend start an unlicensed private investigator operation in L.A, pretty much just to help out friends. If that sounds irresponsible, wait until you meet these two. It's difficult to choose which one is more irresponsible, which makes them unpredictable (and endearing). Lots of charm and pretty compelling plotlines make Terriers one of the saddest cancellations in recent TV memory... for the people who watched it. It's often referred to as the best show that no one watched.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Donal Logue, Laura Allen, Michael Raymond-James

Rating: TV-MA

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78. Sword of the Stranger, 2007

Striking, epic, and occasionally gruesome, Sword of the Stranger is an excellent film about ronin redemption. From the title alone, the film promises and delivers thrilling sword-fighting sequences from the titular stranger Nanashi (or “no name” in Japanese). His bouts with Ming Chinese warriors, as well as the Caucasian Luo-Lang, are so graceful, yet at times, so brutal that it ends with wrecked buildings, copious bleeding, and (on occasion) amputated limbs. However, the gore isn’t what makes these fight scenes work. Nanashi’s will to preserve his honor and self-determination drives the film. It’s the reason why his fight against these invaders feels so compelling. It’s the reason why he reluctantly guards the orphan Kotaro and his cute shiba inu. And when the film finally reveals the cause of that will, rooting for him is inevitable.

Genre: Action, Animation, Drama, History

Actor: Ai Orikasa, Akio Otsuka, Atsushi Ii, Cho, Fumie Mizusawa, Hirofumi Nojima, Hiroshi Shirokuma, Jun Hazumi, Junko Minagawa, Katsuhisa Hôki, Katsuhisa Houki, Kenichi Mochizuki, Kohei Fukuhara, Koichi Yamadera, Maaya Sakamoto, Makoto Yasumura, Mamoru Miyano, Masaki Aizawa, Miyu Matsuki, Naoto Takenaka, Noboru Yamaguchi, Shinya Fukumatsu, Takurou Kitagawa, Tomoya Nagase, Tomoyuki Shimura, Unsho Ishizuka, Yasuhiko Kawazu, Yuki Masuda, Yuri Chinen

Director: Masahiro Ando

Rating: TV-MA

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79. Scavengers Reign, 2023

“World-building” doesn’t quite capture what Scavengers Reign does — the sheer imagination on display in just the first three episodes of this 12-part adult animation sci-fi could fill multiple universes. From the get-go, we’re immersed in a truly strange new world, one in which panda-like creatures with telepathic abilities control humans, fungi merge with motherboards, and plant-animal hybrids crackle with electricity. All this trippiness is rendered in a 2D animation style that appropriately draws on the fantastical art of Moebius (who in turn influenced Studio Ghibli).

Flashbacks and hallucinations gradually unravel the mystery of just how the crew of the Demeter and their robot assistant Levi (Alia Shawkat) ended up here — a grounding plot thread that keeps things from totally spinning out into mind-bendingly surreal territory. Not just an exercise in stretching creativity in bold new directions, then, but a gripping mystery laying bare the terrifying limitlessness of the cosmos.

Genre: Animation, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Actor: Alia Shawkat, Bob Stephenson, Sunita Mani, Ted Travelstead, Wunmi Mosaku

Rating: TV-MA

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80. River, 2015

This six-chapter British miniseries stars the ever-reliable Stellan Skarsgård as an erratic London police detective. He starts seeing visions or “manifests” of his recently murdered colleague and tries to solve her case even though he was excluded from it. River blends reality and illusion in a thoughtful and original police thriller.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Adeel Akhtar, Eddie Marsan, Georgina Rich, Lesley Manville, Nicola Walker, Owen Teale, Sorcha Cusack, Stellan Skarsgård, Steve Nicolson, Turlough Convery

Rating: TV-MA

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81. Queenmaker, 2023

Full of twists and turns, Queenmaker is a corporate turned political K-drama where a corporate fixer plays campaign chess against her former employers and retail conglomerate the Eunsung Group. Centered on her and the earnest human rights lawyer she’s trying to get elected, the show has Do-hee mentoring Kyung-sook in the art of PR, this time for the good. Even as the show reuses the genre’s classic tropes, the series’ plot points are entertaining, with each new twist naturally occurring as each side tries to dig dirt on the other and use it for political clout. It’s one of the most intriguing K-dramas we’ve seen this year.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Hyun Bong-sik, Jin Kyung, Kim Hee-ae, Kim Sae-byuk, Lee Kyung-young, Moon So-ri, Ok Ja-yeon, Ryu Soo-young, Seo Yi-sook

Rating: TV-MA

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82. Okja, 2017

Director Bong Joon-ho (Snowpiercer) does something quite amazing with the $50 million budget Netflix gave him: he makes a simplistic movie. But man, is it good. Okja tells the story of a “super pig” experiment that sends genetically modified pigs to top farmers around the world. In Korea, a farmer’s granddaughter forms a special relationship with one of these super pigs (Okja). When the company who originally ran the experiment want their pig back (performances by Jake Gyllenhaal and Tilda Swinton) – the two find an ally in an animal advocacy group led by Jay (Paul Dano). This is a straightforward movie, but nevertheless it is entertaining and full of thought-provoking themes and performances from an excellent cast.

Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Science Fiction

Actor: Adam Auslander, Ahn Seo-hyun, Ahn Seong-bong, Amber Snow, An Seo Hyun, Andreas Fronk, Ann Evans, Barbara Wallace, Bettina Skye, Boyd Ferguson, Byun Hee-bong, Byun Heebong, Carl Montoya, Cho Wan-ki, Choi Hee-seo, Choi Woo-shik, Colm Hill, Cory Gruter-Andrew, Daniel Henshall, David Bloom, Devon Bostick, Eha Urbsalu, Erik De Boer, Faith Logan, Giancarlo Esposito, Han Yi-jin, J. C. Williams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jamar Greene, Kathryn Kirkpatrick, Kim Chul-moo, Kim Moon-hak, Kim Woo-hyeon, Kristoffe Brodeur, Kwak Jin-seok, Kyul Hwi, Lee Bong-ryeon, Lee Jung-eun, Lena Avgust, Lily Collins, Luis Javier, Lynn Marocola, Martin Lo Rimorin, Michael D. Joseph, Michael Mitton, Milo Shandel, Myles Humphus, Nancy Amelia Bell, Niall Cunningham, Park Jeong-gi, Park Ji-hoon, Park Keun-rok, Paul Dano, Pavla Tan, Phillip Garcia, Rebecca Husain, Rickland Powell, Seo-Hyun Ahn, Shirley Henderson, Steven Garr, Steven Yeun, Tilda Swinton, Waris Ahluwalia, Woo Shik Choi, Yoon Je Moon, Yoon Kyung-ho

Director: Bong Joon-ho, Joon-ho Bong

Rating: TV-MA

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83. My Brilliant Friend, 2020

This wonderful Italian epic made by HBO was a huge hit in Italy but remains little-known elsewhere. It's based on four famous books that tell the coming-of-age story of two brilliant girls who grow up in a poor suburb on Naples in the 1950s. It also has scenes from the current time where one of them mysteriously disappears. Amazing production value, acting, and story make this show so easy to get hooked to.

Genre: Drama

Rating: TV-MA

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84. Mr. & Mrs. Smith, 2024

If you’re expecting the sleek, playful, and totally over-the-top spy shenanigans of 2005’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith, you’re not going to find it in this 2024 version, not that it’s a bad thing. In fact, this show stands on its own, reinventing the spy couple into a professional partnership rather than an immediate spark that leads to marriage. This decision makes the show feel like the film’s opposite– as the longer runtime and naturalistic aura enables more focus on the incomparable Donald Glover and Maya Erskine rather than the explosions– but it makes the danger feel more unpredictable and not just action set pieces. Mr. & Mrs. Smith may not be the star-powered, guns-blazing action comedy we’re familiar with, but it’s certainly a more thoughtful, fresh take that improves on the concept.

Genre: Action & Adventure, Comedy, Drama

Actor: Donald Glover, Maya Erskine

Rating: TV-MA

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85. Motherland, 2017

The Fabella Hospital in the Philippines is clearly overburdened and understaffed, and though it offers some of the lowest pregnancy delivery rates in the country, it remains unaffordable to most of its patients. It has been dubbed the world’s busiest maternity hospital because of this, and its boundless flurry of activity is what Ramona Diaz tries to capture in her cinéma-vérité film Motherland.

What’s interesting and ultimately heartening about the documentary is that despite the difficulties the subjects face, they are always presented with warmth and humanity. We don’t observe them from a strict or stylized distance, but rather, we move with them when they laugh, befriend each other, worry about their babies, curse their partners, and eventually leave. Indeed, the film is a land of mothers, filled with their authentic stories before anything else.

Genre: Documentary, Drama

Actor: Anna Maxwell Martin, Diane Morgan, Ellie Haddington, Lucy Punch, Paul Ready, Phillipa Dunne

Director: Ramona S. Diaz

Rating: TV-MA

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86. Kevin Can F**k Himself, 2022

Kevin Can F*** Himself takes on big risks by going back and forth between genres, but the move pays off. The switch from multi-cam sitcom (complete with canned laughter and too-bright colors) to single-cam drama (necessarily gritty and low-lit) is more than just some gimmick, it’s a technical feat that doubles as a precise critique of both formats.

And beyond the smooth transitions and incredibly flexible performances lies a complex and overdue appraisal of the long-suffering wives of American sitcoms. In the brightly-lit setup of a studio comedy, Kevin (Eric Petersen) looks like the endearing man-child you put up with for the laughs, but in the grim perspective of a drama, it becomes clear that he is a harmful man who has used the trope to get away with narcism and abuse. Tired of being the butt of the joke, Allison (Annie Murphy) breaks free from the strains of her marriage but soon realizes it’s never that easy, and leaving might never be enough. The series delves into dark depths, but it's buoyed by ambition and layered performances, making it a stunning and searing watch.

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Actor: Annie Murphy, Brian Howe, Candice Coke, Eric Petersen, Lauren Weedman, Raymond Lee

Rating: TV-MA

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87. Infamy, 2023

With mass media’s misrepresentation of the Roma people, it was high time there was a show dedicated to accurate portrayal. Infamy is that show. As British-raised Gita moves back with her extended Romani family in Poland, we get introduced to Romani culture– their rules, customs, and art. This Polish Netflix series might even be the first time you’ll hear about Romanipen, the rules and familial principles that allowed them to survive. However, with Gita’s Western background, the show also depicts her immigrant experience, culture clash, and the discrimination of her people by the dominant Polish people. Mixed with hip-hop tracks from the UK, Poland, and the series’ original creations, Infamy takes a nuanced approach to Gita’s struggle and artistry.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Kamil Piotrowski, Magdalena Czerwińska, Sebastian Łach, Zofia Jastrzębska

Director: Anna Maliszewska, Kuba Czekaj

Rating: TV-MA

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88. Hijack, 2023

The show’s premise is plain, but it’s also endlessly, edge-of-your-seat gripping. It’s steady and unhurried but never boring, and each episode, which represents an hour on the seven-hour flight, gives you a sliver of hope for the passengers, especially since they have pro-negotiator Sam Nelson (Idris Elba) on their side. Or do they? The show has fun playing with Sam as the anti-hero, but his heart is too big and golden to achieve that complexity. It also doesn’t bother to paint the hijackers as anything other than terrorists (at least not in the first few episodes screened for review). Instead, the show narrowly chases that mid-flight suspense, and it works. It successfully builds up to it with small but revealing moments.

At the back of all the hubbub, there is also a running joke about what happens when you get stuck with the worst people you know. The passengers are characters you may be familiar with—the family with loud babies, the nosy seatmate forcing a chat, the lowkey racist eyeing everyone who doesn’t look like him—and it gets doubly entertaining to see them collaborate when they otherwise won’t.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Aimee Kelly, Archie Panjabi, Ben Miles, Christine Adams, Eve Myles, Idris Elba, Jack McMullen, Jasper Britton, Kate Phillips, Max Beesley, Neil Maskell, Zora Bishop

Rating: TV-MA

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89. GLOW, 2017

In an age where every show gets called “original” the minute after it comes out, this amazing series from the creators of Orange is the New Black will actually make you go “no, that show is different!”. Starring an almost all-women cast (except for the coach, played masterfully by podcast icon Marc Maron), it’s the story of how a crazy wrestling show was put together in the 1980s called Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling. Alison Brie (Community) plays the girl at the center of the effort to make this show happen, having had a terribly failed career thus far. Perfectly acted and featuring funny as well as absurd moments, GLOW is a great show that you can binge on Netflix without noticing the episodes fly by.Genre: Comedy, Drama
Actor: Alex Rich, Alison Brie, Annabella Sciorra, Bashir Salahuddin, Betty Gilpin, Britney Young, Britt Baron, Carlos Colon Jr., Casey W. Johnson, Chris Lowell, Eli Goree, Ellen Wong, Gayle Rankin, Geena Davis, Horatio Sanz, Jackie Tohn, Kate Nash, Kia Stevens, Kim Gatewood, Kimmy Gatewood, Lilly Sullivan, Marc Maron, Marianna Palka, Rebekka Johnson, Rich Sommer, Shakira Barrera, Sunita Mani, Sydelle Noel, Victor Quinaz
Rating: TV-MA

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90. Gentleman Jack, 2022

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

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