Looking for a fast-moving car chase? Aerial acrobatics? How about a bit of fisticuffs? Or a tiger eating a dude? Look no further: Netflix has what you need.

The best action movies streaming on Netflix right now run the gamut: You can catch a high-minded thriller that uses action to underline plot, character, and message; or a hyper-stylish beat-em-up with cinematography and choreography that make art of violence; or you can just watch a lot of stuff blow up real good. No judgments! The only criteria is that the movie provides a fair share of fast-paced action thrills.

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Damsel (2024)

Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things, Enola Holmes) is virtually the face of Netflix at this point. In her latest movie, she plays the title's damsel, Elodie, who agrees to marry a handsome prince, as young damsels did back in medieval times. Only she discovers that it's a trap, and she's actually meant to serve as a sacrifice to satisfy an ancient magical debt to a dragon. Luckily, our distressed damsel is far more resourceful than her would-be in-laws might have guessed. Angela Bassett, Robin Wright, and Shohreh Aghdashloo round out the cast of this fun action fantasy.

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The Woman King (2022)

Though the movie has deeper ambitions, and succeeds on multiple levels, the fun here is in watching surprisingly swole Viola Davis lead a team of all-but-unstoppable African women warriors as they fight back against colonialist invaders. Set in West Africa in 1823, and based on the real-life the Agojie (also known as the Dahomey Amazons). Davis is General Nanisca, leader of the country’s army, forced to navigate complicated regional politics even though her skills, and the movie’s most exhilarating scenes, involve kicking slave-trader ass.

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RRR (2022)

A fast-paced action movie should almost certainly not be as long as RRR, but there is not one single dull moment in this nearly three-hour Bollywood film. Likewise, a historical drama that touches on the national trauma brought on by the British Raj and depicting two real-life revolutionaries who died as martyrs to the cause of independence shouldn’t be this much pure fun, but somehow the context only makes it more satisfying. Find me a more thrilling moment in the movies than the bit where a truck full of wild animals is forcefully unleashed upon a sedate gathering at a British politician’s compound, or when a meet-cute between the two main characters involves wild acrobatics over and around a bridge. If American action epics insist on being this long, they could learn a thing or two or three from RRR’s refusal to ever sag.

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Kill Boksoon (2023)

Gil Bok-Soon (Jeon Do-yeon) is just a working single mom struggling to relate to her teenage daughter. Or, at least, that’s how it looks. It turns out that the company she works for, M. K. Ent., is in the assassination business, and Bok-Soon is their top-rated killer—she’s also in a slightly awkward relationship with one of her co-workers. It’s not a comedy, but the movie has fun playing up its parallels between a typical corporate job and Bok-Soon’s gig, while also offering up some impressively well-defined characters. What’s at least as important as all of that, though, is the plethora of spellbinding action sequences and brilliant fight choreo.

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Starship Troopers (1997)

Director Paul Verhoeven pulled off a rather brazen bit of literary criticism by adapting the Robert Heinlein military sci-fi novel without changing much, while bringing the book's fascistic undertones to the fore. It's a brightly colored satire, but it also works as an absolutely over-the-top action movie (so much so that many contemporary critics and audiences didn't get the joke) involving Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien) and the rest of his squad at war with "Bugs," insect-like aliens that appear to represent an existential threat to humanity. Filled with the same subversive touches as the director's earlier RoboCop (including fake news broadcasts and propaganda), it's a hoot on many levels. Do you want to know more?

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Conan the Barbarian (1982)

The '80s fantasy movie wave saw a string of movies about sweaty, shirtless guys in loincloths battling dragons and demons, and the greatest of these was, of course, Conan the Barbarian, a brilliant vehicle for a young Arnold Schwarzenegger to show off those famous biceps. Here, Conan begins a lifelong quest of vengeance against the evil sorcerer Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones), beset by giant snakes, cannibal orgies, and the Wheel of Pain. It's all very silly while taking itself very seriously, which is just the right approach for adapting the pulpy novels of Robert E. Howard, and kind of the sweet spot for action movies of the era.

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Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

On a relatively small budget, Beverly Hills Cop became an instant blockbuster, turned Eddie Murphy into an international superstar, and even earned an Oscar nomination for its screenplay. This was the golden age of the buddy comedy, and few succeeded on the same level. Murphy plays Axel Foley, a Detroit cop moonlighting in sunny California to solve an old friend's murder. He reluctantly teams up with Judge Reinhold's bumbling Detective Billy Rosewood, and action-packed antics ensue. It's success led to a trilogy and a 2024 legacy sequel, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. And that soundtrack!

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Godzilla Minus One (2023)

Even given the success of Hollywood's recent stabs at the franchise, the best Godzilla movies still come from Japan, a fact made crystal clear by this emotional roller-coaster, set in the aftermath of World War II. With clear-cut and inventive action set against a story involving human characters who we genuinely care about, this isn't just the best recent kaiju movie...it may be the best ever.

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The Matrix (1999)

The Wachowskis redefined the action movie for a generation with this stylish and cerebral bit of sci-fi that blends philosophy with Hong Kong-style martial arts action in an expertly cool package. Subsequent movies (even its own sequels) chased the highs produced here for years without ever quite managing to top them.

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Smokey and the Bandit (1977)

Burt Reynolds has a long way to go and a short time to get there. He's Bo "The Bandit" Darville, running point for an illegal shipment of bootleg beer (400 cases of Coors, to be precise) from Texas to Atlanta, using his cool car to draw attention from Jackie Gleason's Sheriff Buford T. Justice. He's joined along the way by Sally Field's Carrie, a runaway bride who makes a surprisingly helpful companion. The practical car action makes it a slightly more believable alternative to the Fast and the Furious films.

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The Guns of Navarone (1961)

With plenty of action and hints of melodrama, this World War II-set adventure finds Gregory Peck, David Niven, and Anthony Quinn leading a commando unit tasked with taking out a couple of giant guns on the titular island in order to clear a path to rescue 2,000 marooned soldiers. Dogged by Nazis, the team faces the Germans on sea and land, with guns, fists, and their wits. It doesn't have much more on its mind that Nazi-punching action, and that's not a bad thing.

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The Equalizer (2014)

2014's The Equalizer was the first of two ongoing, largely unrelated, takes on the original 1980s TV series—a new CBS show starring Queen Latifah premiered in 2021. Given the success-to-failure ratio of reboots, finding success with two of them is no small feat, and it doesn't hurt the film version reunites Denzel Washington with Training Day director Antoine Fuqua. The setup is straightforward—former marine and intelligence officer Robert McCall is drawn out of retirement when a young woman he meets at a diner turns out to be connected to a world of sex trafficking and Russian oligarchs—but the plot is really secondary. This one's all about watching Denzel getting violent, action-packed revenge.

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The Old Guard (2020)

Greg Rucka wrote the screenplay for this adaptation of his graphic novel about a mercenary special ops team made up of impressively long-lived humans with unexplained regenerative powers. Charlize Theron leads the cynical group of warriors in a movie that effectively blends superhero tropes with military action. The lack of superpowers that don't have to do with healing helps differentiate it from Marvel and DC flicks, foregrounding skillfully choreographed fight sequences that don't feel like complete fantasy.

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Kill Bill: Volumes 1 and 2 (2003/2004)

Quentin Tarantino's two-part martial arts spectacular pays brilliant homage to the classics of the genre, with Uma Thurman as a nameless (at least initially) vengeful bride out to kill everyone who destroyed her happiness (specifically: her one-time fellow assassins, played by Lucy Liu, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, Vivica A. Fox, and David Carradine). With brutal, beautiful fighting and colorful, over-the-top set-pieces, it's a heightened and bloody experience with real emotional resonance.

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Mortal Kombat (2021)

This reboot doesn't quite reach the gloriously cheesy heights of the 1995 version, but at least retains a charming B-movie feel, despite the larger budget. Blending fighting action with CGI goofery, this story of a mystical martial arts tournament that will determine the fate of Earth doesn't take itself any more seriously than is strictly necessary, making for an enjoyable live-action video game. (Never mind that it doesn't actually get to the tournament itself—I guess they were saving that for the sequel.)

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The Harder They Fall (2021)

The modern western takes on the story of real-life Black American cowboy Nat Love (played by Jonathan Majors), and he’s joined by several other characters out of actual American history, played by the likes of Idris Elba, Zazie Beetz, Regina King, and Delroy Lindo. It’s not a history lesson, but western movies have never been particularly troubled by the idea of heightening the true stories of the old American west into something like mythology. Here, young Nat Love’s parents are killed by Elba’s outlaw Rufus Buck, sending Love on a lifelong quest for revenge. This leads to a series of brilliantly exciting shoot-outs, stunts, and chases that pay tribute to the classic movies of the western genre, while also nodding to modern fight choreography and staging.

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The Night Comes for Us (2018)

A sort-of successor to The Raid series (including many of the same actors), this movie from Indonesian writer/director Timo Tjahjanto (May the Devil Take You, a great horror movie also on Netflix) tells the story of a Triad member forced to fight his way out of the organization. The movie is on the bloodier end of its genre; the action is brilliant and stylized, but there’s quite a bit more realism in terms of blood and gore. The concluding fight scene is an all-time great one, if you’ve got the stomach for it.

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Kate (2021)

Though it’s lead by a French director and an American actor (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Kate stands apart in its anime-inspired, neon-lit, new-Tokyo aesthetic. There’s nothing new here, plot-wise, but that’s beside the point. Assigned to kill a yakuza assassin by her handler (Woody Harrelson), the titular assassin discovers that she’s been poisoned and has only 24 hours to live (i.e., 24 hours to get violent revenge). Imagine if the 1940s film noir classic D.O.A. were a martial arts action movie.

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Gunpowder Milkshake (2021)

An appearance by Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh doesn’t necessarily guarantee guarantee “action” (the Everything Everywhere All at Once and Crazy Rich Asians star can do it all)—but an appearance from Yeoh is guaranteed to be the icing on any action-movie cake. A modern take on classic gun-fu, this one further gilds that lily by adding in Lena Headey, Karen Gillan, Carla Gugino, and Angela Bassett(!) The cast aside, the film deals with two rival groups of assassins battling it out over the fate of a kidnapped child.

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Baahubali (2015)

The two Baahubali movies might not have quite the rousing political appeal of RRR (they’re all from the same director, S.S. Rajamouli)—honestly, it’s hard to beat the thrill of watching snotty colonials being eaten by tigers—but, if anything, these movies are even bigger, grander, and more operatic in their interests. Roughly inspired by the ancient Indian stories of the Mahabharata and featuring endless sweaty shirtless men (and not a few women, although more often clothed) fighting people and animals, the first film includes a 45-minute battle sequence that’s topped by the sequel. There’s just enough plot and romance to propel the action, but they’re the kinds of movies that know exactly what we’re here for, and they’re not afraid to give it to you. Baahubali: The Beginning and Baahubali: The Conclusion are both on Netflix, in English-dubbed and subtitled versions.

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Enola Holmes (2020)

Her brother Sherlock wasn’t above a bit of fisticuffs now and then, but it was his sister, Enola (Millie Bobbie Brown), we learn here, who really got to mix it up—with some help and training from their mother, Eudoria (Helena Bonham Carter). Enola uses that combat training throughout the movie in fights involving fists, guns, knives, explosives, and a moving train or two as Enola searches for her missing mum while staying a step or two ahead of big bro (Henry Cavill). The sequel is just as fun.

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Outlaw King (2018)

Chris Pine plays Robert the Bruce in this film that, unsurprisingly, takes plenty of liberties with the Scottish Wars of Independence of the 14th century. No matter. The film sees underdog Robert lead a guerrilla campaign against the future Edward II of England in a number of exceptionally (though believably) bloody Medieval battles. Spears and swords clash in a number of extended and expensive-looking sequences, making it look like a real-life (well, kinda) Game of Thrones.

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Beckett (2021)

The film aspires to the paranoid, conspiracy-style of movies like The Parallax View, The Bourne Identity, or Enemy of the State, but the plot here is a little too thin to work on that level. Where Beckett excels, though, is in presenting a straightforward man-on-the-run action thriller. John David Washington stars as the title character, who finds himself getting chased through Greece, for reasons unclear to him, following an auto accident. Washington is fun to watch as he runs and gets shot at; the scenery is striking; and the movie does a good job of making Greece feel incredibly sinister, especially for a lead character who doesn’t know the language.

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Da 5 Bloods (2020)

It feels strange to include Spike Lee’s thoughtful Vietnam War story—one that grapples with the experiences of Black American soldiers during that conflict as few (if any) movies have before. Nevertheless, part of the reason that it works as well as it does is that Lee’s film does all of that while also offering up plenty of impressively shot and choreographed action sequences. With a cast led by Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, and Clarke Peters, the movie finds four aging Vietnam vets returning to that country to recover the remains of their fallen squad leader—and also to dig up the gold bars they left behind. Set in two time frames, it plays as a war movie in the past and, often, a thriller in the characters’ present, as they’re hunted by mercenaries while they hunt their lost treasure.

I’ve always been perfectly content to watch movies by myself. Seeing a movie with a crowd is all well and good if it’s an action flick or a comedy, but there are movies that demand more focus and reward careful attention—and having kids, partners, and even friends in the room with you can frankly be very distracting.

What follows are 27 of the best movies to watch solo and get quietly lost in. They’re all relatively quiet and generally thoughtful, which isn’t to say boring—not that there's anything wrong with a slightly boring movie.

(Note: There are a lot of American films here, in part because quiet introspection is a bit more novel in Hollywood; a list of introspective Swedish films, for example, would be a heck of a lot longer.)

Synecdoche, New York (2008)

Charlie Kaufman’s film about a theater director (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who lives his life within the context of a theatrical mock-up is seen as either assertively pretentious or utterly life-changing. Much of the film’s appeal is in the desire, made real here, to pull ourselves out of our own miserable lives and view them from a more objective place.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Waking Life (2001)

I’m not sure that Waking Life’s experimental animation style is strictly necessary, especially given the rotoscoping that required the bodily presence of actors—but there’s enough in the film’s discussions of free will and existentialism to make for an enjoyably thoughtful film about a man on the verge of a full-scale existential crisis. The ambitious visual style, though, does add a dreamlike quality that makes it harder to see as some sort of cinematic bull session.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Arrival (2016)

There have been quiet, contemplative alien invasion movies before—but it’s not exactly the style we’ve come to associate with the form. The movie that solidified Denis Villeneuve’s reputation as a maker of smart, heady genre films deals with the universal challenges and rewards of communication, topped with a unique sci-fi twist.

Where to stream: Paramount+, digital rental

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The Man from Earth (2007)

Written by sci-fi legend Jerome Bixby while on his deathbed, an appropriate mournfulness hangs over this (very) low-budget movie abut a man who might or might not be 14,000 years old. David Lee Smith plays John Oldman (*wink*), a professor having some friends over for a going-away party. Over the course of the gathering, he lets his secret slip, prompting an evening of conversation during which his fellow professors grill him about his life from their own academic perspectives. Heady stuff.

Where to stream: Tubi, digital rental

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Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Marketed as the sexiest movie you’d ever see in major movie theaters, Eyes Wide Shut is, instead, a dreamlike walk through a twilight world of joyless, mechanistic sex: the message being not “sex is bad,” but, instead, that sexual obsession can be as dehumanizing as anything else in a Stanley Kubrick movie.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Pi (1998)

A bit more intense than some others here, Darren Aronofsky’s feature directorial debut involves a mathematician who becomes obsessed with the idea that math can entirely elucidate the world’s underlying meaning, even as his own mental health struggles as an imperfect and irreducible human make that quest increasingly quixotic.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Paterson (2016)

Idiosyncratic indie director Jim Jarmusch takes "contemplative" to new levels with this film following a week in the life of a New Jersey transit driver played by Adam Driver (hmmm). During breaks from work, Paterson writes small poems with encouragement from his wife (Golshifteh Farahani), but his dreams of publishing them go out the window when a dog gnaws his notebook. With impressive performances from the two leads, this quiet and rather moving film turns on the seemingly minor occurrences that can upend our own small universes.

Where to stream: Prime Video

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My Dinner with Andre (1981)

Louis Malle’s My Dinner with Andre has a fanbase to rival many more obvious cult classics in American film history; fascinating in that it’s a movie about two actors playing themselves (they share names, anyway) chatting at a cafe for nearly two hours. Yet people watch it over and over. The material veers from funny to despairing, but it’s always surprising, with the two actors selling their stories at least as well as any special effects could.

Where to stream: Max, The Criterion Channel, digital rental

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An Elephant Sitting Still (2018)

There's very little consolation to be found in the first and only film from novelist Hu Bo, which turns on an anecdote about an elephant in a circus in Manzhouli that remains absolutely still under any provocation: perhaps feeling peaceful, perhaps just surviving without living. The film's characters determine to visit the elephant, their stories cumulatively speaking of disconnection from and disaffection for life.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Werckmeister Harmonies (2000)

Directed by Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky, Werckmeister Harmonies might be the most approachable of Tarr's film projects. Which admittedly isn't saying much, given that his previous film, Satan's Tango, is over seven hours long. Here, we take a long, languid, and beautifully shot tour of a small village in Hungary, following its residents through their lives as a slightly sinister circus comes to town. The film isn't much interested in plot or incident, preferring instead to languidly observe its characters.

Where to stream: The Criterion Channel, digital rental

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George Washinton (2000)

On one level, George Washington is the story of an unintentional murder by a school kid and the efforts to hide the evidence...but that synopsis doesn’t in any way capture the feel of this deliberately-paced and beautifully shot tone poem.

Where to stream: The Criterion Channel, digital rental

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The Lobster (2015)

As offbeat dark comedies go, they don’t get much more offbeat than this: in Yorgos Lanthimos’ dystopian dark comedy, single people get exactly 45 days to find romantic partners—otherwise they’re turned into animals. It’s definitely weird, but no weirder than the modern courtship rituals it satirizes.

Where to stream: Max, digital rental

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Being There (1979)

Hal Ashby’s film is, on one level, a particularly biting satire involving a (very) simpleminded gardener (Peter Sellers) whose every banal, plant-related utterance comes to be seen as a piece of wisdom by a world desperate for meaning. While it mocks our willingness to see what we want to see, it centers the gentle presence of Chance the gardener, and invites us to ask whether his innocent view of the world is really such a bad thing.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010)

Slow and sometimes baffling, Uncle Boonmee is also a funny and beautifully meditative story about a man’s final days, and about the literal and figurative ghosts that haunt our lives.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Stalker (1979)

After the apocalypse, a guide sets out with a writer and a scientist across a distinctive and highly stylized wasteland in search of The Room, the one place left on earth where someone’s desires might still be fulfilled. There are elements of political and religious metaphor, but no one meaning really satisfies here, and it’s precisely that slipperiness that makes it so haunting.

Where to stream: Max, The Criterion Channel, digital rental

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Valhalla Rising (2009)

Our leading man here is a non-speaking, one-eyed former prisoner (played by Mads Mikkelsen), who begins a long, hypnotic journey over the sea when the Norseman falls in with Christian Crusaders in the nasty, brutish middle ages. There’s blood and battle here, but the idiosyncratic director is more interested in the silences in between.

Where to stream: Shudder, AMC+, digital purchase

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Only Yesterday (1991)

Not many of the films on this list topped the box office when they were released, but director Isao Takahata's anime (from Studio Ghibli) was the highest grossing film of its year in Japan. Twenty-seven-year-old Taeko Okajima works in the city but takes a train trip into the country side to visit relatives and escape from the hectic pace of Tokyo. The journey conjures memories of her life, some good, some less so, forcing her to reconcile her present with everything she has left behind.

Where to stream: Max, digital rental

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A Ghost Story (2017)

A ghost (Casey Affleck) returns to the home he shared with his wife (Rooney Mara), only to discover that he’s untethered in both time and space, forced to view events in seemingly random order. Desperate to connect, all he can do is observe.

Where to stream: Max, digital rental

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Nomadland (2020)

After Frances McDormand's Fern loses her job at a gypsum plant, she sells everything and buys a van to live and travel in while she hunts for work (including at an Amazon warehouse). Attachments come and go during her travels, as writer/director Chloé Zhao's funny, elegiac film considers life within America's increasingly precarious capitalist system, while also exploring more general themes of permanence and impermanence.

Where to stream: Hulu, digital rental

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The Whales of August (1987)

A grace note at or near the end of the careers of Lillian Gish, Bette Davis, Ann Sothern, and Vincent Price, Whales of August finds two elderly and very different sisters spending yet another summer in the same seaside house in Maine that they've visited since childhood. Davis' bitter Libby is ready to give up on life, while Gish's Sarah is tired of being a caretaker and is increasingly delighted by the prospect of a romance with local widower Price. The gentle film explores the potential for dignity and liveliness among these octogenarians.

Where to stream: Prime Video

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The Tree of Life (2011)

Though early reviewers saw it as pretentious, there’s no mistaking the quiet ambition of Terence Malick’s gorgeously rendered exploration of the meaning of life itself, with a stopover in 1950s Texas. It’s probably the closest any director has come to the scale and scope of 2001 since that movie’s 1968 release.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Russian Ark (2002)

What starts out as a novelty gradually builds to something breathtaking as director Alexander Sokurov’s follows a mysterious narrator through the walls of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, encountering different moments and historical characters from the building’s history as he goes. It’s mostly a film about philosophical conversation, but Sokurov filmed the movie in one continuous cut, with no false cuts, choreographing a cast that, by the end, is in the thousands.

Where to stream: Hoopla, Kanopy, Plex

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Wild Strawberries (1957)

Ingmar Bergman’s Wild Strawberries has some of his most nightmarish imagery, but ultimately it’s the most humane of all his works. Its story of an old man recalling his past is as sad as it is sweet, but builds toward something very nearly celebratory.

Where to stream: Max, The Criterion Channel, digital rental

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Pariah (2011)

There are some big emotions in Dee Rees’ semi-autobiographical coming-out story Pariah, and so, in that sense, it’s not the most quietest of quiet dramas. In its performances and visual style, though, it’s utterly hypnotic, conjuring a world that, for all its turmoil, I could get lost in forever.

Where to stream: Prime Video

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Under the Skin (2013)

An alien seduces men by the side of the road in this languid and elusive study of sex and power relationships. With a stroking visual style that evokes Blade Runner (just a bit), Under the Skin is as haunting as it is tough to pin down.

Where to stream: Max, digital rental

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Last Year at Marienbad (1961)

Bafflingly dreamlike—but so beautiful that it’s hard to care—Alain Resnais’ masterpiece takes place at a luxury hotel and involves two lead characters who seem to have become completely untethered in time and space, and who might have met at Marienbad once before. It plays much like a ghost story, minus the horror-movie trappings.

Where to stream: The Criterion Channel, digital purchase

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Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring (2003)

Kim Ki-duk’s story follows a Buddhist monk (O Yeong-su) from young apprentice to old age, with the different seasons representing phases of life and the circular nature of existence. It’s appropriately meditative, without extraneous or excessive drama, and not even much dialogue. It’s (nearly) as quiet as filmmaking gets, but rather lovely and rewarding.

Where to stream: Digital rental

To quote Parasite director Bong Joon-Ho, “...once you overcome the 1-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.” Fortunately, in the streaming area, a great many of said films are more readily available than ever—and certainly there’s no shortage of great films from Bong Joon-Ho’s own South Korea available at the tap of a button.

Naturally, American producers are well aware, and plotting to create English-language remakes that will make these foreign-language films “more accessible” to American audiences, which usually means removing everything that makes them unique cultural artifacts. As evidence I present: the Korean A Tale of Two Sisters became the American The Uninvited, Il Mare became The Lake House, Oldboy became…Oldboy, but worse. A Train to Busan remake called Last Train to New York has been in the works for some time, but honestly, you can just watch Train to Busan. It’s excellent.

Remakes can be good, sure, but there’s usually a reason the original was popular enough to inspire a remake. Some of these 25 South Korean films have remakes in the works, some are being actively speculated upon, and the rest are popular enough internationally that someone is undoubtedly thinking of a way to domesticate them. Every one of them is worth watching in its original version.

Train to Busan (2016)

Before Parasite, Yeon Sang-ho’s film was, perhaps, the biggest South Korean film to break into the American market, setting off an immediate bidding war for remake rights eventually won by New Line. The (maybe) upcoming American version (it's been delayed), somewhat generically titled Last Train to New York, may well be perfectly fine, but the title suggests some of the subtext of the original will have been lost. Busan, for example, was a haven for refugees during the Korean War—and it’s hard to imagine an American film carrying over the original’s critiques of capitalism and nods to working class solidarity. I can’t really conceive of a remake improving on this thoughtful, heartfelt, bloody zombie masterpiece.

Where to stream: Peacock, Tubi, Hi-YAH!, digital rental

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Badland Hunters (2024)

Ma Dong-seok, supporting MVP of Train to Busan, stars as a hunter in a post-apocalyptic Seoul, scavenging for the resources necessary to keep his small community afloat. The village is just barely scraping by as it is when a young girl is kidnapped by a scientist looking for test subjects for his radical experiments. While not entirely novel in its take on a brutal, violent wasteland this is an effective survival story nonetheless, with hints of humor that keep things moving along. (It's an entirely standalone sequel to Concrete Utopia, which is also good, but much harder to find on streaming.)

Where to stream: Netflix

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Exhuma (2024)

This spooky supernatural horror film follows a shaman and her protégé as they're called upon to help a rich Korean American family uncover the source of their newborn's illness. Its deep dive into traditional Korean shamanistic practices, blended with a modern and convincingly realistic feel, earned rave reviews and sold a ton of tickets; it's in the top ten films of all time at the South Korean box office. Americans love remaking Asian horror films, and the success of this one doubtless has it in someone's crosshairs.

Where to stream: Shudder, digital rental

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The Villainess (2017)

If we’re not exactly seeing through the eyes of enigmatic killer Sook-hee (played by Ok-bin Kim), we’re still drawn in with a level of kinetic, sometimes frantic, you-are-there immediacy. In July, it was announced that Amazon Studios is working on an English-language TV series based on the film, but director Jung Byung-gil brings a unique, visceral, and bloody style to the original that will be hard to replicate, and tougher to improve upon.

Where to stream: Peacock, Hi-YAH!, digital rental

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I Saw the Devil (2010)

Action movie? Thriller? Raw horror? Yup. Cult classic I Saw the Devil hits all those notes, balancing genuinely grisly torture porn with solid emotional beats. Choi Min-sik (Oldboy) stars as Gyeong-cheol, a serial killer who chooses his latest victim rather poorly: Her boyfriend Soo-hyeon is an intelligence officer and when he figures out who killed her, he has no intention of turning the killer over to the authorities. Instead, he plans to torture Gyeong-cheol with a stomach-churning cat-and-mouse game. Given its cult status and its similarity in vibes to Oldboy, it's surprising American filmmakers haven't taken a shot at this one. Yet.

Where to stream: Hulu, digital rental

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Night in Paradise (2020)

There’s a noir quality to writer/director Park Hoon-jung’s bloody tale of a gangster on the run who develops a relationship with the terminally ill niece of an arms dealer. It’s an interesting blend of ultraviolence and quiet rumination (over many elaborate and exquisitely presented meals), though there’s a dark inevitability to the whole thing that would make a remake either appealing in its rare and complete refusal to offer an easy way out...or a complete turn-off for doing just that.

Where to stream: Netflix

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The Call (2020)

This timey-wimey sci-fi thriller involves Seo-yeon (Park Shin-hye) visiting her childhood home in 2019, only to discover that an old cordless phone still works, and connects her to Young-sook (Jeon Jong-seo), living in the house in 1999. The two bond over shared experiences, but things go wrong when Seo-Yeon tells the other young woman about the future, and influences her to make changes. Some events, it seems, are best left alone. Clever and disturbing, with a solid high-concept.

Where to stream: Netflix

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Alienoid (2022)

Silly title aside (and I have no idea if it's any better in Korean), Alienoid is a very effective thrill ride, even if the convoluted plot (involving multiple overlapping timelines, aliens, shamans, cat people, and robots) is often hard to follow. It all kicks off when warrior monks attempt to retrieve a holy sword in 1380, only to cross paths with alien hunters from 2012 via a time portal. If you dig what's on offer here, it's followed directly by a 2024 sequel. Move the past action from the Goryeo Dynasty to, say, medieval France, and you've got your remake (not that I'm encouraging it).

Where to stream: Tubi, Hi-YAH!, digital rental

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Broker (2022)

The feel of this sweet, sensitive road movie will be familiar to fans of American indie road movies (think Little Miss Sunshine), so a remake really isn't out of the question. Song Kang-ho (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Snowpiercer) stars as the owner of a laundry with a grim side-hustle: He occasionally collects babies from a church drop-off box and sells them on the adoption market. He doesn't have a lot of scruples about it until he's approached by a mother who's had second thoughts about giving up her baby. With his sidekick, they set off to find the baby's adoptive mother, with a couple of detectives on their heels.

Where to stream: Hulu, digital rental

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Right Now, Wrong Then (2015)

An arthouse take on Groundhog Day, romantic drama Right Now, Wrong Then follows a famous film director who strikes up a flirty relationship with a young painter while visiting a small town for a film screening. It goes well, until the drinks start to flow and the painter gets wind of his reputation for womanizing. Then the day starts over again, and he gets another shot—but this isn't the kind of movie that traffics in pat resolutions, blending its high concept with real human drama.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Decision to Leave (2022)

Like most of writer/director Park Chan-wook's films (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, The Handmaiden), this one's tough to classify by genre. It alternately feels like a romance, a thriller, and a mystery—or all three at once. Insomniac detective Jang Hae-jun doesn't miss a clue, until he starts to fall for (and then become obsessed with, Vertigo-style) a recently widowed woman who doesn't seem all that upset about her husband's death. The mysterious and gorgeously directed film won Park Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022.

Where to stream: Mubi, digital rental

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Miss Granny (2014)

A cute fantasy comedy that did major business in South Korea, the U.S. is just about the only country that hasn't (yet) tried to remake it—seriously: China, Japan, India, and Mexico are just some of the countries that have made their own versions. Oh Mal-soon is a 74-year-old widow living with her son and daughter-in law. She's controlling and generally mean, so much so that her son plans to put her in a nursing home to get her away from his increasingly depressed and anxious wife. One day, while looking to have anticipatory funeral pictures taken, Mal-soon stumbles upon a mysterious photo studio...and walks out of it a 20-year-old woman. Her new lease on life forces her to confront her outlook on life and the challenges of youth.

Where to stream: Netflix, digital rental

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Silenced (2011)

Based on real events, Silenced is a challenging but effective drama about a new teacher at a school for the Deaf who gradually uncovers an insidious pattern of physical and sexual abuse that the school has tried to cover up. It started a national conversation about child sexual abuse in private schools, and inspired new laws removing statutes of limitations for victims to make legal claims. Tragically, I'm sure there are similar cases in the United States that deserve the spotlight.

Where to stream: Netflix, Tubi

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Psychokinesis (2018)

Train to Busan director Yeon Sang-ho followed up that zombie film with another genre reinvention, tackling superhero movies with a similar eye toward redefinition. There’s no spandex on display here, just a delinquent dad who drinks some meteorite infused water that gifts him with the ability to move things with his mind. With the ever-growing stakes of major superhero movies, it’s not unwelcome to find one that follows a middle-aged schlub who decides to use his powers to save his daughter’s trendy, but failing, chicken restaurant and the other tenants in her neighborhood being pushed out in favor of a new mall. It’s not quite up there with Busan, but it is a refreshingly lighthearted take on an increasingly serious genre.

Where to stream: Netflix

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Extreme Job (2019)

You want another action comedy centered around a chicken restaurant? No problem. Director Lee Byeong-heon’s Extreme Job sits somewhere near the top of all-time Korean box office records, so, naturally, Universal Pictures is interested in a remake. The premise is amiably silly, but clever: a group of narcotics officers are given one last chance to stop fucking up their assignments. They manage to secure a great stakeout location in a local chicken restaurant, only to find that the business is going under. The only solution? Save the business by taking over operations—a plan that develops unexpected consequences when their new marinade becomes a sensation.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Space Sweepers (2021)

It doesn’t entirely reinvent the wheel, but there’s a refreshing focus on the underclasses of the future, without edging too far into the dystopian. I’m not the first to make a comparison between Space Sweepers and Cowboy Bebop, but, given the speedy failure of Netflix’s live-action version of that cartoon, it’s not going too far to say that you’ll find a better encapsulation of Bebop’s spirit of rag-tag found family and its outer space western milieu here then in the live-action show that bore its name. What this one lacks in originality, it makes up for in engaging characters and extravagant special effects. It’s also nice to see a less American-centric perspective on the future—something that would inevitably be lost in a remake.

Where to stream: Netflix

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The Box (2021)

Wildly popular upon its South Korean release, the jukebox-style musical The Box already has an international flavor: in it, a wise and up-and-coming singer sets out on a cross-Korea road trip with a washed-up producer (think A Star is Born, without the doomed love story). In the course of their journey, they either perform or encounter modern Korean pop songs, along with American standards and contemporary-ish hits from Coldplay, Billie Eilish, Pharrell Williams, etc., proving that you don’t have to remake something for it to cross borders and connect with audiences.

Where to stream: Prime Video

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Pandora (2016)

Pandora has much of the classic disaster movie about it: It’s a loud, crowded, and slightly bloated story of a small group of everyday people heroically fighting to avert a nuclear meltdown. The perspective, though, is where the movie will stand out for (particularly) American audiences. More interested in (some genuinely spectacular) action set pieces, Pandora doesn’t go quite as hard on government incompetence and class as Korean productions tend to, but there is a not-subtle undercurrent of anti-capitalist social commentary throughout the film.

Where to stream: Netflix

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The Day After (2017)

With shades of Scenes from a Marriage, prolific director Hong Sang-soo’s movie tracks the decline of a relationship in the wake of a case of mistaken identity. It might not be at the top of anyone’s list for a remake, but it’s a good reminder that Korean cinema isn’t all about high-concept genre films—those are just the most heavily marketed overseas. Hong’s quiet, emotional drama is as emblematic of what Korean cinema is capable of as any action thriller or horror film.

Where to stream: Digital rental via Apple TV or YouTube

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Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (2018)

I would say that this one’s more a case of Korean filmmakers playing with western found footage horror tropes...except that there’s an American remakein the works, so. Gonjiam, the original, was incredibly popular in South Korea, and deservedly so: the format is familiar, but it’s a particularly effective and well-made example of the sub-genre. The key here, as in real estate, is location, location, location: director Jung Bum-shik and the rest of the filmmakers meticulously recreated the real-life Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital in Gwangju—by reputation, one of the most haunted locations in Korea. It’s an incredibly freaky setting for undoing of the film’s doomed web series crew.

Where to stream: Prime Video, Peacock, Hi-YAH!, Tubi

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#Alive (2020)

This one, released back in June of 2020, has already seen its American remake come and go (sort of): both #Alive and the Tyler Posey/Donald Sutherland-starring Alone were produced at around the same time from the same script. This one is about a charming gamer (Yoo Ah-in) who triesy to ride out a zombie apocalypse by locking himself away (aka quarantining) inside his apartment, eventually forging a connection with a woman in the apartment across the way. Might or might not be fun to make a double-feature of it. (You can watch a confusingly unrelated thriller also from 2020 also called Alone, but I’m not sure what that gets you.)

Where to stream: Netflix

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Night Flight (2014)

To be fair, American producers probably aren’t desperate to remake this queer melodrama, but they could probably learn a thing or two from the boldness of gay director Leesong Hee-il. Pushing boundaries with his films that others were unwilling to push, his Night Flight, which follows the shifting relationships between three middle school friends when one of the boys is revealed to be gay, made clear that there’s a decent market in Korea for LGBTQ+ content. In portraying the costs of social stigma, the movie winds up dramatizing some of the darker tropes of cinematic gays, but nevertheless opened doors for Asian filmmakers.

Where to stream: Plex

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The Wailing (2016)

Though things have been quiet on the remake front for a couple of years, it could still happen: Ridley Scott’s production company immediately cast its eye on The Wailing when it first came out in 2016. A commercial and critical success, the horror movie tracks the spread of a rage-inducing plague that impacts a remote village—a plague with extraterrestrial origins. The concerns expressed by the film’s producer at the time remain legitimate: the religious undertones of the movie are based in Korea’s religious pluralism, making a direct translation tough, if not impossible.

Where to stream: Peacock, Netflix, Hi-YAH!, digital rental

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Midnight (2021)

Squid Game's Wi Ha-jun is chilling as a serial killer playing a cat-and-mouse game with Kim Kyung-mi (Jin Ki-joo), a deaf woman working late at a call center. Ha-jun stalks first Kyung-mi and then her mother, while the brother of a former victim tries to find the murderer and stop him from killing again. With a plot that unfolds over the course of a night and is packed with tricky twists, it's well worth a watch.

Where to stream: Prime Video, Peacock, Tubi

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Parasite (2019)

You might have heard of this obscure film, but only if you watch a little independent film award show called “the Academy Awards.” Adam McKay (The Big Short) is working on an HBO TV series adaptation with the input and cooperation of Parasite’s director, Bong Joon-ho. He’s promising an original story based on the film, but Bong is such a singular filmmaker, and his brand of deeply cutting social satire is so specific, that it’s tough to understand the appeal of an Americanized side-quel. It sounds a bit like the TNT series based on Bong’s Snowpiercer—a show that's OK, sure, but lacks much of the focus and bite of the original.

Where to stream: Max, digital rental

Other streamers, especially those with close corporate ties to major movie studios, might reel in a few more major theatrical releases than Netflix. Where Netflix outshines them, however, is in its slate of original movies produced specifically for the streaming service. At a glance, it might seem as though the streamer emphasizes quantity over quality, but they've released nine Best Picture Academy Award nominees since 2019. Oscars aren't everything, of course—but they're not nothing, either.

Here, then, are some of the best recent movies streaming on Netflix, whether wide theatrical releases you might have missed, or originals.

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Godzilla Minus One (2023)

This one's a tiny bit of a cheat, as it technically came out in 2023...but most of its North American run happened in January, so we're going to count it. The American Godzilla movies have been doing a very effective job by taking an entertaining more-is-more approach, but Godzilla Minus One makes clear that Japanese filmmakers will always have a deeper connection with the kaiju king. A prequel, of sorts, to the original 1954 film, this one finds kamikaze pilot Koichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) encountering Godzilla multiple times over the years following World War II. That trauma, going back to that first movie, lends this one an emotional weight. Nearly as important, the masterful visual effects make Godzilla scary again. One of the very best in a series with plenty of movies to choose from.

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Hit Man (2024)

Glen Powell (who co-wrote the film alongside director Richard Linklater) stars as Gary Johnson, a withdrawn New Orleans professor who's roped into a side gig at which he's surprisingly good: He impersonates hired assassins for the police. People looking to hire a killer come to Gary, believing that he's a hit man, only to find that they've been entrapped. Things get complicated (in a darkly comedic way) when he's approached by Madison (Adria Arjona) to bump off her abusive husband, and he's suddenly not so clear as to whose side he's on.

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Under Paris (2024)

I'm not sure that this shark-themed disaster movie is going to pick Netflix up any new Oscar nominations...but we ain't always here for all that. This is an aggressively fun (and very French) update on Jaws that sees a killer mako shark loose first in the Seine and then the catacombs...under Paris. An Olympic qualifying event is about to occur in the city which, of course, the mayor won't call off inspite of the danger. And the deaths. There's some stuff here about environmental catastrophe, but mostly it's just a bone-chomping good time.

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Society of the Snow (2023)

The true story of the 1972 Uruguayan rugby team lost in the Andes following a place crash has been the subject of multiple documentaries and two previous dramas. For all that, this would seem to be the best of all of them: a thoughtful and tasteful take on what's sometimes been presented as a salacious drama, with director J. A. Bayona emphasizing both the physical perils faced by the team, but also the spiritual toll of survival.

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Shirley (2024)

John Ridley (screenwriter of 12 Years a Slave) directs this rather necessary biopic of sometimes-forgotten pioneer Shirley Chisholm. The first Black woman elected to Congress (in 1969), Chisolm ran a forcefully progressive campaign for president just three years later. Even if the movie is a bit formulaic, Regina King (perhaps unsurprisingly) gives a moving, powerhouse performance in the title role.

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Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution (2024)

We often treat comedy as pure entertainment but, of course, at its most meaningful, it's more than that: It can be healing, and it can be destructive in the best possible way, serving as an agent of change. Outstanding charts nearly a century of queer comedy and its power for individuals and as an essential part of the LGBTQ movement. Prominently featured is Robin Tyler, one-half of a "sister" act in the 1960s who ultimately became the first lesbian or gay comic to come out on TV, and later became a central figure in queer liberation. Lily Tomlin, Wanda Sykes, Billy Eichner, Margaret Cho, Suzy Izzard, and Joel Kim Booster are just a few of comics on hand to tell their stories.

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Ultraman: Rising (2024)

This Japanese-American co-production reboots the beloved franchise with help from director Shannon Tindle and co-writer Marc Haimes (both of Kubo and the Two Strings). Here, professional baseball player Ken Sato returns home to Japan when he inherits the mantle of Ultraman from his retired father. There's plenty of family-friendly action and some really lovely animation, but the movie's real selling point is in its emotional arc: The egotistical Sato needs to reconnect with his distant father while, at the same time, he becomes the unwilling father of an orphaned child (well, kind of a child...).

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Mea Culpa (2024)

Tyler Perry's latest is a steamy legal thriller with Kelly Rowland as a defense attorney who takes the case of an artist (Trevante Rhodes) accused of killing his girlfriend—Rowland's character's name is actually Mea, which probably tells you all you ned to know about this blend of silly and sexy. Her husband's Kal's been cheating on her, and her brother-in-law is the prosecutor, and there seems to be some sort of larger political scheme at play. It's all a bit of juicy fun.

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Thelma the Unicorn (2024)

Brittany Howard leads an all-star voice cast including Will Forte, Jemaine Clement, Edi Patterson, Fred Armisen, Zach Galifianakis, Jon Heder, and Shondrella Avery in this cute family-friendly story of a farm pony with big dreams of music stardom. Fun soundtrack, too.

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Remembering Gene Wilder (2024)

Gene Wilder serves as the posthumous narrator of this smart, accessible introduction to the life and career of the actor and comedian: using the audiobook of his biography as a basis, as well as archival clips and interviews with friends and collaborators (Mel Brooks is, naturally, prominently featured). With Wilder himself to guide us along, it's a good reminder of the long career and impressive range of one of our finest and funniest actors.

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Madame Web (2024)

Nobody's here to make the case that Madame Web is a work of misunderstood genius...but it is a contender for unintentional camp classic. The hyperbole surrounding its release saw it as a herald of the end times for superhero movies, but the Dakota Johnson-lead film is honestly a lot more fun (endless "ironic" product placement and all) than many of its more serious, better-reviewed contemporaries. Sit back, grab a Pepsi, and hang out with some less reputable spider-people.

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Black Barbie (2024)

Writer and director Lagueria Davis pays tribute to her aunt, Beulah Mitchell, who worked at Mattel for decades and became instrumental in the development of the first Black Barbie, designed by Kitty Black Perkins and released in 1980. 1980! The doll was such a success that it inspired a world of more diverse toys, not just at Barbie, and generally changed the face of the toy industry. This brisk documentary, from Shondaland, makes a great case for the importance of dolls, play, and representation.

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The Greatest Night in Pop (2024)

Telling the story of the night that the biggest pop stars of the 1980s (well, except Madonna) got together to record "We Are the World" for charity, The Greatest Night in Pop reunites several of the famous voices (Lionel Richie, Bruce Springsteen, Huey Lewis, Dionne Warwick, and Cyndi Lauper) who were there to tell the story. The recording itself is an interesting story, of course, but a big part of the fun here is remembering a world in which you had to assemble all of these people on short notice without cell phones. The logistics are positively harrowing.

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Thanksgiving (2023)

Patrick Dempsey stars in this funny but bleak satire from Eli Roth, his first horror film since 2013. When an unruly mob storms a Walmart (sorry: RightMart) on Black Friday, violence and bloodshed ensue, leaving one of the victims of the incident to seek revenge. It's wild and gory holiday fun.

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Anyone but You (2023)

A loose spin on Much Ado About Nothing, Anyone But You stars Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell as a couple who meet, hit it off—and then immediately piss each other off such that neither really wants to see each other again. Until, of course, they need wedding dates and find themselves surrounded by scheming friends. It's not wildly out there as rom-com premises go, but this one's briskly directed and boasts strong chemistry between the leads.

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Orion in the Dark (2024)

Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) wrote this DreamWorks animated adaptation of the Emma Yarlett novel. When Orion is visited by the literal incarnation of his fear of the dark, he's taken on a whirlwind journey around the world to explore the world of night and help him to face his fears.

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Damsel (2024)

Netflix's favorite action lead, Millie Bobby Brown, is back in this dark fantasy from director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later). Brown plays Elodie, the damsel of the title, offered into an arranged marriage by her family, only to discover that she's marked as the sacrifice to a dragon. Which turns out to be bad news for her new in-laws.

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Rebel Moon, Parts One and Two (2023/2024)

Zack Snyder, late of the entire DC cinematic universe, isn't to everyone's taste—but his Army of the Dead, also for Netflix, was a fun spin on the zombie formula, done as a heist movie. His followup is pure science fiction: a multi-part (it's unclear how many parts that will be) space opera that blends Snyder's distinctive visual style with Star Wars-style action. Sofia Boutella stars as a former soldier who rallies warriors from across the galaxy to join in a revolt against the imperial Motherworld on the title's out-of-the-way farming moon.

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The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (2023)

This short adaptation of the Roald Dahl story finally earned Wes Anderson his first Oscar. Benedict Cumberbatch stars as the titular Henry Sugar, a man who uses his inherited fortune to fund his gambling habit. When he learns of a secret means of winning by seeing through the eyes of others, he comes to perceive more than he, perhaps, bargained for. It's cute and sweet, and among one of Anderson's most visually inventive works (which is saying quite a bit). At 39 minutes, it never has time to wear out its welcome—even if you're not a huge fan of Anderson''s twee sensibilities. Ralph Fiennes, Dev Patel, Ben Kingsley, and Richard Ayoade also star.

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American Symphony (2023)

Director Matthew Heineman's film follows a year in the lives of writer Suleika Jaouad and her husband, musician Jon Batiste, during which she confronts a recurrence of a rare form of leukemia while he constructs his first symphony. It's a moving film that goes beyond the obvious tropes to make the case that there are things that only music can say. It had a lot of Oscar buzz, while receiving just a single nomination for Best Song.

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Scoop (2024)

The great Gillian Anderson plays real-life British journalist Emily Maitlis, who lead the BBC2 team that secured the disastrous (for the Prince) interview with Prince Andrew (Rufus Sewell) that laid bare his associations with sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Keeley Hawes and Billie Piper also star.

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May December (2023)

Todd Haynes directs this insightful and moving, but also deliberately campy, story of an actress visiting the woman whom she'll be playing in a film. The movie's deft, and unexpected, blending of tones makes it pretty consistently fascinating, and the lead performances from Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, and Charles Melton are all top-tier.

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Nyad (2023)

Annette Benning stars as the real-life Diana Nyad, who swam from Florida to Cuba in her 60s. The movie succeeds in large part because of the performances from and chemistry between lead Annette Bening and Jodie Foster, both of whom received Oscar nominations for their work here.

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The Killer (2023)

David Fincher's latest didn't seem to generate his typical buzz, perhaps because it's so thoroughly action-oriented (a far cry from his last Netflix original, the screenplay-writing drama Mank). Michael Fassbender plays the movie's nameless hitman protagonist, a fastidious and ruthless killer who makes the first mistake of his career—accidentally shooting the wrong person—and then finds his carefully managed life crumbling faster than he can keep up.

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Rustin (2023)

Colman Domingo gives a stellar performance (earning a Best Actor Oscar nomination) as the title's Bayard Rustin, the gay Civil Rights leader who planned the March on Washington. Not only is it a corrective to our very straight-centered vision of the Civil Rights Movement, it's a stylish and moving biopic in its own right.

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Leave the World Behind (2023)

Look at this cast: Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, Myha'la Herrold (Industry), and Kevin Bacon are all on hand for this apocalyptic thriller that has that Bird Box vibe without the alien implications—the monsters here are all human. As technology begins to inexplicably fail, our protagonists find themselves in a last-days-of-America scenario, including a scene of self-driving Teslas run amok. It's occasionally a little on the nose, but still a pretty compelling thriller.

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City Hunter (2024)

The City Hunter manga, about the titular detective agency, has been adapted several times in the past, with very mixed results. This latest looks like it might be the best: a candy-colored, high-action, appropriately goofy take starring Ryohei Suzuki as lead detective Ryo Saeba and Misato Morita as the daughter of his murdered partner, with whom he teams up to avenge that death and to find a missing teenage runaway with deadly superpowers.

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Spaceman (2024)

Adam Sandler stars here in one of his occasional dramatic roles, here as a Czech astronaut coming to terms with the potential dissolution of his marriage. At the edge of the solar system. With some help from a spider-like alien creature trying to understand humanity. Carey Mulligan and Isabella Rossellini co-star.

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Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (2023)

If it's not entirely on the same level as the Aardman-animated original from way back in 2000, it's still a delightful and cheeky return from the escapees from Mr. and Mrs. Tweedy's Farm. Thandiwe Newton leads the impressive voice cast.

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Down the Rabbit Hole (2024)

The House of Flowers creator Manolo Caro directs this quirky and thoughtful drama about meticulous, fussy kid Tochtli (Miguel Valverde), living in a palatial estate somewhere in rural Mexico. He's old enough to start questioning his wildly privileged and sheltered life, slowly discovering that his father Yolcaut (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) is a major, well-connected drug lord. It's a quietly stylish drama that avoids taking any obvious routes.

It feels as though maintaining a reasonable level of mental health is particularly challenging right now, whether we're talking about clinical depression or just a general feeling of unease brought on by being bombarded with negative news on a much-more-than-daily basis. So a little self-care is rarely a bad idea—and while this is in no way a clinical recommendation, I find that a good cry is often the best way to make myself feel a little better. Just as sad songs are often a comfort in dark times, so are sad movies often just the thing when a good cry is called for.

Some movies earn their tears honestly, while others are more manipulative—the ones sometimes dismissively called tearjerkers. I’m not sure how much it matters, though: Many of us are naturally suspicious of entertainment that moves us, but, like a good jump scare or thrilling action sequence, there’s skill, and art, to plucking at our emotional strings. Just thinking of some of these movies—which are enough to make all but the most hard-hearted among you ugly cry—gets me feeling misty.

A warning though, before we proceed: it's hard to talk about what makes these movies weepy without getting into some spoilers. Proceed with caution.

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Past Lives (2023)

Greta Lee plays Nora, whose family emigrated from South Korea to the United States when she was a child. Years later, and then over the course of several years, she reunites with childhood friend Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), forcing an examination of her life as it is, and as it might have been.

The crying bit: I'm not sure there's one particular moment here (this isn't a tearjerker), but the film's ending—with its cumulative sense of love, loss, and roads not taken—packs a powerful emotional punch. Just posting the trailer here made the tears start welling up in my eyes.

Where to stream: Paramount+, Digital rental

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Dancer in the Dark (2000)

Minimalist Dogme 95-style filmmaking somehow meets Douglas Sirk-style melodrama, all mixed up in a stripped-down homage to the artificiality of the Old Hollywood musical. Starring none other than outré Icelandic singer Björk (who apparently had a terrible time making it), this is deeply strange, and strangely compelling, in its story of a Czech immigrant who’s forced into increasingly dire straits as she tries to get the money for a medical procedure that will save her son’s vision.

The crying bit: Björk and company create such a compelling (though bleak) fantasy world that the movie’s ultra-dark denouement hits hard.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Sounder (1972)

A family of sharecroppers in rural Louisiana, lead by Cicely Tyson and Paul Winfield, is tragically disrupted when Winfield’s Nathan Lee Morgan is arrested for having stolen a bit of food.

The crying bit: Sounder, the dog, is a relatively minor part of the film, and, though he does get injured, you needn’t fear any dog-related tragedies. This is one for which the tears really come when the family is reunited.

Where to stream: Prime Video, Peacock, Tubi

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Beaches (1988)

Bette Midler has never been so schmaltzy as in this movie charting the ups and downs of her lifelong friendship with Barbara Hershey, beginning way back when Midler’s character is played by Mayim Bialik. Though history hasn’t come to recognize Beaches as an all-time classic, there were a couple of years during which the haunting strains of “Wind Beneath My Wings” were utterly inescapable. Be warned, though: I listened to this soundtrack on repeat around the time this first came on TV, and I’m pretty sure it made me gay.

The crying bit: You can see the death scene coming from all the way down the beach, but only the hardest heart isn’t going to feel a twinge when C.C. and Hillary watch one final sunset.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Love Story (1970)

Less a work of genius, perhaps, than a masterpiece of emotional manipulation, Love Story is a classic tearjerker in the finest tradition of the form. Love means never having to say you’re sorry, and I won't apologize for recommending this.

The crying bit: After we’ve established the central couple’s meet-cute, opposites-attract relationship and marriage, we’re primed for tragedy when Oliver (Ryan O’Neal) learns that Jenny (Ali McGraw) is terminally ill, attempting to conceal the diagnosis from her (which was, apparently, a thing you could do circa 1970). Alas, this isn’t a movie about successful treatments and permanent remission.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)

A young suffragette (Greer Garson) breaks the stiff, stuffy, oh-so-British reserve of teacher Charles Edward Chipping (Robert Donat)

The crying bit: Following the death, in childbirth, of his beloved, Mr. Chips returns to the classroom, stiff upper lip fully starched. It’s clear he’s lost not just his love, but also the joy in living she’d helped him discover.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)

Based on the James Baldwin novel and directed by Moonlight’s Barry Jenkins, this is the tragic story of a young couple (played by KiKi Layne and Stephan James) torn apart by a false allegation and injustice.

The crying bit: I’m not sure that there’s a single moment here, and that’s to the non-linear movie’s credit. There’s a pervasive sense of sadness and injustice as we’re drawn deeply into the story of this couple. The most emotional moment is, perhaps, the moment near the end when Tish realizes that there’s no hope of undoing the injustice that landed Funny in jail.

Where to stream: Peacock, Starz, Digital rental

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The Color Purple (1985)

Steven Spielberg directs Whoopi Goldberg as the abused Celie, separated from her beloved sister at a young age in rural Georgia of the early 20th century. It’s a better adaptation of Alice Walker’s acclaimed novel than it is often given credit for.

The crying bit: The greatest heartbreaks come closer to the beginning than the end. And, though there are tearful moments throughout, the real catharsis comes when we finally feel like things finally (finally) start looking up for Miss Celie and company. You’re invited to cry at the sad moments and the joyous conclusion.

Where to stream: Tubi, Digital rental

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Steel Magnolias (1989)

They used to call this sort of thing a “chick flick,” as though the mere presence of women at the top of the cast list were enough to place a film in its own genre. Regardless, with the all-legend casting of Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis, and Julia Roberts, this is the Avengers of movies set largely in a beauty salon.

The crying bit: The film’s death scene is gutting, but less so than Sally Field’s graveside breakdown, both for its own emotive power and for her realization that she’s not alone. Somehow “Take a whack at Ouiser!” is the film’s supreme moment of catharsis.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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The Joy Luck Club (1993)

Another great film with women in the lead and a brilliant ensemble cast (including Ming-Na Wen, Rosalind Chao, Tamlyn Tomita, and Lauren Tom), The Joy Luck Club centers around a group of Chinese elders who gather to play Mahjong and trade stories that span generations.

The crying bit: There are plenty of emotional moments across the film’s many vignettes, but by far the most wrenching is the story of Suyuan Woo’s escape from the Japanese invasion of China. Near death and at the end of her strength, she’s forced to abandon her twin daughters. The moment would, understandably, haunt Suuyan and color her relationship with her other daughter, June.

Where to stream: Hulu, Digital rental

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Imitation of Life (1959)

Even if it’s not flawless in its perspectives, Imitation of Life is as close to racial consciousness as Hollywood got in the 1950s, doing the original version of the film (from 1934) one better by shifting the focus away from single mother Lora Meredith (here played by Lana Turner) and toward Juanita Moore’s Annie Johnson and her light-skinned-to-the-point-of-passing daughter, Sarah Jane.

The crying bit: Their relationship having entirely broken down through the course of the film, mother and daughter never truly reconcile before Annie’s untimely death. It’s the funeral, though, that clinches it, as Mahalia Jackson sings “Trouble of the World” while Sarah Jane falls on her mother’s casket.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Stella Dallas (1937)

Barbara Stanwyck plays the title’s sassy mill worker’s daughter, whose plans to better her own situation go consistently awry, leading to a deeply unhappy marriage. Eventually, she places all her hopes in her daughter, Laurel.

The crying bit: Circumstances lead Stella to believe that her daughter’s only road to happiness is apart from the troubled mother. So, she forces Laurel away with cruel comments, then watches her daughter’s marriage through a window, sadness and joy mingled in her expression.

Where to stream: Prime Video

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Up (2009)

Belying the unfair reputation that cartoons once had as goofy kids’ stuff, the ability of a Pixar movie to reduce grown people to tears is legendary.

The crying bit: The montage, early in the film, depicting Carl Fredricksen’s life with his late wife, Ellie, and their inability to ever save up enough money for their dream trip, is gutting. Gutting. (Later there’s a talking dog, which helps.)

Where to stream: Disney+, Digital rental

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Toy Story 3 (2010)

Oh, hey, just Pixar again, here to make us cry over some damn computer generated toys.

The crying bit: You think it’s the ending, but it’s actually the moment when the toys, seemingly at the ends of their usefulness, make their peace with death (if living toys can truly “die”) while on a conveyor belt leading to an incinerator. Yeah, it’s also wistfully sad when Andy passes the toys along to Bonnie, saying goodbye to his childhood, but that’s like a gentle jab after getting hit over the head with a folding chair.

Where to stream: Disney+, Digital rental

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The Fox and the Hound (1981)

The kindly Widow Tweed adopts an orphaned fox, Tod, while her neighbor, hunter Amos Blade, brings home a hound named Copper to be his new hunting dog. They become friends. Then they aren’t, and it’s sad.

The crying bit: Oh, lord. We start out with a Bambi-esque death scene and, later, a heartbreaking abandonment. The emotional crux of the film is the bit about how Tod and Copper will “always be friends forever.” But fate has other ideas.

Where to stream: Disney+, Digital rental

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Old Yeller (1957)

A young boy (Tommy Kirk) has a lovely, special bond with the titular Labrador Retriever in Texas of the late 1860s.

The crying bit: Let’s just say that Old Yeller doesn’t fare terribly well here. They made this movie for kids, if you can believe it.

Where to stream: Disney+, Digital rental

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The NeverEnding Story (1984)

Ten-year-old Bastian Bux is an outcast (translated from movie parlance: a reader) who finds himself drawn into his new book rather literally, as he's gradually pulled into the story of warrior Atreus, on a quest to save The Childlike Empress from "The Nothing" in the world of Fantasia.

The crying bit: Atreyu's faithful steed, Artax, is overcome in the Swamp of Sadness. It's a genuinely powerful emotional moment, representing a low point for both Bastion and Atreyu.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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A Star Is Born (1954)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, the 2018 Lady Gaga version is sad, too, but this earlier version is the template (we can't call it the original, since it's the second of four takes, and not the same general plot). Judy Garland stars alongside James Mason as one half of a Hollywood power couple—except that her star is in the ascendant, while his is in substance-dependent decline.

The crying bit: Upon her return to the stage following her husband's death, Vicki announces herself as "Mrs. Norman Maine." A little awkward, perhaps, to modern eyes, but still rather stirring in context. It's also rather poignant that this was meant to be Judy Garland's big comeback, but inexplicably died at the box office.

Where to stream: Tubi, Digital rental

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The Fault in Our Stars (2014)

The John Green adaptation stars Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort as two teens who meet at a support group for cancer patients, before going on a whirlwind trip to Amsterdam to meet one of their favorite authors and find out why his last book doesn't really have an ending.

The crying bit: It's not entirely, nor unnecessarily, maudlin, but it's a movie about two kids with cancer, one of whom turns out to have a terminal diagnosis. Their first kiss is at the Anne Frank House. So, take your pick.

Where to stream: Disney+, Digital rental

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Brief Encounter (1945)

Director David Lean is best known today for his epics: Lawrence of Arabia, A Passage to India, etc. But this early classic of his is every bit as impressive a work, even if the scale is much smaller. Laura is a respectable middle-class woman in a stable but dull marriage, while Alec is an idealistic doctor, also married with children. They start running into each other whenever Laura goes to a nearby town for a bit of shopping and, as their relationship and affections develop, each separation becomes more difficult.

The crying bit: It's what doesn't happen that breaks your heart here, as the final encounter between the two is interrupted and cut short.

Where to stream: Max, The Criterion Channel, Prime Video

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Inside Out (2015)

The Disney/Pixar tear train has been running for a long time—at least since Bambi—and Inside Out continues the tradition ably. Here we venture into the mind of 11-year-old Riley, processing her feelings about a family move via personifications of emotions with personalities of their own.

The crying bit: Bing Bong. Definitely Bing Bong. Oh, god, Bing Bong.

Where to stream: Disney+, Digital rental

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The Iron Giant (1999)

In Cold War-era Maine, a giant alien robot becomes the focus of fear and paranoia from an American military who can only see his potential as a weapon.

The crying bit: Is is the moment when the Giant realizes that he can be what he chooses to be, saying “Superman” as he sacrifices himself to save Hogarth and his other friends? Or the bit at the end when it appears that he didn’t die after all? I mean, it’s definitely the first one—but they’re both incredibly emotional.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Titanic (1997)

Titanic’s extraordinary popularity has bred a certain cynicism about the movie, with discussion turning on the relative buoyancy of floating doors and the camp appeal of Billy Zane. There’s still a brilliantly constructed old-school Hollywood epic here, of the kind they truly don’t make anymore. In theaters in 1997, the final scenes were typically drowned out (sorry, pun intended) by the sounds of sobbing audiences—and time hasn’t entirely dulled that power.

The crying bit: She says that she’ll never let go. But she absolutely lets go. But then they meet again on the ship where dreams are born, and they look so young and pretty, and everyone claps. (Thank god they skipped the original ending.)

Where to stream: Paramount+, Prime Video

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Moulin Rouge! (2001)

Baz Luhrmann’s over-the-top, La Bohème-inspired jukebox musical about star-cross’d lovers in turn-of-the-20th-century Paris was never going to have an entirely happy ending.

The crying bit: Once you see the blood on the handkerchief, you know how it’s going to end. I’m not sure that consumption was nearly so elegant a way to go as the movies suggest, but, in this case, there’s so much spectacle and distraction that we’ve almost forgotten the foreshadowing, setting up an ending that still manages to come as a bit of a shock.

Where to stream: Hulu, Apple TV+

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The Farewell (2019)

New York-based Chinese-American writer Billi (Awkwafina) learns from her parents that her grandmother, diagnosed with lung cancer, has just months to live. They’ve decided not to tell her, and are concerned that their Americanized daughter won’t keep the secret if she travels to China to spend time with Nai Nai during her final days.

The crying bit: It’s not a maudlin movie, despite the subject matter, but the night, near the end of the film, when Nai Nai encourages Bill to live life on her own terms, got me. There are also tears to be had at the film’s surprisingly upbeat ending. It’s also sadder because it’s all true.

Where to stream: Max, Digital rental

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The Laramie Project (2002)

A theatre company travels to Laramie, Wyoming to meet with and interview residents in the aftermath of the murder of Matthew Shepard. Based on the same-named play, the film is a curious hybrid of cinema, theater, and documentary with a cast of recognizable names.

The crying bit: Being the story of the very real Matthew Shepard, this one cuts deeper than the more explicitly fictional narratives, and might be a bit much if you’re looking for some gentle catharsis. Still, there’s no question that it’s a worthwhile and important watch—the moment when a local gay resident (played by Bill Irwin) relates his emotions following a parade in Shepard’s honor hits particularly hard.

Where to stream: Max, Digital rental

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Sophie’s Choice (1982)

From the William Styron novel, we gradually learn the story of Polish immigrant Sophie Zawistowska, a Holocaust survivor who was faced with a particularly horrific choice, as the title suggests.

The crying bit: Near the end, we learn that Sophie had to choose between her two children upon entering Auschwitz.

Where to stream: Peacock, The Criterion Channel, Tubi, Crackle, Prime Video

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Ordinary People (1980)

A family drama elevated by some truly excellent performances, Ordinary People deals with the impact of tragedy on a family led by an increasingly emotionally distant mother (Mary Tyler Moore).

The crying bit: There are plenty of emotional scenes in this drama, but there’s a moment during a therapy session when Timothy Hutton’s Conrad expresses his feelings over the sailing accident that killed his brother, admitting that he considers having survived his greatest failure, that really smacked me in the face.

Where to stream: Max, Digital rental

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Just Mercy (2019)

Michael B. Jordan plays the real-life attorney and activist Bryan Stevenson, here at the beginning of his career and representing the wrongfully convicted Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx).

The crying bit: We know that the criminal justice system fails Black Americans more often than not, which makes the happy ending here (which, granted, only comes after McMillian serves multiple years on death row) a brief, but joyous moment.

Where to stream: Prime Video

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Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)

Quvenzhané Wallis plays Hushpuppy, who constructs an elaborate fantasy world around her Louisiana Bayou community and her ailing father.

The crying bit: Confronting the much-feared aurochs, Hushpuppy saves the people of her island in the face of her father’s death, at which point she gives him one hell of a funeral.

Where to stream: Digital rental

The year is still young, but the shape of the year's movie landscape is already apparent. Comic book movies are in a bit of a holding pattern, opening up space for non-superhero movies; as a result, we're seeing some more unique movies move to the forefront.

Unlike last year, though, when Barbie and Oppenheimer dominated the zeitgeist, there's no consistent theme—unless it's the fact that would-be big-budget blockbusters, even good ones like Furiosa and The Fall Guy, have struggled. It's not entirely clear why (Dune: Part Two still cleaned up), but mid-year, the movies are looking a little peaked on a macro level, even as there is a lot to celebrate on a micro level—as evidenced by these 23 releases that have already made it to streaming or digital rental.

(Note that a few entries on this list are technically 2023 movies that either played internationally or only in limited release in the U.S. I'm defining a 2024 film as one that had the bulk of its North American run this calendar year.)

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Dune: Part Two

Release date: March 1
U.S. box office gross: $282 million

Did Denis Villeneuve stick the landing on his adaptation of the latter part of Frank Herbert's epic novel? Yes, and so much so that Dune zealots are already looking ahead to a third film, adapting the second book in the series. The chilly (metaphorically) and cerebral film was a critical as well as a box office success—surprising on both counts, especially considering that the beloved book had come to be seen as more-or-less unadaptable.

Where to stream: Max, Digital rental

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Lisa Frankenstein

Release date: Feb. 7
U.S. box office gross: $10 million

This neon-lit horror comedy from director Zelda Williams and writer Diablo Cody got short shrift at the box office but remains a genre-hopping good time. Kathryn Newton plays teen outcast Lisa, who accidentally revives and then develops romantic feelings for a decaying Victorian-era young man (Cole Sprouse). The blend of sweet romance, horror, and dark comedy is not for every taste, but if any of that sounds at appealing, you're in for a grisly treat.

Where to stream: Peacock, digital rental

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Late Night With the Devil

Release date: March 22
U.S. box office gross: $11 million

David Dastmalchian stars as Jack Delroy, the host of a late-night talk show in 1977—not quite Johnny Carson, but in that ballpark. A Halloween night broadcast about demonic possession brings Jack's dark secrets to the foreground and soon spirals out of control, with grisly consequences. The conceit is that we're watching a live recording of actual events, and the filmmakers have a lot of fun laying out the period vibe trappings things start to go south for the host, guests, and studio audience.

Where to stream: Shudder, digital rental

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I Saw the TV Glow

Release date: May 3
U.S. box office gross: $4 million

What if your favorite TV show was more than just a show, but, instead, a view of a different world? As a couple of kids in 1989 get caught up in their favorite TV show, their senses of identity begin to fracture, for better or worse. Writer/director Jane Schoenbrun's second effort (after the extremely online experimental horror flick We're All Going to the World's Fair) is on one level a stylish and trippy consideration of the dangers of nostalgia, and on another, a beautiful, emotionally wrenching vision of the trans experience.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Infested

Release date: April 6 on streaming
U.S. box office gross: N/A

What, you don't like spiders? This 2023 French import, released in the U.S. in April, sees a giant housing project overrun by a rare species of arachnid that never should have been imported. It's not exactly rigorously science-based, just the story of scrappy young people trying to survive an onslaught of rapidly breeding, rapidly growing spiders, even as the authorities are more interested in containing the problem then in actually helping the low-income Parisians trapped inside the building. Good fun for fans of creepy crawlies.

Where to stream: Shudder, AMC+, digital rental

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Hit Man

Release date: May 24 on streaming
U.S. box office gross: N/A

Not sure why we're still going direct to streaming for films from major directors, but such is the case with Richard Linklater's Hit Man. Glen Powell stars as a sullen New Orleans professor who discovers he's surprisingly good at his new side gig: impersonating a hired assassin for the police in order to catch people willing to pay to kill. Things get rather complicated (in a darkly comedic way) when he's approached by Madison (Adria Arjona) to bump off her abusive husband, and he's suddenly not so clear about who is a hero and who is a villain.

Where to stream: Netflix

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Challengers

Release date: April 26
U.S. box office gross: $50 million

Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name) brings us the horny bisexual romantic tennis drama we didn't know we needed. Zendaya stars as a former tennis pro turned coach who falls into a love triangle with her champion husband (Mike Faist) and her low-circuit boyfriend (Josh O'Connor). The chemistry between the three is a smash.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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River

Release date: Early 2024 on streaming
U.S. box office gross: N/A

A delightful import from Japanese director Junta Yamaguchi, River is set at a bucolic health spa where nothing much ever happens...until staffer Mikoto finds herself sent back in time exactly two minutes. Every two minutes, actually, and she's not the only one affected. The sci-fi comedy is appropriately frantic, as staff and guests try to figure out how to live their lives two minutes at a time, but there's a winning sweetness that balances nicely with the genre elements. It's really fun.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Hundreds of Beavers

Release date: April 15 on streaming
Box office gross: $420,000 in limited release

This one's been a hit on the festival circuit, delighting roadshow audiences with its Looney Tunes-esque charms and, naturally, an abundance of beavers. A 19th century applejack (that's a kind of booze) salesman Jean Kayak kicks off a war with said beavers (played by humans is giant, absurd costumes) when one eats through a support beam and destroys his home. What ensues is absolute comic anarchy, with one legitimately hilarious silent film-style gag after another. You wanted something unique? This is it.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Love Lies Bleeding

Release date: March 8
Box office gross: $8.3 million

Writer/director Rose Glass (Saint Maud) returns with a darkly comic, neo-noir crime thriller involving a reclusive gym manager (Kristen Stewart) and a bodybuilder (Katy O'Brian) who get involved with the mob after conspiring to cover up a murder. It's a wonderful bit of modern queer pulp with a couple of great lead performances.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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The First Omen

Release date: April 5
Box office gross: $20 million

If you had told me that a prequel to the long-defunct Omen franchise would be one of the year's more effective horror movies (so far), I'd have looked at you the way everybody looks at Gregory Peck when he tried to kill his satanic kid way back in the 1976 original. But here we are! First-time feature director Arkasha Stevenson brings a ton of '70s period style and an appropriately paranoid vibe to the story of future antichrist Damien's birth, blending themes of bodily autonomy with genuine horror and one of the freakiest birth scenes in movie history.

Where to stream: Hulu, digital rental

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Bosco

Release date: Feb. 2
Box office gross: N/A

Based on a memoir from Quawntay “Bosco” Adams (played here by Aubrey Joseph), who was sentenced in 2004 to 35 years in a maximum security prison for the heinous, unforgivable crime of—well, the movie keeps that under wraps for quite a while. Suffice it to say that, once the truth is revealed, it’s not hard to root for him as he plans an ingenious and fairly spectacular escape with the help of a prison pen pal (Nikki Blonsky). Tyrese Gibson, Theo Rossi, Thomas Jane, and Vivica A. Fox round out the cast.

Where to stream: Peacock, digital rental

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Orion and the Dark

Release date: Feb. 2 on streaming
Box office gross: N/A

Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) wrote the early drafts of this DreamWorks animated adaptation of the Emma Yarlett novel. When young Orion is visited by the literal incarnation of his fear of the dark, he's taken on a whirlwind journey to explore the world of night, with the hope it will help him face his fears. Without ever feeling age-inappropriate, this Netflix animated film tackles some bigger themes than we're used to seeing in modern kids' movies (existential dread, anyone?).

Where to stream: Netflix

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The Fall Guy

Release date: May 3
Box office gross: $88 million

While theatrical audiences didn't go wild for this action-comedy take on the 1980s TV show, this Ryan Gosling/Emily Blunt vehicle, from John Wick director David Leitch, is an impressively enjoyable bit of summer fun. The stunts are, perhaps unsurprisingly, continuously impressive, as are the special effects, but the real star is the chemistry between Gosling and Blunt. It's the kind of satisfying, enjoyable, standalone entertainment we don't get to see tht often these days (and given it's on track to lose buckets of money, perhaps ever again).

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Drive-Away Dolls

Release date: Feb. 23
Box office gross: $5 million

Ethan Coen goes it solo as director (co-writing with his wife Tricia Cooke) for this gloriously unhinged tribute to '70s exploitation romances. Marian and Jamie are a couple of friends who, setting off on a road trip to Tallahassee, Florida, discover that they've taken the wrong rental car. The tipoff: A briefcase full of sex toys and a human head in the trunk. Of such circumstances are great lesbian adventures born. If it's not quite a match for the Coen brothers' best work (a tall order), it's still an awfully good time.

Where to stream: Peacock, Digital rental

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Shirley

Release date: March 22 on streaming
U.S. box office gross: N/A

John Ridley (screenwriter of 12 Years a Slave) directs this rather necessary biopic of Shirley Chisholm. The first Black woman elected to Congress (in 1969), she ran a forcefully progressive campaign for president just three years later. While the film doesn't stray too far stylistically from the biopic formula, Regina King gives a moving, powerhouse performance in the title role.

Where to stream: Netflix

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Scoop

Release date: April 5 on streaming
U.S. box office gross: N/A

Gillian Anderson plays real-life British journalist Emily Maitlis, who lead the BBC2 team that secured a disastrous (for the prince) interview with Prince Andrew (Rufus Sewell) that laid bare his associations with sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Anderson is phenomenal in a movie that manages to make the hunt for an interview suitably dramatic.

Where to stream: Netflix

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Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

Release date: March 22
U.S. box office gross: $113 million

Look, there's no question the whole Ghostbusters thing has grown a little perfunctory. Still, there's fun to be had in this Avengers-esque mash-up that brings together generations of Ghostbusters more formally than did the previous film, Afterlife. It also returns to New York City, which just feels right, and Ernie Hudson remains the unsung franchise MVP.

Where to stream: Digital purchase

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Bob Marley: One Love

Release date: Feb. 14
U.S. box office gross: $97 million

In many ways standard issue as biopics go, this one's entirely saved by the brilliant lead performance from Kingsley Ben-Adir and, of course, a killer soundtrack. An underdog box office success story.

Where to stream: Paramount+, Digital rental

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Monkey Man

Release date: April 5
U.S. box office gross: $25 million

Dev Patel writes, directs, and stars in this bloody action thriller that winds up giving John Wick a run for its money. Loosely inspired by the Hindu deity Hanuman, the film casts Patel as a nameless fighter in a sleazy bare-knuckle establishment who is wronged, and sets his mind on revenge. The actor is incredibly compelling onscreen, and appears to have a clear eye behind the camera; Monkey Man stands out from the action-movie pack by eschewing highly stylized fight choreography in favor of a more brutal, gritty style.

Where to stream: Peacock, Digital purchase

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Jim Henson Idea Man

Release date: May 31 on streaming
U.S. box office gross: N/A

Ron Howard directs this moving, funny, and generally essential biography of the man behind The Muppets, Sesame Street, and The Dark Crystal . It's por anyone who's ever laughed along with Gonzo, or cried their way through a frog singing "Rainbow Connection" (so, all humans, essentially).

Where to stream: Disney+

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The Promised Land

Release date: Feb. 2
U.S. box office gross: $300,000

In 18th-century Denmark, down-on-his-luck war hero Capt. Ludvig Kahlen (Mads Mikkelsen) hopes to turn his meager retirement pension into some kind of life for himself by cultivating a portion of a vast wilderness that no one else has been able to make anything of. A covetous local magistrate quickly finds himself threatened by Kahlen's reputation, with the intent of spoiling all his plans. The beautifully forbidding Nordic drama plays out with some of the style of westerns.

Where to stream: Hulu, Digital rental

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All of Us Strangers

Release date: Jan. 4 (U.S. wide release)
U.S. box office gross: $4 million

This is another that was technically released in 2023, though it didn't go into wide release in the U.S. until January 2024. A ghost story on the surface, All of Us Strangers follows lonely screenwriter Adam (Andrew Scott) as he starts a romantic relationship with his very mysterious neighbor Harry (Paul Mescal), the two of them the only residents of an imposing new apartment building. The relationship draws Adam to return to his family home, where he finds his (long dead) parents acting very much alive and well. The movie goes to very dark places from there, providing a strong reminder that loss is an inevitable part of life, yes, but also that the only real comfort is in forgetting and moving on. Emotionally raw, but beautiful.

Where to stream: Hulu, Digital rental

A wise man once said, “I love it when a plan comes together.” I certainly do too—especially when I'm watching a movie.

At a time when much of daily existence is consumed by stressing out over the way the people in power are screwing up our lives and the planet, there’s a certain pleasure in sinking into a narrative in which all of the characters are incredibly good at what they do—whether that’s exploring space, playing chess, carrying out skillful assassinations, or getting their asses to (or off) of Mars.

If you too seek to be inspired by watching a bunch of smart people manage not to absolutely fuck everything up, members of the Lifehacker staff suggest these 30 films (and a few TV shows), all of which are basically explicit competence porn. (That’s hot.)

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Ocean’s Eleven (2001)

Individually, you’d be hard-pressed to call the near-dozen members of Danny Ocean’s crew of thieves, forgers, and con artists highly competent; they are all one brand of fuckup or another, which is probably why they say yes when asked to participate in an impossible scheme to rob three Las Vegas casinos at the same time. The fact that they pull it off without a hitch (more or less) is evidence enough that sometimes, 11 heads are better than one. —Joel Cunningham

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Moneyball (2011)

Moneyball is based on a true story about Oakland A’s manager Billy Beane, who attempts to build a competitive baseball team on a bare-bones budget. He cobbles together a group of undervalued talent using some extra-brainy data analysis served up by a Yale economics graduate, and the results are dramatic, funny, and endearing. It’s a classic sports team underdog story, with a nerdy twist. —Meghan Walbert

Where to stream: Netflix, digital rental

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The Fast Saga (2001 – )

You might wonder how this endless parade of meatheads, dudebros, and thirst traps could be filed anywhere near competence, but I urge you to expand your mind: Within the Fast universe, these petty thieves-turned-international-action-heroes are the best at what they do. They remind you every movie—11 and counting, including Hobbs and Shaw—that they can do anything, which qualifies as extreme competence...even if what they’re doing includes anything from petty heists (Fast and Furious), to bounty hunting (2 Fast 2 Furious), to international destruction under the guise of crime fighting (basically Fasts 5 through 8). The best part, though, is that you don’t have to be competent at all to enjoy their ridiculous antics and to feel like, just maybe, you too could powerslide your Mitsubishi around the corner, if you really wanted to. —Jordan Calhoun

Where to stream: Peacock (most of them), digital rental

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Apollo 13 (1995)

Ron Howard's best movie dramatizes one of the dodgier moments in the history of the United States space program, the 1970 mission during which the (sadly) aptly numbered Apollo 13 lunar craft experienced an electrical short that threatened not just the moon mission, but also the lives of everyone onboard. The disaster itself is harrowingly portrayed, but the movie's most effectively thrilling moments involve ground control working with the Apollo crew to jury-rig solutions to an escalating series of problems. Just a bunch of smart, very motivated people being very clever. —Ross Johnson

Where to stream: Apple TV+, Digital rental

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Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)

You could slot in nearly any Star Trek series here, but TNG takes the franchise's celebration of science-backed competence further than just about any of them. Lead by stalwart diplomat Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), this crew warps into trouble spots and solves problems with minimal personal drama. Whether it's an outer-space archaeological mystery, yet another transporter malfunction, or a time travel dilemma on the sex planet, the Enterprise crew works together seamlessly, each bringing their own particular talents to bear (or stepping back and letting Wesley save the day). —Ross Johnson

Where to stream: Paramount+, digital purchase

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The Prestige (2006)

Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige pulls off some kind of magic trick in making you sympathize equally with the two men on opposite sides of the ultimate magicians’ duel. Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman play a pair of masters of deception, each aiming to continually trump the other with increasingly ingenious (and dangerous) feats of misdirection...until we discover, in the end, that one of them is willing to go so far to prove his genius that he has even figured out how to cheat death. Now that’s competence. —Joel Cunningham

Where to stream: Digital rental

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The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

Mr. Blue, Mr. Green, Mr. Grey, and Mr. Brown board the same NYC 6 train at different stations, taking hostages and demanding $1 million (which was real money in 1974). It's a motley crew, but lead with military precision by Blue (Robert Shaw), a former British Army colonel. On the other side is transit cop Lt. Garber (Walter Matthau), an unlikely hero who knows the subways system inside and out. Watching the equally matched opponents square off against one another—mostly over the radio—is deeply satisfying. —Ross Johnson

Where to stream: Tubi, digital rental

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Hidden Figures (2016)

Behind the first men in space were the “human computers” who calculated how to get them there. And among these people—these hidden figures—were three women of color who were brilliant mathematicians and engineers employed at NASA during the “Space Race.” The movie is based on the true story of the women who were the brains behind the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit. —Meghan Walbert

Where to stream: Disney+, digital rental

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Catch Me If You Can (2002)

On the lighter side of Steven Spielberg's filmography, but no less entertaining for it, Catch Me If You Can dramatizes the story of con man Frank Abagnale Jr., who, in his early life, claimed to have posed as a doctor and, more memorably, a Pan-Am pilot to carry out schemes he profited from to the tune of millions of dollars (again, allegedly—the real-life details are less certain, but we're here to enjoy a movie). Leonardo DiCaprio plays Frank with a sly charm—you can imaging people being taken in—while Tom Hanks is an effective foil as the FBI agent on his tail. —Ross Johnson

Where to stream: Paramount+, digital rental

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Haikyuu!! (2014 – 2020)

If you’re skeptical that a shonen anime volleyball drama belongs on this list, I understand: I, too, didn’t care about volleyball and couldn’t imagine how an anime could possible change that. But that’s the wonder of the show (and many other shonen anime, to be honest): the ability to take an otherwise negligible thing and use its characters’ passion to turn it into the most important thing in the world. And in the case of Haikyuu!! they do it by compensating for their individual weaknesses by becoming remarkably skilled when working together. Each player is the best at one single thing, and if you go on a limb to give this anime an honest chance, I promise you won’t regret it. —Jordan Calhoun

Where to stream: Netflix, Crunchyroll

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The Incredibles (2004)

The entire Incredible family, lead by Holly Hunter's Elastigirl and Craig T. Nelson's Mr. Incredible, are very good at what they do: she can stretch her body, he's got superhuman strength. Daughter Violet can turn invisible and create force fields, son Dash can move at amazing speeds, etc. But they're all at their absolute best when working together. They're skilled superheroes, yes, and also serviceable detectives...but it all comes together because of their true talent for being a generally loving, supportive family. —Ross Johnson

Where to stream: Disney+, digital rental

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The Martian (2015)

It goes without saying that Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is incredibly competent at his job(s)—astronaut/botanist—considering he’s able to survive on freaking Mars for more than a year after being stranded there due to a random spaceship accident. To do so, he must figure out everything from how to retrofit his meager shelter to how to grow potatoes in his own shit. But The Martian truly belongs on this list because basically every other character in it, from Watney’s former crew mates to the NASA engineers back on Earth, is similarly chock full of the right stuff. —Joel Cunningham

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Contagion (2011)

Steven Soderbergh's medical disaster film plays rather differently in the wake of the COVID pandemic, especially given that the source and genetic origin of film's outbreak is surprisingly similar to our real-world contagion—or maybe not so surprising to scientists who were very aware of the risk for years prior. But I digress! Here we see previews of the misinformation and political interference that would plague us later, but we also see scientists and health officials doing what needs to be done to stop the virus in its tracks, and largely being listened to. It's oddly satisfying as a result, even if it all now feels a little pie-in-the-sky. —Ross Johnson

Where to stream: Apple TV+, digital rental

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Ace of Cakes (2006 – 2011)

It’s been a full 15 years since Duff Goldman and his team of baker-artist-engineers taught us that a cake doesn’t exist just to be eaten. No, a cake can be a piece of art, and it can be a feat of engineering. It would be impressive enough if Duff’s team at Charm City Cakes was making volcano cakes on the regular, but what makes these cakes particularly awe-inspiring is that each one is uniquely designed and created per the customer’s request—and they get bigger (and maybe more ridiculous) with each of the show’s 10 seasons. Come for the cakes, stay for the quirky personalities of those who create them. —Meghan Walbert

Where to stream: Hulu

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12 Angry Men (1957)

There's no escaping the high heat, literally and figuratively, in the scenario of 12 jurors hashing out the facts of a murder case involving a 19-year-old boy accused of killing his abusive father. This isn't competence of the slick and smooth variety, but instead a story of cooler heads prevailing during a scenario of heightened emotions. That measured passion in the face of such an important decision represents its own kind of proficiency. —Ross Johnson

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Seven Samurai (1956)

Akira Kurosowa’s 1954 Japanese blockbuster concerns the plight of a small village under siege by bandits, and the crew of unassailable swordsman the villagers manage to recruit to save their skins. Watching the seven title characters being incredibly good at what they do—sometimes despite themselves—proved so winning a formula that it not only inspired disparate remakes (as a western, The Magnificent Seven; as a kids’ flick, A Bug’s Life), but forms the spine of Helen DeWitt’s celebrated 2000 novel The Last Samurai, in which a single mother, in lieu of a father figure for her young son, chooses to impart lessons of manhood by making him watch the movie over, and over, and over again. —Joel Cunningham

Where to stream: Max, The Criterion Channel, digital rental

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The West Wing (1999 – 2006)

During an era (well, a generation, at least) of increasing political chaos, there's a tremendous sense of satisfaction in watching Aaron Sorkin's fast-walking, fast-talking cast of White House staffers go about their jobs with passion and integrity (usually). It might be a fantasy, but it suggests the possibility of a world where imperfect people can work within an imperfect system to make things just a little bit better. —Ross Johnson

Where to stream: Max, digital purchase

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Now You See Me (2013)

To be clear, I think Now You See Me is one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. In its desperation to be clever it shifts from overcomplicated, to overly contrived, and then to insulting, as you realize the biggest con this band of con artist magicians ever pulled was tricking you into watching their movie. But where the 2013 film succeeds—aside from baiting you with its all-star cast, including Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo, Jesse Eisenberg, and Morgan Freeman—is making you feel that you too can be the smartest person in the room. —Jordan Calhoun

Where to stream: Max, digital rental

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Tampopo (1985)

Nobuko Miyamoto plays the title's Tampopo, a single mom struggling to keep her ramen shop, Lai Lai, afloat. With some help from a couple of surprisingly knowledgable truck drivers, she determines to turn the shop into a high-end ramen destination. It's not an easy road, but it's a lot of fun watching Tampopo and her quirky band of helpers turn things around by focusing less on the commerce of food and more on the love of making and serving it. (In the best scene, a wise ramen master teaches a younger man how to truly appreciate a good bowl of noodles.) —Ross Johnson

Where to stream: Max

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Away (2020)

One of Netflix’s countless flash-in-the-pan series, Away was a runaway hit... for about 48 hours. It stars Hilary Swank as the leader of a mission to Mars, and while it wasn’t as memorable as you might expect from its cast or production values—there’s a reason most of us forgot about it and it wasn’t renewed for a second season—it is full of the type of competence porn that makes you hopeful that humanity can conquer anything. It’s a typical space-survival drama, with the added twist of being the United Nations of the subgenre, featuring disabled characters and a diverse set of personalities, including astronauts from China, Russia, India, and a Black, Jewish British-Ghanian. If you like to think the power of science and teamwork can conquer our greatest challenges, Away will make you believe, even if your binge peters out partway through. —Jordan Calhoun

Where to stream: Netflix

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Drive (2011)

There's (a bit more) to this extremely fun Nicolas Winding Refn action drama than driving, but it's called Drive for a reason. Ryan Gosling plays an unnamed Hollywood stunt driver who moonlights as getaway guy for various criminal enterprises. Before long, he's putting his not at all inconsiderable skills to use in helping out his neighbor Irene and her son. —Ross Johnson

Where to stream: Digital rental

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The Queen’s Gambit (2020)

Whether you play chess or not is fairly irrelevant to enjoying Queen's Gambit. Although, if you have even the most basic understanding of the game (the viewer category to which I belong), it does make the talents of this young chess prodigy—and the mentors and competitors around her—all the more exciting and impressive. But either way, the story is riveting. —Meghan Walbert

Where to stream: Netflix

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John Wick (2014)

Is there any more effective beat in action cinema than the moment when we realize that the low-level criminals who pissed off quiet, unassuming John have, in fact, messed with exactly the wrong person? They messed with his dog (sad), but didn't know that they were invoking the multi-film-long wrath of (possibly) the most effective hitman in American cinema. No pet has ever been more thoroughly avenged. —Ross Johnson

Where to stream: Netflix, digital rental

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Sunshine (2007)

I already talked about another movie featuring a crew of hyper-competent astronauts on a desperate life-or-death mission, so I won’t repeat myself too much. But Danny Boyle’s Sunshine deserves a callout too, because the stakes in this movie are a hell of a lot higher than the fate of one man. Like, “reignite the dying sun” higher. And these folks manage to pull it off (uh, spoiler) despite heading out entirely aware that there is a good chance they won’t be coming back—and that’s even before the murderer shows up. (The other reason it should be on this list is that it is criminally underrated, gorgeously filmed, and the ending made me cry.) —Joel Cunningham

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Sisu (2022)

Think a more grizzled John Wick, but in Finland near the end of World War II. Prospector Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila) is just trying to haul his gold find into town when he's harassed by Nazis storming through the countryside. Big mistake: Earlier in the war, Korpi had earned a reputation as a "one-man death squad" nicknamed The Immortal. After escalating and increasingly over-the-top violence, the Waffen-SS platoon will find that bringing the one-time Finnish Army commando out of retirement was not a smart move. —Ross Johnson

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Competence porn is at its best when the competent people in question are pitted against an equally competent adversary, which is exactly what happens in Avengers: Infinity War. Not only is Thanos strong enough to beat the Hulk into a sweater and some glasses, but his soft-spoken confidence is a worthy rival to even the smartest denizens of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He’s a testament to the fact that competence can work for the bad guys just as much as the good ones, and when he’s at his best, it’s almost hard not to cheer for him. As he sits to watch the sun rise on a grateful universe, you have to admit, he earned it. —Jordan Calhoun

Where to stream: Disney+, digital rental

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The Sting (1973)

The Sting was not the first heist movie, but it is definitely one of the most entertaining. This 1973 Best Picture Oscar winner follows two con men (played by Paul Newman and Robert Redford, impossibly young) as they attempt to rip off a ruthless mob boss (Jaws’ Robert Shaw). The title refers to the moment in a caper where the thieves make off with the mark’s money; if they sting him just right, they’ll be long gone before he even realizes he’s been had. Newman and Redford’s con is so elaborate—it’s more like a series of nested operations—that it takes a whole crew of super-competent conmen to pull it off, and Shaw never feels a thing. —Joel Cunningham

Where to stream: Digital rental

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All the President’s Men (1976)

This classic dramatization of the events surrounding the public reveal of Watergate somehow makes thrilling a naturalistic portrait of journalists doing their jobs. Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman are impeccable as Woodward and Bernstein, a couple of reporters on what starts out seeming like a very minor political piece that blows up into a story that brings down a president. Back when such things were possible. —Ross Johnson

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Pride (2014)

Another one based on a true story, Pride follows a group of queer British activists who raised funds for striking miners during a strike in 1984. During the Thatcher-era strike, gay activist Mark Ashton (Ben Schnetzer) noticed that police were no longer harassing queers, as they were too busy going after strikers. During a local Pride parade, he starts a fundraising campaign, finding common cause with the miners. Over the course of the campaign depicted in the film, money is raised and bonds are formed such that rights for blue-collar workers and LGBTQ+ people are advanced in the U.K. —Ross Johnson

Where to stream: Peacock, digital rental

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In the Heat of the Night (1967)

Sidney Poitier came in for criticism, often from Black audiences, for his portrayals of perfect characters—the suggestion being that Americans might only accept people of color if they could be presented as flawless. He's a damn good cop here, but I think it works, as there's no other way that he'd survive Sparta, Mississippi of the 1960s. After an opening that plays like a horror movie that finds him trapped in the town after dark, he's ultimately asked to help the police solve a murder: it's not that the locals are willing to treat him quite like a human being, but he's so good that they have no choice but to ask for his help. His extraordinary competence here is a blessing and a curse. It's one part gripping police procedural, and several parts a portrait of American racism. —Ross Johnson

Where to stream: Tubi, digital rental

It’s nearly Father’s Day once again, which means you’re probably seeing ads for all the types of gifts that a dad might like: wacky golf balls; knives that open up to reveal other knives; neckties covered in pictures of hot dogs and footballs. Maybe you know a dad who loves all of that stuff. Maybe your dad loves all that stuff. But fathers, and father figures, come in all varities, and sometimes have interests that go beyond bourbon and barbecues.

The movies don’t always serve the cause of dad-diversity, presenting many of the same tired stereotypes over and over again. But there are still some truly impressive representations of fathers out there: moving, funny, caring, sometimes a little messed up, but doing their best with what they’ve got to work with. That’s all you can ask for from any parent.

Whether you’re looking for something to do with dad this weekend, or just want to spend time with the fantasy dad you never had, pour some booze, put some meat on the barbecue, and watch a movie featuring one of the great movie dads.

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Furious Styles in Boyz n the Hood (1991)

In one of the most iconic dad performances in film history, Laurence Fishburne guides his son Tre through life and adolescence in South Central L.A. during the late ‘80s and early ‘90s in director John Singleton’s directorial debut. Furious isn’t always the cuddliest father figure (not even a little), but his tough love and hard-earned wisdom help to keep his son from the worst consequences of drug, gang, and police violence, even as his less fortunate friends fall victim. Singleton based the movie on his own life, and based Furious on his own father, which, along with Fishburne’s performance, helps to explain why this particular dad resonates, even 30 years later.

Where to stream: Tubi, digital rental

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Jack Spier in Love, Simon (2018)

Josh Duhamel’s Jack is already a pretty good dad, though he goes through most of Love, Simon entirely clueless about the fact that his son is gay, making jokes that he thinks are harmless and teasing Simon about hot girls and girlfriends. When Simon gets outed to the entire school all at once, Jack’s initially not sure how to respond—but ultimately gets it just right (he even promises to sign up for Grindr, not quite getting the concept). So many coming out stories turn to heartbreak, but a good dad helps give this one a happy ending.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Bryan Mills in Taken (2008)

He’s a man with a very particular set of skills. Skills which, OK, aren’t really related to parenting in any meaningful way. Unless you find yourself kidnapped by an Albanian human trafficking ring, in which case those skills (Green Beret and CIA stuff, mostly) are pretty much exactly what you want from your dad. Over the course of the three-film Taken series, Bryan doesn’t really ever become a great dad, but he does do absolutely anything in his power to thwart multiple kidnappings involving his sometimes-estranged family, which should be worth at least a nice Father’s Day card.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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George Kirk in Star Trek (2009)

Captain Kirk’s dad makes the list without having spent a single moment with his kid—at least in the alternate timeline of the J. J. Abrams-produced Star Trek movies. When a Romulan vessel from the future threatens the Federation starship Kelvin, first officer George Kirk does the only thing he can: he personally smashes the Kelvin into the invading ship in order to buy time for his crew to flee in escape shuttles (the autopilot tragically, but unsurprisingly, disabled). Among that crew is his wife, Winona, now prematurely in labor. Not only does dad (played by none other than Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth) sacrifice his life for his newborn son, but he passes on some truly impressive genes to a kid who ultimately grows into Chris Pine. Beyond even that, we later learn that the early death of his dad lead to the much rougher start for James T. in the alternate universe of this set of movies.

Where to stream: Paramount+, digital rental

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John Quincy Archibald in John Q (2002)

John and Denise Archibald (Denzel Washington and Kimberley Elise) find themselves in a horrific situation, but not an impossible one: despite having insurance, the couple learns they don’t have the right coverage to pay for the heart transplant needed to save the life of their son. Without, essentially, a $75,000 co-pay, the hospital won’t put Mike on a donor list. In desperation, Washington’s character takes a cardiologist and several hospital staff hostage in exchange for treatment. It’s all rather heavy-handed, and his plan isn’t a particularly good one, but Washington is convincing, as always, as a dad who will do anything to save his son.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Hal Fields in Beginners (2010)

Better late than never. That’s the message of Beginners, in which Hal, played by Christopher Plummer (at the beginning of his own late-career resurgence) comes out to his son, Oliver (Ewan McGregor). As Hal begins to live his life more openly and finds love with a younger man, he also develops a more honest relationship with Oliver. As a result, the two become closer than ever before, and their relationship inspires Oliver to pursue a new romance—and to generally live life on his own terms. It’s a movie about how, sometimes, being true to yourself is the best way to be a good parent.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Juan in Moonlight (2016)

Mahershala Ali won an Oscar for playing Juan, surrogate father to the film's main character, Chiron (played by Alex R. Hibbert during the film's early scenes). A drug dealer who sells crack to Chiron's mother, Juan is hardly an ideal role model. But he's the best, by far, that Chiron has, and a genuine tenderness develops between the two after Juan finds Chiron hiding in a crackhouse. Juan teaches Chiron lessons that will benefit him throughout his life, perhaps most significantly that there's nothing wrong with being gay.

Where to stream: Max, digital rental

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David Drayton in The Mist (2007)

Stephen King stories frequently deal with imperfect fatherhood, but this adaptation (from Frank Darabont, also director of The Shawshank Redemption) features one of his best dads: David Drayton (Thomas Jane), a painter who finds himself trapped in a supermarket that serves as a refuge for a disparate group of individuals against the Lovecraftian nightmares lurking outside. As the situation grows more extreme, David holds it together, more or less, protecting his son while his erstwhile friends and neighbors turn on each other, and/or give way to religious mania. An absolute gut-punch of a final act complicates David's legacy as a parent, certainly, but also makes clear the extremes to which he'd go to do what he thinks is best for his kid.

Where to stream: Freevee, Prime Video

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Troy in Cowboys (2020)

Like many of the dads here, Steve Zahn's Troy isn't perfect, but his mistakes are in service of protecting his transgender son Joe (played by actually trans actor Sasha Knight, which shouldn't be an innovation in casting, but here we are). Before an extended flashback, the film begins with Joe and Troy on a trip through the Montana wilderness. Joe's parents broke up over his trans identity; mom Sally refused to support the kid, but Sally gained custody anyway after Troy assaulted a relative for insulting Joe. There's plenty of family drama here, but Joe's transition is sensitively handled, as is Troy's diagnosis of bipolar disorder.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Marlin in Finding Nemo (2003)

The clue is in the movie's title: This one's all about Marlin (Albert Brooks), a clownfish who, in the best tradition of animated children's movies, loses nearly his entire family in the opening act to a barracuda attack. He vows to protect the one surviving egg, which hatches into an adorable fishy named Nemo, at all costs, becoming a tad overprotective in the process. That fierce love is what propels him on a dangerous quest across the vast ocean to find and rescue his son after Nemo is lost.

Where to stream: Disney+, digital rental

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Mr. Perlman in Call Me By Your Name (2017)

The ideal cool, nerdy dad, Michael Stuhlbarg's character in this adaptation of the André Aciman novel is a professor who hosts intellectuals at seemingly interminable dinners while visiting rural Northern Italy with his family, including son Elio (Timothée Chalamet). When Elio develops feelings for Armie Hammer's visiting grad student Oliver, dad never blinks an eye. Those dinners might be tiresome, but a small price to pay for witnessing dad's gentle and encouraging nature—he supports Elio while encouraging him to find his own path, and never passing judgment.

Where to stream: Prime Video

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Jim’s Dad in American Pie (1999)

Across four films (and four spin-off movies), Jim’s unnamed dad (Eugene Levy) has been the charming, clueless heart of the American Pie series. We expect the milquetoast Levy to shy away from any discussions of sex, but the ultra-helpful dad is always ready to dive right in to an uncomfortable degree: buying (and trying to explain) porn for a son who already gets the idea; not getting too worked about the disposition of the titular pie; etc. The joke, initially, is that a supportive, open dad can make for some incredibly uncomfortable moments. Over time, though, it’s clear that Jim’s dad is a just pretty solid parent, and wonderfully sex-positive, even when things are a little awkward.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Chris Gardner in The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

Based on a true story and starring Will Smith alongside his son Jaden, this movie follows the ups and harrowing downs of Chris Gardner’s life as he struggles to keep afloat in Reagan-era San Francisco. Bad luck and bad decisions impact the family’s fortunes, but many of their problems are broadly recognizable: as Chris gets further behind in the bills, it becomes increasingly impossible to catch up. Though the two experience homelessness before the end, Chris never sacrifices his dignity, nor his optimism for his family’s future.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Sam, Harry, and Bill in Mamma Mia! (2008)

At the beginning of Mamma Mia!, Amanda Seyfried’s character sets out to invite her “real” father to her wedding—the only problem being, she’s not sure who that is. She finally narrows the list down to three candidates (Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgård, and Colin Firth), all men with whom her mother (Meryl Streep) had spent a magical summer many years ago (and who, incidentally, have wildly varying singing skills). At first, they’re all reluctant to claim responsibility but, by the end, nobody cares who is who: they’re all her real dads, by choice if not biology, and their found family is way more important than any blood test.

Where to stream: Max, digital rental

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Mike and Sully in Monsters, Inc. (2001)

The joke of Monsters, Inc. is that the monsters, Mike and Sully (John Goodman and Billy Crystal), are at least as afraid of the little kids as the kids are of them—a feeling to which new dads can probably relate. When Boo (Mary Gibbs) sneaks through her closet door into the scare factory, the pair of surrogate dads move from fear of the girl to fear for her, and learn that laughter is more powerful than anything scary.

Where to stream: Disney+, digital rental

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Mac MacGuff in Juno (2007)

Look, there’s no way that J.K. Simmons is going to play a cute, cuddly dad. But, when Eliot Page’s oddball Juno becomes pregnant at 16, gruff Mac MacGuff is exactly who she needs. Without judging, condemning, or freaking out, he supports her at every quirky turn in her effort to find adoptive parents for the baby—and does so with a snarky sense of humor and a (mildly) foul mouth that never turns mean. By the end, he assures his kid that, to the right person, the sun will always shine out Juno’s a**.

Aw, dad.

Where to stream: Hulu

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Jonathan Kent and Jor-El in Superman (1978)

Neither dad in 1978’s Superman gets a ton of screen time, but Jonathan (Glenn Ford) raises Clark and, with Martha, helps instill in him the values that he’ll need in order to use his incredible powers for the benefit of others. Marlon Brando’s Jor-El gets credit as well, not only for creating and building the oddly tiny rocket that sent his son to Earth but also for showing up to offer advice from beyond the grave. Kal-El was the sole survivor* of that doomed planet, and that’s almost entirely thanks to his dad, who sent along an interactive virtual dad for Kal to talk to when the young Superman needed a morale boost, or just a Kryptonian history lesson. I’m saying it took two dads (and a couple of great moms, as well) working together from across the universe to shape Clark.

(Between salary and profit points, Marlon Brando earned around $20 million in 1978 dollars for fewer than 20 minutes onscreen, making him not just one of the best, but also one of the best-paid dads on the list.)

*Or one of dozens, including at least one dog, depending on which version of the story we’re talking about.

Where to stream: Max, digital rental

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Lt. Donald Thompson in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Look, he’s not a perfect dad.

Strike one: Don (the late, great John Saxon) participated in the extrajudicial murder of an accused child killer (not a good look for a cop) that unleashed Freddy Krueger on the town of Springwood; Freddy is now obsessed with taking his revenge on the town’s teenagers; oops. Strike two: When his smart, convincing daughter Nancy tried to call attention to that fact, he initially dismisses her concerns (and uses her to bait the killer, who he suspects is human). Nevertheless, all of his (very significant!) mistakes were misguided attempts to protect his family. He comes around by the end, giving Nancy a hand in defeating Freddy the first time around, and giving his life for her a couple of movies later. And he helped raise the most resourceful of all slasher movie protagonists, so he clearly did something right.

Where to stream: Netflix, digital rental

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Will Stacks in Annie (2014)

It’s a hard knock life for Quvenzhané Wallis’ Annie, no doubt, but things start looking up when she has a chance encounter with Will Stacks (Jamie Foxx), a cellphone mogul running for mayor of New York (also an update of the “Daddy Warbucks” character from earlier Annie adaptations). Will’s hard-driving campaign manager sees Annie as nothing more than a publicity stunt to help his boss win the election. She’s not much more than that to Will, at first, but, of course, melts his hard heart before the last musical number. A new family and an adoption are in the works while everyone sings “Tomorrow.”

Where to stream: Hulu, Tubi, digital rental

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Gomez Addams in The Addams Family (1991)

In cinema history, I’m not sure that there’s any more healthy relationship than the one between Raul Julia’s Gomez and Anjelica Huston’s Morticia. It may be within a wacky, sometimes slapstick goth comedy, but their marriage is a true partnership between two people who remain deeply in love and genuinely horny for each other, even after many years of marriage and a couple of kids. These two have heat. Everything else springs from that. Gomez is a great dad: doting, supportive, and playful. Living up to the Addams creed, he’ll also gladly (very gladly) feast on any who would subdue them—because protecting one’s family is almost as important as having fun.

Where to stream: Paramount+, digital rental

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Antonio Ricci in Bicycle Thieves (1948)

A stolen bike is the catalyst for father-son bonding in the beautifully photographed Italian classic Bicycle Thieves. With work in short supply, Lamberto Maggiorani’s Antonio is able to get a bicycle after his wife, Maria, pawns some of the family’s prized possessions. Times being what they are in post-WWII Italy, the bike is stolen on Antonio’s first day of work, forcing Antonio and his son Bruno to scour the city searching for the crucial possession. From that deceptively simple plot comes a thoughtful, moving, honest story of fathers and sons in troubled times.

Where to stream: Max, The Criterion Channel, Tubi, digital rental

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Frank Fisher in Hearts Beat Loud (2018)

Nick Offerman plays gruff widower Frank, a vinyl enthusiast and owner of a failing record store who finds himself in something like a midlife crisis. His daughter Sam is headed off to medical school in the fall, but shares her dad’s love of music—even if their tastes don’t entirely line up. She agrees to her dad’s request that they record a song together… and the resulting single becomes a streaming hit. It sounds cutesy, but it’s got a smart script and a stellar cast, as well as a sharply drawn portrait of a father and daughter who have, maybe, a bit more in common than they think.

Where to stream: Peacock, Tubi, digital rental

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Rick Mitchell in The Mitchells vs. The Machines (2021)

Danny McBride voices technophobic Rick Mitchell, who teams up with his daughter Katie (Abbi Jacobson) to save the world in this smartass-yet-heartwarming animated movie. Aspiring filmmaker Katie is constantly at odds with her dad, whose nature and tool obsessions leave him out of the loop when it comes to her dream of being a filmmaker. Instead of letting Katie take a flight to college, Ricks opts for a road trip to help the whole family bond, which doesn’t work out too well until a tech company’s AI goes rogue and threatens the entire world; the family comes back together to fight the machines, with father and daughter learning to understand each other along the way.

Where to stream: Netflix, digital rental

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Seo Seok-woo in Train to Busan (2016)

As we’ve seen, it often takes a crisis to bring a family together. How about a zombie apocalypse? On a train? The 2016 South Korean production sees just that scenario play out: Seok-woo (Gong Yoo) is a workaholic divorced dad who comes to feel that he’s running out of time to be the father he ought to be for his daughter Su-an (Kim Su-an). He has no idea how little time he has, as the train trip he plans for them as bonding time becomes something much more desperate when a zombie-infected woman hops aboard just before departure. What follows is one of the best action-horror movies of the past decade, but also a surprisingly moving story about a father and daughter reconnecting at the end of the world.

Where to stream: Peacock, Tubi, digital rental

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Willie Jones in Friday (1995)

John Witherspoon’s Willie Jones is the beating heart of the Friday series—a dorky, often embarrassing dad to Ice Cube’s character who, like many of the best dads, is more than capable of absolutely wrecking a bathroom. Throughout the stoner/buddy trilogy, Witherspoon brings the laughs, but it’s the unexpected moments of heart that solidify his spot as one of the very best movie dads. An emotional speech on gun violence in the first movie somehow fits in perfectly with all the comedy, and that’s a tribute to Witherspoon’s talents. Many of the best father figures can do both: goofy when it’s called for, but serious when it’s needed.

Where to stream: Digital rental

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Tatsuo Kusakabe in My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

Archaeology professor Tatsuo doesn’t spend a ton of time with Mei and Satsuki over the course of My Neighbor Totoro, which is just as well given that it allows room for his daughters to have their own adventures. But he does support the girls at every turn—giving full reign to their imaginations, but also accepting Mei fully at her word when she describes Totoro. With their mother ill and in the hospital, Tatsuo knows exactly when to nurture his girls, and when to let them explore freely.

Where to stream: Max, digital rental

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Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Lawyer and widowed father Atticus Finch watches over Scout and her brother Jem in the fictional southern town of Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930s. In that context, he’s almost all you could ask for in a father: he’s a benevolent but firm presence who doesn’t take pains to shield his children from the harsh realities of poverty and racism that surround their middle-class lives. Though we’ve (hopefully) begun to move beyond the type of “white savior” narratives that Atticus so ably represents, there’s little question that, as a father figure, he’s an iconic presence.

Where to stream: Tubi, digital rental

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Rahul Khanna in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998)

As the single dad in one of Bollywood’s most beloved rom-coms, Shah Rukh Khan’s Rahul Khanna has had little on his mind but taking care of his daughter, Anjali, for the eight years since her mother died. Anjali’s mom left behind letters for her daughter to read on each of her subsequent birthdays and, when she comes to the final one, learns that her dad was very nearly in a relationship with a different woman when he was in college. Naturally, Anjali decides that her dad needs a girlfriend and that she’s going to hook him up. The father-daughter relationship is genuinely charming.

Where to stream: Netflix, Prime Video

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Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

Chaim Topol plays Tevye, the poor milkman in the shtetl of Anatevka at the turn of the 20th century, a critical time and one of dramatic change. As the Russians are gradually expelling Jews from their villages, Tevye is forced to cope with both that existential threat to his family’s existence while trying to preserve some sense of tradition and normalcy in the lives of a family that includes three daughters approaching ages at which they might be matched for marriage. Where Tevye doesn’t respond as well as he might to changes (all but disowning one daughter for marrying outside the faith), he genuinely believes that all of his actions are to benefit his children and prevent them from moving too fast into an uncertain future.

Where to stream: Tubi, MGM+, digital rental

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Woody Carmichael in Crooklyn (1994)

There’s plenty of trouble for the Carmichael family in Spike Lee’s semi-autobiographical film: set in colorful Bed-Stuy in the early 70s, there are fights with the neighbors and equally vicious fights within the family over money (and, specifically, Woody’s inability to save any). When the family matriarch dies, though, Woody and his daughter Troy (Zelda Harris) form an unspoken agreement to team up and keep what remains of their family together. Not every parent is an island, and it’s the loving partnership between father and daughter that holds things together for the Carmichaels.

Where to stream: Digital rental