contemplative backdrop

Movies with contemplative vibe

Things to Come

1. Things to Come

Drama Relationship Drama
6.9
20161h 42min

Overview

Nathalie teaches philosophy at a high school in Paris. She is passionate about her job and particularly enjoys passing on the pleasure of thinking. Married with two children, she divides her time between her family, former students and her very possessive mother. One day, Nathalie’s husband announces he is leaving her for another woman. With freedom thrust upon her, Nathalie must reinvent her life.

Themes

Gendered expectations, Family duty vs freedom, Intellectual independence, Education as dialogue, Caregiving and loss, Midlife reinvention

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

The Red Turtle

2. The Red Turtle

Animation Drama Fantasy Family Stop-Motion Animation
7.5
20161h 21min

Overview

The dialogue-less film follows the major life stages of a castaway on a deserted tropical island populated by turtles, crabs and birds.

Themes

Survival under pressure, Loss and resilience, Transformation and belonging, Isolation and connection, Storytelling and memory, Companionship through hardship

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Carol

3. Carol

Romance Drama Bittersweet Romance Historical Drama
7.3
20151h 58min

Overview

In 1950s New York, a department-store clerk who dreams of a better life falls for an older, married woman.

Themes

Divorce pressure, Age difference, Professional ambition, Public scrutiny, Custody conflict, Sexuality stigma

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
HBO Max
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Experimenter

4. Experimenter

Drama History Historical Drama Biographical History
6.6
20151h 37min

Overview

Yale University, 1961. Stanley Milgram designs a psychology experiment that still resonates to this day, in which people think they’re delivering painful electric shocks to an affable stranger strapped into a chair in another room. Despite his pleads for mercy, the majority of subjects don’t stop the experiment, administering what they think is a near-fatal electric shock, simply because they’ve been told to do so. With Nazi Adolf Eichmann’s trial airing in living rooms across America, Milgram strikes a nerve in popular culture and the scientific community with his exploration into people’s tendency to comply with authority. Celebrated in some circles, he is also accused of being a deceptive, manipulative monster, but his wife Sasha stands by him through it all.

Themes

Obedience to authority, Public scrutiny of science, Ethics in research, Career implications of controversy, Social pressure dynamics, Balancing curiosity and caution

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
fuboTV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Interstellar

5. Interstellar

Adventure Drama Science Fiction Exploration Adventure Space Sci-Fi
8.7
20142h 49min

Overview

The adventures of a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.

Themes

Trust vs deception, Family bonds under strain, Survival under catastrophe, Time and memory, Duty and personal choice, Scientific uncertainty

Available on

Amazon Video
MGM+ Amazon Channel
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

The Salt of the Earth

6. The Salt of the Earth

Documentary Biographical Documentary
8.4
20141h 50min

Overview

During the last forty years, the photographer Sebastião Salgado has been travelling through the continents, in the footsteps of an ever-changing humanity. He has witnessed the major events of our recent history: international conflicts, starvations and exodus… He is now embarking on the discovery of pristine territories, of the wild fauna and flora, of grandiose landscapes: a huge photographic project which is a tribute to the planet's beauty. Salgado's life and work are revealed to us by his son, Juliano, who went with him during his last journeys, and by Wim Wenders, a photographer himself.

Themes

Labor and exploitation, Displacement and exile, Documentary photography as witness, Human impact of conflict, Land restoration and renewal, Indigenous resilience and tradition

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Particle Fever

7. Particle Fever

Documentary Biographical Documentary
7.4
20131h 39min

Overview

As the Large Hadron Collider is about to be launched for the first time, physicists are on the cusp of the greatest scientific discovery of all time - or perhaps their greatest failure.

Themes

Theory vs experiment tension, Scientific ambition under pressure, Uncertainty in data interpretation, Competition of ideas, Public perception and risk, Collaboration under scrutiny

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

The English Teacher

8. The English Teacher

Comedy Drama Romance Romantic Comedy Relationship Drama
5.7
20131h 32min

Overview

Small-town Pennsylvania schoolteacher Linda Sinclair balances her staid home life with an incredible passion for her subject. Then a former star pupil reenters her life after failing as a playwright in New York City. Seeing in his script the inspiration that she has always longed to instill in her students, this dyed-in-the-wool romantic enlists the help of long-suffering drama teacher Carl to mount the work as the high school’s next and riskiest production.

Themes

Mentorship under scrutiny, Artistry in education, Age-gap romance dynamics, Teacher-student romance, Professional risk and reinvention, Small-town reputation

Available on

Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Video
Apple TV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Before Midnight

9. Before Midnight

Romance Drama Bittersweet Romance Relationship Drama
7.9
20131h 49min

Overview

It has been nine years since we last met Jesse and Celine, the French-American couple who once met on a train in Vienna. They now live in Paris with twin daughters but have spent a summer in Greece at the invitation of an author colleague of Jesse's. When the vacation is over and Jesse must send his teenage son off to the States, he begins to question his life decisions, and his relationship with Celine is at risk.

Themes

Parenting versus partnership, Career vs family choices, Communication under strain, Long-term relationship tension, Aging and life stages, Gendered perspectives

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Side by Side

10. Side by Side

Documentary Biographical Documentary
7.6
20121h 39min

Overview

Since the invention of cinema, the standard format for recording moving images has been film. Over the past two decades, a new form of digital filmmaking has emerged, creating a groundbreaking evolution in the medium. Keanu Reeves explores the development of cinema and the impact of digital filmmaking via in-depth interviews with Hollywood masters, such as James Cameron, David Fincher, David Lynch, Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, Steven Soderbergh, and many more.

Themes

Digital vs film, Future vision, Artistic revolution, Workflows and craft, Artistic legacy, Technological impact

Available on

Amazon Video
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.