episodic backdrop

Movies with episodic vibe

The Mortuary Collection

1. The Mortuary Collection

Fantasy Horror Dark Fantasy Supernatural Horror
6.4
20201h 48min

Overview

In the phantasmagorical town of Raven's End, a misguided young girl takes refuge in a decrepit old mortuary. The eccentric undertaker chronicles the strange history of the town through a series of twisted tales, each more terrifying than the last, but the young girl's world is unhinged when she discovers that the final story... is her own.

Themes

Moral ambiguity, Deceptive appearances, Unintended monstrosities, Small-town dread, Anthology framing, Body horror consequences

Available on

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

Table 19

2. Table 19

Comedy Drama Awkward Comedy
5.8
20171h 27min

Overview

Eloise, having been relieved of maid of honor duties after being unceremoniously dumped by the best man via text, decides to attend the wedding anyway – only to find herself seated with five fellow-unwanted guests at the dreaded Table 19.

Themes

Fragile family bonds, Mortality awareness in gatherings, Pressure of wedding expectations, Unexpected connections under stress, Outsider status at celebration, Deception and misrepresentation

Available on

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

The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared

3. The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared

Adventure Comedy Drama Globetrotting Adventure Parody
7.0
20131h 55min

Overview

After living a long and colorful life, Allan Karlsson finds himself stuck in a nursing home. On his 100th birthday, he leaps out a window and begins an unexpected journey.

Themes

Escape and confinement, Global conflict and consequence, Aging and agency, Chance vs fate, Humor amid peril, Memory and time distortion

Available on

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

The Butler

4. The Butler

Drama Historical Drama
7.2
20132h 12min

Overview

Cecil Gaines was a sharecropper's son who grew up in the 1920s as a domestic servant for the white family who casually destroyed his. Eventually striking out on his own, Cecil becomes a hotel valet of such efficiency and discreteness in the 1950s that he becomes a butler in the White House itself. There, Cecil would serve numerous US Presidents over the decades as a passive witness of history with the American Civil Rights Movement gaining momentum even as his family has troubles of its own. As his wife, Gloria, struggles with alcoholism and his defiant eldest son, Louis, strives for a just world, Cecil must decide whether he should take action in his own way.

Themes

Desegregation pressure in society, Family loyalties in upheaval, Racial inequality under service, Nonviolent activism and impact, Institutional change through restraint, Silent endurance amid upheaval

Available on

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

To Rome with Love

5. To Rome with Love

Comedy Romance Romantic Comedy Ensemble Comedy
6.3
20121h 51min

Overview

Four tales unfold in the Eternal City: While vacationing in Rome, architect John encounters a young man whose romantic woes remind him of a painful incident from his own youth; retired opera director Jerry discovers a mortician with an amazing voice, and he seizes the opportunity to rejuvenate his own flagging career; a young couple have separate romantic interludes; a spotlight shines on an ordinary man.

Themes

Deception and disguise, Public scrutiny and vanity, Romance across episodes, Fame versus ordinary life, Desire and restraint, Social belonging and aspiration

Available on

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

Idiocracy

6. Idiocracy

Comedy Science Fiction Adventure Satire Dystopian Sci-Fi
6.5
20061h 24min

Overview

To test its top-secret Human Hibernation Project, the Pentagon picks the most average Americans it can find - an Army private and a prostitute - and sends them to the year 2505 after a series of freak events. But when they arrive, they find a civilization so dumbed-down that they're the smartest people around.

Themes

Class inequality, Corporate influence on policy, Anti intellectualism, Mass media manipulation, Consumerism culture, Technocratic incompetence

Available on

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

The Life and Death of Peter Sellers

7. The Life and Death of Peter Sellers

Drama Comedy Romance Entertainment Industry Drama Parody
6.9
20042h 2min

Overview

The turbulent personal and professional life of actor Peter Sellers (1925-1980), from his beginnings as a comic performer on BBC Radio to his huge success as one of the greatest film comedians of all time; an obsessive artist so dedicated to his work that neglected his loved ones and sacrificed part of his own personality to convincingly create that of his many memorable characters.

Themes

Deception in relationships, Artist life vs family, Family relationships under strain, Public persona vs private life, Coworker dynamics, Ambition and personal cost

Available on

Apple TV
BBC iPlayer
Timvision
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Mind Game

8. Mind Game

Animation Romance Comedy Drama Fantasy
7.7
20041h 43min

Overview

Nishi is a loser who has a crush on his childhood girlfriend. After an encounter with the Japanese mafia, he journeys to heaven and back, and ends up trapped in an even more unlikely place.

Themes

Unrequited love, Violence and control, Dreamlike reality, Limbo and transformation, Outsider status, Self-creation and art

Available on

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

Joe Dirt

9. Joe Dirt

Mystery Adventure Comedy Romance Drama
6.0
20011h 31min

Overview

Joe Dirt is a janitor with a mullet hairdo, acid-washed jeans and a dream to find the parents that he lost at the Grand Canyon when he was a belligerent, trailer park-raised eight-year-old. Now, blasting Van Halen in his jacked-up economy car, the irrepressibly optimistic Joe hits the road alone in search of his folks.

Themes

Birth parents search, Foster care resilience, Media exposure pressures, Deception and protection, Road trip quest, Working-class struggle

Available on

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

Duets

10. Duets

Comedy Drama Music Buddy Comedy Entertainment Industry Drama
6.1
20001h 52min

Overview

Duets is a road-trip comedy which revolves around the little known world of karaoke and the whimsical characters who inhabit it. All roads lead to Omaha, site of a national karaoke competition where this motley group of singers and stars come together for a blow-out sing-off.

Themes

Economic precarity on tour, Belonging via performance, Competition as social glue, Drug-based anxiety coping, Family seeking reconciliation, Risk and violence on tour

Available on

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