Professional Drama backdrop

Professional Drama movies

Work-driven drama about responsibility, ethics, hierarchy, and high-stakes decisions that reshape lives and careers.

The Method

1. The Method

Drama Thriller Professional Drama Mind Game Thriller
7.1
20051h 57min

Overview

Seven candidates to a high executive position on a multinational company show up for a selection test in a skyscraper at the financial district. Among them, the most disparate personalities: the winner, the aggressive, the insecure, the critic, the indecisive…

Themes

Workplace competition, Career ambition under pressure, Deception in selection, Group dynamics under observation, Power dynamics in corporate ascent, Hidden evaluator influence

Available on

Kanopy
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

The Death of Mr. Lazarescu

2. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu

Drama Comedy Professional Drama
7.8
20052h 30min

Overview

After suffering terrible headaches and stomach cramps, Mr. Lăzărescu, a lonely 63 year-old man, calls for an ambulance, beginning one man’s hellish journey through Bucharest hospitals in search of proper medical care. As the night unfolds, his health starts to deteriorate fast.

Themes

Alcohol use and health risk, Overcrowded hospitals, Aging vulnerability, Caregiver advocacy under strain, Procedural delays in care, Social isolation of the elderly

Available on

Filmin
LaCinetek
Universcine
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Million Dollar Baby

3. Million Dollar Baby

Drama Professional Drama
8.1
20042h 12min

Overview

Despondent over a painful estrangement from his daughter, trainer Frankie Dunn isn't prepared for boxer Maggie Fitzgerald to enter his life. But Maggie's determined to go pro and to convince Dunn and his cohort to help her.

Themes

Gender barriers in sport, Mentorship under pressure, Ambition vs family welfare, Sacrifice for career, Exploitation in sport, Resilience through injury

Available on

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

Shattered Glass

4. Shattered Glass

Drama History Professional Drama Biographical History
7.1
20031h 34min

Overview

The true story of fraudulent Washington, D.C. journalist Stephen Glass, who rose to meteoric heights as a young writer in his 20s, becoming a staff writer at The New Republic for three years. Looking for a short cut to fame, Glass concocted sources, quotes and even entire stories, but his deception did not go unnoticed forever, and eventually, his world came crumbling down.

Themes

Deception under pressure, Credibility under scrutiny, Verification failures, Professional accountability, Popularity vs integrity, Media ethics tensions

Available on

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

Veronica Guerin

5. Veronica Guerin

Drama Crime Thriller Narcotics Crime Investigation Suspense
6.8
20031h 38min

Overview

In this true story, Veronica Guerin is an investigative reporter for an Irish newspaper. As the drug trade begins to bleed into the mainstream, Guerin decides to take on and expose those responsible. Beginning at the bottom with addicts, Guerin then gets in touch with John Traynor, a paranoid informant. Not without some prodding, Traynor leads her to John Gilligan, the ruthless head of the operation, who does not take kindly to Guerin's nosing.

Themes

Drug trade encroachment, Working-class disruption, Public response and policy change, Media exposure consequences, Investigative risk and retaliation, Trafficker deception

Available on

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

Owning Mahowny

6. Owning Mahowny

Crime Drama Thriller Con Artist Crime Professional Drama
7.0
20031h 44min

Overview

Dan Mahowny was a rising star at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. At twenty-four he was assistant manager of a major branch in the heart of Toronto's financial district. To his colleagues he was a workaholic. To his customers, he was astute, decisive and helpful. To his friends, he was a quiet, but humorous man who enjoyed watching sports on television. To his girlfriend, he was shy but engaging. None of them knew the other side of Dan Mahowny--the side that executed the largest single-handed bank fraud in Canadian history, grossing over $10 million in eighteen months to feed his gambling obsession.

Themes

Embezzlement and fraud, Gambling addiction, Illicit funds and deception, Trust versus betrayal, Secrecy under scrutiny, Routine masking risk

Available on

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

Catch Me If You Can

7. Catch Me If You Can

Drama Crime Con Artist Crime Professional Drama
8.1
20022h 21min

Overview

A true story about Frank Abagnale Jr. who, before his 19th birthday, successfully conned millions of dollars worth of checks as a Pan Am pilot, doctor, and legal prosecutor. An FBI agent makes it his mission to put him behind bars. But Frank not only eludes capture, he revels in the pursuit.

Themes

Deception and role performance, Trust manipulation, Pursuit and capture tension, Social climbing through fraud, Craft over conformity

Available on

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

Mondays in the Sun

8. Mondays in the Sun

Drama Comedy Professional Drama Workplace Comedy
7.5
20021h 53min

Overview

After the closure of their shipyard in Northern Spain, a few former workers: Santa, José, Lino, Amador, Sergei and Reina keep in touch. They meet mainly at a bar owned by their former colleague Rico. Santa is the most superficially confident and unofficial leader of the group. A court case hangs over him relating to a shipyard lamp he smashed during a protest against the closure. José is bitter that his wife, Ana, is employed when he is not.

Themes

Economic precarity, Solidarity under pressure, Unfulfilled aspirations, Aging worker disenchantment, Camaraderie in deprivation, Escape fantasies versus reality

Available on

Hoopla
Fandango At Home
Tubi TV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Possession

9. Possession

Drama Mystery Romance Professional Drama Investigation Mystery
6.3
20021h 42min

Overview

Maud Bailey, a brilliant English academic, is researching the life and work of poet Christabel La Motte. Roland Michell is an American scholar in London to study Randolph Henry Ash, now best-known for a collection of poems dedicated to his wife. When Maud and Roland discover a cache of love letters that appear to be from Ash to La Motte, they follow a trail of clues across England, echoing the journey of the couple over a century earlier.

Themes

Hidden romance, Academic rivalry, Ideological tension, Cross era ties, Collaboration vs rivalry, Literary legacy

Available on

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

Center Stage

10. Center Stage

Drama Music Professional Drama Dance-Centered Music Film
6.7
20001h 55min

Overview

A group of 12 teenagers from various backgrounds enroll at the American Ballet Academy in New York to make it as ballet dancers and each one deals with the problems and stress of training and getting ahead in the world of dance.

Themes

Class inequality, Body image pressure, Competition pressure, Mentor influence, Family expectations, Peer rivalry

Available on

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