There’s nothing quite like a great drama movie. With a compelling story, strong acting, and a gut-wrenching ending, these movies will get your heart pumping.
Spike Lee’s flamboyant look at race relations in Brooklyn has a powerful message to convey, even if the performances are over-the-top. You can watch this film for the scathingly racially charged moments or for the affecting story of two brothers who struggle with the same issues.
1. Ben-Hur
Ben-Hur is a landmark film that changed the way people see the world. It was a huge success and became one of the most popular movies of all time.
In this movie, Judah Ben-Hur is sent away from his family to a Roman galley and forced into service for the wealthy Arrius. He quickly gains worldly citizenship, wealth, position and praise, but he can’t forget his homeland.
He spends months on a long journey back to Judea, where he meets Balthazar. Balthazar begs him to become a Christian, but Judah rebuffs him.
Then he meets Sheik Ilderim, who trains his four splendid white horses for the upcoming chariot races. He becomes Ben-Hur’s trainer, teaching him a new style of horse training that was radically different from the traditional method 2,000 years ago.
2. Life Is Beautiful
Life is Beautiful is one of the most iconic movies in the history of cinema. It is a story of love, family, and courage that inspired millions of people around the world.
It tells the story of Guido Orefice, a Jew who meets Dora (Nicoletta Braschi) in the 1930s. The couple fall in love, and they live a fairy tale life together.
However, their lives change when German forces invade Italy. This causes them to be detained and sent to concentration camps.
In this film, Benigni portrays the ingenious way that a father will sacrifice everything to protect his son from the horrors of the Holocaust. This shows how much a parent will do to protect their children and ensure that they have a good life.
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3. The Accidental Billionaires
The Accidental Billionaires tells the story of two Harvard undergraduates, Eduardo Saverin and Mark Zuckerberg. They were both awkward maths prodigies and painfully shy computer geniuses who couldn’t fit in at elite, polished Harvard.
They were both looking for ways to stand out and make their way in the world. They met and formed a friendship that would eventually lead to the creation of Facebook, which revolutionised the way people communicate.
It is a fascinating tale of betrayal, sex and money. But it is also a sloppy, unreliable account of the early years of Facebook.
4. Frankenstein
Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, Frankenstein, tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a scientist who creates a monster. It is a significant and powerful story that has influenced both fiction and popular culture.
Throughout the book, family relationships are central to the story. The main characters are depicted as perfect, and yet, they all suffer from isolation or loneliness.
The novel’s title, Frankenstein, is a reference to the Greek myth of Prometheus. It is a cautionary tale about crossing boundaries and creating new things without regard to the consequences.
5. The Pod People
The Pod People is a classic film, and it has had an important impact on the world. It was a major political satire of the Eisenhower era, and it was also a scathing rebuke to the idea of social conformity.
The film’s alien invaders, the pod people, have one motive: to take over humans and replace them with perfect physical duplicates that lack emotions. This is a powerful metaphor for the overheated politics of the time, but it also serves as a reminder that human beings have passions and desires.
The Pod People are cold and emotionless, and they don’t even wince when a dog is run over them. They’re not interested in changing their lives for the better, they just want to survive.
6. The Silence of the Lambs
One of the best horror movies of all time, The Silence of the Lambs dominated the Oscars and became a cultural touchstone. It also helped to establish that genre films and blockbusters could be taken seriously by critics and Academy voters.
The film swept five major awards, including best picture, director and screenplay. Jodie Foster’s performance as FBI trainee Clarice Starling was a masterclass in subverting classic gender dynamics.
When Hannibal “the Cannibal” Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) first confronts Clarice, he sizes her up almost immediately. Unlike the passive monster Brian Cox had played in Manhunter, Hopkins’ Lecter is an engaged, savage antihero.
As much as the film was about a psychotic antihero, it was also about the strength of female agency. It paved the way for characters like Law & Order: SVU’s Olivia Benson or Helen Mirren’s brusque Jane Tennison to pop up on television.
7. The Silence of the Lambs
It’s been over 30 years since Jonathan Demme’s acclaimed film was released in the United States, but it still remains one of the most significant films of all time. It’s a classic in every sense of the word and the legacy of its central character, FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster), has influenced countless movies and television shows.
The Silence of the Lambs is a film that examines gendered violence and police sexism in the workplace, an important theme in modern society. It also reflects how popular culture has long glamorized serial killers as a source of entertainment and cultural fascination, often at the expense of their victims.
The film also paved the way for a new generation of crime dramas that featured dogged women who battled institutional sexism to get their jobs done. This includes Law & Order: SVU’s Olivia Benson and Helen Mirren’s Jane Tennison in Prime Suspect.
8. The Departed
The Departed is an undercover thriller that takes place in Boston. It follows the parallel stories of Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) and Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) as they both become undercover police officers.
The film is based on the Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs, but Scorsese and screenwriter William Monahan make it their own by anchoring the story deeply in the Irish South Boston mob. The result is a movie that examines the hypocrisy of both law enforcement and society.
It also ties in some of Scorsese’s other core themes. One of the most significant is identity.
9. Manchester by the Sea
Despite its dark tone, Manchester by the Sea is a poignant exploration of family, loss, guilt and responsibility. It’s not a movie for everyone, however its clever non-linear plot and near flawless performances of conflict, hate and sly humour make it one of the most gritty and emotionally-reverent dramas of recent years.
Kenneth Lonergan’s surprisingly subtle film stars Casey Affleck as Lee Chandler, a self-exiled Boston janitor who returns home after his brother dies. He must decide whether or not to become the legal guardian of his teenage nephew Patrick.
Affleck is superb in his tough-talking role, while Lucas Hedges gives a deeply moving performance as Patrick, a teenager who quickly becomes an awkward yet refreshingly normal young man. It’s this character that makes the film work.
10. The Silence of the Lambs
The Silence of the Lambs is a landmark film that has left its mark on our culture for years. It was released in 1991 and starred Jodie Foster as FBI agent Clarice Starling, whose every waking hour and some of her dreams are dedicated to fighting and detecting criminals, particularly serial killers.
The film introduced the renowned Hannibal Lecter, a fictional character created by Thomas Harris in his 1981 novel Red Dragon. The book was adapted by Michael Mann in 1986 as Manhunter, with Brian Cox playing the role that made Hannibal Lecter a screen icon.
The film became a worldwide hit and won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It remains the third film in history to win all the major categories, following 1934’s It Happened One Night and 1975’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
