Transformational Movies
Great movies with transformational, thought-provoking themes of love, belonging, fulfillment and the nature of being human. Characters that reflect the infinite variety in all our parts. (In order of my preference.)
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- DirectorDarren AronofskyStarsHugh JackmanRachel WeiszSean Patrick ThomasAs a modern-day scientist, Tommy is struggling with mortality, desperately searching for the medical breakthrough that will save the life of his cancer-stricken wife, Izzi.The Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine meet in 3 parallel time zones – past, present and future – and face the dysfunction in their relationship on a deep spiritual level. What is more important, doing or being? What happens when the power to create overshadows the power of presence, belonging and surrender? Is death a disease? Aronofsky at his best.
- DirectorKay PollakStarsMichael NyqvistFrida HallgrenHelen SjöholmA famous international conductor returns to his small childhood town in Sweden for early retirement. He's asked to help with the church choir. He affects the lives of all in the choir.Finding your voice as part of the whole. The whole honoring every voice. How harmony (aka "Deep Democracy") works. In Swedish, with English subtitles. (Take care *not* to rent the American film of the same name.)
Available on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BA8IBhYlRI&t=667s - DirectorYôjirô TakitaStarsMasahiro MotokiRyôko HirosueTsutomu YamazakiSoon after buying an expensive cello, Daigo learns that his orchestra is disbanding. He moves back to his hometown with his wife, where he answers an ad for what Daigo thinks is a travel agency but is, in actuality, a mortuary.Creating beauty of our lives is a choice.
- DirectorIndar DzhendubaevStarsMatvey LykovMariya PoezzhaevaStanislav LyubshinIn the midst of the wedding princess Miroslava is kidnapped by a dragon and carried away into his castle on the remote island.A re-imagining of ancient archetypes and how we deal with our demons.
- DirectorBertie EllwoodAmber TemplemoreStarsMckenna GraceViola DavisJim GaffiganIn rural 1977 Georgia, a misfit girl dreams of life in outer space. When a competition offers her a chance to be recorded on NASA's Golden Record, she recruits a makeshift troop of Birdie Scouts, forging friendships that last a lifetime.The path to wholeness lies in fully accepting and unconditionally loving our authentic selves, in all our glorious diversity, gifts and flaws, and "doing your best with what God gave you."
- DirectorMona AchacheStarsJosiane BalaskoGarance Le GuillermicTogo IgawaThe life of a determined young girl is changed when she befriends her building's concierge, a solitary woman who is more than what she seems.The Feminine Wound. Can we learn to let life in, even when it seems existentially pointless and overhwleming?
- DirectorSpike JonzeStarsJoaquin PhoenixAmy AdamsScarlett JohanssonIn a near future, a lonely writer develops an unlikely relationship with an operating system designed to meet his every need.What capacities enable (romantic) intimacy? Can we learn them? Why do human beings have such a hard time maintaining intimate relationships? Could computers do a better job, with a few, simple rules, such as: stay positive, always show you care, be vulnerable, pay attention to how as well as what your partner is saying, ...?
- DirectorDaniel BarnzStarsElle FanningPatricia ClarksonFelicity HuffmanConfounded by her clashes with the seemingly rule-obsessed world, a troubled young girl seeks enlightenment from her unconventional drama teacher.An unusual girl gets help from her shamanic drama teacher empowering that unique inner voice we are all born with, amidst all the forces of fear and conditioning which try to stamp it out.
- DirectorAdam ElliotStarsToni CollettePhilip Seymour HoffmanEric BanaIn 1976 Melbourne, a lonely 8-year-old girl strikes up a correspondence with an unlikely pen pal: a severely obese 44-year-old New Yorker with Asperger's syndrome.A poignant, and sometimes hard-hitting, exploration of the unlikely love between two pen pals -- an 8 yr. old Australian Girl and a middle-aged New York Jew with Asperger's Syndrome. Told in charming claymation.
- DirectorJamin WinansStarsChristopher Soren KellyQuinn HuncharJessica DuffyA mysterious creature, known as Ink, steals a child's soul in hopes of using it as a bargaining chip to join the Incubi - the group of supernatural beings responsible for creating nightmares."They're all reactions! One thing begets the next. ... Something's gotta stop the flow." The battle for a man's soul. Not for the faint of heart.
- DirectorJonathan DaytonValerie FarisStarsPaul DanoZoe KazanAnnette BeningA novelist struggling with writer's block finds romance in a most unusual way: by creating a female character he thinks will love him, then willing her into existence.The power and limitation of our ability to create through imagination.
- DirectorSusanne BierStarsMads MikkelsenSidse Babett KnudsenRolf LassgårdA manager of an orphanage in India is sent to Copenhagen, Denmark, where he discovers a life-altering family secret.A stunning exploration of priorities in love and work.
- DirectorMax MayerStarsHugh DancyRose ByrnePeter GallagherAdam, a lonely man with Asperger's Syndrome, develops a relationship with his upstairs neighbor, Beth.What are the limits of love? How important is the ability to empathize? When do we adapt to accommodate our partner, and how do we make that difficult decision of whether to stay or go? Asperger's Syndrome used as a beautiful foil for emotional literacy.
- DirectorJames McTeigueStarsHugo WeavingNatalie PortmanRupert GravesIn a future British dystopian society, a shadowy freedom fighter, known only by the alias of "V", plots to overthrow the tyrannical government - with the help of a young woman.The corrupting power of dominance. The healing power of vulnerability.
- DirectorCraig GillespieStarsRyan GoslingEmily MortimerPaul SchneiderA delusional young man strikes up an unconventional relationship with a doll he finds on the Internet.The healing power of imagination, acceptance, love and community.
- DirectorLana WachowskiLilly WachowskiStarsKeanu ReevesLaurence FishburneCarrie-Anne MossWhen a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.To take the blue pill or the red ... no one can choose for us.
- DirectorMarc ForsterStarsJohnny DeppKate WinsletJulie ChristieThe story of Sir J.M. Barrie's friendship with a family who inspired him to create Peter Pan.How does creation empower relationship, and relationship empower creation?
- DirectorTarsem SinghStarsLee PaceCatinca UntaruJustine WaddellIn 1920s Los Angeles, a bedridden patient in a hospital captivates a young girl with a fantastic tale of heroes, myths, and villains on a desert island.The power of storytelling. The world of imagination, seen through the eyes of a little girl. There is a part of you that always chooses life. Where is she?
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsRichard BurtonPeter FirthColin BlakelyA psychiatrist attempts to uncover a troubled stable boy's disturbing obsession with horses.Who is the crazy one ... and why? Who is more alive? Is there a way out of the traps that individuals, and cultures, set for ourselves? Is the concept of "sanity" just an excuse for indoctrination into sometimes-impotent societal norms? Who heals the healer?
- DirectorTom ShadyacStarsTom ShadyacDesmond TutuNoam ChomskyDirector Tom Shadyac speaks with intellectual and spiritual leaders about what's wrong with our world and how we can improve both it and the way we live in it.We are all connected -- seriously! "We are far grander than we've been told."
- DirectorOlivier NakacheÉric ToledanoStarsFrançois CluzetOmar SyAnne Le NyAfter he becomes a quadriplegic from a paragliding accident, an aristocrat hires a young man from the projects to be his caregiver.Two men find wholeness -- each providing the piece the other was missing. (French, with English subtitles)
- DirectorTerry GilliamStarsJeff BridgesRobin WilliamsAdam BryantA former radio DJ, suicidally despondent because of a terrible mistake he made, finds redemption in helping a deranged homeless man who was an unwitting victim of that mistake.The Masculine Wound. Narcissism on a collision course with itself. Finding the holy grail of life.
- DirectorHarold RamisStarsBill MurrayAndie MacDowellChris ElliottA narcissistic, self-centered weatherman finds himself in a time loop on Groundhog Day.The universe will patiently serve up the same lessons over and over, as long as it takes -- until we get it.
- DirectorMichel Orion ScottStarsRupert IsaacsonKristin NeffRowan IsaacsonA writer documents the journey his family takes to Mongolia to consult with nomadic shamans on the healing of their autistic son.Love, faith, healing.
- DirectorAlexander PayneStarsGeorge ClooneyShailene WoodleyAmara MillerA land baron tries to reconnect with his two daughters after his wife is seriously injured in a boating accident.Turning back to love, at all the right places. Life brings us to the brink, our hearts bring us back.
- DirectorJ.A. BayonaStarsLewis MacDougallSigourney WeaverFelicity JonesConor, a twelve-year-old boy, encounters an ancient tree monster who proceeds to help him cope with his mother's terminal illness and being bullied in school.A boy invokes a monster to help him deal with the overwhelming job of being a boy.
- DirectorIrwin WinklerStarsHayden ChristensenKevin KlineKristin Scott ThomasWhen a man is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he takes custody of his misanthropic teenage son, for whom quality time means getting high, engaging in small-time prostitution, and avoiding his father.A touching exploration of love, family, home, and legacy
- DirectorDavid FincherStarsBrad PittEdward NortonMeat LoafAn insomniac office worker and a devil-may-care soap maker form an underground fight club that evolves into much more.Are you alive? Are you sure?
- DirectorMasayuki SuôStarsKoji YakushoTamiyo KusakariNaoto TakenakaA successful but unhappy Japanese accountant finds the missing passion in his life when he begins to secretly take ballroom dance lessons.What makes life worth living? What drives us to excel? How do we allow others to help us find what we need? (Watch the original version, in Japanese, not the Hollywood remake.)
- DirectorJulian SchnabelStarsMathieu AmalricEmmanuelle SeignerMarie-Josée CrozeThe true story of Elle editor Jean-Dominique Bauby who suffers a stroke and has to live with an almost totally paralyzed body; only his left eye isn't paralyzed.What is possible in the realm of the mind? A sumptuous exploration of how alive one can (or can't) be without the use of the body.
- DirectorBo BurnhamChristopher StorerStarsBo BurnhamA musical stand-up comedy show by Bo Burnham, the famous internet musician.How not to repeat things. Powerfully meta and introspective observations of the way we, wrapped in caustic humor and raw talent. Available on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejc5zic4q2A
- DirectorRobert Allan AckermanStarsBrittany MurphyToshiyuki NishidaTammy BlanchardAn American woman is stranded in Tokyo after breaking up with her boyfriend. Searching for direction in life, she trains to be a râmen chef under a tyrannical Japanese master.Zen and the art of growing up.
- DirectorTom HooperStarsColin FirthGeoffrey RushHelena Bonham CarterThe story of King George VI, his unexpected ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer.Finding your voice.
- DirectorJaco Van DormaelStarsJared LetoSarah PolleyDiane KrugerA boy stands on a station platform as a train is about to leave. Should he go with his mother or stay with his father? Infinite possibilities arise from this decision. As long as he doesn't choose, anything is possible.A brilliant commentary on the role of choice and time in life. Having to choose between his mother and father when he is 9 proves to be too much for the title character, so, he resolves never to choose, shattering time in the process.
- DirectorNeill BlomkampStarsSharlto CopleyDavid JamesJason CopeViolence ensues after an extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth finds a kindred spirit in a government agent exposed to their biotechnology.A potent exploration of racism.
- DirectorGuillermo del ToroStarsSally HawkinsOctavia SpencerMichael ShannonAt a top secret research facility in the 1960s, a lonely janitor forms a unique relationship with an amphibious creature that is being held in captivity.A hard-hitting metaphor for our culture's lack of appreciation and respect for the otherness of the natural world.
- DirectorPete DocterRonnie Del CarmenStarsAmy PoehlerBill HaderLewis BlackAfter young Riley is uprooted from her Midwest life and moved to San Francisco, her emotions - Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness - conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house, and school.Delightful depiction of how our emotional body functions.
- DirectorMichel GondryStarsGael García BernalCharlotte GainsbourgMiou-MiouA man entranced by his dreams and imagination is love-struck with a French woman and feels he can show her his world.A quirky exploration, rich in metaphor, of how we defend ourselves against the love we yearn for.
- DirectorAlex GarlandStarsNatalie PortmanJennifer Jason LeighTessa ThompsonA biologist signs up for a dangerous, secret expedition into a mysterious zone where the laws of nature don't apply.
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsAnne HathawayRosemarie DeWittDebra WingerA young woman who has been in and out of rehab for the past ten years returns home for the weekend for her sister's wedding.An uncomfortably accurate portrait of a dysfunctional family in search of love in the midst of personal pain and internecine conflict. (Not a happy film.)
- DirectorTom TykwerLana WachowskiLilly WachowskiStarsTom HanksHalle BerryHugh GrantAn exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution.Our lives are not our own. (We are all inextricably interconnected.)
- DirectorAlejandro JodorowskyStarsBrontis JodorowskyPamela FloresJeremias HerskovitsIn a little Chilean town, the son of an uprooted couple formed by a rigorous communist father and a loving but weak mother tries to pave his own path in a society that does not understand their Jewish-Ukrainian origins.A sumptuous, dark, and challenging film, condemning our patriarchal inheritance
- DirectorLance YoungStarsCraig ShefferTerence StampSheryl LeeA newly married happy couple visits a sex therapist to determine why the wife can't achieve an orgasm with her husband. This causes a horrific suppressed memory to emerge and she becomes more and more distant.A love story. Transformation through authentic sexuality. Beautiful depiction of societal ills, and basic conscious, energetic antidotes, in this under-exposed aspect of modern culture.
- DirectorJon TurteltaubStarsAnthony HopkinsCuba Gooding Jr.Donald SutherlandWhen noted anthropologist Dr. Ethan Powell, who left society to live in the jungle, is imprisoned for murder, it's up to young psychiatrist Theo Caulder to get through to him.Are you free? Are you a "Taker?"
- DirectorMichel GondryStarsJim CarreyKate WinsletTom WilkinsonWhen their relationship turns sour, a couple undergoes a medical procedure to have each other erased from their memories forever.Just in case you didn't believe in love, or forgot what makes life worth living. Beautiful film.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsJim CarreyEd HarrisLaura LinneyAn insurance salesman discovers his whole life is actually a reality TV show.You think your illusions are less powerful?
- DirectorHans CanosaStarsHelena Bonham CarterAaron EckhartYury TsykunWhen a man and woman flirt with each other at a wedding reception, the sexual tension seems spontaneous. As they break from the party to a hotel room, the flirtation turns into a night filled with passion and remorse.Explorations in intimacy. Inventive split-screen format, showing both sides of each relationship.
- DirectorJean-Jacques AnnaudStarsTchéky KaryoBart the BearYouk the BearAn orphan bear cub hooks up with an adult male as they try to dodge human hunters.Sumptuously filmed depiction of mammals living in harmony with their environment. What is the role of love, of the need to survive, deep in our nature? What have we humans forgotten about what it means to belong to our environment?
- DirectorMalik BendjelloulStarsRodriguezStephen 'Sugar' SegermanDennis CoffeyTwo South Africans set out to discover what happened to their unlikely musical hero, the mysterious 1970s rock n roller, Rodriguez.Does our culture support and nurture excellence and artistic vision? A great mystery, and well-told, implausibly true story.
- DirectorEdmund GouldingStarsTyrone PowerGene TierneyJohn PayneAn adventuresome young man goes off to find himself and loses his socialite fiancée in the process. But when he returns 10 years later, she will stop at nothing to get him back, even though she is already married.Summerset Maugham's classic tale of the seeker and the path to salvation, going against the expectations of society.
- DirectorDave McKeanStarsStephanie LeonidasJason BarryRob BrydonIn a fantasy world of opposing kingdoms, a fifteen-year-old girl must find the fabled MirrorMask in order to save the kingdom and get home.A sumptuous fantasy on being yourself.
- DirectorLawrence KasdanStarsLoren DeanHope DavisJason LeeIn the small town of Mumford, a psychologist of the same name moves in and quickly becomes very popular, despite a questionable past.Where does the power to heal come from?
- DirectorDenzel WashingtonStarsDenzel WashingtonDerek LukeJoy BryantAntwone Fisher, a young navy man, is forced to see a psychiatrist after a violent outburst against a fellow crewman. During the course of treatment a painful past is revealed and a new hope begins.The collective wound of the African-American experience.
- DirectorJac SchaefferStarsEmma Caulfield FordScott HolroydKali RochaIf a clock could count down to the moment you meet your soul mate, would you want to know?Why do we focus so much of our time and attention on "finding the one?" A hilarious alternate-reality not so different from our own.
- DirectorEric SchaefferStarsEric SchaefferAmanda De CadenetRudolf MartinCab driver Michael and supermodel Sarah fall in love while her gorgeous husband Phillippe is in Madrid for two months.Taxi-driver meets super-model. What does it take, to allow our own bliss, in love? A realistic love story.
- DirectorAndrew NiccolStarsEthan HawkeUma ThurmanJude LawA genetically inferior man assumes the identity of a superior one in order to pursue his lifelong dream of space travel.A not-too unrealistic near-future dystopia run by the shadow of genetic technology. Are we heading there?
- DirectorRon HowardStarsRussell CroweEd HarrisJennifer ConnellyA mathematical genius, John Nash made an astonishing discovery early in his career and stood on the brink of international acclaim. But the handsome and arrogant Nash soon found himself on a harrowing journey of self-discovery.What is real, anyway, and how does the mind know?
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsAndre GregoryWallace ShawnJean LenauerTwo old friends meet for dinner; as one tells anecdotes detailing his experiences, the other notices their differing worldviews.A scintillating, reality-bending, filming of an extraordinary dinner conversation, infused with the aliveness of being.
- DirectorGeorge ClooneyStarsSam RockwellDrew BarrymoreGeorge ClooneyAn adaptation of the cult memoir of game show impresario Chuck Barris (Sam Rockwell), in which he purports to have been a C.I.A. hitman.Is it true ... or just a great story? You decide.
- DirectorPeyton ReedStarsJim CarreyZooey DeschanelBradley CooperA man challenges himself to say "yes" to everything.The power of "yes" -- and "no." An exploration of boundaries.
- DirectorGeoff MurphyStarsBruno LawrenceAlison RoutledgePete SmithA scientist awakens to find himself alone in the world. In a desperate attempt to search for others, he finds only two who have their own agenda.An End of the World tale that has much to say about our culture, fate, and human nature.
- DirectorDerek CianfranceStarsRyan GoslingMichelle WilliamsJohn DomanThe relationship of a contemporary married couple, charting their evolution over a span of years by cross-cutting between time periods.An unrelentingly dark and saddening tale of a relationship gone bad. Interesting insights into how we choose our fate.
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsJeff DanielsMelanie GriffithGeorge 'Red' SchwartzA free-spirited woman "kidnaps" a yuppie for a weekend of adventure. But the fun quickly takes a dangerous turn when her ex-convict husband shows up.Take a risk. Try something different. You only live once.
- DirectorHal AshbyStarsPeter SellersShirley MacLaineMelvyn DouglasAfter the death of his employer forces him out of the only home he's ever known, a simpleminded, sheltered gardener becomes an unlikely trusted advisor to a powerful tycoon and an insider in Washington politics."I like to watch."
- DirectorPhilip KaufmanStarsDaniel Day-LewisJuliette BinocheLena OlinCentral Europe, 1968: A Czech doctor with an active sex life meets a woman who wants monogamy, and then the Soviet invasion further disrupts their lives.What is important in this life?
- DirectorJean-Jacques AnnaudStarsShaofeng FengShawn DouAnkhnyam RagchaaDuring China's Cultural Revolution, a young urban student is sent to live with Mongolian herders, where he adopts a wolf cub.Man's hubris and fear in the face of nature.
- DirectorDerek JarmanStarsClancy ChassayJill BalconSally DexterA dramatization, in modern theatrical style, of the life and thought of the Viennese-born, Cambridge-educated philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951), whose principal interest was the nature and limits of language. A series of sketches depict the unfolding of his life from boyhood, through the era of the first World War, to his eventual Cambridge professorship and association with Bertrand Russell and John Maynard Keynes. The emphasis in these sketches is on the exposition of the ideas of Wittgenstein, a homosexual, and an intuitive, moody, proud, and perfectionistic thinker generally regarded as a genius.A dramatic -- and heady -- biography of the philosopher. Has he created a world so smooth, that there is nowhere to gain a foothold? (Available on YouTube.)
- DirectorYûya IshiiStarsRyûhei MatsudaAoi MiyazakiJoe OdagiriMajime, an eccentric man in publishing company, who has unique ability of words, joins the team that will compile a new dictionary, 'The Great Passage.' In the eclectic team, he becomes immersed in the world of dictionaries. But the team is overwhelmed with problems. Will 'The Great Passage' ever be completed?(in Japanese with English sub-titles.)
- DirectorJean-François RichetStarsVirginie LedoyenYazid AïtMar SodupeAt twenty, all Maria wants to do is live life to the fullest. She lives with her benevolent, but aging parents. Other characters are: Linda, her best friend, the dredger Manu, Bouboule, her secret lover , and Karim, a home worker. Despite the drudgery of everyday life, they all pursue a similar quest for happiness. And then everything changes.Available at: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4xwab0
- DirectorCrispian MillsChris HopewellStarsSimon PeggPaul FreemanAmara KaranA crime novelist whose research on Victorian serial killers has turned him into a paranoid wreck must confront his worst fears when a film executive takes a sudden interest in his movie script.
- DirectorPeter ChelsomStarsSimon PeggRosamund PikeTracy-Ann ObermanA psychiatrist searches the globe to find the secret of happiness.
- DirectorStuart HazeldineStarsSam WorthingtonOctavia SpencerTim McGrawA grieving man receives a mysterious, personal invitation to meet with God at a place called "The Shack."
- DirectorLisa LangsethStarsEva GreenAlicia VikanderCharlotte RamplingSisters in conflict travelling through Europe toward a mystery destination.