These might just make you a better person
Originally there was some logic to the order of the films in this list. But by now the amount of them, the varied nature of their messages and potential and the sheer importance of each and every one of them (or, at the very least, most of them) just annihilates the possibility of ordering them in any kind of importance. So there is no order any more, besides the order in which they were added as time passed. Peruse and choose whichever, there is so much here.
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- DirectorSpike LeeStarsDanny AielloOssie DavisRuby DeeOn the hottest day of the year on a street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, everyone's hate and bigotry smolders and builds until it explodes into violence.Always, always do the right thing, even when you're scared as hell and everything inside you is turning, even when you're shaking and ashamed, even when everything seems to be against you and nobody seems to care - look into your deepest self, be honest to the point of torture, and do the right thing.
- DirectorVittorio De SicaStarsLamberto MaggioraniEnzo StaiolaLianella CarellIn post-war Italy, a working-class man's bicycle is stolen, endangering his efforts to find work. He and his son set out to find it.Of crime and poverty and the heartbreaking interrelation.
- DirectorLeo McCareyStarsVictor MooreBeulah BondiFay BainterAn elderly couple are forced to live hundreds of miles apart when they lose their house and none of their five children will take both parents in.The sadness of the inevitable conflicts and loss, made brutal by the impatience of the young and healthy.
- DirectorTod BrowningStarsWallace FordLeila HyamsOlga BaclanovaA circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance.Displays deep empathy (for which it was rewarded with censure and the tag "horror") and sees the person behind the disability. Perhaps it can, if such ability is lacking, help you see it too.
- DirectorMick JacksonStarsKaren MeagherReece DinsdaleDavid BrierlyThe effects of a nuclear holocaust on the working class city of Sheffield, England and the eventual long-term effects of nuclear war on civilization.Opens eyes wide to the deep and dehumanizing horrors of nuclear war. Its realism just makes it so much more effective. If you be a feeling soul, you'll never support the bomb again, nor trust the empty figures yapping validation.
- DirectorJoshua OppenheimerAnonymousChristine CynnStarsAnwar CongoHerman KotoSyamsul ArifinA documentary which challenges former Indonesian death-squad leaders to reenact their mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers.Reveals the extremes of human egoism, self-deceit and ignorant cruelty, the possibility of which hides in the breast of each of us. Look on these souls, ye mighty, and despair, for if you do not, you risk losing your own.
- DirectorMike LeighStarsSally HawkinsAlexis ZegermanSamuel RoukinA look at a few chapters in the life of Poppy, a cheery, colorful, North London schoolteacher whose optimism tends to exasperate those around her.Of the ethereal concept of realistic optimism. Scary, vital and beautiful.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsHenry FondaLee J. CobbMartin BalsamThe jury in a New York City murder trial is frustrated by a single member whose skeptical caution forces them to more carefully consider the evidence before jumping to a hasty verdict.Not just of standing your ground for the right thing, but of logical argument - for when there is even a modicum of doubt, how can you ignore it just because you're bored, disinterested, afraid, emotional or prejudiced?
- DirectorJohn Patrick ShanleyStarsMeryl StreepPhilip Seymour HoffmanAmy AdamsA Catholic school principal questions a priest's ambiguous relationship with a troubled young student.Of doubt - and how despite the best efforts it sometimes just cannot be clenched and one must move despite its clawing uncertainty.
- DirectorGregory JacobsStarsChanning TatumJoe ManganielloMatt BomerThree years after Mike bowed out of the stripper life at the top of his game, he and the remaining Kings of Tampa hit the road to Myrtle Beach to put on one last blow-out performance.Exploitation has never been so life- and gender-affirming (if just a teeny-bit male skewed).
- DirectorSteve JamesStarsTio HardimanAmeena MatthewsToya BateyA year in the life of a city grappling with urban violence.The agressors and victims taking the tools for fixing the broken system into their own hands. A strong example of it, and of the reason for the need of forgiveness.
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsRosario FloresJavier CámaraDarío GrandinettiTwo men share an odd friendship while they care for two women who are both in deep comas.The secret's in the name - just bloody talk to her (or him).
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsAndre GregoryWallace ShawnJean LenauerTwo old friends meet for dinner; as one tells anecdotes detailing his experiences, the other notices their differing worldviews.Of thoughtful, honest, interesting conversation, its joys and libetaring effect.
- DirectorRobert MulliganStarsGregory PeckJohn MegnaFrank OvertonAtticus Finch, a widowed lawyer in Depression-era Alabama, defends a Black man against an undeserved rape charge, and tries to educate his young children against prejudice.Or, to do the right thing, with or without prejudice.
- DirectorAgnès VardaStarsCorinne MarchandAntoine BourseillerDominique DavrayCleo, a singer and hypochondriac, becomes increasingly worried that she might have cancer while awaiting test results from her doctor.
- 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.Of love.
- DirectorSamuel FullerStarsKristy McNicholChrista LangVernon WeddleA trainer attempts to retrain a vicious dog that's been raised to attack black people.Of racism in both short- and long-term. And a film with deep empathy for innocents turned monster.
- DirectorBenh ZeitlinStarsQuvenzhané WallisDwight HenryLevy EasterlyFaced with both her hot-tempered father's fading health and melting ice-caps that flood her ramshackle bayou community and unleash ancient aurochs, six-year-old Hushpuppy must learn the ways of courage and love.Of the most heart-felt endurance.
- DirectorMike LeighStarsPhil DavisRuth SheenEdna DoréThe life of a working class couple living in London and their complicated relationships with other members of the family.Look into Her face, and Be better.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsSean ConneryTrevor HowardVivien MerchantA burnt-out British police detective finally snaps whilst interrogating a suspected child molester.The animal in the breast of Man - what to do with it and what happens when you do nothing.
- DirectorKirby DickStarsAmy ZieringKirby DickKori CiocaAn investigative documentary about the epidemic of rape of soldiers within the US military.Shedding light on a disgusting cover-up where camaraderie and false honour is defended with little care for the victims.
- DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsYôji MatsudaYuriko IshidaYûko TanakaOn a journey to find the cure for a Tatarigami's curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest gods and Tatara, a mining colony. In this quest he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime.The clash of nature and industry in the human soul.
- DirectorJames PonsoldtStarsMary Elizabeth WinsteadAaron PaulNick OffermanA married couple whose bond is built on a mutual love of alcohol gets their relationship put to the test when the wife decides to get sober.Filled with humanity and understanding, it shows a way for reconciliation with onself and those around, and what to do if that's not possible.
- DirectorDavid SchwimmerStarsClive OwenCatherine KeenerLiana LiberatoA teenage girl is targeted by an online sexual predator.What to do, what not to do. See, learn, understand, help, teach.
- DirectorSteve McQueenStarsChiwetel EjioforMichael Kenneth WilliamsMichael FassbenderIn the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free Black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.A horror story of dehumanization.
- DirectorOrson WellesGary GraverOja KodarStarsOrson WellesOja KodarFrançois ReichenbachA documentary about fraud and fakery.Or how I learned to stop worrying and love the fake.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsMatt DamonKate WinsletJude LawHealthcare professionals, government officials and everyday people find themselves in the midst of a pandemic as the CDC works to find a cure.
- DirectorCharles FergusonStarsMatt DamonGylfi ZoegaAndri Snær MagnasonTakes a closer look at what brought about the 2008 financial meltdown.
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsNick CannonTeyonah ParrisWesley SnipesA modern day adaptation of the ancient Greek play Lysistrata by Aristophanes, set against the backdrop of gang violence in Chicago, Illinois.Or how to learn to stop banging and take responsibility.
- DirectorRusty CundieffStarsClarence Williams IIICorbin BernsenJoe TorryA funeral director tells four strange tales of horror with an African American focus to three drug dealers he traps in his place of business.A worthy sociopolitical double-feature with Chi-Raq preaching an end to toxic masculinity and death from inside.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorShôgo FuruyaSatoshi KonStarsTôru EmoriYoshiaki UmegakiAya OkamotoOn Christmas Eve, three homeless people living on the streets of Tokyo discover a newborn baby among the trash and set out to find its parents.
- DirectorMichael ReevesStarsVincent PriceIan OgilvyRupert DaviesDuring the English Civil War, a young Roundhead seeks vengeance against a vicious witch-hunter and his henchman, who have terrorized the soldier's fiancée and wrongfully executed her uncle.The danger in giving power to the lunacy of superstition and to the people unashamed to abuse it.
- DirectorÉric RohmerStarsJean-Louis TrintignantFrançoise FabianMarie-Christine BarraultA devout Catholic man's rigid principles are challenged during a one-night stay with Maud, a divorced woman with an outsize personality.What makes us choose those we choose? Who would you choose? Why?
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsMatt DamonJessica ChastainKristen WiigAn astronaut becomes stranded on Mars after his team assume him dead, and must rely on his ingenuity to find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive and can survive until a potential rescue.Of the indomitable survival spirit that exists in the breast of each of us. Let it live.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsRalph RichardsonMichèle MorganSonia DresdelA butler working in a foreign embassy in London falls under suspicion when his wife accidentally falls to her death, the only witness being an impressionable young boy.Lies and kids, or, the effect our deceitful words have on their naive ignorance.
- DirectorDeniz Gamze ErgüvenStarsGünes SensoyDoga Zeynep DogusluTugba SungurogluWhen five orphan girls are seen innocently playing with boys on a beach, their scandalized conservative guardians confine them while forced marriages are arranged.Pain, sadness, and optimism - never give up, never surrender, always question the system. That's the universal lesson. And the concrete? The system described as protection instead enslaves, offers no protection and gives all the power to those who may abuse it without any consequences.
- DirectorAbderrahmane SissakoStarsIbrahim AhmedAbel JafriToulou KikiA cattle herder and his family who reside in the dunes of Timbuktu find their quiet lives -- which are typically free of the Jihadists determined to control their faith -- abruptly disturbed.For a Western viewer? The inherent diversity of those clothed in otherness.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsMichael FassbenderPenélope CruzCameron DiazA lawyer finds himself in over his head when he gets involved in drug trafficking.A brave creation showing big crime for what it truly is - ugly, without morals and empathy, dominated by true monsters.
- DirectorNicholas StollerStarsSeth RogenRose ByrneZac EfronWhen their new next-door neighbors turn out to be a sorority even more debaucherous than the fraternity that lived there before, Mac and Kelly team with their former enemy, Teddy, to bring the girls down.You laugh. That is good. Laughter is good for your health. Now step into the wonderful world of empowering young women, seeing absolutely no problems in being gay and showing the beautiful support of platonic male physical contact. Laugh, and with laughter witness beauty.
- DirectorBernhard WickiStarsVolker BohnetFritz WepperMichael HinzIn 1945, Germany is being overrun, and nobody is left to fight but teenagers.The tragedy of abused belief.
- DirectorNora TwomeyStarsSaara ChaudrySoma ChhayaNoorin GulamgausIn 2001, Afghanistan is under the control of the Taliban. When her father is captured, a determined young girl disguises herself as a boy in order to provide for her family.A beautiful vision of the horrors of war and the ludicrous notion of validation based on gender. At present time also a beautiful and informing look into the lives of people in a country we hear mostly in horror tales. What sadness it is to witness the destruction of civilization.
- DirectorBong Joon HoStarsTilda SwintonPaul DanoAhn Seo-hyunA young girl risks everything to prevent a powerful, multinational company from kidnapping her best friend - a fascinating beast named Okja.Of empathy for creatures.
- DirectorRemi WeekesStarsSope DirisuWunmi MosakuMalaika Wakoli-AbigabaA refugee couple makes a harrowing escape from war-torn South Sudan, but then they struggle to adjust to their new life in an English town that has an evil lurking beneath the surface.Grief and guilt and the simple act of willing to live. The film has building and resonating power. And then there's that image. In silence it screams. You'll know which one.
- DirectorIsao TakahataStarsTsutomu TatsumiAyano ShiraishiAkemi YamaguchiA young boy and his little sister struggle to survive in Japan during World War II.The sadness is overwhelming. Like so many other heavy films, it's a desperate scream for a better world. You cannot will it into being. But at the very least you can go and do a bit. How about donate some money to buy food for hungry kids?
- DirectorElem KlimovStarsAleksey KravchenkoOlga MironovaLiubomiras LauceviciusAfter finding an old rifle, a young boy joins the Soviet resistance movement against ruthless German forces and experiences the horrors of World War II.A heavy film I wouldn't blame you for wanting to avoid, but it is one of the most powerful tales I've seen about the kind of world war creates. After this film, what kind of a monster must one be to still yearn for it? I'm afraid a partial answer to that can lie in here as well.