MUBI Essentials (2021 - 2023)
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- DirectorMaria SpethStarsDieter BachmannAynur BalÖnder CavdarHow does one feel at home? In Stadtallendorf, a German city with a complex history of both excluding and integrating foreigners, genial teacher Dieter Bachmann offers his pupils the key to at least feeling as if they are at home.
- DirectorRyûsuke HamaguchiStarsHidetoshi NishijimaTôko MiuraReika KirishimaA renowned stage actor and director learns to cope with a big personal loss when he receives an offer to direct a production of Uncle Vanya in Hiroshima.
- DirectorPanah PanahiStarsPantea PanahihaMohammad Hassan MadjooniRayan SarlakFollows a chaotic, tender family that is on a road trip across a rugged landscape and fussing over the sick dog and getting on each others' nerves. Only the mysterious older brother is quiet.
- DirectorJoachim TrierStarsRenate ReinsveAnders Danielsen LieHerbert NordrumThe chronicles of four years in the life of Julie, a young woman who navigates the troubled waters of her love life and struggles to find her career path, leading her to take a realistic look at who she really is.
- DirectorRahul JainExplores the dramatic consequences of India's growing economy, capturing not only a city in crisis but magnifying our collective climate realities.
- DirectorSebastian MeiseStarsFranz RogowskiGeorg FriedrichAnton von LuckeIn post-war Germany, liberation by the Allies does not mean freedom for everyone. Hans is repeatedly imprisoned under Paragraph 175, which criminalizes homosexuality. Over the decades, he develops an unlikely bond with his cellmate Viktor.
- DirectorTatiana HuezoStarsGuillermo VillegasMayra BatallaTeresa SánchezLife in a town at war seen through the eyes of three young girls on the path to adolescence.
- DirectorKarim AïnouzA travel diary filmed on director Karim Aïnouz's first trip to Algeria, the country where his father was born, mixing travel records, home footage, family photographs, historical archives and super-8 footage.
- DirectorFerit KarahanStarsSamet YildizEkin KoçMahir IpekSet over the course of a tense day at an isolated boarding school, this moral drama follows a boy's desperate fight to save his sick friend in the face of a rigid bureaucracy.
- DirectorAnaïs VolpéStarsSouheila YacoubDéborah LukumuenaMatthieu LongatteTwo young and carefree aspiring actresses chase their theater dreams in the streets of Paris until sudden hardship threatens their plans and tests their sisterhood.
- DirectorCéline SciammaStarsJoséphine SanzGabrielle SanzNina MeurisseNelly has just lost her grandmother and is helping her parents clean out her mother's childhood home. She explores the house and the surrounding woods. One day she meets a girl her age building a tree-house.
- DirectorYngvild Sve FlikkeStarsKristine Kujath ThorpArthur BerningNader KhademiAstronaut, forest-keeper, cartoonist. Young Rakel has a whole lot of other plans than becoming a mother. She would rather party, get drunk or stoned instead of sitting hours on the toilet. But she can't ignore it. Is it her or the baby?
- DirectorMahamat-Saleh HarounStarsAchouackh Abakar SouleymaneRihane Khalil AlioYoussouf DjaoroAmina, a practicing Muslim, lives with her daughter, 15-year-old Maria. When Amina learns Maria is pregnant and wants to abort the child, they face an impossible situation in a country where abortion is legally and morally condemned.
- DirectorGaspar NoéStarsDario ArgentoFrançoise LebrunAlex LutzThe last days of an elderly couple stricken by dementia.
- DirectorAndrea ArnoldStarsLin GallagherA close-up portrait of the daily lives of two cows.
- DirectorMarco BellocchioStarsAlberto BellocchioLetizia BellocchioMarco BellocchioA personal documentary centered around the suicide of the director's twin brother, Camillo Bellocchio, in 1968.
- DirectorRyûsuke HamaguchiStarsKotone FurukawaAyumu NakajimaHyunriAn unexpected love triangle, a failed seduction trap and an encounter that results from a misunderstanding, told in three movements to depict three female characters and trace the trajectories between their choices and regrets.
- DirectorJonas Poher RasmussenStarsDaniel KarimyarFardin MijdzadehMilad EskandariFLEE tells the extraordinary true story of a man, Amin, on the verge of marriage which compels him to reveal his hidden past for the first time.
- DirectorJacques AudiardStarsLucie ZhangMakita SambaNoémie MerlantÉmilie meets Camille who is attracted to Nora, who crosses paths with Amber. Three girls and a boy - they're friends, sometimes lovers and often both.
- DirectorDash ShawStarsLake BellMichael CeraAlex KarpovskyCryptozookeepers try to capture a Baku, a dream-eating hybrid creature of legend, and start wondering if they should display these beasts or keep them hidden and unknown.
- DirectorJoaquín CociñaCristóbal LeónUsing human corpses and invoking the spirits of two damned Secretaries of State, a girl performs a ritual to free the kingdom of Chile from its feudal heritage.
- DirectorXavier GiannoliStarsBenjamin VoisinCécile de FranceVincent LacosteLucien de Rubempré, a young, lower-class poet, leaves his family's printing house for Paris. Soon, he learns the dark side of the arts business as he tries to stay true to his dreams.
- DirectorMike MillsStarsJoaquin PhoenixGaby HoffmannWoody NormanWhen his sister asks him to look after her son, a radio journalist embarks on a cross-country trip with his energetic nephew to show him life away from Los Angeles.
- DirectorMichelangelo FrammartinoStarsNicola LanzaAntonio LanzaLeonardo LaroccaThe extraordinary adventure of the young members of the Piedmont Speleological Group who, having already explored all the caves of Northern Italy, changed course in August 1961 and went South to explore other caves unknown to man.
- DirectorAleksandre KoberidzeStarsAni KarseladzeGiorgi BochorishviliOliko BarbakadzeA chance encounter on a street corner has Lisa and Giorgi fall in love at first sight, but an evil spell is cast on them. Will they ever meet again?
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsPenélope CruzMilena SmitIsrael ElejaldeThe story of two mothers who bond in unexpected way after giving birth the same day.
- DirectorÉrica SarmetStarsZélia DuncanBruna LinzmeyerCamila RochaTired of loneliness, Vange goes to a lesbian party for the first time.
- DirectorPeter Tscherkassky18 years after Kurt Kren produced his third film, he shot his masterpiece 37/78: Tree Again (1978). 18 years after I created my third darkroom film, I embarked on Train Again. This film is an homage to Kurt Kren that simultaneously taps into a classic motif in film history. My darkroom ride took a few years, but we finally arrived: All aboard.
- DirectorMia Hansen-LøveStarsVicky KriepsTim RothMia WasikowskaA couple retreat to the island that inspired Ingmar Bergman to write screenplays for their upcoming films when the lines between reality and fiction start to blur.
- DirectorAndreas FontanaStarsFabrizio RongioneStéphanie CléauCarmen IriondoYvan De Wiel, a private banker from Geneva, goes to Argentina in the midst of a dictatorship to replace his partner, the object of the most worrying rumours, who disappeared overnight.
- DirectorLucrecia MartelStarsJulieta LasoLorena CarpanchayMariana CarrizoDuring the 2020 lockdown, Lucrecia Martel returns to home in Salta, Argentina. She follows Julieta Laso who, like a muse, introduces her to a group of female artists and defiant people who exchange glances and opinions around a fire.
- DirectorKathryn HamiltonDeniz TortumOUR ARK is an essay film on our efforts to create a virtual replica of the real world.
- DirectorPaul VerhoevenStarsVirginie EfiraCharlotte RamplingDaphné PatakiaA 17th-century nun in Italy suffers from disturbing religious and erotic visions. She is assisted by a companion, and the relationship between the two women develops into a romantic love affair.
- DirectorSean BakerStarsSimon RexBree ElrodSuzanna SonMikey Saber is a washed-up porn star who returns to his small Texas hometown, not that anyone really wants him back.
- DirectorHong Sang-sooStarsYunhee ChoKwon Hae-hyoLee Hye-yeongShe manages her daily life with a sense of mindfulness while keeping a grave secret to herself, and she decides to meet with a younger director who asked her to join his project, and after they meet there is sudden rainfall and thunder.
- DirectorApichatpong WeerasethakulStarsTilda SwintonAgnes BrekkeDaniel Giménez CachoA woman from Scotland, while traveling in Colombia, begins to notice strange sounds. Soon she begins to think about their appearance.
- DirectorMaggie GyllenhaalStarsOlivia ColmanJessie BuckleyDakota JohnsonA woman's beach vacation takes a dark turn when she begins to confront the troubles of her past.
- DirectorSara CwynarSara Cwynar uses her computer and many studio arrangements to give sense and life to her visual file and the real world. Images of food, art, politicians, models and others compete for our attention in this tour of visual consumerism.
- DirectorLeos CaraxStarsAdam DriverMarion CotillardSimon HelbergA stand-up comedian and his opera singer wife have a two-year-old daughter with a surprising gift.
- DirectorKogonadaStarsColin FarrellJodie Turner-SmithMalea Emma TjandrawidjajaIn a near future, a family reckons with questions of love, connection, and loss after their A.I. helper unexpectedly breaks down.
- DirectorTodd StephensStarsUdo KierJennifer CoolidgeLinda EvansA formerly flamboyant hairdresser takes a long walk across a small town to style a dead woman's hair.
- DirectorJulia DucournauStarsVincent LindonAgathe RousselleGarance MarillierFollowing a series of unexplained crimes, a father is reunited with the son who has been missing for ten years.
- DirectorStephen KaramStarsRichard JenkinsJayne HoudyshellAmy SchumerDuring one evening, the Blake family gathers to celebrate thanksgiving in a broken-down flat newly rented by the daughter and her new man. As the darkness falls, we find that all have less to be thankful about.
- DirectorSaeed RoustayiStarsSaeed PoursamimiTaraneh AlidoostiNavid MohammadzadehLeila, who has spent her entire life caring for her family, makes a plan as her brothers are struggling to make ends meet.
- DirectorCem KayaStarsAlper AgaOrhan AmurogluImran AyataA documentary that tells the stories of Turkish workers who went from Turkey to Germany since 1950. It generally tells the stories of musicians of Turkish origin in Germany.
- DirectorLukas DhontStarsEden DambrineGustav De WaeleÉmilie DequenneThe intense friendship between two thirteen-year old boys Leo and Remi suddenly gets disrupted. Struggling to understand what has happened, Léo approaches Sophie, Rémi's mother. "Close" is a film about friendship and responsibility.
- DirectorCharlotte WellsStarsPaul MescalFrankie CorioCelia Rowlson-HallSophie reflects on the shared joy and private melancholy of a holiday she took with her father twenty years earlier. Memories real and imagined fill the gaps between as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the man she didn't...
- DirectorSaim SadiqStarsAli JunejoRasti FarooqAlina KhanThe youngest son in a traditional Pakistani family takes a job as a backup dancer in a Bollywood-style burlesque and quickly becomes infatuated with the strong-willed trans woman who runs the show.
- DirectorFelix van GroeningenCharlotte VandermeerschStarsLupo BarbieroCristiano SassellaElena LiettiAn epic journey of friendship and self-discovery set in the breathtaking Italian Alps, The Eight Mountains follows over four decades the profound, complex relationship between Pietro and Bruno.
- DirectorAli AbbasiStarsAlice RahimiDiana Al HussenSoraya HelliA journalist descends into the dark underbelly of the Iranian holy city of Mashhad as she investigates the serial killings of sex workers by the so called "Spider Killer", who believes he is cleansing the streets of sinners.
- DirectorCarla SimónStarsJosep AbadJordi Pujol DolcetAnna OtinThe life of a family of peach farmers in a small village in Catalonia changes when the owner of their large estate dies and his lifetime heir decides to sell the land, suddenly threatening their livelihood.
- DirectorAram DildarStarsAhmet AkmanSilan AlagozKenan DemirA big surprise awaits the teacher who is appointed to his hometown, which he knows like the back of his hand; the village he was assigned is not in the maps or any records.
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsPark Hae-ilTang WeiLee Jung-hyunA detective investigating a man's death in the mountains meets the dead man's mysterious wife in the course of his dogged sleuthing.
- DirectorAndreas DresenStarsMeltem KaptanAlexander ScheerCharly HübnerDesperate to help her son, Rabiye Kurnaz, a housewife and loving mother from Bremen, goes to the police, notifies authorities and almost despairs at their impotence and in the end, against all the odds, something truly remarkable happens.
- DirectorColm BairéadStarsCarrie CrowleyAndrew BennettCatherine ClinchIn rural Ireland, a quiet, neglected girl is sent away from her dysfunctional family to live with relatives for the summer where she blossoms and learns what it is to be loved.
- DirectorLaura PoitrasStarsNan GoldinDavid VelascoMegan KaplerFollows the life of artist Nan Goldin and the downfall of the Sackler family, the pharmaceutical dynasty who was greatly responsible for the opioid epidemic's unfathomable death toll.
- DirectorCéline DevauxStarsBlanche GardinLaurent LafitteMaxence TualJeanne is headed to Lisbon with plans to clear her debt by putting her mother's apartment for sale. At the airport she bumps into Jean, a whimsical and somewhat intrusive former high school friend.
- DirectorRodrigo SorogoyenStarsMarina FoïsDenis MénochetLuis ZaheraAn expatriate French couple operate an organic farm in the Spanish countryside but clash with villagers.
- DirectorEmily AtefStarsVicky KriepsGaspard UllielBjørn FlobergHélène and Mathieu have been happy together for many years. The bond between them is deep. Faced with an existential decision, Hélène travels alone to Norway to seek peace and meet a blogger she found on the internet.
- DirectorLéa MysiusStarsAdèle ExarchopoulosSwala EmatiSally DraméVicky lives with her mother Joanne and father Jimmie. When Vicky's aunt Julia arrives after being released from prison, her presence brings back the past in a violent, magical way.
- DirectorHlynur PálmasonStarsÍda Mekkín HlynsdóttirGrímur HlynssonÞorgils HlynssonSiblings building a tree house together over the course of a year. We experience the beauty and brutality of the seasons, as we follow them through their struggles and moments of joy.
- DirectorJoe LawlorChristine MolloyStarsDerry LawlorJoe LawlorMolly Rose LawlorStaged as a series of voiceover sessions, The Future Tense unfolds as a poignant tale of tales, exploring the filmmakers' own experiences in aging, parenting, mental illness, and the brutal history beneath Ireland's heavy earth.
- DirectorAnthony IngStarsJill GoldstonAt first you do not even notice her, she is one of many. But, little by little, you begin to become aware of her and her special presence. As a background artist, Jill Goldston has worked on countless films. This collage of fifty years of cinema and television history is a tribute to her and to all the figures in the background without whom those in the foreground would be unable to take centre stage.
- DirectorLucien Castaing-TaylorVerena ParavelFocuses on five hospitals in northern Paris neighborhoods. It reveals that human flesh is an extraordinary landscape that exists only through the gaze and attention of others.
- DirectorYann GonzalezStarsOliver SimFehinti BalogunJimmy SomervillePopstar Oliver Sim is the main guest of a talk-show that soon slides into a surreal journey of love, shame and blood. A three-part musical short.
- DirectorValentina MaurelStarsDaniela Marín NavarroReinaldo AmienVivian RodriguezEva a 16-year-old girl lives with her mother, her younger sister and their cat, but wants to move in with her estranged father. Clinging onto him, she tries to balance between the tenderness and sensitivity of teenage life.
- DirectorKristoffer BorgliStarsKristine Kujath ThorpEirik SætherFanny VaagerIncreasingly overshadowed by her boyfriend's recent rise to fame as a contemporary artist creating sculptures from stolen furniture, Signe hatches a vicious plan to reclaim her rightfully deserved attention within the milieu of Oslo's cultural elite.
- DirectorMia Hansen-LøveStarsLéa SeydouxPascal GreggoryMelvil PoupaudWith a father suffering from neurodegenerative disease, a young woman lives with her eight-year-old daughter. While struggling to secure a decent nursing home, she runs into an unavailable friend with whom she embarks on an affair.
- DirectorAlice DiopStarsKayije KagameGuslagie MalandaValérie DrévilleFollows Rama, a novelist who attends the trial of Laurence Coly at the Saint-Omer Criminal Court to use her story to write a modern-day adaptation of the ancient myth of Medea, but things don't go as expected.
- DirectorHlynur PálmasonStarsElliott Crosset HoveIngvar SigurdssonVic Carmen SonneAt the end of the 19th century, a young Danish priest is sent to a remote part of Iceland. The deeper he travels into the Icelandic landscape, the more he loses a sense of his own reality, his mission and his sense of duty.
- DirectorJerzy SkolimowskiStarsHolaTakoMariettaFollows a donkey who encounters on his journeys good and bad people, experiences joy and pain, exploring a vision of modern Europe through his eyes.
- DirectorJuraj LeroticStarsJuraj LeroticSnjezana SinovcicGoran MarkovicFollows Damir, who's trying to take his own life while his family wants to save him. Everything happens over a period of just 24 hours.
- DirectorKaan AriciIsmet KurtulusStarsAhmet Kürsat ÖçalanAybike TuranErdi IsikAli and Ceren are two friends trying to break out as actors. As their play, directed by their mutual collaborator Burak, draws no audience, Ali becomes increasingly more frustrated while he gets rejections over and over from casting calls.
- DirectorRuben ÖstlundStarsThobias ThorwidHarris DickinsonCharlbi DeanA fashion model celebrity couple join an eventful cruise for the super-rich.
- DirectorRebecca ZlotowskiStarsVirginie EfiraRoschdy ZemChiara MastroianniA childless woman forms a deep bond with her boyfriend's young daughter.
- DirectorBi GanStarsGuohua ChenYongzhong ChenHuan HuangA fairy tale that follows the relationship between man and cat.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsSong Kang-hoGang Dong-wonBae DoonaWhen a young mother reconsiders abandoning her baby, she discovers a scheme selling foundlings for adoption.
- DirectorAnnika PinskeStarsAnne SchäferJudith HofmannMarcel KohlerA woman who is trying to balance her career, relationship affair, family life and individual freedom.
- DirectorDaniel KwanDaniel ScheinertStarsMichelle YeohStephanie HsuJamie Lee CurtisA middle-aged Chinese immigrant is swept up into an insane adventure in which she alone can save existence by exploring other universes and connecting with the lives she could have led.
- DirectorDavy ChouStarsPark Ji-minOh Gwang-RokGuka HanA twenty-five-year-old French woman returns to Korea, the country she was born in before being adopted by a French couple, for the very first time. She decides to track down her biological parents, but her journey takes a surprising turn.
- DirectorMarie KreutzerStarsVicky KriepsFlorian TeichtmeisterKatharina LorenzA fictional account of one year in the life of Empress Elisabeth Of Austria. On Christmas Eve 1877, Elisabeth, once idolized for her beauty, turns 40 and is officially deemed an old woman; she starts trying to maintain her public image.
- DirectorHong Sang-sooStarsLee Hye-yeongKim Min-heeSeo YounghwaA novelist visits a bookstore run by a young colleague who's been out of touch, then takes a walk with a film director and his wife. She meets an actress and tries to convince her to make a film together.
- DirectorCristian MungiuStarsMarin GrigoreJudith StateMacrina BarladeanuA non-judgmental analysis of the driving forces of human behavior when confronted with the unknown, of the way we perceive the other and on how we relate to an unsettling future.
- DirectorFrancisco Javier RodriguezStarsGuy DessentLot LemmDavid DelaloyJaime, a 33 years old man, has been in a mental institution for almost half of his life. Through a series of conversations, Jaime shares his world view, his fears, his feats and a secret.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsViggo MortensenLéa SeydouxKristen StewartHumans adapt to a synthetic environment, with new transformations and mutations. With his partner Caprice, Saul Tenser, celebrity performance artist, publicly showcases the metamorphosis of his organs in avant-garde performances.
- DirectorNatalia EscobarSimon Jaikiriuma PaetauStarsAndrea NembareyamaBella WuasornaBeroniga TasconIn the middle of the Colombian coffee region, Aribada, the resurrected monster, meets Las Traviesas, a group of indigenous transwomen from the Emberá tribes. The magical, the dreamlike and the performative coexist in their unique world.
- DirectorÖzgürcan UzunyasaStarsAyda AkkayaAyse Lebriz BerkemKayhan BerkinAn aspiring actress Gülsah, acts in a film, before her audition for acting school. Before the set, the famous actor Levent who works in the theatre she's a volunteer in, and also a jury member for her audition, sexually harasses her. Reality and film mix. To fulfill her dreams she has to fight with several patriarchs, such as the director of the film, her boyfriend, and the jury.
- DirectorRadu JudeStarsAlexandru DabijaCristina DraghiciIn 1905, the sailors on the battleship Potemkin are given political asylum in Romania - an act of defiance against Russia. In 2021, a sculptor (Alexandru Dabija) wants to create an artwork inspired by the event. A comedy about art, history, memory and cinema, which film critic Andrei Gorzo describes as "a cross between a Caragiale sketch and a Mark Rappaport video essay".
- DirectorAlbert SerraStarsBenoît MagimelPahoa MahagafanauMarc SusiniOn the French Polynesian island of Tahiti, the high commissioner of the Republic and French government must investigate an ongoing rumor: the sighting of a submarine whose ghostly presence could herald the return of French nuclear testing.
- DirectorMonia ChokriStarsPatrick HivonMonia ChokriNadia TereszkiewiczAfter a sexist joke goes viral, Cédric loses his job and embarks on a therapeutic journey to free himself from sexism and misogyny. He and his girlfriend hire a mysterious and liberated babysitter to help shake things up.
- DirectorAmanda KramerStarsAndrea RiseboroughHarry MellingDemi MooreNewlyweds Suze and Arthur become the dangerous obsession of a greaser gang that awakens a sleeping quandary into the couple's sexual and gender identities.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsSakura AndôEita NagayamaSoya KurokawaA mother demands answers from her son's teacher when her son begins acting strangely.
- DirectorAki KaurismäkiStarsAlma PöystiJussi VatanenJanne HyytiäinenIn modern-day Helsinki, two lonely souls in search of love meet by chance in a karaoke bar. However, their path to happiness is beset by obstacles - from lost phone numbers to mistaken addresses, alcoholism, and a charming stray dog.
- DirectorMikel Cee KarlssonStarsJosé GonzálezA visual journey into the mind of internationally acclaimed musician José González and a deep dive into the creative, sharp and fragile mind behind the music.
- DirectorChristian PetzoldStarsThomas SchubertPaula BeerLangston UibelA group of friends are in a holiday home by the Baltic Sea where emotions run high as the parched forest around them catches fire.
- DirectorTina SatterStarsSydney SweeneyJosh HamiltonMarchánt DavisA former American intelligence specialist was given the longest sentence for the unauthorized release of government information to the media about Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections via an email operation.
- DirectorLila AvilésStarsAkemi EndoAlan PingarronIrene Akiko IidaLuz works at a gallery but her real passion is singing opera. While she practices to audition for Madama Butterfly in one of the principal theaters of Mexico City, her friends teach her how to make her voice and hands dance.
- DirectorRodrigo MorenoStarsDaniel ElíasEsteban BigliardiMargarita MolfinoBank employee Morán schemes to steal enough money to never work again, then confess and serve prison time while his colleague hides the cash. Soon under investigative pressure, accomplice Román meets a woman who transforms him forever.
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsEthan HawkePedro PascalPedro CasablancAfter twenty-five years Silva rides a horse across the desert to visit his friend Sheriff Jake. They celebrate the meeting, but the next morning Jake tells him that reason for his trip is not to go down the memory lane of their friendship.
- DirectorIra SachsStarsFranz RogowskiBen WhishawAdèle ExarchopoulosA gay couple's marriage is thrown into crisis when one of them impulsively begins a passionate affair with a young woman.