EXISTENTIAL FILMS
Definition from: All About Philosophy - Existentialism.
Existentialism is a 20th century termed philosophy concerned with human existence, finding self, and the meaning of life through free will, choice, and personal responsibility. The belief is that people are searching to find out who and what they are throughout life as they make choices based on their experiences, beliefs, and outlook. And personal choices become unique without the necessity of an objective form of truth. An existentialist believes that a person should be forced to choose and be responsible without the help of laws, ethnic rules, or traditions.
Listed below are a number of existentially-themed films which I feel address the human condition in a profound, and ultimately, rewarding way. Gaining insight into ourselves and being able to express this with others through these films.
In reverse chronological order and purely subjective.
Existentialism is a 20th century termed philosophy concerned with human existence, finding self, and the meaning of life through free will, choice, and personal responsibility. The belief is that people are searching to find out who and what they are throughout life as they make choices based on their experiences, beliefs, and outlook. And personal choices become unique without the necessity of an objective form of truth. An existentialist believes that a person should be forced to choose and be responsible without the help of laws, ethnic rules, or traditions.
Listed below are a number of existentially-themed films which I feel address the human condition in a profound, and ultimately, rewarding way. Gaining insight into ourselves and being able to express this with others through these films.
In reverse chronological order and purely subjective.
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- DirectorYorgos LanthimosStarsEmma StoneMark RuffaloWillem DafoeAn account of the fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter, a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter.
- DirectorKelly Fremon CraigStarsAbby Ryder FortsonRachel McAdamsKathy BatesWhen her family moves from the city to the suburbs, 11-year-old Margaret navigates new friends, feelings, and the beginning of adolescence.
- 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.
- DirectorAlejandro G. IñárrituStarsDaniel Giménez CachoGriselda SicilianiXimena LamadridAn acclaimed documentarian goes on an introspective journey through surreal dreamscapes to reconcile with the past, the present and his Mexican identity.
- DirectorGoran StolevskiStarsNoomi RapaceAnamaria MarincaAlice EnglertIn an isolated mountain village in 19th century Macedonia, a young girl is kidnapped and then transformed into a witch by an ancient spirit.
- DirectorMichel FrancoStarsTim RothAlbertine Kotting McMillanSamuel BottomleyNeil and Alice Bennett are the core of a wealthy family on vacation in Mexico until a distant emergency cuts their trip short. When one relative disrupts the family's tight-knit order, simmering tensions rise to the fore.
- 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.
- DirectorAna KatzStarsRaquel BankDaniel KatzNicolás LevinSebastián, a man in his thirties, works a series of temporary jobs and he embraces love at every opportunity. He transforms, through a series of short encounters, as the world flirts with possible apocalypse.
- 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.
- DirectorNathalie Álvarez MesénStarsWendy Chinchilla ArayaAna Julia Porras EspinozaDaniel Castañeda RincónIn a remote village in Costa Rica, Clara, a withdrawn 40-year-old woman, experiences a sexual and mystical awakening as she begins a journey to free herself from the repressive religious and social conventions which have dominated her life.
- DirectorMaria SchraderStarsMaren EggertDan StevensSandra HüllerIn order to obtain research funds for her studies, a scientist accepts an offer to participate in an extraordinary experiment: for three weeks, she is to live with a humanoid robot, created to make her happy.
- DirectorPete DocterKemp PowersStarsJamie FoxxTina FeyGraham NortonJoe is a middle-school band teacher whose life hasn't quite gone the way he expected. His true passion is jazz. But when he travels to another realm to help someone find their passion, he soon discovers what it means to have soul.
- DirectorEdson OdaStarsWinston DukeZazie BeetzBill SkarsgårdA reclusive man conducts a series of interviews with human souls for a chance to be born.
- DirectorJóhann JóhannssonStarsTilda SwintonTwo billion years ahead of us, a future race of humans finds itself on the verge of extinction. Almost all that is left in the world are lone and surreal monuments, beaming their message into the wilderness.
- DirectorChaitanya TamhaneStarsAditya ModakArun DravidSumitra BhaveSelf-doubt, sacrifice and struggle converge into an existential crisis for a devoted classical vocalist as the mastery he strives for remains elusive.
- DirectorMax BarbakowStarsAndy SambergCristin MiliotiJ.K. SimmonsStuck in a time loop, two wedding guests develop a budding romance while living the same day over and over again.
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsAugust DiehlValerie PachnerMaria SimonThe Austrian Franz Jägerstätter, a conscientious objector, refuses to fight for the Nazis in World War II.
- DirectorRoy AnderssonStarsJessica LouthanderTatiana DelaunayAnders HellströmRoy Andersson adds to his cinematic oeuvre with a reflection on human life in all its beauty and cruelty, its splendour and banality.
- DirectorKiyoshi KurosawaStarsAtsuko MaedaShôta SometaniTokio EmotoA young Japanese woman finds her cautious and insular nature tested when she travels to Uzbekistan to shoot the latest episode of her travel variety show.
- DirectorSophie DeraspeStarsNahéma RicciRachida OussaadaNour BelkhiriaA modern adaptation of the classic Greek tragedy which falls within a social realism. To the law of men, the young Antigone apposes her own sets of values.
- DirectorHans Petter MolandStarsStellan SkarsgårdBjørn FlobergJon RanesA grieving widower moves to the country where a chance encounter rekindles memories from his past.
- DirectorTanel ToomStarsPriit LoogEster KuntuPriit VõigemastAndres settles in a new farm. With rose-tinted lenses, he sets out to transform the farm into a prosperous paradise - all he needs is a healthy harvest, cooperative neighbors and a son. But, life turns out to be cruel and treacherous.
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsAntonio BanderasAsier EtxeandiaLeonardo SbaragliaA film director reflects on the choices he's made in life as the past and present come crashing down around him.
- DirectorJames GrayStarsBrad PittTommy Lee JonesRuth NeggaAstronaut Roy McBride undertakes a mission across an unforgiving solar system to uncover the truth about his missing father and his doomed expedition that now, 30 years later, threatens the universe.
- DirectorPella KagermanHugo LiljaStarsEmelie GarbersBianca CruzeiroArvin KananianA spaceship carrying settlers to Mars is knocked off course, causing the consumption-obsessed passengers to consider their place in the universe.
- DirectorJulian SchnabelStarsWillem DafoeRupert FriendOscar IsaacA look at the life of painter Vincent van Gogh during the time he lived in Arles and Auvers-sur-Oise, France.
- DirectorAlice RohrwacherStarsAdriano TardioloAgnese GrazianiAlba RohrwacherAn unceasingly kind Italian peasant and his family are blatantly exploited by a tobacco baroness.
- DirectorBo HuStarsYu ZhangYuchang PengUvin WangFour people in a Chinese city live through a complicated day as their lives intersect.
- DirectorNuri Bilge CeylanStarsDogu DemirkolMurat CemcirBennu YildirimlarAn unpublished writer returns to his hometown after graduating, where he seeks sponsors to publish his book while dealing with his father's deteriorating indulgence into gambling.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsLily FrankySakura AndôKirin KikiOn the margins of Tokyo, a dysfunctional band of outsiders are united by loyalty, a penchant for petty theft and playful grifting. When the young son is arrested, secrets are exposed that upend their tenuous, below-the-radar existence.
- DirectorWolfgang FischerStarsSusanne WolffGedion Oduor WekesaKelvin Mutuku Ndinda"Styx" depicts the transformation of a strong woman torn from her contented world during a sailing trip.
- DirectorKent JonesStarsMary Kay PlaceJake LacyEstelle ParsonsDiane fills her days helping others and desperately attempting to bond with her drug-addicted son. As these pieces of her existence begin to fade, she finds herself confronting memories she'd sooner forget than face.
- DirectorDean KapsalisStarsAzura SkyeBryce PinkhamAshley BellA woman with a seemingly ideal life battles insomnia.
- DirectorOlivier AssayasStarsGuillaume CanetJuliette BinocheVincent MacaigneSet in the Parisian publishing world, an editor and an author find themselves in over their heads, as they cope with a middle-age crisis, the changing industry and their wives.
- DirectorSébastien PiloteStarsKarelle TremblayPierre-Luc BrillantFrançois PapineauA frustrated teenager frees herself from her mother's influence and her narrow life in a small industrial town to find out who she really is.
- DirectorKatharina MücksteinStarsSophie StockingerKathrin ResetaritsDominik WartaMati, a small-town Austrian tomboy wrestles with gender identity while her parents confront their own buried truths.
- DirectorIldikó EnyediStarsAlexandra BorbélyGéza MorcsányiRéka TenkiWhen slaughterhouse workers Endre and Mária discover they share the same dreams, where they meet in a forest as deer and fall in love, they decide to make their dreams come true, but it's difficult in real life.
- DirectorJohn Carroll LynchStarsHarry Dean StantonDavid LynchRon LivingstonLucky follows the spiritual journey of a 90-year-old atheist and the quirky characters that inhabit his off the map desert town.
- DirectorDenis VilleneuveStarsHarrison FordRyan GoslingAna de ArmasYoung Blade Runner K's discovery of a long-buried secret leads him to track down former Blade Runner Rick Deckard, who's been missing for thirty years.
- DirectorNana EkvtimishviliSimon GroßStarsIa ShugliashviliMerab NinidzeBerta KhapavaA woman separates from her family after 52 years in a multi-generational Georgian household to begin her own adventure. To the shock of her relatives, she leaves everything behind to start again.
- DirectorEliran ElyaStarsYaakov AderetOsher AmaraLiron Ben-ShlushAssi, a screenwriter and poet, is stuck in his personal life. He is full of doubt, disturbing thoughts, and existential restlessness. He is sentenced to community service due to a drunken-driving motorcycle accident in which he was involved. For his community service, he is sent to work with juvenile delinquents in Beersheba - the desert city in southern Israel - who are under house arrest and must attend sessions with Assi in the neighborhood shelter as a condition for their parole. Their extreme personalities, their riotous energy, and their charm awaken in him curiosity and attraction; together, they break through the boundaries of the rehabilitative framework.
- DirectorLucrecia MartelStarsDaniel Giménez CachoLola DueñasMatheus NachtergaeleBased on the novel by Antonio Di Benedetto written in 1956, on Don Diego de Zama, a Spanish officer of the seventeenth century settled in Asunción, who awaits his transfer to Buenos Aires.
- DirectorDavid LoweryStarsCasey AffleckRooney MaraMcColm Cephas Jr.In this singular exploration of legacy, love, loss, and the enormity of existence, a recently deceased, white-sheeted ghost returns to his suburban home to try to reconnect with his bereft wife.
- DirectorKogonadaStarsJohn ChoHaley Lu RichardsonParker PoseyA Korean-born man finds himself stuck in Columbus, Indiana, where his architect father is in a coma. The man meets a young woman who wants to stay in Columbus with her mother, a recovering addict, instead of pursuing her own dreams.
- DirectorHong Sang-sooStarsKim Min-heeSeo Young-hwaJeong Jae-yeongAn actress wanders around a seaside town, pondering her relationship with a married man.
- DirectorRuben ÖstlundStarsClaes BangElisabeth MossDominic WestA prestigious Stockholm museum's chief art curator finds himself in times of both professional and personal crisis as he attempts to set up a controversial new exhibit.
- DirectorDenis VilleneuveStarsAmy AdamsJeremy RennerForest WhitakerA linguist works with the military to communicate with alien lifeforms after twelve mysterious spacecraft appear around the world.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsAndrew GarfieldAdam DriverLiam NeesonIn the 17th century, two Portuguese Jesuit priests travel to Japan in an attempt to locate their mentor, who is rumored to have committed apostasy, and to propagate Catholicism.
- DirectorHarry ClevenStarsHannah BoudreauMaya DoryFleur GeffrierDevastated with grief after the mysterious disappearance of her magician lover, Louise is sent to a psychiatric asylum. Nine months later, she gives birth to Angel, a baby boy with an incredible gift: he is invisible. To protect him from the cruelty of the outside world, his mother hides his existence. Angel grows up quite normally until he meets Madeleine, a blind little girl of his age who lives nearby. They quickly become inseparable, Madeleine still unaware of Angel's invisibility. Until one day Madeleine announces something that will turn their lives upside down: she will recover her sight.
- DirectorFiona TanStarsHiroki HasegawaThrough a gray blanket of cloud the contours of a mountain can be barely discerned. This is Mount Fuji, a volcano with many faces and of immeasurable cultural and symbolic significance. We are lead through the film by the voices of two fictitious characters - Mary, an English woman and her deceased Japanese partner, Hiroshi. Mary receives a parcel containing letters and a collection of photographs from Hiroshi. His letters, in which he describes climbing Mount Fuji, trigger in her mind a train of thoughts and reflections. The photographs we discover together with Mary. 4,500 exceptional and diverse photographs from the past 150 years form the basis for this film. Many images are of undeniably breathtaking beauty - ranging from early examples of nineteenth century Japanese studio photography to military propaganda photos from the thirties, from victorious American press images to amateur snapshots across several decades. This work has for me to do with visibility and invisibility, with distance and proximity. These thousands of images enshroud the mountain like a cloud, revealing and hiding it at the same time. This art film project is in essence a film made entirely with stills; a cinematic experiment balancing delicately between documentary and fiction. As the narrative unfolds unexpected and surprising paths are explored. Together with the two protagonists the viewer climbs Mount Fuji across geographical, temporal and cultural divides. The woodblock prints of Hokusai are considered, but also paintings by Van Gogh, philosophical views stemming from Asian philosophy, mankind's connection to landscape, Mount Fuji's religious significance, recent Japanese history. But central throughout is the filmmaker's own questioning about the nature of photography and how it is possible to create cinema using only found images and without movement.
- DirectorJim JarmuschStarsAdam DriverGolshifteh FarahaniNellieA quiet observation of the triumphs and defeats of daily life, along with the poetry evident in its smallest details.
- DirectorCristi PuiuStarsMara Elena AndreiMirela ApostuEugenia BosânceanuCenters around a family gathering on the anniversary of a patriarch's recent death.
- DirectorMia Hansen-LøveStarsIsabelle HuppertAndré MarconRoman KolinkaA philosophy teacher soldiers through the death of her mother, losing her book deal, and dealing with a husband who is cheating on her.
- DirectorNicolette KrebitzStarsLilith StangenbergGeorg FriedrichSilke BodenbenderAn anarchist young woman breaks the tacit contract with civilization and fearlessly decides on a life without hypocrisy or an obligatory safety net.
- DirectorJames SchamusStarsLogan LermanSarah GadonTijuana RicksIn 1951, Marcus, a working-class Jewish student from New Jersey, attends a small Ohio college, where he struggles with sexual repression and cultural disaffection, amid the ongoing Korean War.
- DirectorMichael Dudok de WitStarsEmmanuel GarijoTom HudsonBaptiste GoyA man is shipwrecked on a deserted island and encounters a big red turtle, which changes his life.
- DirectorKatell QuillévéréStarsTahar RahimEmmanuelle SeignerAnne DorvalA single devastating event intertwines inextricably the lives of an unfortunate teenager, a weary woman with a critical degenerative heart condition and a team of compassionate doctors; all perfect strangers, perfectly interconnected.
- DirectorShubhashish BhutianiStarsAdil HussainLalit BehlGeetanjali KulkarniFaced with his father's untimely and bizarre demand to go and die in the holy city of Varanasi and attain Salvation, a son is left with no choice but to embark on this journey.
- DirectorJean-François LaguionieStarsDiane DassignyPiera Degli EspostiDominique FrotElderly Louise gets stranded at a seaside resort after missing the last train. Determined to stay, she faces challenging weather conditions. Will she survive?
- DirectorOlivier AssayasStarsKristen StewartLars EidingerSigrid BouazizA personal shopper in Paris refuses to leave the city until she makes contact with her twin brother who previously died there. Her life becomes more complicated when a mysterious person contacts her via text message.
- DirectorZhangke JiaStarsTao ZhaoYi ZhangLiang JingdongThe life of Tao, and those close to her, is explored in three different time periods: 1999, 2014, and 2025.
- DirectorDuke JohnsonCharlie KaufmanStarsDavid ThewlisJennifer Jason LeighTom NoonanA man crippled by the mundanity of his life experiences something out of the ordinary.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsJoaquin PhoenixEmma StoneParker PoseyA tormented philosophy professor finds a will to live when he commits an existential act.
- 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.
- DirectorMichel GondryStarsAnge DargentThéophile BaquetDiane BesnierTwo young friends embark on a road trip across France in a vehicle they built themselves.
- DirectorCelso R. GarcíaStarsDamián AlcázarJoaquín CosioSilverio PalaciosFive men are hired to paint the lines of a road. Painting 1 km/hour is slow enough to learn the lines between good and evil, laughter and despair, life and death. The challenges they face will change their lives forever.
- DirectorNanni MorettiStarsMargherita BuyJohn TurturroGiulia LazzariniMargherita, a director in the middle of an existential crisis, has to deal with the inevitable and still unacceptable loss of her mother.
- DirectorChristian PetzoldStarsNina HossRonald ZehrfeldNina KunzendorfAfter surviving Auschwitz, a former cabaret singer has her disfigured face reconstructed and returns to her war-ravaged hometown to seek out her gentile husband, who may or may not have betrayed her to the Nazis.
- DirectorAlex GarlandStarsAlicia VikanderDomhnall GleesonOscar IsaacA young programmer is selected to participate in a ground-breaking experiment in synthetic intelligence by evaluating the human qualities of a highly advanced humanoid A.I.
- DirectorAndrey ZvyagintsevStarsAleksey SerebryakovElena LyadovaRoman MadyanovIn a Russian coastal town, Kolya is forced to fight the corrupt mayor when he is told that his house will be demolished. He recruits a lawyer friend to help, but the man's arrival brings further misfortune for Kolya and his family.
- DirectorDavid OelhoffenStarsViggo MortensenReda KatebDjemel BarekAlgeria, 1954. Two very different men thrown together by a world in turmoil are forced to flee across the Atlas mountains. Daru, the reclusive teacher, has to escort Mohamed, a villager accused of murder.
- DirectorRichard LinklaterStarsEllar ColtranePatricia ArquetteEthan HawkeThe life of Mason, from early childhood to his arrival at college.
- DirectorNuri Bilge CeylanStarsHaluk BilginerMelisa SözenDemet AkbagA hotel owner and landlord in a remote Turkish village deals with conflicts within his family and a tenant behind on his rent.
- DirectorSeverin FialaVeronika FranzStarsLukas SchwarzElias SchwarzSusanne WuestTwin boys move to a new house with their mother after she has face-changing cosmetic surgery, but under the bandages is someone the boys don't recognize.
- DirectorAlonso RuizpalaciosStarsTenoch HuertaSebastián AguirreIlse SalasTomas is too much for his lone mother so she sends him to live with his older brother Federico, aka Sombra, in Mexico City.
- DirectorAlejandro G. IñárrituStarsMichael KeatonZach GalifianakisEdward NortonA washed-up superhero actor attempts to revive his fading career by writing, directing, and starring in a Broadway production.
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsMatthew McConaugheyAnne HathawayJessica ChastainWhen Earth becomes uninhabitable in the future, a farmer and ex-NASA pilot, Joseph Cooper, is tasked to pilot a spacecraft, along with a team of researchers, to find a new planet for humans.
- DirectorRoy AnderssonStarsHolger AnderssonNils WestblomViktor GyllenbergSam and Jonathan, a pair of hapless novelty salesmen, embark on a tour of the human condition in reality and fantasy that unfold in a series of absurdist episodes.
- DirectorMichael SpierigPeter SpierigStarsEthan HawkeSarah SnookNoah TaylorAs his last assignment, a temporal agent is tasked to travel back in time and prevent a bomb attack in New York in 1975. The hunt, however, turns out to be beyond the bounds of possibility.
- DirectorOle GiæverMarte VoldStarsOle GiæverMarte Magnusdotter SolemSivert Giæver SolemA journey inside Martin's head. He's on a weekend mountain trip, and we get to know his thoughts. Unsensored, essential, existential and silly about feelings and fantasies. A recognizable film about being human, and how we tick and think.
- DirectorPawel PawlikowskiStarsAgata KuleszaAgata TrzebuchowskaDawid OgrodnikA novice nun about to take her vows uncovers a family secret dating back to the German occupation.
- DirectorTerry GilliamStarsChristoph WaltzLucas HedgesMélanie ThierryA hugely talented but socially isolated computer operator is tasked by Management to prove the Zero Theorem: that the universe ends as nothing, rendering life meaningless. But meaning is what he already craves.
- DirectorMartin ProvostStarsEmmanuelle DevosSandrine KiberlainOlivier GourmetViolette Leduc, born a bastard at the beginning of last century, meets Simone de Beauvoir in the years after the war in St-Germain-des-Prés. Then begins an intense relationship between the two women that will last throughout their lives, a relationship based on the quest for freedom through writing for Violette and conviction for Simone to have in their hands the fate of an extraordinary writer.
- DirectorRichard LinklaterStarsEthan HawkeJulie DelpySeamus Davey-FitzpatrickWe meet Jesse and Celine nine years on in Greece. Almost two decades have passed since their first meeting on that train bound for Vienna.
- DirectorJonathan SolerStarsYuki FujitaMasato TsujiokaIn Tokyo, a girl and her boyfriend spend a night talking about their life, their precarious condition and their difficulties in earning a living, finding their place in the world, if they ever have one.
- DirectorJ.C. ChandorStarsRobert RedfordAfter a collision with a shipping container at sea, a resourceful sailor finds himself, despite all efforts to the contrary, staring his mortality in the face.
- DirectorMichel GondryStarsRomain DurisAudrey TautouGad ElmalehWealthy, inventive bachelor Colin endeavors to find a cure for his lover Chloe after she's diagnosed with an unusual illness caused by a flower growing in her lungs.
- DirectorRichard AyoadeStarsJesse EisenbergMia WasikowskaWallace ShawnThe unenviable life of a government-agency clerk takes a horrific turn with the arrival of a new co-worker who is both his exact physical double and his opposite otherwise--he's a confident, charismatic ladies' man.
- DirectorZeki DemirkubuzStarsEngin GünaydinSerhat TutumluerNihal YalçinA man's life, thoughts, feelings and his very own darkness... Adapted from Dostoevsky's novel "Notes from Undergroud", Demirkubuz follows Muharrem as he gets himself invited to a party where he is not welcome, just to find himself disgusted.
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsJean-Louis TrintignantEmmanuelle RivaIsabelle HuppertGeorges and Anne are an octogenarian couple. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter, also a musician, lives in Britain with her family. One day, Anne has a stroke, and the couple's bond of love is severely tested.
- DirectorAng LeeStarsSuraj SharmaIrrfan KhanAdil HussainA young man who survives a disaster at sea is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While cast away, he forms an unexpected connection with another survivor: a fearsome Bengal tiger.
- 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.
- DirectorAnand GandhiStarsAydah El-KashefYogesh ShahFaraz KhanThe film explores questions of identity, justice, beauty, meaning and death through an experimental photographer, an ailing monk and a young stockbroker.
- 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.
- DirectorPaul Thomas AndersonStarsJoaquin PhoenixPhilip Seymour HoffmanAmy AdamsA Naval veteran arrives home from war unsettled and uncertain of his future - until he is tantalized by the Cause and its charismatic leader.
- DirectorScott McGeheeDavid SiegelStarsJulianne MooreAlexander SkarsgårdSteve CooganIn New York City, a young girl is caught in the middle of her parents' bitter custody battle.
- DirectorDerek CianfranceStarsRyan GoslingBradley CooperEva MendesTwo men and their sons must deal with the unforeseen consequences of their actions.
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsBrad PittSean PennJessica ChastainThe story of a family in Waco, Texas in 1956. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence and struggles with his parents' conflicting teachings.
- DirectorNicolas Winding RefnStarsRyan GoslingCarey MulliganBryan CranstonA mysterious Hollywood action film stuntman gets in trouble with gangsters when he tries to help his neighbor's husband rob a pawn shop while serving as his getaway driver.
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsKirsten DunstCharlotte GainsbourgKiefer SutherlandTwo sisters find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide with Earth.