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Moods / contemplative

Movies that feel contemplative

MoviesTV shows

Quiet, patient, unhurried. Room left to think. Ranked by how strongly each film carries the mood, then by quality. Every film links to its kindred spirits.

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contemplative films, best first

Schindler's List poster
Schindler's List
1993 Β· dir. Steven Spielberg
πŸ… 98%β˜… 9drama Β· history Β· war

Asks what one person owes the world, and lets the silence answer.

The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.

The Godfather Part II poster
The Godfather Part II
1974 Β· dir. Francis Ford Coppola
πŸ… 96%β˜… 9drama Β· crimePrime VideoParamount+

Two timelines asking whether the family was ever savable.

In the continuing saga of the Corleone crime family, a young Vito Corleone grows up in Sicily and in 1910s New York. In the 1950s, Michael Corleone attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba.

12 Angry Men poster
12 Angry Men
1957 Β· dir. Sidney Lumet
πŸ… 100%β˜… 9drama

One room, twelve minds, and the slow work of doubt.

The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young Spanish-American is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. What begins as an open and shut case soon becomes a mini-drama of each of the jurors' prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the accused, and each other.

Good Will Hunting poster
Good Will Hunting
1997 Β· dir. Gus Van Sant
πŸ… 97%β˜… 8.4dramaApple TV+Paramount+

Park bench conversations that keep unfolding after the credits.

Will Hunting is a headstrong, working-class genius who is failing the lessons of life. After one too many run-ins with the law, Will's last chance is a psychology professor, who might be the only man who can reach him.

Whiplash poster
Whiplash
2014 Β· dir. Damien Chazelle
πŸ… 94%β˜… 8.5drama Β· music Β· thriller

Leaves you arguing with yourself about the price of greatness.

Under the direction of a ruthless instructor, a talented young drummer begins to pursue perfection at any cost, even his humanity.

GoodFellas poster
GoodFellas
1990 Β· dir. Martin Scorsese
πŸ… 93%β˜… 8.7drama Β· crime

The seduction and the hangover of a criminal life, weighed honestly.

The true story of Henry Hill, a half-Irish, half-Sicilian Brooklyn kid who is adopted by neighbourhood gangsters at an early age and climbs the ranks of a Mafia family under the guidance of Jimmy Conway.

Catch Me If You Can poster
Catch Me If You Can
2002 Β· dir. Steven Spielberg
πŸ… 96%β˜… 8.1drama Β· crimeParamount+Peacock

Under the caper, a lonely kid looking for his father.

A true story about Frank Abagnale Jr. who, before his 19th birthday, successfully conned millions of dollars worth of checks as a Pan Am pilot, doctor, and legal prosecutor. An FBI agent makes it his mission to put him behind bars. But Frank not only eludes capture, he revels in the pursuit.

The Departed poster
The Departed
2006 Β· dir. Martin Scorsese
πŸ… 91%β˜… 8.5drama Β· thriller Β· crimeMax

Identity worn as a costume until nobody remembers the face underneath.

To take down South Boston's Irish Mafia, the police send in one of their own to infiltrate the underworld, not realizing the syndicate has done likewise. While an undercover cop curries favor with the mob kingpin, a career criminal rises through the police ranks. But both sides soon discover there's a mole among them.

The Pianist poster
The Pianist
2002 Β· dir. Roman Polanski
πŸ… 95%β˜… 8.5drama Β· war

The true story of pianist WΕ‚adysΕ‚aw Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a cafΓ©; and when his family is deported in 1942, he stays behind, works for a while as a laborer, and eventually goes into hiding in the ruins of the war-torn city.

Django Unchained poster
Django Unchained
2012 Β· dir. Quentin Tarantino
πŸ… 87%β˜… 8.5drama Β· westernStarz

With the help of a German bounty hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest poster
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1975 Β· dir. MiloΕ‘ Forman
πŸ… 92%β˜… 8.6drama

A petty criminal fakes insanity to serve his sentence in a mental ward rather than prison. He soon finds himself as a leader to the other patientsβ€”and an enemy to the cruel, domineering nurse who runs the ward.

Arrival poster
Arrival
2016 Β· dir. Denis Villeneuve
πŸ… 94%β˜… 7.9drama Β· science fiction Β· mysteryParamount+Peacock

Taking place after alien crafts land around the world, an expert linguist is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat.

Grave of the Fireflies poster
Grave of the Fireflies
1988 Β· dir. Isao Takahata
πŸ… 100%β˜… 8.5animation Β· drama Β· warNetflix

In the final months of World War II, 14-year-old Seita and his sister Setsuko are orphaned when their mother is killed during an air raid in Kobe, Japan. After a falling out with their aunt, they move into an abandoned bomb shelter. With no surviving relatives and their emergency rations depleted, Seita and Setsuko struggle to survive.

12 Years a Slave poster
12 Years a Slave
2013 Β· dir. Steve McQueen
πŸ… 95%β˜… 8.1drama Β· history

In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty as well as unexpected kindnesses Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon’s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist will forever alter his life.

Oppenheimer poster
Oppenheimer
2023 Β· dir. Christopher Nolan
πŸ… 93%β˜… 8.2drama Β· historyPeacock

The story of J. Robert Oppenheimer's role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II.

The Social Network poster
The Social Network
2010 Β· dir. David Fincher
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.8drama

In 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programmer Mark Zuckerberg begins work on a new concept that eventually turns into the global social network known as Facebook. Six years later, Mark is one of the youngest billionaires ever, but his unprecedented success leads to both personal and legal complications when he ends up on the receiving end of two lawsuits, one involving his former friend.

Spotlight poster
Spotlight
2015 Β· dir. Tom McCarthy
πŸ… 97%β˜… 8.1drama Β· history

The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core.

Titanic poster
Titanic
1997 Β· dir. James Cameron
πŸ… 88%β˜… 8drama Β· romanceParamount+Starz

101-year-old Rose DeWitt Bukater tells the story of her life aboard the Titanic, 84 years later. A young Rose boards the ship with her mother and fiancΓ©. Meanwhile, Jack Dawson and Fabrizio De Rossi win third-class tickets aboard the ship. Rose tells the whole story from Titanic's departure through to its deathβ€”on its first and last voyageβ€”on April 15, 1912.

City of God poster
City of God
2002 Β· dir. Fernando Meirelles
πŸ… 91%β˜… 8.6drama Β· crimeParamount+

In the poverty-stricken favelas of Rio de Janeiro in the 1970s, two young men choose different paths. Rocket is a budding photographer who documents the increasing drug-related violence of his neighborhood, while JosΓ© β€œZé” Pequeno is an ambitious drug dealer diving into a dangerous life of crime.

Trainspotting poster
Trainspotting
1996 Β· dir. Danny Boyle
πŸ… 93%β˜… 8.1drama Β· crime

Heroin addict Mark Renton stumbles through bad ideas and sobriety attempts with his unreliable friends --Sick Boy, Begbie, Spud and Tommy. He also has an underage girlfriend, Diane, along for the ride. After cleaning up and moving from Edinburgh to London, Mark finds he can't escape the life he left behind as Begbie and Sick Boy come knocking.

Drive poster
Drive
2011 Β· dir. Nicolas Winding Refn
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.8drama Β· thriller Β· crime

Driver is a skilled Hollywood stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver for criminals. Though he projects an icy exterior, lately he's been warming up to a pretty neighbor named Irene and her young son, Benicio. When Irene's husband gets out of jail, he enlists Driver's help in a million-dollar heist. The job goes horribly wrong, and Driver must risk his life to protect Irene and Benicio from the vengeful masterminds behind the robbery.

Apocalypse Now poster
Apocalypse Now
1979 Β· dir. Francis Ford Coppola
πŸ… 91%β˜… 8.4drama Β· warParamount+

At the height of the Vietnam war, Captain Benjamin Willard is sent on a dangerous mission that, officially, "does not exist, nor will it ever exist." His goal is to locate - and eliminate - a mysterious Green Beret Colonel named Walter Kurtz, who has been leading his personal army on illegal guerrilla missions into enemy territory.

Room poster
Room
2015 Β· dir. Lenny Abrahamson
πŸ… 93%β˜… 8.1drama Β· thrillerMax

Held captive for 7 years in an enclosed space, a woman and her young son finally gain their freedom, allowing the boy to experience the outside world for the first time.

The Usual Suspects poster
The Usual Suspects
1995 Β· dir. Bryan Singer
πŸ… 87%β˜… 8.5drama Β· crime Β· thrillerMax

Held in an L.A. interrogation room, Verbal Kint attempts to convince the feds that a mythic crime lord, Keyser Soze, not only exists, but was also responsible for drawing him and his four partners into a multi-million dollar heist that ended with an explosion in San Pedro harbor – leaving few survivors. Verbal lures his interrogators with an incredible story of the crime lord's almost supernatural prowess.

contemplative + romantic

all romantic movies β†’

The look across the room, the almost, the finally. Love stories done right.

contemplative + gritty

all gritty movies β†’

Scuffed knuckles and bad neighborhoods. Stories with dirt under the nails.

contemplative + tense

all tense movies β†’

White knuckles, held breath. Every scene wound one turn tighter.

contemplative + tender

all tender movies β†’

Gentle films about fragile things. Handled with care.

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