2019 | 2 hours 12 minutes | Directed by Bong Joon Ho
 
Starring Song Kang-ho, Sun-kyun Lee, Cho Yeo-jeong
 
In Parasite, the Kims, an impoverished family, offer their services to the Parks, an outrageously wealthy family. The latter has been secretly housing a stranger in their basement for years. Parasite accomplishes what Jordan Peele set out to do with Us: tell a multi-layered story in a way that is generally enjoyable without sacrificing the plausibility of its central plot. It is a movie about one family imposing on another and keeping terrible secrets under the surface. It's incredibly engaging and profoundly touching in various ways. As a cherry on top, there's social commentary and some challenging subjects to reflect on once the film is over. It will give you a hearty chuckle, a bone-chilling thrill, and a tearful reaction. This movie will be in your memory long after the credits have rolled.

1988 | 2 hours 4 minutes | Directed by Katsuhiro Ôtomo
 
Starring (voices) Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama
 
On July 16, 1988, a nuclear Armageddon hit Tokyo after ESP experiments on children went wrong, and the Japanese government dropped an atomic bomb on Tokyo. Adapted from 2,000 pages worth of a graphic novel by Katsuhiro Otomo, the action of Akira takes place in a then-distant 2019 in the newly rebuilt city of Tokyo (now 'Neo-Tokyo'). A bike gang leader named Kaneda strives to protect his friend Tetsuo, who is involved in a secret government project. Before Tetsuo's superhuman abilities appear, Kaneda fights off anti-government demonstrators, avaricious politicians, reckless scientists, and a powerful military chief. Rebuilt from the ruins of WWIII, Neo-Tokyo is a technological utopia of computers and science, coupled with the social nightmare of dishonest politicians, an out-of-control military, and a repressed working class. It is dripping with allegorical messages and warnings that are just as pertinent today as they were when it was first published. Akira is a terrific movie, perhaps as important as Pulp Fiction (1994) and Citizen Kane (1941), two of cinema's classics.

2020 | 1 hour 30 minutes | Directed by Max Barbakow
 
Starring Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti, J.K. Simmons
 
In the sunny setting of Palm Springs, Nyles (Andy Samberg) has been reliving the same day repeatedly because he has been caught in an endless time loop. He has to wake up with a woman he doesn't like, relive Tala and Abe's wedding day, and save Sarah (Cristin Milioti), the bride's chronically bored sister and family outcast, from making a humiliating mistake. However, how do you spend all of your eternity reliving a day you'd prefer to forget? Time-loop movies typically have repetitive details and often risk turning out tedious. To avoid this common mistake, they must be done well to keep the audience hooked the entire time, and luckily, Palm Springs succeeds in doing so. Just enough clever surprises are included in this 90-minute film to keep viewers who aren't fully invested entertained and glued to the screen. Even if you are tired of the time-loop film concept, his movie is hard to dislike. You are in for a great smile throughout the film if you decide to give it a go.

2008 | 1 hour 54 minutes | Directed by Tomas Alfredson
 
Starring Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar
 
The film's plot is about Oskar (Kre Hedebrant), a sensitive, bullied 12-year-old child living with his mother in suburban Sweden, and Eli (Lina Leandersson), a mysterious new neighbor. Oskar and Eli are at first wary of one another but gradually develop a close relationship. However, it quickly becomes apparent that Eli is not your typical young girl. Eventually, she confesses to Oskar her horrifying, macabre secret, disclosing her involvement in a spate of violent local killings. At its core, Let the Right One In is a charming coming-of-age tale that is so original and unusual that it defies classification. Director Tomas Alfredson dares to combine pleasure and agony in this Swedish movie, which was adapted from the best-selling book by John Ajvide Lindqvist. The film succeeds by evoking the imagination, just like the best horror stories do. Few successors to Bram Stoker's excellent original can be considered noteworthy contributions to the vampire canon. Let the Right One In is one of them.

2020 | 1 hour 53 minutes | Directed by Egor Abramenko 
 
Starring Oksana Akinshina, Fedor Bondarchuk, Pyotr Fyodorov
 
A whole subgenre of science fiction horror about invasive extraterrestrial creatures that treat the human body as camouflage or meat was born from the egg hatched in Alien (1979). The Russian thriller Sputnik is arguably the most recent successful addition to the genre. The movie takes place in 1983, at the height of the Cold War, when a pair of Russian cosmonauts on their way back to Earth encounter an unexplainable event. Only Konstantin (Pyotr Fyodorov), one of the crew members, survives and begins acting... well, rather oddly. And although this is a horror film, the elliptical storytelling at the film's beginning prevents us from learning exactly what's wrong with him, which maintains engagement with the movie till the very last minute. Sputnik is a slow-paced yet increasingly intense story that makes you think a bit. Although it's similar to the well-known Alien series in that it has a grotesque alien tormenting people, excellent CGI sets it apart from its rivals. If you enjoy movies of this kind, it is definitely worth watching.

2019 | 2 hours 2 minutes | Directed by Céline Sciamma
 
Starring Noémie Merlant, Adèle Haenel, Luàna Bajrami
 
In a way, the movie's story may be boiled down to a love affair between a painter and her female subject, an aristocratic young woman. It's set against a backdrop of male supremacy, and there aren't many men in the movie. However, when they appear, they are portrayed as helpful characters. The cinematography in this movie is exceptional. Everything about this movie is meticulously produced, from the incredible cinematography and the intricately woven plot to the powerful primary performances. They all work together to create an actual work of cinematic art. Every scene seems like it belongs in a classic painting. This is the kind of movie that will stay in your head for years and years.

2012 | 1 hour 57 minutes | Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer
 
Starring Anwar Congo, Herman Koto, Syamsul Arifin
 
The Act of Killing is a 2012 documentary film about individuals who participated in the mass murders in Indonesia between 1965 and 1966. Supposedly because they belonged to the local communist community, nearly a million individuals were killed during the genocide. In this rare motion picture, former leaders of the Indonesian death squads are dared to recreate their atrocities in any kind of film genre they choose. Whether it's in elaborate musical sequences or traditional Hollywood crime scenarios, The Act of Killing paints an incredible picture of evil, especially given how ordinary many of these people appear to be. Some of the worst wrongdoers can be pillars of society, often with families and friends. Yet, their sinister tendencies don't outweigh their very human qualities. This is the film's salient lesson. You encounter a raw, unbelievable, and painful truth in this movie. You're left wondering how in the world these mass killers, who now appear more eccentric than bad, gave such frank confessions to the filmmakers. Mind-blowing in a million ways.

2000 | 2 hours 23 minutes | Directed by Robert Zemeckis
 
Starring Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, Paul Sanchez
 
Perhaps one of the best works from the director. Cast Away has many significant aspects that contribute to it being a fantastic film. Zemeckis' direction is among his most daring, with some bold risks taken, such as his use of camera work, which is done ingeniously and not overdone. Even better is Hanks' one-of-a-kind, almost one-man show performance, in which he says not too much but conveys a lot. With a remarkable performance from Tom Hanks and effective directing that allows viewers to accompany this survivor on his emotionally wrenching journey, this film is fascinating, believable, and thought-provoking. It's a portrait of a man and his fight to live. A simple concept that grew into a one-of-a-kind film.

2021 | 1 hour 29 minutes | Directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen
 
Starring (voices) Daniel Karimyar, Fardin Mijdzadeh, Milad Eskandari
 
Through the firsthand account of its protagonist, Flee chronicles the harrowing journey of an Afghan immigrant and the unimaginable hardships he and his family went through to find a new home. This documentary offers a powerful, heartbreaking, and thought-provoking perspective on the refugee experience and is incredibly moving and thoughtfully portrayed on screen. The film, written and directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen, uses animation to tell the story of its protagonist, who has been keeping a secret all his life but is now ready to share it for the first time. By keeping the narrator and his family anonymous, the animation enables the director to paint an intriguing portrayal of the narrator's dark and tragic past and helps safeguard his identity. The cliché that some of the most unbelievable stories are actually true is accurate in the case of Flee. It is undoubtedly challenging to watch but also incredibly fascinating. The documentary causes viewers to experience various emotions, including love, happiness, compassion, grief, and rage. You won't soon forget this movie; we guarantee it.

2018 | 2 hours 16 minutes | Directed by Alex Ross Perry
 
Starring Elisabeth Moss, Cara Delevingne, Dan Stevens
 
Elizabeth Moss's character, Becky Something, is the lead vocalist of a former popular punk rock band. She battles substance abuse, heavy drinking, instability, personal drama, and chaos at work. At the same time, she also tries to rediscover the creative spark that propelled her band to fame. Many of the events in this film might seem familiar if you lived through the '90s punk rock scene. However, you don't have to be a rock lover or a '90s baby to enjoy this movie (though it undoubtedly helps). Also, despite specific allusions to Courtney Love's life, this movie is unquestionably not about her. Don't get confused. No extravagant shots like Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) or superstar grandeur like A Star Is Born (2018), yet plenty of pure heart in a well-told and executed story.