Faith in people erodes gradually. Good films can restore it the same way.
When a impoverished widow's family moves to the big city, two of her five sons become romantic rivals with deadly results.
It shows people at their best without pretending the world is easy. That's the specific thing.
An Irish rogue uses his cunning and wit to work his way up the social classes of 18th century England, transforming himself from the humble Redmond Barry into the noble Barry Lyndon.
There's a moment in this that restores something. You'll know it when you see it.
An urban office worker finds that paper airplanes are instrumental in meeting a girl in ways he never expected.
It shows people at their best without pretending the world is easy. That's the specific thing.
A fledgling ballerina falls in love with a brilliant composer, but the jealous head of the ballet company plots to drive them apart.
It shows people at their best without pretending the world is easy. That's the specific thing.
The summer of his high school freshman year, Hodaka runs away from his remote island home to Tokyo, and quickly finds himself pushed to his financial and personal limits. The weather is unusually gloomy and rainy every day, as if taking its cue from his life. After many days of solitude, he finally finds work as a freelance writer for a mysterious occult magazine. Then, one day, Hodaka meets Hina on a busy street corner. This bright and strong-willed girl possesses a strange and wonderful ability: the power to stop the rain and clear the sky.
It shows people at their best without pretending the world is easy. That's the specific thing.
The best version of this effect is quiet. Not a speech. A small moment. These films have them.
Human connection at its clearest. Natural fit.
Solves boredom immediately. No warm-up required.
Everyone deserves a great love story, but for 17-year-old Simon Spier, it's a little more complicated. He hasn't told his family or friends that he's gay, and he doesn't know the identity of the anonymous classmate that he's fallen for online.
It shows people at their best without pretending the world is easy. That's the specific thing.
An unexpected meeting on a train leads two travelers to spend an evening wandering through Vienna. As the night unfolds, they share stories and conversations about life and love, exploring new ideas while a quiet intimacy grows between them, knowing it may be their only night together.
There's a moment in this that restores something. You'll know it when you see it.
Two melancholic Hong Kong policemen fall in love: one with a mysterious underworld figure, the other with a beautiful and ethereal server at a late-night restaurant.
It shows people at their best without pretending the world is easy. That's the specific thing.
A closeted boy runs the risk of being outed by his own heart after it pops out of his chest to chase down the boy of his dreams.
There's a moment in this that restores something. You'll know it when you see it.
The story of a teenage boy called Yu, who falls for Yoko, a girl he runs into while working as an upskirt photographer in an offshoot of the porn industry. His attempts to woo her are complicated by a spot of cross-dressing – which convinces Yoko that she is lesbian – dalliances with kung-fu and crime, and a constant struggle with Catholic guilt.
It shows people at their best without pretending the world is easy. That's the specific thing.
Some films earn their effect. These do.