The best films of this kind don't manipulate you. They just point at something true.
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.
This film slows everything down in a way that makes ordinary things look extraordinary.
Based on the real life story of legendary cryptanalyst Alan Turing, the film portrays the nail-biting race against time by Turing and his brilliant team of code-breakers at Britain's top-secret Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, during the darkest days of World War II.
You finish it and look up, and whatever room you're in looks slightly different.
Hoping to put to rest years of unease concerning a past case, retired criminal investigator BenjamÃn begins writing a novel based on the unsolved mystery of a newlywed's rape and murder. With the help of a former colleague, judge Irene, he attempts to make sense of the past.
You finish it and look up, and whatever room you're in looks slightly different.
Advertising man Roger Thornhill is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase.
You finish it and look up, and whatever room you're in looks slightly different.
Ripley, the sole survivor of the Nostromo's deadly encounter with the monstrous Alien, returns to Earth after drifting through space in hypersleep for 57 years. Although her story is initially met with skepticism, she agrees to accompany a team of Colonial Marines back to LV-426.
This film slows everything down in a way that makes ordinary things look extraordinary.
The afterglow of these films is the point. You'll know it when you feel it.
The relief at the end produces its own form of appreciation.
A strong addition to any marathon. Holds its own in a sequence.
Following an unexpected tragedy, child psychologist Malcolm Crowe meets a nine year old boy named Cole Sear, who is hiding a dark secret.
You finish it and look up, and whatever room you're in looks slightly different.
Llewelyn Moss stumbles upon dead bodies, $2 million and a hoard of heroin in a Texas desert, but methodical killer Anton Chigurh comes looking for it, with local sheriff Ed Tom Bell hot on his trail. The roles of prey and predator blur as the violent pursuit of money and justice collide.
This film slows everything down in a way that makes ordinary things look extraordinary.
A captured French Resistance fighter during World War II engineers a daunting escape from prison.
This film slows everything down in a way that makes ordinary things look extraordinary.
In the smog-choked dystopian Los Angeles of 2019, blade runner Rick Deckard is called out of retirement to terminate a quartet of replicants who have escaped to Earth seeking their creator for a way to extend their short life spans.
This film slows everything down in a way that makes ordinary things look extraordinary.
Two young men attempt to prove they committed the perfect murder by hosting a dinner party for the family of a classmate they just strangled to death.
You finish it and look up, and whatever room you're in looks slightly different.
Some films earn their effect. These do.