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MOVIEPIQ · RELATIONAL MOMENTS

Films for When You Are Keeping Something to Protect Someone

These picks were hand-selected for when protecting someone from a truth, not by algorithm, by editors. Films that meet you where you are, not where they want you to be.

Films for when you are lying to someone you love, even if the technical word for it is protecting them.

The anger is clean and it has a legitimate address and you are not done with it yet, which is fine. Some feelings need to run their full length before they turn into something else, and the anger is one of those feelings, and you do not owe anyone a faster turnaround. These films let it run. They understand the particular dignity of a feeling that knows it is justified, and they will not talk you down or rush you through to the resolution on the other side.

Josee, the Tiger and the Fish movie poster
1
2020 · 98min · ★★★★☆ 7.8/10

With dreams of diving abroad, Tsuneo gets a job assisting Josee, an artist whose imagination takes her far beyond her wheelchair. But when the tide turns against them, they push each other to places they never thought possible, and inspire a love fit for a storybook.

It runs on the same fuel you are running on. The anger has somewhere to go inside this story, and it moves.

Runs on the same fuel

The Book of Henry movie poster
2
2017 · 105min · ★★★☆☆ 6.9/10

Susan, a single mother of two, works as a waitress in a small town. Her son, Henry, is an 11-year-old genius who not only manages the family finances but acts as emotional support for his mother and younger brother. When Henry discovers that the girl next door has a terrible secr

The film does not ask you to be reasonable about it. It lets the feeling run at the temperature it is actually at.

Lets the anger move

Call Me by Your Name movie poster
3
2017 · 132min · ★★★★☆ 8.3/10

In the summer of 1983, a 17-year-old Elio spends his days in his family's villa in Italy. One day Oliver, a graduate student, arrives to assist Elio's father, a professor of Greco-Roman culture. Soon, Elio and Oliver discover a summer that will alter their lives forever.

Nobody is going to tell you to calm down in this one. The anger is treated as information, which is all you need right now.

No rush to the other side

Better Days movie poster
4
2019 · 135min · ★★★★☆ 8.5/10

A bullied teenage girl forms an unlikely friendship with a mysterious young man who protects her from her assailants, while she copes with the pressures of her final examinations.

It validates the feeling without resolving it too quickly. You will come out the other side with slightly less pressure, on your own schedule.

Justified

The best thing about these films is that nobody is going to tell you to calm down.

The Forge movie poster
5
2024 · 123min · ★★★★☆ 8.3/10

19 year old Isaiah Wright lives for basketball and video games. A year out of high school, he has no job, no plans, and no idea how to be a man. At odds with his single mother Cynthia, Isaiah is given an ultimatum - to step up or move out. Feeling the pull from his friends and th

It runs on the same fuel you are running on. The anger has somewhere to go inside this story, and it moves.

Runs on the same fuel

Finch movie poster
6
2021 · 116min · ★★★★☆ 7.8/10

On a post-apocalyptic Earth, a robot, built to protect the life of his dying creator's beloved dog, learns about life, love, friendship, and what it means to be human.

The film does not ask you to be reasonable about it. It lets the feeling run at the temperature it is actually at.

Lets the anger move

The Handmaiden movie poster
7
2016 · 145min · ★★★☆☆ 6.4/10

1930s Korea, in the period of Japanese occupation, a new girl, Sook-hee, is hired as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress, Hideko, who lives a secluded life on a large countryside estate with her domineering Uncle Kouzuki. But the maid has a secret. She is a pickpocket recruited by

Nobody is going to tell you to calm down in this one. The anger is treated as information, which is all you need right now.

No rush to the other side

The Breadwinner movie poster
8
2017 · 94min · ★★★★☆ 7.8/10

A headstrong young girl in Afghanistan, ruled by the Taliban, disguises herself as a boy in order to provide for her family.

It validates the feeling without resolving it too quickly. You will come out the other side with slightly less pressure, on your own schedule.

Justified

Palmer movie poster
9
2021 · 110min · ★★★★☆ 7.9/10

After 12 years in prison, former high school football star Eddie Palmer returns home to put his life back together:and forms an unlikely bond with Sam, an outcast boy from a troubled home. But Eddie's past threatens to ruin his new life and family.

It runs on the same fuel you are running on. The anger has somewhere to go inside this story, and it moves.

Runs on the same fuel

Parasite movie poster
10
2019 · 133min · ★★★★☆ 7.7/10

All unemployed, Ki-taek's family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.

The film does not ask you to be reasonable about it. It lets the feeling run at the temperature it is actually at.

Lets the anger move

Sing Street movie poster
11
2016 · 105min · ★★★☆☆ 7.1/10

A boy growing up in Dublin during the 1980s escapes his strained family life by starting a band to impress the mysterious girl he likes.

Nobody is going to tell you to calm down in this one. The anger is treated as information, which is all you need right now.

No rush to the other side

Emancipation movie poster
12
2022 · 132min · ★★★★☆ 7.8/10

Inspired by the gripping true story of a man who would do anything for his family:and for freedom. When Peter, an enslaved man, risks his life to escape and return to his family, he embarks on a perilous journey of love and endurance.

It validates the feeling without resolving it too quickly. You will come out the other side with slightly less pressure, on your own schedule.

Justified

The anger will move when it's ready. These let it.

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