Best Drama Movies
This page is updated regularly. Subscribe, so you don't miss new recommendations. The list of "Best Drama Movies" contains films with the following parameters. Style: inspirational, serious, depressing, beautiful, touching and social. Plot: life changing, mission, moving, inspiration, psychology, live action, friendship, sadness, life lesson and trauma. Genre: Drama, War and Biography. Country: USA, UK and France.
Best Drama Movies
TOP Movies: American Beauty (1999), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Whiplash (2014), The Help (2011), Manchester by the Sea (2016), Saving Private Ryan (1998), The Green Mile (1999), Fight Club (1999), Schindler's List (1993), Black Swan (2010), What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), Requiem for a Dream (2000), Million Dollar Baby (2004), Rain Man (1988), The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008), Joker (2019), Titanic (1997), Good Will Hunting (1997), The Hunt (2012), The Pianist (2002).
List of Best Movies
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Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min.
Story:
Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.
Style:
melancholic, thought provoking, dark comedy, sexual, dramatic ...
Audience:
teens, chick flick, girls' night, kids, teen drama ...
Plot:
midlife crisis, dysfunctional family, existentialism, age difference, obsession, loneliness, coming of age, older man younger woman relationship, nymphet, dysfunctional marriage, adultery, older man young girl relationship ...
Time:
90s, 20th century, year 1999, year 2013
Place:
usa, america, los angeles, iran
Is relevant ?
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 142 min.
Story:
Framed in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, ...
Style:
clever, inspirational, touching, sentimental, twist ending ...
Audience:
date night, kids, chick flick, teens, family friendly ...
Plot:
prison, prison escape, freedom, human spirit, hopes, stephen king, life, friendship between men, friendship, plot twist, life philosophy, adaptation ...
Time:
1940s, 90s, 1950s, 2010s, year 1994 ...
Place:
usa, america, iran, persia, pacific ocean ...
Is relevant ?
976K
Genre: Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
Under the direction of a ruthless instructor, a talented young drummer begins to pursue perfection at any cost, even his humanity.
Style:
motivational, dramatic, psychological, inspirational, realistic ...
Audience:
teens, family friendly, teen drama, adult
Plot:
music, jazz, obsession, mentor, teachers and students, follow your dream, emotional abuse, desire for fame, drummer, musician's life, musician, public humiliation ...
Time:
2010s, year 2014, 21st century
Place:
peru, manhattan new york city, new york, usa
Is relevant ?
490K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA, India
Duration: 146 min.
Story:
Aibileen Clark is a middle-aged African-American maid who has spent her life raising white children and has recently lost her only son; Minny Jackson is an African-American maid who has often offended her employers despite her family's ...
Style:
touching, inspirational, thought provoking, uplifting, feel good ...
Audience:
girls' night, chick flick, teens, kids, date night ...
Plot:
racism, friendship, discrimination, civil rights, writers, women, maid, master and servant, human spirit, life is a bitch, racial segregation, racial issues ...
Time:
60s, 2010s, year 2011, 1900s, 50s ...
Place:
mississippi, usa, america, africa, southern usa
Is relevant ?
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 133 min.
Story:
While serving time for insanity at a state mental hospital, implacable rabble-rouser, Randle Patrick McMurphy inspires his fellow patients to rebel against the authoritarian rule of head nurse, Mildred Ratched.
Style:
psychological, thought provoking, dramatic, serious, surprise ending ...
Audience:
date night, family friendly, teen drama, adult
Plot:
mental illness, mental institution, fighting the system, human spirit, insanity, freedom, psychiatrist, unlikely friendships, psychopath, society, nurse, escaped mental patient ...
Time:
60s, 20th century, year 1975
Place:
oregon, eastern europe, america, persia
Is relevant ?
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 137 min.
Story:
After his older brother passes away, Lee Chandler is forced to return home to care for his 16-year-old nephew. There he is compelled to deal with a tragic past that separated him from his family and the community where he was born and raised.
Style:
sad, depressing, heartbreaking, psychological, emotional ...
Audience:
teens, family friendly, adult
Plot:
family drama, sadness, loneliness, depression, loss, suicide attempt, death, nephew, grief, uncle nephew relationship, dysfunctional family, adoption ...
Time:
2010s, year 2016
Place:
massachusetts, boston, nebraska, new england
Is relevant ?
Genre: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 169 min.
Story:
As U.S. troops storm the beaches of Normandy, three brothers lie dead on the battlefield, with a fourth trapped behind enemy lines. Ranger captain John Miller and seven men are tasked with penetrating German-held territory and bringing the boy home.
Style:
realistic, epic, breathtaking, captivating, tense ...
Audience:
manly, chick flick, kids, date night, adult
Plot:
war, world war two, military, courage, battles, self sacrifice, sniper, friendship, nazi, army, d day, rescue ...
Time:
1940s, year 1944, year 1998, 90s, 20th century ...
Place:
normandy, poland, germany, france, europe ...
Is relevant ?
Genre: Crime, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 189 min.
Story:
A supernatural tale set on death row in a Southern prison, where gentle giant John Coffey possesses the mysterious power to heal people's ailments. When the cellblock's head guard, Paul Edgecomb, recognizes Coffey's miraculous gift, ...
Style:
touching, emotional, sentimental, heartbreaking, sad ...
Audience:
girls' night, chick flick, date night, family friendly, adult
Plot:
prison, death penalty, stephen king, death row, magic realism, supernatural, convict, false accusation, electric chair, life & death, life philosophy, psychic ...
Time:
1930s, 20th century, 90s, year 1999, year 1935
Place:
usa, southern usa, louisiana, america, persia
Is relevant ?
2.3M
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 139 min.
Story:
A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the ...
Style:
surprise ending, psychological, twist ending, cerebral, philosophical ...
Audience:
manly, boys' night, chick flick, girls' night, adult
Plot:
twists and turns, psychology, fight, plot twist, schizophrenia, self destructing, insanity, fighting the system, split personality, losing-it hero, against the rules, nihilism ...
Time:
20th century, 90s, year 1999, year 2013
Place:
delaware, america, los angeles, iran, seattle ...
Is relevant ?
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 195 min.
Story:
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.
Style:
touching, emotional, heartbreaking, realistic, thought provoking ...
Audience:
date night, chick flick, adult
Plot:
holocaust, world war two, genocide, nazi, war, wartime, storytelling, concentration camp, brutality, nazism, against humanity, survival ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century, year 1993, 90s, ancient times ...
Place:
poland, germany, persia, iran, europe ...
Is relevant ?
819K
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min.
Story:
A ballet dancer wins the lead in "Swan Lake" and is perfect for the role of the delicate White Swan - Princess Odette - but slowly loses her mind as she becomes more and more like Odile, the Black Swan.
Style:
psychological, suspense, cerebral, atmospheric, surreal ...
Audience:
chick flick, adult
Plot:
ballet, mental illness, obsession, psychology, insanity, dancing, character study, surrealism, hallucination, mother daughter relationship, paranoia, showbiz ...
Time:
2010s, year 2010, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
usa, new york, bolivia, manhattan new york city
Is relevant ?
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min.
Story:
Gilbert has to care for his brother Arnie and his obese mother, which gets in the way when love walks into his life.
Style:
melancholic, touching, emotional, depressing, sad ...
Audience:
teens, chick flick, teen drama
Plot:
dysfunctional family, disability, self discovery, mental illness, small town, mentally challenged, responsibility, life philosophy, brothers, coming of age, family drama, family problems ...
Time:
90s, 20th century, year 1993, 60s, 70s
Place:
iowa, texas, usa
Is relevant ?
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min.
Story:
The hopes and dreams of four ambitious people are shattered when their drug addictions begin spiraling out of control. A look into addiction and how it overcomes the mind and body.
Style:
psychological, disturbing, bleak, depressing, emotional ...
Audience:
kids, adult
Plot:
addiction, drug abuse, heroin, drug addiction, insanity, mental illness, junkie, drug, depression, dream, loneliness, drug addict ...
Time:
year 2000, future, y2k, 20th century, 90s ...
Place:
new york, america, britain, usa, coney island brooklyn new york city ...
Is relevant ?
Genre: Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 132 min.
Story:
Despondent over a painful estrangement from his daughter, trainer Frankie Dunn isn't prepared for boxer Maggie Fitzgerald to enter his life. But Maggie's determined to go pro and to convince Dunn and his cohort to help her.
Style:
emotional, touching, sad, depressing, bad ending ...
Audience:
girls' night, kids, family friendly, adult
Plot:
boxing, underdog, female boxer, female protagonist, determination, mentor protege relationship, athlete's life, human spirit, female athlete, euthanasia, boxing trainer, strong female lead ...
Time:
year 2004, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
usa, los angeles, europe, las vegas, london ...
Is relevant ?
543K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 133 min.
Story:
Selfish yuppie Charlie Babbitt's father left a fortune to his savant brother Raymond and a pittance to Charlie; they travel cross-country.
Style:
road movie, sincere, uplifting, touching, inspirational ...
Audience:
family friendly
Plot:
autism, road trip, redemption, disability, runaway, brother brother relationship, mentally challenged, siblings relations, family relations, casino, mental illness, mathematics ...
Time:
20th century, year 1988, 80s
Place:
las vegas, california, ohio, cincinnati ohio, missouri ...
Is relevant ?
Genre: Drama, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
When his family moves from their home in Berlin to a strange new house in Poland, young Bruno befriends Shmuel, a boy who lives on the other side of the fence where everyone seems to be wearing striped pajamas. Unaware of Shmuel's fate as a ...
Style:
emotional, touching, sad, heartbreaking, tear jerker ...
Audience:
kids, teens, family outing, family friendly, teen drama ...
Plot:
world war two, holocaust, concentration camp, war, children, childhood, nazi, friendship, nazism, gas chamber, boy, morality ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century, ancient times, year 2008
Place:
germany, poland, europe, berlin germany, switzerland
Is relevant ?
1.5M
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada, Australia
Duration: 122 min.
Story:
During the 1980s, a failed stand-up comedian is driven insane and turns to a life of crime and chaos in Gotham City while becoming an infamous psychopathic crime figure.
Style:
thought provoking, suspense, atmospheric, bleak, psychological thriller ...
Audience:
teens, adult
Plot:
mental illness, mental disorder, villain, psycho, psychopath, loneliness, psychological trauma, character change, insanity, social problems, comedian, social decay ...
Time:
2010s, 80s, year 2019, year 1981, 20th century
Place:
new york, new jersey, los angeles, persia
Is relevant ?
1.3M
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA, Mexico
Duration: 194 min.
Story:
84 years later, a 101-year-old woman named Rose DeWitt Bukater tells the story to her granddaughter Lizzy Calvert, Brock Lovett, Lewis Bodine, Bobby Buell and Anatoly Mikailavich on the Keldysh about her life set in April 10th 1912, on a ship called ...
Style:
romantic, emotional, sentimental, dramatic, touching ...
Audience:
chick flick, girls' night, date night, kids, family friendly ...
Plot:
love, love story, titanic, disaster, ship, tragedy, forbidden love, ocean, love and romance, survival, fall in love, tragic love ...
Time:
20th century, 1910s, year 1997, 90s, edwardian era ...
Place:
britain, iran, los angeles, america, nova scotia ...
Is relevant ?
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min.
Story:
Will Hunting has a genius-level IQ but chooses to work as a janitor at MIT. When he solves a difficult graduate-level math problem, his talents are discovered by Professor Gerald Lambeau, who decides to help the misguided youth reach his potential. ...
Style:
psychological, emotional, philosophical, sentimental, intellectual ...
Audience:
teens, family friendly, chick flick, girls' night, date night ...
Plot:
mathematics, professor, genius, prodigy, philosophy, psychology, life philosophy, life, university, psychotherapy, mentor, existentialism ...
Time:
20th century, year 1997, 90s, 2010s
Place:
boston, harvard university, massachusetts, america, persia ...
Is relevant ?
361K
Genre: Drama
Country: Denmark, Sweden
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
A teacher lives a lonely life, all the while struggling over his son’s custody. His life slowly gets better as he finds love and receives good news from his son, but his new luck is about to be brutally shattered by an innocent little lie.
Style:
bleak, thought provoking, psychological, depressing, sad ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
injustice, life turned upside down, child abuse, false accusation, divorce, social injustice, social relations, pedophile, parents and children, teacher, church, punched in the face ...
Time:
2010s, year 2012, year 2013, 21st century
Place:
denmark
Is relevant ?
904K
Genre: Biography, Drama, Music, War
Country: France, Poland, Germany, UK, USA
Duration: 150 min.
Story:
The true story of pianist Wladyslaw 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 café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he ...
Style:
emotional, harsh, bleak, reflective, heartbreaking ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
holocaust, world war two, survival, genocide, nazi, classical music, wartime, war, nazism, pianist, nazi occupation, hunger ...
Time:
1940s, year 2002, 20th century, year 1945, 1930s ...
Place:
poland, germany, europe, eastern europe, persia ...
Is relevant ?
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 123 min.
Story:
Like some other kids, 12-year-old Trevor McKinney believed in the goodness of human nature. Like many other kids, he was determined to change the world for the better. Unlike most other kids, he succeeded.
Style:
touching, inspirational, emotional, motivational, sentimental ...
Audience:
chick flick, kids, teens, teen drama
Plot:
teacher, childhood, single parent, teachers and students, alcoholic, life philosophy, good deed, disfigurement, death, boy, alcoholism, addiction ...
Time:
year 2000, 90s, 20th century
Place:
tibet, nevada, usa, las vegas
Is relevant ?
155K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 132 min.
Story:
Sam has the mental capacity of a 7-year-old. He has a daughter with a homeless woman who abandons them when they leave the hospital, leaving Sam to raise Lucy on his own. But as Lucy grows up, Sam's limitations start to become a problem and the ...
Style:
inspirational, touching, emotional, tear jerker, sad ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
lawyer, father daughter relationship, mentally challenged, disability, single father, social services, custody, custody battle, child custody, parents and children, parenthood, mental illness ...
Time:
year 2001, 21st century
Place:
california, los angeles, usa
Is relevant ?
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 156 min.
Story:
Charlie Simms is a student at a private preparatory school who comes from a poor family. To earn the money for his flight home to Gresham, Oregon for Christmas, Charlie takes a job over Thanksgiving looking after retired U.S. Army officer Lieutenant ...
Style:
inspirational, sentimental, dramatic, realistic, touching ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
friendship, blindness, mentor, blind character, thanksgiving, tango, human spirit, human nature, loneliness, coming of age, disability, preparatory school ...
Time:
20th century, 90s
Place:
new york, new england, usa
Is relevant ?
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 158 min.
Story:
Ruthless silver miner, turned oil prospector, Daniel Plainview moves to oil-rich California. Using his adopted son to project a trustworthy, family-man image, Plainview cons local landowners into selling him their valuable properties for a pittance. ...
Style:
serious, suspense, disturbing, cerebral, epic ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
oil, greed, character study, ambition, capitalism, money, rise to the top, rivalry, visceral, psychopath, religion, business ...
Time:
20th century, 1900s, 1910s, 1920s, 19th century ...
Place:
california, texas, los angeles, america, persia ...
Is relevant ?
Genre: Biography, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 135 min.
Story:
At Princeton University, John Nash struggles to make a worthwhile contribution to serve as his legacy to the world of mathematics. He finally makes a revolutionary breakthrough that will eventually earn him the Nobel Prize. After graduate school he ...
Style:
psychological, touching, cerebral, dramatic, intellectual ...
Audience:
teens, date night, family friendly, chick flick
Plot:
mathematics, mental illness, schizophrenia, genius, paranoia, insanity, scientist, mathematician, imaginary friend, nobel prize, obsession, prodigy ...
Time:
year 2001, 60s, 20th century, 1940s, 2000s ...
Place:
boston, harvard university, new jersey, persia, detroit ...
Is relevant ?
104K
Genre: Drama
Country: Lebanon, USA, France, Cyprus, Qatar, UK
Duration: 126 min.
Story:
Zain, a 12-year-old boy scrambling to survive on the streets of Beirut, sues his parents for having brought him into such an unjust world, where being a refugee with no documents means that your rights can easily be denied.
Style:
social, sad, thought provoking, depressing, rough ...
Audience:
toddlers
Plot:
poverty, refugee, traumatic childhood, slum, misery, child abuse, neglected child, life is a bitch, low lives, child protagonist, child neglect, starving child ...
Time:
2010s, future
Place:
lebanon, beirut lebanon, middle east, nebraska, maghreb ...
Is relevant ?
942K
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 132 min.
Story:
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.
Style:
suspense, black comedy, dark comedy, psychological thriller, exciting ...
Audience:
family friendly, adult
Plot:
poverty, wealthy family, working class, social satire, class differences, wealth, basement, scam, tutor, poor family, plot twist, unemployment ...
Time:
2010s, year 2019
Place:
south korea, east asia, seoul, asia
Is relevant ?
257K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 125 min.
Story:
No one would take his case until one man was willing to take on the system. Two competing lawyers join forces to sue a prestigious law firm for AIDS discrimination. As their unlikely friendship develops their courage overcomes the prejudice and ...
Style:
touching, sad, tear jerker, sincere, emotional ...
Plot:
aids, courtroom drama, lawyer, hiv, gay, lgbt, discrimination, lawsuit, medical, courtroom, trial, judiciary ...
Time:
20th century, 90s, year 1993, 80s
Place:
pennsylvania, usa, philadelphia
Is relevant ?
316K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA, Mexico, France
Duration: 143 min.
Story:
Tragedy strikes a married couple on vacation in the Moroccan desert, touching off an interlocking story involving four different families.
Style:
non-linear, bleak, sincere, emotional, depressing ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
multiple storylines, redemption, desert, woman urinating, deaf girl, mexican border, society, guilt, parenthood, depression, tragic event, immigrant ...
Time:
year 2006, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
morocco, japan, tokyo, africa, mexico ...
Is relevant ?
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