The story arc of Lunana may offer few surprises but Dorji handles it with confidence and buckets of charm.
Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom(ལུང་ནག་ན)
✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Bhutan, China · 2019
1h 49m
Director Pawo Choyning Dorji
Starring Sherab Dorji, Ugyen Norbu Lhendup, Keldon Lhamo Gurung, Pem Zam
Genre Drama
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
A teacher with one year left on his contract is sent to the most remote school in the world. At first, he’s less than thrilled, but in Lunana, a remote village in Bhutan, he begins to understand the importance of his work, and the power of the nation’s philosophy of “gross national happiness.”
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
Los Angeles Times by Carlos Aguilar
Opening the doors to a land and people most Westerners know little about, the director crafts a crowd-pleaser in stunning, mostly unseen locations whose charms weather even its most idealistically patriotic and overly saccharine notes.
Wall Street Journal by Joe Morgenstern
The film is a fable, to be sure, and one that unfolds at a leisurely pace, not a tough-minded psychological drama. But it’s sharp-witted as well as soulful, reasonably suspenseful.
The New York Times by Nicolas Rapold
The gently efficient story feels like an attempt to illustrate Bhutan’s real-life “Gross National Happiness” initiative.
Donji’s screenplay finds an ideal balance of gentle humor and life-affirming drama.
Users who liked this film also liked
My Uncle Benjamin
(Mon oncle Benjamin)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Italy • 1969
- Director Édouard Molinaro
- Cast Jacques Brel, Claude Jade, Bernard Alane, Rosy Varte, Paul Frankeur, Lyne Chardonnet
- Genre Comedy, History
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Sabotage
He was a saboteur until his plans were sabotaged.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 1937
- Director Alfred Hitchcock
- Cast Sylvia Sidney, Oskar Homolka, Desmond Tester, John Loder, Joyce Barbour, Matthew Boulton
- Genre Drama, Thriller
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, Kanopy, Hoopla, Plex, Public Domain Movies, Plex Channel, JustWatchTV
Napoleon
(Napoléon)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1927
- Director Abel Gance
- Cast Albert Dieudonné, Vladimir Roudenko, Edmond van Daële, Alexandre Koubitzky, Antonin Artaud, Abel Gance
- Genre Drama, History, War
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Alps
(Άλπεις)
A group of people start a business where they impersonate the recently deceased in order to help their clients through the grieving process.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Greece, United States, France • 2011
- Director Yorgos Lanthimos
- Cast Angeliki Papoulia, Aris Servetalis, Johnny Vekris, Ariane Labed, Stavros Psyllakis, Efthymis Filippou
- Genre Drama
- Available on Kino Film Collection, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
Ali & Ava
Two lonely people develop a deep connection despite the lingering legacy of past relationships and emotional turmoil.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2021
- Director Clio Barnard
- Cast Adeel Akhtar, Claire Rushbrook, Natalie Gavin, Macy Shackleton, Ellora Torchia, Shaun Thomas
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on fuboTV, Paramount+ Amazon Channel, Paramount+ Roku Premium Channel, Paramount+ with Showtime, Paramount Plus Apple TV Channel , Apple TV, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Kanopy
A Hero
(قهرمان)
A good deed turns a man into a local celebrity, and also raises the suspicions of those closest to him.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Iran • 2021
- Director Asghar Farhadi
- Cast
- Genre Drama
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Freevee
Karnawal
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Argentina, Brazil, Chile • 2021
- Director Juan Pablo Félix
- Cast Martín López Lacci, Alfredo Castro, Mónica Lairana, Diego Cremonesi, Adrián Fondari, José Luis Arias
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Taipei Suicide Story
(安眠旅舍)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Taiwan • 2020
- Director KEFF
- Cast Vivian Sung, Tender Huang, Ming-shiou Tsai, Chin-Yu Pan, Li Chia-Chen, Snoopy Yu
- Genre Drama
- Available on Reveel
Nitram
Still living at home, loner Nitram finds an unexpected friend in Helen. But when their relationship ends, he starts spiralling.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Australia • 2021
- Director Justin Kurzel
- Cast Caleb Landry Jones, Judy Davis, Sean Keenan, Essie Davis, Anthony LaPaglia, Lucy-Rose Leonard
- Genre Drama, Thriller
- Available on AMC+, AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC Plus Apple TV Channel , IFC Films Unlimited Apple TV Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube
Nice View
(奇迹)
A young man travels to the city in hopes of making enough money to fund his little sister’s life-saving surgery.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- China • 2022
- Director Muye Wen
- Cast Jackson Yee, Tian Yu, Zhang Yu, Eric Wang, Qi Xi, Xu Juncong
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Family
- Available on No streaming locations found.
More Than Ever
(Plus que jamais)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Germany, Luxembourg • 2022
- Director Emily Atef
- Cast Vicky Krieps, Gaspard Ulliel, Bjørn Floberg, Sophie Langevin, Valérie Bodson, Jérémy Barbier d'Hiver
- Genre Drama
- Available on Strand Releasing Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV
Death to 2021
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United States, United Kingdom • 2021
- Director Josh Ruben, Jack Clough
- Cast Hugh Grant, Joe Keery, William Jackson Harper, Lucy Liu, Tracey Ullman, Samson Kayo
- Genre Comedy
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads