Our Favorite Films of 2019
Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite and Pedro Almodóvar’s Pain and Glory are on many critics’ year-end lists of the best films of 2019, but we wanted to draw your attention to titles you may have missed. Here are some of our favorite films released in the US in 2019 and now available for streaming. Happy viewing!
Atlantics
(Atlantique)
When one comes back to claim what was left behind, what are the consequences?
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Senegal, Belgium • 2019
- Director Mati Diop
- Cast Ibrahima Traore, Mame Bineta Sane, Aminata Kane
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads
Cold Case Hammarskjöld
Two men investigate the killing of the secretary general of the United Nations, and discover a secret far worse.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Denmark, Norway, Sweden • 2019
- Director Mads Brügger
- Cast Mads Brügger, Clarinah Mfengu, Saphir Wenzi Mabanza, Göran Björkdahl, Hilding Björkdahl, Charles Southall
- Genre Documentary, History
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, FlixFling, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, VUDU Free, DistroTV, Plex, Plex Channel
Honeyland
Hatidze Muratova, one of the last "bee hunters" in Europe, raises bees based in a sustainable and minimally invasive manner.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Macedonia • 2019
- Director Tamara Kotevska
- Cast Hatidzhe Muratova, Nazife Muratova, Hussein Sam, Ljutvie Sam
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Tubi TV, Kanopy
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
(Portrait de la jeune fille en feu)
Marianne, a painter, is commissioned to do the wedding portrait of Héloïse, a young woman who has just left the convent.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2019
- Director Céline Sciamma
- Cast Noémie Merlant, Adèle Haenel, Luàna Bajrami, Valeria Golino, Christel Baras, Armande Boulanger
- Genre Drama, History, Romance
- Available on Hulu, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, YouTube, Kanopy
The Cave
(غار)
The patriarchy has no place in a war.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Syria, Denmark, Germany • 2019
- Director Feras Fayyad
- Cast Amani Ballour, Salim Namour
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Hulu, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Fandango At Home, National Geographic
The Chambermaid
(La Camarista)
A chambermaid at a luxurious Mexico City hotel confronts the monotony of long workdays with quiet examinations of forgotten belongings.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Mexico • 2019
- Director Lila Avilés
- Cast Gabriela Cartol, Teresa Sánchez, Agustina Quinci
- Genre Drama
- Available on Kino Film Collection, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy, Hoopla
The Souvenir
A young film student struggles to find her voice while navigating a relationship with a troubled man.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 2019
- Director Joanna Hogg
- Cast Honor Swinton Byrne, Tom Burke, Tilda Swinton, Richard Ayoade, Ariane Labed, Jaygann Ayeh
- Genre Romance, Mystery, Drama
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
The Third Wife
In 19th-century rural Vietnam, 14-year-old May becomes the third wife of wealthy landowner.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Vietnam • 2019
- Director Ash Mayfair
- Cast Nguyễn Phương Trà My, Trần Nữ Yên Khê, Lê Vũ Long, Mai Thu Hường, Như Quỳnh
- Genre Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Kanopy, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
3 Faces
(سه رخ)
Actress Behnaz Jafari and director Jafar Panahi take a road trip to rural Iran in hopes of saving a missing girl.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2018
- Director Jafar Panahi
- Cast Behnaz Jafari, Jafar Panahi, Marziyeh Rezaei, Maedeh Erteghaei, Narges Del Aram
- Genre Drama
- Available on Kino Film Collection, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
An Elephant Sitting Still
(大象席地而坐)
In the northern Chinese city of Manzhouli, they say there is an elephant that simply sits and ignores the world.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- China • 2018
- Director Hu Bo
- Cast Zhang Yu, Peng Yuchang, Wang Yu Wen, Congxi Li, Xiang Rong Dong
- Genre Drama
- Available on Fandor, Fandor Amazon Channel, OVID, AsianCrush, Apple TV, Amazon Video, Kanopy
Ash Is Purest White
(江湖儿女)
The violent love story of a young dancer and a mobster spanning from 2001 to 2017.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- China, France, Japan • 2018
- Director Jia Zhangke
- Cast Zhao Tao, Liao Fan, Feng Xiaogang, Xu Zheng, Zhang Yibai, Diao Yi'nan
- Genre Crime, Drama, Romance
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, Kanopy
Cold War
(Zimna wojna)
Two performers find and lose love in Cold War Poland — only to find it again years later.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Poland, United Kingdom, France • 2018
- Director Paweł Pawlikowski
- Cast Joanna Kulig, Tomasz Kot, Borys Szyc, Agata Kulesza, Cédric Kahn, Jeanne Balibar
- Genre Drama, Music, Romance
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Freevee
Firecrackers
When an ex-boyfriend violates a woman, he leaves her no choice but revenge.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Canada • 2018
- Director Jasmin Mozaffari
- Cast Michaela Kurimsky, Karena Evans, Callum Thompson, David Kingston, Tamara LeClair
- Genre Drama
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Tubi TV, Pluto TV, Freevee, Kanopy, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
Tel Aviv on Fire
A wry, insightful comedy about a hapless production intern on a Palestinian soap opera.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Luxembourg, Belgium, Israel • 2018
- Director Sameh Zoabi
- Cast Kais Nashif, Lubna Azabal, Yaniv Biton, Maisa Abd Elhadi, Nadim Sawalha
- Genre Comedy
- Available on Cohen Media Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV
The Wild Pear Tree
(Ahlat Ağacı)
A son returns home to only to be met with his father's debt.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Turkey, Macedonia, France • 2018
- Director Nuri Bilge Ceylan
- Cast Aydın Doğu Demirkol, Murat Cemcir, Bennu Yıldırımlar, Hazar Ergüçlü, Serkan Keskin, Tamer Levent
- Genre Drama
- Available on Metrograph, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
Transit
Georg, after assuming the identity of a dead writer, meets Marie — the wife of the man whose identity he stole.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Germany, France • 2018
- Director Christian Petzold
- Cast Franz Rogowski, Paula Beer, Godehard Giese, Lilien Batman, Barbara Auer, Matthias Brandt
- Genre Drama
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, OVID, Chai Flicks, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, VUDU Free, Kanopy, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel