Winter Light
As we make our way through the dead of winter, the light, the landscape, the weather itself calls to mind those films whose directors have used these elements to tell stories of characters struggling to survive an inhospitable environment, both literal and figurative.
Society of the Snow
(La sociedad de la nieve)
Following a plane crash in the heart of the Andes, the survivors become each other's best hope to stay alive.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Uruguay, Spain • 2023
- Director J. A. Bayona
- Cast Enzo Vogrincic, Agustín Pardella, Matías Recalt, Tomas Wolf, Diego Ariel Vegezzi, Esteban Kukuriczka
- Genre Drama
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads
The Breaking Ice
(燃冬)
In this compelling Generation Z drama, an unusual love triangle develops among three friends against the icy beauty of northeast China and the Changbai Mountain.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- • 2023
- Director Anthony Chen
- Cast Zhou Dongyu, Liu Haoran, Qu Chuxiao
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Strand Releasing Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube
Drive My Car
(ドライブ・マイ・カー)
A car ride across Japan leads to an unlikely connection between a widowed stage director and his introverted young driver.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2021
- Director Ryusuke Hamaguchi
- Cast Hidetoshi Nishijima, Toko Miura, Masaki Okada, Reika Kirishima, Park Yu-rim, Jin Dae-yeon
- Genre Drama
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video
Force Majeure
(Turist)
A family drama in the midst of a natural disaster.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Sweden, France, Norway • 2014
- Director Ruben Östlund
- Cast Johannes Bah Kuhnke, Lisa Loven Kongsli, Clara Wettergren, Vincent Wettergren, Kristofer Hivju, Fanni Metelius
- Genre Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, FlixFling, The Roku Channel, Kanopy, Hoopla, Plex Channel
Prisoners
Every moment matters.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United States • 2013
- Director Denis Villeneuve
- Cast Jake Gyllenhaal, Hugh Jackman, Paul Dano, Maria Bello, Melissa Leo, Terrence Howard
- Genre Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Available on FilmBox+, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Liverpool
A sailor takes a short leave to visit his hometown in Tierra Del Fuego and see if his mother is still alive.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Argentina, France, Netherlands • 2008
- Director Lisandro Alonso
- Cast Juan Fernández, Nieves Cabrera, Giselle Irrazabal
- Genre Drama
- Available on MUBI, Kanopy
Distant
(Uzak)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Turkey • 2002
- Director Nuri Bilge Ceylan
- Cast Muzaffer Özdemir, Emin Toprak, Zuhal Gencer, Nazan Kirilmis, Feridun Koc, Fatma Ceylan
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Wings of Desire
(Der Himmel über Berlin)
There are angels on the streets of Berlin.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- West Germany, France • 1987
- Director Wim Wenders
- Cast Bruno Ganz, Otto Sander, Solveig Dommartin, Curt Bois, Peter Falk, Hans Martin Stier
- Genre Drama, Fantasy, Romance
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube
My Night at Maud's
(Ma nuit chez Maud)
The rigid principles of a devout Catholic man are challenged during one night with a divorced woman.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1969
- Director Éric Rohmer
- Cast Jean-Louis Trintignant, Françoise Fabian, Marie-Christine Barrault, Antoine Vitez, Léonide Kogan, Guy Léger
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max
Winter Light
(Nattvardsgästerna)
The pastor of a near-empty church is slowly losing his faith when a young couple approaches him needing guidance.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Sweden • 1963
- Director Ingmar Bergman
- Cast Gunnar Björnstrand, Ingrid Thulin, Gunnel Lindblom, Max von Sydow, Allan Edwall, Kolbjörn Knudsen
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, YouTube
The Ballad of Narayama
(楢山節考)
In a remote mountain village, a family struggles with a policy in which 70-year-olds are carried up a mountain to die.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1958
- Director Keisuke Kinoshita
- Cast Kinuyo Tanaka, Teiji Takahashi, Yūko Mochizuki, Seiji Miyaguchi, Yūnosuke Itō, Ken Mitsuda
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Amazon Video
Ikiru
(生きる)
Mr. Watanabe tries to find a meaningful human connection after he is diagnosed with terminal cancer.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1952
- Director Akira Kurosawa
- Cast Takashi Shimura, Haruo Tanaka, Nobuo Kaneko, Bokuzen Hidari, Miki Odagiri, Shinichi Himori
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy