Open Road Films
Last Updated: July 16th
Netflix knows we all love drama. It’s why the streaming service has a seemingly endless catalog of titles in the genre. But with so many choices, someone needs to do the messy, thankless job of separating the good from the award-winningly good. And with the help of some caffeine and an unfailing internet connection, we’ve rounded up the 15 best dramas on Netflix. These are the films that define the zeitgeist; they’ve won Academy Awards, propelled stars to greatness, made millions of dollars at the box office, and are continuously quoted by self-proclaimed movie-aficionados.
In other words, these are the dramatic films that need to be in your queue.
Related: The Best TV Shows On Netflix Right Now, Ranked
The Weinstein Company
The Imitation Game (2014)
Run Time: 114 min | IMDb: 8/10
Benedict Cumberbatch brings brilliant mathematician Alan Turing to life in this historical, biographical British drama. Turing was a genius whose work enabled the British to crack German code and win World War I. He was also a deeply troubled man who was forced to conceal his homosexuality and ultimately castrate himself to continue his life’s work. So yeah, this film gets pretty dark, but Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley are worth the watch.
Warner Brothers
The Departed (2006)
Run Time: 151 min | IMDb: 8.5/10
This Boston crime drama contains a whos-who of Hollywood A-listers including Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Alec Baldwin and Mark Wahlberg so obviously, the acting’s on point. The plot follows a rookie detective working undercover as a member of the Irish mob, while a member of the Irish mob works to infiltrate the police department. A showdown happens, blood is spilled, and the usual ambiguous ending occurs.
Focus Features
The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)
Run Time: 140 min | IMDb: 7.3/10
Another crime drama, this one takes place across generations and shows the far-reaching effects the justice system can have on a family. We first meet Ryan Gosling as a motorcycle stuntman who falls in love with Eva Mendes’ character. The two have a son but Gosling’s character is killed by a rookie officer (Bradley Cooper) when he turns to robbing banks to make some extra cash. Years later, Cooper’s a successful District Attorney, and his son befriends the boy whose father he killed. It’s a tangled web of deception, betrayal, and lawlessness made even better by stellar performances from Cooper and Gosling.
IFC Films
Ain’t Them Bodies Saints (2013)
Run Time: 96 min | IMDb: 6.4/10
David Lowery’s Bonnie & Clyde-esque drama follows a doomed couple played by Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara. The pair of criminals ends up in a shootout with police after robbing a bank with Affleck’s character taking the fall so that his pregnant girlfriend can avoid jail time. Years later, Affleck breaks out of prison to return to his family, but a happily ever after just isn’t in the cards.
Universal Pictures
Friday Night Lights (2004)
Run Time: 118 min | IMDb: 7.3/10
Friday Night Lights the TV series is good. You should watch it. But, if you don’t have seasons’ worth of time to spend immersing yourself in the pressure-filled world of high school sports, this football drama from Peter Berg will do nicely. Berg is a connoisseur of action and the action game-time is riveting in and of itself, but where the movie really leaves its mark is in the storytelling, which proves to be an unforgiving look at the football-obsessed heartland.
Getty Image
Dead Poets Society (1989)
Run Time: 128 min | IMDb: 8.1/10
The late, great Robin Williams was known for his comedy, which makes his dramatic turn in Dead Poets Society even more memorable. Williams plays John Keating, a professor at an all-boys prep school whose unorthodox teaching-method earns him enemies amongst the staff but an army of impressionable followers in his classroom. The film is less about Keating and more about the life changes he inspires in his students. Who knew poetry could be so revolutionary?
Paramount
The Truman Show (1998)
Run Time: 103 min | IMDb: 8.1/10
If The Truman Show had been released today, it probably wouldn’t look much different than it did 20 years ago. The science-fiction satire had a lot to say about our obsession with celebrity culture and the voracious cravings we have for intimate details of people’s lives. That’s only gotten worse with the invention of social media, but The Truman Show imagined a world in which watching an unsuspecting man grow up on camera and live a fully manufactured life for the amusement of audiences was normal. It’s a funny, disturbing, and thought-provoking piece that’s even more relevant today.
Miramax
Gangs of New York (2002)
Run Time: 167 min | IMDb: 7.5/10
Another drama based on history, this messy, violent tale of the early beginnings of New York from Martin Scorsese pairs him with Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, and a spectacular Daniel Day-Lewis. Day-Lewis plays Bill the Butcher, King of the Five Points and a political puppeteer behind the scenes. DiCaprio plays a young man bent on revenge who sneaks into the fold to make good on a promise to kill the man who murdered his father. There’s a lot going on here, but Scorsese handles the action, tension, and politics with a deft hand.
Universal Pictures
Schindler’s List (1993)
Run Time: 195 min | IMDb: 8.9/10
It took decades in the industry for Steven Spielberg to finally earn an Oscar for one of his movies, but his win for Schindler’s List is well deserved. The film focuses on wealthy businessman Oskar Schindler, who spends his fortune and risks his life to save the lives of 1,100 Jewish men and women after taking in the horrors of WWII and the concentration camps. Between the three hour running time, the cold, unrelenting cruelty of Ralph Fiennes’ portrayal of Amon Goeth, and its realistic style, it’s a bleak film. But there’s hope to be found in the grim black and white images. It’s an important story told movingly by a filmmaker at the height of his powers.
Focus Features
Atonement (2007)
Run Time: 123 min | IMDb: 7.8/10
Another war film, Joe Wright’s romantic period piece is less about war, or at least, the violence of it, and more about how circumstance can tear people apart. Spanning six decades, the film follows a young groundskeeper played by James McAvoy who falls in love with a British heiress (Keira Knightley) but is mistakenly accused of assault and forced to join the war effort to pay for his crimes. The real standout of the film is a young Saoirse Ronan, who plays Briony, a 13-year-old girl and witness to the events whose testimony forever disrupts the lives of those around her. It’s grand and lush and beautifully shot. Pretty much everything you’d expect from Wright.
Criterion
Clouds of Sils Maria (2014)
Run Time: 124 min | IMDb: 6.7/10
An Olivier Assayas study in the meta, Clouds of Sils Maria gives a complicated look at life imitating art. Juliette Binoche plays an aging actress tasked with performing in the play that made her famous so many years ago but playing an aging woman instead of her original role as a young ingénue. Chloe Grace-Moretz plays the fresh, new it-girl with plenty of scandals that plague her career, but it’s Kristen Stewart as Binoche’s loyal American assistant who really steals the film, one that explores sexual tension and the dilemmas of aging.
Paramount
The Godfather (1972)
Run Time: 175 min | IMDb: 9.2/10
Francis Ford Coppola’s family crime drama has cemented itself as one of the greatest films in history. Sure, some people treat this movie like it’s the Holy Grail of filmmaking and honestly, the acclaim it gets from its devoted fanboy base can be irritating, but there’s real merit in the praise. Not only did this film redefine the gangster genre, give us powerhouse performances by legends like Al Pacino and Marlon f*cking Brando, and inspire plenty of pop culture’s biggest moments, it also gave us a riveting view of what it means to be family, how to deal with your enemies, and the lengths people will go to preserve their legacy.
Sundance
Mudbound (2017)
Run Time: 134 min | IMDb: 7.4/10
Dee Rees unflinchingly honest look at racism in America is more than just a well-crafted history lesson. In Mudbound, Rees explores everything from the costs of war to rural class struggles, ill-fated love, and the ripple-effect of inherited racial prejudice. By looking at the dueling experiences of a white and black family following the events of World War II, Rees is able to offer a thoughtful and timely commentary on race relations today, and she pulls a handful of unforgettable performances from her star-studded cast. This movie didn’t get the attention it deserved during awards season but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t show it some love now.
The Weinstein Company
Carol (2015)
Run Time: 118 min | IMDb: 7.2/10
Cate Blanchett in anything is worth your time, but Cate Blanchett giving a tour-de-force performance as a middle-aged housewife who begins a forbidden love affair with an awkward shop-girl played by Rooney Mara is worth a permanent spot in any self-respecting cinephile’s Netflix queue. Besides giving us a lush, beautifully shot portrait of 1950s New York, Todd Haynes’ period drama also serves a muted yet heartbreaking romance that’s all the more powerful because of its subtlety.
Open Road Films
Spotlight (2015)
Run Time: 128 min | IMDb: 8.1/10
Public scandal often makes for good drama, but that’s not why Todd McCarthy’s biographical re-telling of one of the most shocking cases of child sex abuse in the Catholic Church makes this list. Yes, the film has a famous list of names attached including Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, and Michael Keaton. Yes, it’s a true story about a group of investigative journalists working at the Boston Globe, who uncovered decades-worth of corruption and molestation accusations buried by leaders of the church. But, with McCarthy’s restrained direction, the film rejects the trope of glorifying its heroes and sensationalizing its narrative to instead give us an accurate, detailed, and unbiased look at history.
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