Source : the age
Every streaming platform has thousands of films available. To cut through that, here are 30 great movies that span genres, filmmakers and languages. This week: SBS on Demand. For 150 other movie choices, check out our guides on Stan*, HBO Max, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+.
Aftersun (2022)
What we remember and what we will never know underpins this intimately audacious debut drama from Scottish filmmaker Charlotte Wells, with a young British father (Paul Mescal) taking his 11-year-old daughter (Frankie Corio) on a holiday to Turkey.
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
A romantic fantasy intended as a balm for World War II’s losses, this wonderfully constructed tale follows a British airman (David Niven) who dodges the hereafter. His second-chance appreciation of life becomes joyful.
Anatomy of a Fall (2023)
A legal thriller – in a rarely experienced Swiss setting – rendered as an investigation of how malleable truth and family have to be, this riveting drama delivers a powerhouse performance from a pre-Project Hail Mary Sandra Hüller.
The Big Lebowski (1998)
With an all-time performance from Jeff Bridges as Los Angeles slacker “The Dude”, this noir-ringed black comedy from the Coen brothers remains a winningly idiosyncratic affair, complete with a scene-stealing John Turturro.
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
David Lean’s first epic is a sober examination of duty and heroism during World War II, as imprisoned American and British officers (William Holden and Sir Alec Guinness) clash over a bridge they built for their brutal Japanese captors.
Cemetery of Splendour (2015)
Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul is a revered figure in world cinema and this is a signature work – a gracefully fluid exploration of national trauma and private memory that turns a military hospital into a spiritual way-station.
The Conformist (1970)
All too relevant, Bernardo Bertolucci’s drama of warped political belonging follows a 1930s Italian civil servant (Jean-Louis Trintignant) who takes part in a fascist murder plot against his former professor. A film of cruel beauty and erotic malaise.
Death in Brunswick (1990)
The great Sam Neill was at ease in any genre, and this mordant Australian farce, where he plays a Melbourne chef in over his head with his girlfriend and associated gangsters, is a showcase of his comedic skills.
Disobedience (2017)
When an exiled photographer (Rachel Weisz) returns to her insular Orthodox Jewish community and the best friend (Rachel McAdams) she left behind, the roiling emotions between them become overwhelming. The leads are sublime together.
Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai (1999)
Anchored by a graceful Forest Whitaker as the titular hitman, Jim Jarmusch’s take on the wronged gangster flick intertwines hip-hop beats and Japanese philosophy. Sometimes violent, often wry, always unique.
Gone Girl (2014)
With David Fincher directing, this portrait of marital discord has a forensic fierceness as a cheating husband (Ben Affleck) becomes embroiled in suspicion when his wife (Rosamund Pike) disappears. The storytelling delivers brutal implications.
La Grande Illusion (1937)
An enduring masterpiece of French cinema, Jean Renoir’s humanist classic explores the bond during World War I between two captured French aviators and their German overseer. Individual connection can’t trump duty’s tragic demands.
The Handmaiden (2016)
The South Korean master Park Chan-wook delivers a stinging mix of erotic thriller and period crime drama in this twisty, immaculately staged tale of obsessive 1930s love between a trapped heiress and her knowing servant.
Hell or High Water (2016)
Taylor Sheridan’s best writing, this modern-day western from director David Mackenzie is a withering attack on inequality couched as a thriller pitting bank-robbing siblings (Chris Pine and Ben Foster) against a wily lawman (Jeff Bridges).
Kung Fu Hustle (2004)
An irresistible mix of cartoonish mayhem and Chinese martial arts cinema, Stephen Chow’s action comedy unfolds in an under-attack Shanghai tenement where the impoverished residents harbour unexpected skills. An innovative, invigorating pleasure.
The Lives of Others (2006)
In this magisterial German drama, you can see a conscience defiantly return to the Stasi officer (Ulrich Mühe) who is bugging a playwright and his actress girlfriend in a communist East Germany defined by oppression.
Malcolm X (1992)
The enduring peak of Spike Lee and Denzel Washington’s many collaborations is a fiercely contested portrait of the revolutionary African-American activist that eschews biopic cliches. A vast, compelling story, shot with eloquent precision.
Mystic River (2003)
One of Clint Eastwood’s finest works behind the camera, this mournful Boston thriller intertwines a trio of men – played by Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, and Kevin Bacon – who cannot escape their shared childhood damage.
Notorious (1946)
With Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman as lovers and spies torn apart by her mission to infiltrate Nazi exiles, this tense thriller is an expert distillation of Alfred Hitchcock’s technical prowess and emotional cynicism.
Parasite (2019)
Bong Joon Ho’s charred black comic thriller took its deceptive critique of wealth’s unavoidable distortion all the way to Academy Awards dominance, deploying architecture and amorality to chart a family of grifters fastening on to their rich hosts.
Perfect Days (2023)
The everyday attains the profound in this late-career classic from Wim Wenders, which tracks the solitary days of a Tokyo sanitation worker, Hirayama (Kōji Yakusho), who experiences his work and life with graceful acceptance.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
Images, hearts, and entire futures are grasped and set free in this quietly staggering French romance where a 19th century portrait painter (Noémie Merlant) connects with her watchful subject (Adèle Haenel).
A Prophet (2009)
“Kill for us or we’ll kill you,” the vulnerable 19-year-old Malik (Tahar Rahim) is told by Corsican gangsters on his first day in a French jail, and from there, filmmaker Jacques Audiard turns survival into a detailed crime epic.
Samson and Delilah (2009)
Quite simply one of the greatest Australian movies ever made. Warwick Thornton’s debut feature depicts with wrenching realism and intimate detail the union between two Indigenous teens who flee a remote community for Alice Springs.
Seven Samurai (1954)
The most influential action film ever made, Akira Kurosawa’s 16th-century saga follows a group of warriors hired to protect a farming village from bandits. If you like actors with presence, prepare yourself for the legendary Toshiro Mifune.
A Short Film About Killing (1988)
Bleakly illuminating, this Polish drama from the gone-too-soon Krzysztof Kieślowski contrasts the taking of a life by an individual and the state. The film doesn’t offer consolation – it’s the right decision.
There Will Be Blood (2007)
Paul Thomas Anderson captures America’s industrial transformation with the tale of a driven oilman (an unparalleled Daniel Day-Lewis). Frame after frame evokes a furious wonder that can’t be stilled by success or family.
The Third Man (1949)
Written with an ear for moral failings by Graham Greene, Carol Reed’s thriller unfolds in the ruins of post-World War II Vienna, where a dogged author (Joseph Cotten) searches for a missing friend (Orson Welles) with a troubling reputation.
Tokyo Story (1953)
Yasujiro Ozu’s timeless Japanese classic is closely observed and wrenchingly restrained. When an ageing couple visit their children in the city, they’re mostly treated as a burden. But instead of recrimination there’s acceptance: this is life’s price.
Under the Skin (2014)
As an alien in human form prowling Scotland to harvest male admirers, Scarlett Johansson underpins an otherworldly character study. Shot like a documentary in the key of inexplicable, this is a deeply unsettling experience.
All information correct at August 2026. *Stan is owned by Nine, the owner of this masthead.
