A Glean movie guide
Essential Dramas for Every Mood
Powerful stories, masterfully told.
From gripping legal battles to intimate character studies, these films define the genre.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
The Shawshank Redemption
A timeless exploration of hope and friendship within the walls of a maximum-security prison.
Imprisoned in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.
- 02
Parasite
A razor-sharp social commentary that masterfully blends domestic drama with heart-pounding suspense.
All unemployed, Ki-taek's family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.
- 03
Moonlight
A visually stunning portrait of identity told across three defining chapters of a young man's life.
The tender, heartbreaking story of a young man’s struggle to find himself, told across three defining chapters in his life as he experiences the ecstasy, pain, and beauty of falling in love, while grappling with his own sexuality.
- 04
12 Angry Men
A masterclass in tension as twelve jurors debate a life-or-death verdict within a single room.
The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young Spanish-American is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. What begins as an open and shut case soon becomes a mini-drama of each of the jurors' prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the accused, and each other.
- 05
Whiplash
An electrifying look at the cost of greatness and the thin line between mentorship and obsession.
Under the direction of a ruthless instructor, a talented young drummer begins to pursue perfection at any cost, even his humanity.
- 06
Anatomy of a Fall
A gripping courtroom procedural that dissects the complexities of a marriage through a suspicious death.
A woman is suspected of her husband's murder, and their blind son faces a moral dilemma as the sole witness.
- 07
Past Lives
A quiet, soul-stirring meditation on destiny and the paths we choose to take.
After decades apart, childhood friends Nora and Hae Sung are reunited in New York for one fateful weekend as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life.
- 08
The Godfather
The definitive American epic exploring family loyalty and the corruptive nature of power.
Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.
- 09
Manchester by the Sea
A raw and unflinching look at grief, responsibility, and the difficult road to redemption.
After his older brother passes away, Lee Chandler is forced to return home to care for his 16-year-old nephew. There he is compelled to deal with a tragic past that separated him from his family and the community where he was born and raised.
- 10
Sound of Metal
An immersive sensory experience following a drummer's journey through sudden hearing loss.
Metal drummer Ruben begins to lose his hearing. When a doctor tells him his condition will worsen, he thinks his career and life is over. His girlfriend Lou checks the former addict into a rehab for the deaf hoping it will prevent a relapse and help him adapt to his new life. After being welcomed and accepted just as he is, Ruben must choose between his new normal and the life he once knew.
- 11
Minari
A tender portrayal of a Korean-American family's pursuit of the American Dream in rural Arkansas.
A Korean American family moves to an Arkansas farm in search of its own American dream. Amidst the challenges of this new life in the strange and rugged Ozarks, they discover the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home.
- 12
Aftersun
A hauntingly beautiful reflection on memory and the hidden depths of a father-daughter relationship.
Sophie reflects on the shared joy and private melancholy of a holiday she took with her father twenty years earlier. Memories fill the gaps between camcorder footages as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the troubled man she didn't.