A Glean movie guide
The Definitive Drama Collection
Essential viewing for every film lover.
From timeless classics to modern masterpieces, these are the films that defined cinema.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
The Godfather
A masterclass in storytelling that redefined the crime epic for generations.
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.
- 02
Parasite
A razor-sharp social satire that keeps you guessing until its final, shocking frame.
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
Schindler's List
A profound and essential historical document of human resilience and moral courage.
The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.
- 04
Moonlight
A visually stunning and deeply intimate exploration of identity across three stages of 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.
- 05
12 Angry Men
A tense, single-room masterpiece that proves how much is at stake in the pursuit of justice.
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.
- 06
There Will Be Blood
A haunting character study featuring one of the most powerful lead performances in modern film.
Ruthless silver miner, turned oil prospector, Daniel Plainview, moves to oil-rich California. Using his son to project a trustworthy, family-man image, Plainview cons local landowners into selling him their valuable properties for a pittance. However, local preacher Eli Sunday suspects Plainview's motives and intentions, starting a slow-burning feud that threatens both their lives.
- 07
Anatomy of a Fall
A gripping courtroom drama that dissects a marriage with surgical precision and ambiguity.
A woman is suspected of her husband's murder, and their blind son faces a moral dilemma as the sole witness.
- 08
Oppenheimer
A technical marvel that captures the weight of history through a brilliant, fractured lens.
The story of J. Robert Oppenheimer's role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II.
- 09
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
A breathtakingly beautiful romance told through the power of the gaze and shared silence.
On an isolated island in Brittany at the end of the eighteenth century, a female painter is obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman.
- 10
The Shawshank Redemption
An enduring story of friendship and hope that remains a cornerstone of American cinema.
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.
- 11
No Country for Old Men
A relentless, atmospheric thriller that explores the nature of fate and inevitable violence.
Llewelyn Moss stumbles upon dead bodies, $2 million and a hoard of heroin in a Texas desert, but methodical killer Anton Chigurh comes looking for it, with local sheriff Ed Tom Bell hot on his trail. The roles of prey and predator blur as the violent pursuit of money and justice collide.
- 12
Manchester by the Sea
A raw and devastatingly honest portrayal of grief anchored by incredible performances.
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.