100+ Good Character-driven Movies & Shows to Watch

If you’re less about adventurous plots, and more about the emotional journey and relationship arcs, we’ve got you covered. Here are the best character-driven movies and shows to stream right now.

Tangerine (2015)
Tangerine (2015)
8.3
Movie

Tangerine (2015)

What’s great about this highly inventive film is that it doesn’t look like it was shot through three iPhone 5s.…

The Starling Girl (2023)
The Starling Girl (2023)
8.0
Movie|Sundance · Spirit

The Starling Girl (2023)

The agonizing tug of war between dogma and desire is sharply illustrated in writer-director Laurel Parmet’s feature debut, set inside…

Open Your Eyes (1997)
Open Your Eyes (1997)
8.0
Movie|Sundance · Berlin

Open Your Eyes (1997)

While the mixed reception of its near-faithful American remake Vanilla Sky might make some viewers pause, there’s an intuitive brilliance…

Bodies
Bodies
8.3
Show

Bodies

Based on the DC Vertigo comic, Bodies is an intriguing crime thriller with a unique twist – one body, in…

Task
Task
8.0
Show|Golden Globe

Task

From the creators of HBO’s Mare of Easttown comes Task, a gritty crime drama that follows two men —one cop…

Another Round (2020)
Another Round (2020)
8.3
Movie

Another Round (2020)

Director Thomas Vinterberg (The Hunt) reunites with Mads Mikkelsen to tell the story of four teachers going through a mid-life…

Like Water for Chocolate
Like Water for Chocolate
8.1
Show|Sundance · Golden Globe · BAFTA

Like Water for Chocolate

With the gorgeous period costumes, the romance, and the familial dynamics, you would think that Like Water for Chocolate’s latest…

The Substance (2024)
The Substance (2024)
8.3
Movie|Golden Globe · Oscar · Golden Globe Winner

The Substance (2024)

There is nothing quite like The Substance right now. It’s unsubtle, it’s provocative, and its satirical humor can be a…

Nickel Boys (2024)
Nickel Boys (2024)
8.3
Movie|Oscar · Golden Globe · BAFTA

Nickel Boys (2024)

The first things that grab your attention in Nickel Boys are its beauty and technicality. Director RaMell Ross, a large-format…

The Beast in Me
The Beast in Me
7.5
Show|Golden Globe

The Beast in Me

What makes crime thrillers exciting isn’t necessarily the crime itself– it’s when the leads meet their match. The Beast in…

The Long Walk (2025)
The Long Walk (2025)
7.5
Movie|Venice

The Long Walk (2025)

The dystopian survival thriller isn’t concerned about the reasons behind its death marathon, only giving a short speech about a…

His Three Daughters (2024)
His Three Daughters (2024)
8.2
Movie|Spirit Winner

His Three Daughters (2024)

Not everybody holds a good relationship with their sisters, but ideally, we get to reunite and repair things in a…

Big Boys
Big Boys
8.3
Show|BAFTA

Big Boys

Masculinity can look like different things, and Big Boys reminds us of that in hilarious and poignant ways. The British…

Scrapper (2023)
Scrapper (2023)
8.3
Movie|Sundance · BAFTA

Scrapper (2023)

Be prepared to have the expectations you form after reading Scrapper’s synopsis shattered: though it is about a 12-year-old dealing…

Shrinking
Shrinking
7.8
Show|Golden Globe · Spirit · SAG

Shrinking

In Shrinking, Jason Segel plays Jimmy Laird a newly-widowed therapist who’s trying to make amends with his loved ones after…

La Grazia (2025)
La Grazia (2025)
7.4
Movie|Venice Winner

La Grazia (2025)

In his last few months as president, Mariano de Santis has a few loose ends to tie up. This includes…

The Sympathizer
The Sympathizer
8.0
Show|Spirit

The Sympathizer

After the only war the Americans have lost, American post-Vietnam war portrayals tend to lean as patriotic revenge fantasies or…

A Real Pain (2024)
A Real Pain (2024)
8.0
Movie|Golden Globe · Oscar · Sundance Winner

A Real Pain (2024)

A Real Pain is a deceptively simple film. There’s not a lot going on on the surface, but Eisenberg’s smart…

PLUTO
PLUTO
8.2
Show|Berlin

PLUTO

Reimagining a children’s classic as a mature serial killer mystery, PLUTO already had high expectations for its anime adaptation. The…

Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
8.0
Show|Berlin

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

If you’re expecting the sleek, playful, and totally over-the-top spy shenanigans of 2005’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith, you’re not going…

Boots
Boots
8.2
Show

Boots

Inspired by The Pink Marine memoir, Boots expands on Greg Cope White’s story to widen its perspective from one recruit…

A Thousand Blows
A Thousand Blows
8.0
Show

A Thousand Blows

Created by Peaky Blinders showrunner Steven Knight, A Thousand Blows zooms in on the London Victorian underworld and follows three…

Death by Lightning
Death by Lightning
8.1
Show

Death by Lightning

Out of all the presidents in American history, you’ll be hard pressed to remember James A. Garfield. That’s because the…

Theater Camp (2023)
Theater Camp (2023)
8.1
Movie|Sundance · Spirit

Theater Camp (2023)

You don’t have to be a theater kid to enjoy this feel-good mockumentary set in a summer camp for junior…

Fargo
Fargo
8.2
Show|Cannes Winner · Oscar · Oscar Winner

Fargo

Taking the violence and offbeat comedy of the original movie and adding constantly expanding narratives on top of it, Noah…

Fremont (2023)
Fremont (2023)
8.0
Movie|Sundance · Spirit Winner · Spirit

Fremont (2023)

Aptly for a film partly set in a fortune cookie factory, Fremont deals with luck — specifically, the other side…

Better Things
Better Things
8.4
Show|Cannes

Better Things

This bittersweet comedy centers on Sam Fox (Pamela Adlon), a single mother and working actress doing her best to get…

One Day
One Day
7.8
Show|Berlin

One Day

With a film version that didn’t live up to the hype of the original novel, Netflix’s adaptation of One Day…

Sorry, Baby (2025)
Sorry, Baby (2025)
8.0
Movie

Sorry, Baby (2025)

In Sorry, Baby, an unspeakable act of cruelty disrupts Agnes’ ambitious rise to the top. Despite being a literature professor,…

Frankenstein (2025)
Frankenstein (2025)
8.1
Movie

Frankenstein (2025)

After more than 400 separate film adaptations, is there anything new to say about the monster that birthed the sci-fi…

The Brutalist (2024)
The Brutalist (2024)
7.8
Movie|Golden Globe · Oscar · Spirit

The Brutalist (2024)

Just a few minutes in, you can already feel the immensity of The Brutalist. The rousing score stirs you. The…

Touch (2024)
Touch (2024)
7.7
Movie|Spirit

Touch (2024)

With the internet able to connect people from miles away, the concept of the one that got away has become…

Bob Trevino Likes It (2025)
Bob Trevino Likes It (2025)
7.9
Movie

Bob Trevino Likes It (2025)

With the anonymity of the internet, it’s hard to trust that the stranger on the other side would be a…

The Greatest Night in Pop (2024)
The Greatest Night in Pop (2024)
7.7
Movie|Sundance

The Greatest Night in Pop (2024)

We Are the World is a charity single created for African famine relief. It was a smash success– it inspired…

The Good Mothers
The Good Mothers
8.0
Show|Berlin

The Good Mothers

With years of films depicting Italian crime syndicates, most focus on their leaders – the Dons, the Capos, and the…

A Thousand and One (2023)
A Thousand and One (2023)
8.0
Movie|Spirit · Spirit Winner · Sundance Winner

A Thousand and One (2023)

At once intimate and sweeping, A Thousand and One seamlessly weaves Inez’s personal turmoil and familial troubles with the systemic…

Goodbye Julia (2023)
Goodbye Julia (2023)
7.7
Movie|Cannes Winner

Goodbye Julia (2023)

FreeTubiPlexHoopla

Amidst the chaos that occurred when South Sudan split from the nation, a man is shot dead. To make up…

A Small Light
A Small Light
8.0
Show|Spirit · SAG

A Small Light

Produced by National Geographic, A Small Light is a ten-part miniseries that tells the incredible true story of Miep Gies…

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