20 Best Drama Movies on Max
Max has an incredible roster of dramas that will tug your heartstrings, drop your jaw, and give you goosebumps. Add these to your watch list!
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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
November 19, 1975A petty criminal fakes insanity to serve his sentence in a mental ward rather than prison. He soon finds himself as a leader to the other patients—and an enemy to the cruel, domineering nurse who runs the ward.
Jack Nicholson has never been better than in his role as rule-breaking R.P. McMurphy. Louise Fletcher’s immortal Nurse Ratched was rated the fifth most evil in movie history by the American Film Institute.
Keep your eyes peeled for very young Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd and a masterful performance by Brad Dourif.
“Cuckoo’s Nest” was just the second film ever to win the “big five” Academy Awards: Best Picture, Actor in Lead Role, Actress in Lead Role, Director, and Screenplay. It’s a nearly flawless film.
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GoodFellas
September 12, 1990The true story of Henry Hill, a half-Irish, half-Sicilian Brooklyn kid who is adopted by neighbourhood gangsters at an early age and climbs the ranks of a Mafia family under the guidance of Jimmy Conway.
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Seven Samurai
April 26, 1954A samurai answers a village’s request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food.
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Casablanca
January 15, 1943In Casablanca, Morocco in December 1941, a cynical American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications.
If you’ve never seen it, now is the time! It’s one of the best scripts ever, filled with quotable lines, fantastic supporting performances, and one of the most famous endings in movie history.
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Joker
October 1, 2019During the 1980s, a failed stand-up comedian is driven insane and turns to a life of crime and chaos in Gotham City while becoming an infamous psychopathic crime figure.
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The Departed
October 4, 2006To take down South Boston’s Irish Mafia, the police send in one of their own to infiltrate the underworld, not realizing the syndicate has done likewise. While an undercover cop curries favor with the mob kingpin, a career criminal rises through the police ranks. But both sides soon discover there’s a mole among them.
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Unforgiven
August 7, 1992William Munny is a retired, once-ruthless killer turned gentle widower and hog farmer. To help support his two motherless children, he accepts one last bounty-hunter mission to find the men who brutalized a prostitute. Joined by his former partner and a cocky greenhorn, he takes on a corrupt sheriff.
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No Country for Old Men
June 13, 2007Llewelyn 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.
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Gone with the Wind
December 15, 1939The spoiled daughter of a Georgia plantation owner conducts a tumultuous romance with a cynical profiteer during the American Civil War and Reconstruction Era.
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The Town
September 15, 2010Doug MacRay is a longtime thief, who, smarter than the rest of his crew, is looking for his chance to exit the game. When a bank job leads to the group kidnapping an attractive branch manager, he takes on the role of monitoring her – but their burgeoning relationship threatens to unveil the identities of Doug and his crew to the FBI Agent who is on their case.
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Million Dollar Baby
December 15, 2004Despondent over a painful estrangement from his daughter, trainer Frankie Dunn isn’t prepared for boxer Maggie Fitzgerald to enter his life. But Maggie’s determined to go pro and to convince Dunn and his cohort to help her.
This beautiful movie may seem like it’s just another underdog boxing film, but it’s more than it seems on the surface. The film won four Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director (Clint Eastwood), Best Actress (Hillary Swank), and Best Supporting Actor (Morgan Freeman).
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A Streetcar Named Desire
September 19, 1951A fading southern belle moves in with her sister in New Orleans where her ferocious brother-in-law takes stabs at her sanity.
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Malcolm X
November 18, 1992A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the ’50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.
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The Banshees of Inisherin
October 20, 2022Colm and Pádraic are lifelong friends, or so Pádraic thought. When Colm suddenly freezes him out, the old drinking buddies find each other at odds. Starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, this crowd-pleaser features side-splitting comedy, moments of heartbreak, and an unforgettable rivalry.
Martin McDonagh wrote and directed this film. The whole cast is great, including Kerry Condon as Pádraic’s sister and Barry Keoghan as the local nuisance.
“The Banshees of Inisherin” won 3 Golden Globes: Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Actor – Musical or Comedy (Farrell), and Best Screenplay. It was also selected as the best film of 2022 by RogerEbert.com.
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Gone Girl
October 1, 2014With his wife’s disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it’s suspected that he may not be innocent.
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The Green Mile
December 10, 1999A supernatural tale set on death row in a Southern prison, where gentle giant John Coffey possesses the mysterious power to heal people’s ailments. When the cell block’s head guard, Paul Edgecomb, recognizes Coffey’s miraculous gift, he tries desperately to help stave off the condemned man’s execution.
This emotional powerhouse directed by Frank Darabont, based on a novel by Stephen King. The cast is top-notch, with Michael Clarke Duncan, Tom Hanks, David Morse, Michael Jeter, Doug Hutchison, and Sam Rockwell.
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The Silence of the Lambs
February 14, 1991Clarice Starling is a top student at the FBI’s training academy. Jack Crawford wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out.
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All the President's Men
April 9, 1976During the 1972 elections, two reporters’ investigation sheds light on the controversial Watergate scandal that compels President Nixon to resign from his post.
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Unforgiven
August 7, 1992William Munny is a retired, once-ruthless killer turned gentle widower and hog farmer. To help support his two motherless children, he accepts one last bounty-hunter mission to find the men who brutalized a prostitute. Joined by his former partner and a cocky greenhorn, he takes on a corrupt sheriff.
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Paper Moon
May 9, 1973A bible salesman finds himself saddled with a young girl who may or may not be his daughter, and the two forge an unlikely partnership as a money-making con team in Depression-era Kansas.
