Movies usually are associated with whatever it is that Hollywood brings out. Even if you don’t live in America, any movie that isn’t American will still somehow be classified as any variant of a “foreign” film. Yet usually these movies have a huge well of talent that remains untapped – until Hollywood makes a bad remake of it, of course.
Here’s a few foreign films that came out last year (or are eligible to win an Oscar in 2020) that you might be interested in. And if you’re not, give them a watch anyway.
Parasite
An Asian horror that’s pretty much like every other Asian horror we’ve seen before: ridiculously scary and absolutely fantastic.
The Whistlers
This Romanian crime comedy tells the story of a police officer trying to break someone out of prison. It requires a very particular skill, however: he has to learn the local dialect, which includes hissing and spitting.
Roma
A Mexican film about a year in the life of a maid working for a normal Mexican family in the 70s. The movie has been considered one of the top choices for pretty much every movie award there is.
Transit
A man escapes Nazi-occupied France and assumes the identity of a dead author whose papers he stumbled upon. As was to be expected, the author’s wife is looking for her husband, and the two bump into each other. An amazing German film with wonderful acting, especially from the male lead (who kind of looks like Joacquin Phoenix).
What Will People Say
This movie tells the tale of a Pakistani-Norwegian woman who gets kidnapped to Pakistan after her father finds her in bed with a man. A weighty drama, yet one that’s very relevant in today’s Muslim society.
Dogman
This Italian drama tells the tale of a dog groomer slash part-time cocaine dealer that gets caught up in the antics of a violent acquaintance of his. Truly worth a watch!
Girl
A very relevant topic for today’s society, this Belgian drama tells the story of a girl born in the body of a boy, who dreams of nothing more than to become a ballerina.