50 Wonderful European Movies To Watch Right Now

2009 | 2 hours 35 minutes | Directed by Jacques Audiard
 

Starring Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif
 

A Prophet is a French prison crime film that follows a nineteen-year-old imprisoned petty criminal of Algerian origins. He has no other life but that in jail, so he tries to make it there. As time goes by, he initiates himself both with Corsican and then Muslim subcultures, slowly climbing up the ranks of the prison hierarchy. From a petty criminal, he turns into an assassin and drug trafficker, and watching his story unfold is both a chilling experience and great genre entertainment. 

2013 | 2 hours 21 minutes | Directed by Paolo Sorrentino
 

Starring Toni Servillo, Carlo Verdone, Sabrina Ferilli
 

The Great Beauty is an Italian art drama film that follows the story of Jep Gambardella - a playboy who has spent all of his life immersed in the lavish nightlife of Rome. Now Jep has turned 65, and that turns out to be a critical point in his life, after which he turns down the life of the party only to find what really is an exquisite beauty. The Great Beauty is one of those films that will give you a constant eyegasm with its lush views, and you will find yourself immersed in its entertaining story from the very first minute. A truly stunning movie!

2014 | 2 hours 20 minutes | Directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev
 

Starring Aleksey Serebryakov, Elena Lyadova, Roman Madyanov
 

Leviathan is a Russian drama film that follows the life of one ordinary family. The trio of them live in a small coastal town on the shores of the Barents Sea, and their lives would be perfectly normal if not for the corrupt mayor trying to take away their land, the husband's auto shop, and demolish their house. The family summons a lawyer to help them, but little do they know that with his arrival, their lives will soon take a nasty turn. It's quite a depressing watch that tells it how it is about the Russian way of living. Leviathan will shake you with its story and stun you with its masterful craft.

1972 | 2 hours 4 minutes | Directed by Bob Fosse
 

Starring Liza Minnelli, Michael York, Helmut Griem
 

Cabaret is a musical drama film starring the one and only, the legendary, the iconic Liza Minnelli. Cabaret is set in Berlin in 1931, under the looming presence of the ever-growing Nazi party. However, despite the underlying grimness of the situation, life at a girlie club does not stop, and its greatest performer is still on to romancing gents. In fact, this bright folly in times of unrest is based on a semi-autobiographical novel by Christopher Isherwood, so while hyperbolized, the stories here are basically true. Cabaret is no ordinary musical whose main purpose is to cheer you up - in this case, the music is here to accentuate the bleakness of the time's situation, thus elevating the plot to unexpected heights. A piece of cinema art, no less!

1960 | 1 hour 30 minutes | Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
 

Starring Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg, Daniel Boulanger
 

A Bout De Souffle (also known as Breathless) is a French crime drama film that follows the story of Michel Poiccard, a small-time thief. Because of his impulsivity, he kills a motorcycle policeman pursuing him. That puts him on the authorities' black list, but despite being hunted, he still makes time to charm a hip American journalism student and persuade her to run away with him. A Bout De Souffle is one of the earliest and probably the most influential movies of the French New Wave (nouvelle vague) cinema. In fact, this movie is so good that it still hasn't lost its freshness and coolness even after more than 60 years since its release.

2017 | 1 hour 34 minutes | Directed by Agnes Varda
 

Starring Agnes Varda, JR, Jeannine Carpentier
 

Faces Places is a documentary film that follows the legendary director Varda and a muralist/photographer JR traveling through rural France, creating portraits of the people they meet and forming an unlikely friendship. Faces Places is a prime example of artisanal cinema - touching yet unassuming, it is a true gem in the world of documentaries.

2008 | 2 hours 17 minutes | Directed by Matteo Garrone
 

Starring Gianfelice Imparato, Salvatore Abbruzzese, Toni Servillo
 

Gomorrah is a crime film based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Roberto Saviano, who went into hiding and is under constant police protection after releasing his book. Same as the book, the movie tells about the real-life dealing and doings of the Casalesi clan, a syndicate within the Camorra - a traditional criminal organization based in Naples. The film itself looks a bit like a documentary, but don't be fooled by the stiff frames of the genre as Gomorrah depicts absolutely true mob stories that are truly chilling and as thrilling as only the best fiction. 

2018 | 1 hour 29 minutes | Directed by Pawel Pawlikowski
 

Strarring Joanna Kulig, Tomasz Kot, Borys Szyc
 

Cold War is a historical drama that follows two people of entirely different backgrounds and temperaments fatefully falling for each other during the times of the Cold War in Poland. They are terribly mismatched for each other, yet their romance is all-consuming and unforgiving. Cold War is an absolute masterpiece movie with amazing acting, a heartbreaking story, incredible views, and amazing music. One could even say that Cold War and flawless are basically synonyms, so if you haven't watched this gripping movie already, do so now!

2005 | 1 hour 57 minutes | Directed by Michael Haneke
 

Starring Daniel Auteuil, Juliette Binoche, Maurice Benichou
 

Hidden, also known as Cache, is a psychological thriller following an upper-middle-class French couple. Of course, what's a thriller without any thrilling aspects to it? So here, said couple start receiving videos of themselves, together with weird drawings, in post. The police deem it to be a harmless prank, but once the videos get more and more personal, Georges decides to take matters into his own hands and find out who's terrorizing their family. So, if you're looking for a truly creepy movie, give this French masterpiece a try.

1995, 2004, 2013 | Directed by Richard Linklater
 

Starring Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy
 

The Before Trilogy consists of three movies beginning with Before Sunrise (1995), followed by Before Sunset (2004), and ending with Before Midnight (2013). Set and filmed in nine-year intervals, the movies chronicle the relationship of Jessie and Celine during three periods of their lives. All the movies are quite minimal, consisting mainly of monologues and casual conversations depicting their views on love, life, self-discovery, and loss. The Before trilogy is a definite post-modern rom-com that's both beautiful and thought-provoking. 

2014 | 2 hours 11 minutes | Directed by Mia Hansen-Love
 

Starring Felix de Givry, Pauline Etienne, Vincent Macaigne

Eden is a drama film that follows the story of Paul, a teenager in the underground scene of Paris nightlife in the early nineties. So, Paul, instead of finishing his thesis in his creative writing studies, starts a DJing career where he's beyond successful at first. However, sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll, as they say, soon catch up with him, and his nihilistic, pleasure-seeking life turns upside down. Eden is both a pretty accurate documentation of the '90s club culture, which will surely give you the feeling of nostalgia, and an overall masterfully composed drama.

2014 | 1 hour 53 minutes | Directed by Celine Sciamma
 

Starring Karidja Toure, Assa Sylla, Lindsay Karmoh
 

Girlhood is a coming-of-age drama film that focuses on teenager Marieme, living in a rough neighborhood on the outskirts of Paris. Since her prospects are very limited, she joins a gang, reinventing herself and finding confidence in the process. However, Mariame soon finds out that this life does not necessarily make her happy.

2006 | 2 hours 17 minutes | Directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
 

Starring Ulrich Muhe, Martina Gedeck, Sebastian Koch

The Lives Of Others is a drama film marking Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's directorial debut. The story here is set in 1984 Berlin, and the person whose story we are following is Gerd Wiesler - an officer in the East German secret police called Stasi. As his job requires him to follow a writer and his lover, Gerd finds himself increasingly immersed in their lives and not his own. One thing leads to another, and there's no way you'd ever expect the unbelievable plot twist that The Lives Of Others delivers right at the end.

2021 | 1 hour 32 minutes | Directed by Stephen Daldry, Justin Martin
 

Starring James McAvoy, Sharon Horgan, Samuel Logan
 

Together is a comedy-drama film that follows a husband and wife as they try to re-evaluate their relationship and themselves during the COVID-19 lockdown. It's a hilarious yet heartbreaking story of how people find a way to survive together, and the way it's shown is both brilliant and eerily claustrophobic, the latter of which we've all surely felt during the very same lockdown. Together will probably be shown to kids 30 years from now as an illustration of what it was like at the time of a global pandemic. 

1961 | 2 hours 2 minutes | Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni
 

Starring Jeanne Moreau, Marcello Mastroianni, Monica Vitti

La Notte is a drama film starring the elite Italian movie stars, with none other than philosopher Umberto Eco appearing in a cameo. But La Notte's star-studded cast isn't the only thing attractive about this movie, as its plot and story, spanning just one day, is as tightly-knit as ever. Here, we follow an unfaithful married couple whose relationship swiftly deteriorates during the course of a day and a night. It's a real whirlwind of drama told through a visual composition that's both breathtaking and absolutely thought-provoking. By the way, La Notte was also one of the favorite movies of Stanley Kubrick!

2002 | 1 hour 52 minutes | Directed by Pedro Almodovar
 

Starring Rosario Flores, Javier Camara, Dario Grandinetti

Talk To Her is a drama film following two men as they form an unlikely friendship while taking care of two women, both in a coma, dear to them. Part of the movie is told in flashbacks, and part - in what's to be, and all of the four characters find their stories eerily intertwined. Talk To Her is a freakishly good combo of melodrama and unique storytelling, and it's no wonder that Pedro Almodovar has gained a myriad of accolades and nominations for this film.

1998 | 1 hour 45 minutes | Directed by Thomas Vinterberg
 

Starring Ulrich Thomsen, Henning Moritzen, Thomas Bo Larsen
 

Festen, also known as The Celebration, is a drama film that tells the story of a family gathering to celebrate their father's 60th birthday. And, we guess you all know and have experienced such a gathering at least once in your life, and you know that dark secrets tend to reveal themselves on such occasions. The Celebration is one of the Dogme 95 films, a movement created by Danish directors, favoring the plot and acting instead of high-end production. So, watching The Celebration, you'll feel at least a tiny bit uncomfortable with the story's realness, but that discomfort will be heavily followed by the pleasure of watching truly quality cinema.

2012 | 1 hour 58 minutes | Directed by Miguel Gomes
 

Starring Telmo Churro, Miguel Gomes, Hortencilio Aquina

Tabu is an independent black-and-white drama with a title referencing F. W. Murnau's silent film of the same name. Tabu's story goes like this - a retired woman teams up with her neighbor's maid to find a man that has a secret connection to her past life. He used to be a farmer at the foothill of Mount Tabu in Africa, but his whereabouts are kept in secrecy. Her story is told in three chapters, and each of them is charming, funny, if not delightfully eccentric.

1963 | 3 hours 6 minutes | Directed by Luchino Visconti
 

Starring Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon, Claudia Cardinale

The Leopard is an epic historical drama following the story of The Prince of Salina. He's a virtuous aristocrat with impeccable integrity, but his family suffers amid the upheavals of 1860s Sicily. Now, he has to find a way to restore and keep his family's honor, and the way to do it is by overstepping the rigid morals of the upper society. And as if The Leopard wasn't already lavish and glorious, you get a 40-minute ball scene in the second part of the film - now that's what we call fancy cinema! But, if you are still doubting whether to watch it, bear in mind that Martin Scorsese deemed this movie to be one of the greatest ever made.

1957 | 1 hour 50 minutes | Directed by Federico Fellini
 

Starring Giulietta Masina, Francois Perier, Franca Marzi

Nights Of Cabiria is a drama film that follows a prostitute wandering the streets of Rome. Her goal is to find love everlasting, but all she stumbles upon is heartbreak. Now, bear in mind that this is a movie by Fellini - a grand of European cinema - so expect nothing less than excellence from this movie. Also, that loud, passionate Italian drama basically oozing through the screen. It's as beautiful as it is deep, and the acting, the visual language, and the tempo here are impeccable.