10 Best International Movies Released Since ‘Parasite’
If you were keeping up with new releases in 2019 (there were so many to keep up with, too), then you’ll probably remember Parasite being kind of a big deal. Actually, even if you weren’t keeping up with movies in 2019, you’ll probably still be aware Parasite was a big deal, especially because it made history as the first non-English-language movie to win Best Picture at the Oscars.
It was very approachable and felt exceptionally relevant regardless of where in the world you call home, and so you can see why it struck a chord with so many people. Parasite wasn’t the first Best Picture-worthy movie or anything, but it was the first to actually win, in a case of better late than never. And if it got a few more eyeballs on a few more international (or non-English-language) movies, then that’s a net good overall. In the interest of highlighting some of those, here are some of the best to come out in a post-Parasite world. They’re not necessarily comparable to Parasite, beyond the fact you’ll need subtitles to watch them if you only speak English, but they’re all great movies from various parts of the world, and all prove well-worth seeking out.
10
‘Another Round’ (2020)
A movie that bounces back and forth between very funny and very sad, Another Round has an instantly engaging premise, revolving around a group of middle-aged friends who undertake an experiment that involves being mildly drunk during every waking hour. Not the stumbling over or feeling sick sort of drunk, but more tipsy; lightly buzzed, in a way that’s supposed to make them feel happier and overall more confident as they go about their daily lives.
Some things work out, and some things really don’t, and Another Round is honest about how such an experiment would be fun at times but also, overall, not the best idea long-term. It approaches the subjects of aging and alcoholism with a good deal of care, and it works really well as a dramedy (having Mads Mikkelsen in the lead role, delivering a career-best performance, certainly doesn’t hurt, either).
9
‘Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes’ (2020)
Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes takes place in a confined location, is filmed to look like one continuous take, and was clearly made on a small budget, but it all comes together exceptionally well. It’s a charming and very funny movie, putting a spin on the idea of time travel by having a story that involves people playing around with a monitor that allows them to see two minutes into the future.
Each new scene adds some kind of extra layer, or a further complication, and seeing it all stack up across a lean 71-minute runtime is a ton of fun. Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes can even count itself among the best sci-fi movies of the century so far, and it didn’t need anything close to a blockbuster budget to achieve that.
8
‘Vortex’ (2021)
Gaspar Noé is more well-known/notorious for his uncompromising crime films and cinematic fever dreams, but in 2021, he switched things up by releasing Vortex. This is inventive on a technical front, like other Noé-directed films, but genre-wise, it’s really just a drama, and a devastating one at that, focusing on an elderly couple who have their lives upturned when one of them begins to show more and more signs of dementia.
It’s a long film, a disorientating one, and an understandably heavy watch, too, so Vortex can’t exactly be recommended easily. But if you want a challenge and can handle the subject matter at hand, it is incredibly powerful, equally so to the more well-known (and English-language) The Father, which came out in 2020 and also tried to approximate, through filmmaking, what it might feel like to have one’s life – or the life of a loved one – impacted by dementia.
7
‘Perfect Days’ (2023)
Perhaps the most relaxing and meditative film released in recent memory, Perfect Days is about a man who lives a solitary life that might not seem exciting, but he finds contentment in what he does and the routines he follows. It’s a bit more than a day in the life, ultimately being a few days in his life, and that might sound dull, but Perfect Days is unusually engaging and maybe even – after a point – hypnotic.
It’s also the kind of film that might get you rethinking how you live your life, and there are indeed lessons to be gained from a thoughtful movie like this one. It’s worth it, even if Perfect Days might be deliberately slow and require some patience on the part of any potential viewer to properly appreciate. If you give yourself over to it, you will likely be rewarded.
6
‘Anatomy of a Fall’ (2023)
Anatomy of a Fall mostly concerns a murder trial where the main suspect is the wife of the deceased, and the only person nearby when the death occurred was their son, who’s also blind. It plays out in an interesting way structurally, though naturally, the mother and son are the two central characters, and you’re consistently left guessing about whether the mother was capable of such an act, and there’s also doubt regarding what the son will choose to do.
And Anatomy of a Fall uses both these characters to inject a ton of tension into what otherwise might feel like a standard or even overlong courtroom drama. That’s because Anatomy of a Fall is long (about 2.5 hours), and it does follow certain courtroom drama conventions, but there’s enough of a spin to them here – plus very strong filmmaking and acting – to elevate the whole thing considerably.
5
‘Happening’ (2021)
A brutally realistic movie that’s about as harrowing as non-horror movies can get, Happening does also have to take that kind of approach, given it’s about a young woman in France during the early 1960s who goes to great lengths to get an abortion. It’s specifically set decades ago, when doing so in France was incredibly dangerous and risky, but the topic remains relevant and debated in other parts of the world to this day.
That’s being said as an observation, not an opinion on the matter. Either way, it’s relevant, and that’s why there are movies like Happening that still get made. It’s one of the most impactful films of the decade so far, and also one of the more difficult ones to watch and recommend. It’s worth engaging with, because it has a lot to say and conveys it all effectively, but it is, naturally, a pretty grim way to spend 100 minutes.
4
‘Godzilla Minus One’ (2023)
If you were ever worried about the Godzilla series running out of steam after 70 years, then Godzilla Minus One is a feature-length reason to cast aside such concerns. Truthfully, Shin Godzilla (2016) might’ve been as well, but that was a slightly odder spin on series conventions. Godzilla Minus One, on the other hand, is more approachable and emotionally involving, and the kind of thing anyone can enjoy, regardless of how much they know (or don’t know) concerning Godzilla.
Like the original film, and some others in the series, the premise here does boil down to “Hey, we have to stop this big monster from destroying things,” but the iteration of Godzilla in Godzilla Minus One is particularly ruthless, and it takes place right after World War II, so Japan is particularly under-equipped. It hits all the beats it needs to, but also hits the lot of them particularly hard, making for one of the most purely enjoyable – and occasionally unnerving – Godzilla films ever made.
3
‘The Zone of Interest’ (2023)
While it’s set during World War II, and concerns the Holocaust, The Zone of Interest approaches things in an unexpected way. It takes place mostly just outside the Auschwitz concentration camp, with nothing inside the walls seen, but things are heard. All the while, commandant Rudolf Höss, and his family, live just outside the camp itself, and try to maintain unnervingly “normal” lives despite what’s going on barely any distance away.
The whole film works as a commentary on how evil can be ignored, justified, or even normalized by certain people in certain circumstances, and it’s an immensely difficult thing to try and grapple with, as a viewer, but nonetheless essential. Like with Happening, The Zone of Interest is specifically about a time in history, but with both movies, there were reasons they came out in the decade they did, remaining relevant and topical to more contemporary times in other ways.
2
‘The Worst Person in the World’ (2021)
A film about how even once you’re an adult, there still might be some growing up to do, The Worst Person in the World is a Norwegian-language movie, and kind of a rom-com. Like, it’s about relationships, and some of it’s funny, but it’s not breezy the same way a good many romantic comedies are, and the dramatic parts of this film probably hit harder than the comedic parts will make you laugh. If that makes sense.
The important thing is that The Worst Person in the World is amazing, and perhaps the best film that came out in 2021, English-language or otherwise (just in general). It’s remarkably empathetic and always honest, and certainly depressing at times, but not just miserable constantly. It’s very human, and it’s just about the ups and downs of life, especially when you find yourself not exactly a young adult anymore, but not necessarily a mature one, either.
1
‘The Boy and the Heron’ (2023)
Just as international films should be just as worthy of Best Picture as English-language movies (see, again, Parasite), so too should animated movies be considered just as worthy of praise as live-action ones. It’s always been a bit strange when people consider animation a genre, rather than a medium, but that’s life. Anyway, however you choose to define The Boy and the Heron, one thing that’s hopefully agreeable is that it’s fantastic.
But not necessarily fantastic straight away. It’s a confounding and overwhelming movie on a first watch, but then repeat viewings do reveal it to be a particularly personal and introspective one for its director, Hayao Miyazaki. Much of the film functions as a coming-of-age one, but then there’s also a lot said here about aging and the idea of legacy, which feels more impactful when you remember Miyazaki is now in his 80s, and The Boy and the Heron could end up being his final completed feature film. If it’s the one he goes out on, it would function as a pretty much ideal swan song. Or a heron song. One of those.
