13 More Great Movies Worth Watching (Even If You Have to Rent Them)
Sep 20
8 min read
Five years ago, I published an article recommending 13 great films that you should watch even if you have to rent them. Today, I’m adding 13 more great films. While some great films have been released since then, I keep finding myself digging back into the past. Some are black and white classics and others are modern hidden gems. All are worth your time when you're in the right mood.
How do I recommend movies?
I filter my movie recommendations through the Triangle of Criticism. It’s a simple and balanced way to evaluate a film. The three categories are its craft, content, and impact. Christians should view all three as important. Let me outline them for you.
Craft - This speaks to the quality of the film, including its writing, acting, cinematography, etc. As image bearers of the Author of Creativity, we should be concerned about quality.
Content - This refers to the worldview or message behind the film. While we shouldn’t weigh a movie exclusively on its content, it should be an important factor.
Impact - This is the most subjective of the three categories, and it’s simply how the movie made you think or feel.
Visualize each film as touching the three corners of the triangle, but with one corner capturing more of the others. No film will lean equally into the three categories. And how you assess a film may change on a second or third viewing. The Triangle of Criticism isn’t perfect, but it should stir your thinking and start discussion. Which of the three categories do you value the most?
Finally, I have rated each of the films out of five, using the Triangle of Criticism as a guide. Assessing a film is both art and science with personal preference thrown in as well. Check out my Letterboxd account to see many films that I have rated.
Please note that film summaries are quoted from IMDb, but all opinions and recommendations are my own. Enjoy!
If you’re in the mood for a slow-burning love story about choices not taken that actually affirms marriage . . .
Past Lives (2023)
What’s it about? Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrested apart after Nora's family emigrates from South Korea. Twenty years later, they are reunited for one fateful week as they confront notions of love and destiny.
Director: Celine Song
For Streaming or Renting? Rent
Rated: PG-13
Stage & Story Rating: 4/5
What I like about the film: It’s beautifully shot with great characters and meaningful tension that offers something insightful about marriage.
If you’re in the mood for a suspenseful film that rewards careful rewatch . . .
Vertigo (1958)
What’s it about? A former San Francisco police detective juggles wrestling with his personal demons and becoming obsessed with the hauntingly beautiful woman he has been hired to trail, who may be deeply disturbed.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
For Streaming or Renting? Rent
Rated: PG
Stage & Story Rating: 4/5
What I like about the film: It’s both suspenseful and odd, with lots of religious imagery and puzzles that greatly rewarded a rewatch. I took lots of notes!
If you’re in the mood for a scary film that weaves faith deep within it . . .
Signs (2002)
What’s it about? A widowed former reverend living with his children and brother on a Pennsylvania farm finds mysterious crop circles in their fields, which suggests something more frightening to come.
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
For Streaming or Renting? Streaming on Peacock or rent
Rated: PG-13
Stage & Story Rating: 4/5
What I like about the film: Shyamalan offers some great insights on faith and doubt in the context of a scary thriller. (He does something similar in The Village.) The family dynamics are memorable, introducing you to some great characters. It offers great rewatch value, too.
If you’re in the mood for an adventurous film you probably have never heard of . . .
The Edge (1997)
What’s it about? A billionaire and a fashion photographer are stranded in the Alaskan wilderness after their plane crashes. As they struggle to survive and escape a deadly Kodiak bear, tensions rise between the two men when the billionaire suspects the photographer is having an affair with his wife.
Director: Lee Tamahori
Writer: David Mamet
For Streaming or Renting? Rent
Rated: R
Stage & Story Rating: 4/5
What I like about the film: It’s written by David Mamet, one of my favorite screenwriters and directors. Known for his crisp dialogue and clever storytelling (also see The Spanish Prisoner), he rarely disappoints. His movies are usually subversive—but in a good way. This is a hidden gem that I bet you’ve never seen before.
If you’re in the mood for a cautionary tale that makes you rethink the influence you have on others . . .
Rope (1948)
What’s it about? Two young men murder a former classmate as a test of their intellectual and moral superiority, then hide the body as they host a dinner party attended by the victim's girlfriend and father, as well as their former schoolmaster and mentor.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
For Streaming or Renting? Rent
Rated: PG
Stage & Story Rating: 5/5
What I like about the film: The film is shot like a play, so character development is highlighted here. Hitchcock experiments with new film techniques and creates tremendous suspense. As a teacher, the film reminds me of the power of our influence on younger people.
If you’re in the mood for a biographical film that makes you think about your own ambition . . .
The Founder (2016)
What’s it about? The story of Ray Kroc, a salesman who turned two brothers' innovative fast food eatery, McDonald's, into the biggest restaurant business in the world, with a combination of ambition, persistence, and ruthlessness.
Director: John Lee Hancock
For Streaming or Renting? Streaming on Netflix
Rated: PG-13
Stage & Story Rating: 4.5/5
What I like about the film: I’m always inspired by movies about genius entrepreneurs. This is one. And unlike many biopics, John Lee Hancock brings a Christian lens to the film, guiding us to think about ambition unchecked.
If you’re in the mood for a redemptive story about fathers, sons, and brothers, and the fight to overcome the past . . .
Warrior (2011)
What’s it about? The youngest son of an alcoholic former boxer returns home, where he's trained by his father for competition in a mixed martial arts tournament—a path that puts the fighter on a collision course with his estranged, older brother.
Director: Gavin O’Connor
For Streaming or Renting? Streaming on Amazon Prime
Rated: PG-13
Stage & Story Rating: 4.5/5
What I like about the film: If you like the Rocky and Creed franchises, you’ll like Warrior. It not only contains some great fighting scenes, but it offers insights on family, forgiveness, and redemption. Prepare to cry.
If you’re in the mood for a historical study in the burdens and lessons of a young man thrust into leadership . . .
The King
What’s it about? Young Henry V encounters deceit, war and treachery after becoming King of England in the 15th century, in the aftermath of his brother’s death.
Director: David Michôd
For Streaming or Renting? Streaming on Netflix
Rated: R
Stage & Story Rating: 4.5/5
What I like about the film: The movie captures the burdens and pitfalls of leadership, and the difficulty of knowing the right path to take. The film reminds us we must place faithful guides around us, men and women who will tell us the truth about ourselves when we can’t, or refuse to, see it. The King is an underrated Netflix film that is well-acted and written, offering much to ponder.
If you’re in the mood for a film about a man with integrity and character . . .
Marty (1955)
What’s it about? A middle-aged butcher and a school teacher who have given up on the idea of love meet at a dance and fall for each other.
Director: Delbert Mann
For Streaming or Renting? Streaming free with ads on YouTube or rent
Rated: TV-PG
Stage & Story Rating: 4.5/5
What I like about the film: Marty is such an honorable man. I dare you to not love him. And it’s nice to watch a guy like him on screen, even if it requires us to go back to the ’50s.
If you’re in the mood for a powerful film that will haunt you when it’s finished . . .
A Place in the Sun (1951)
What’s it about? A poor boy gets a job working for his rich uncle and ends up falling in love with two women.
Director: George Stevens
For Streaming or Renting? Rent
Rated: Not Rated
Stage & Story Rating: 4.5/5
What I like about the film: The film is thought-provoking, well-acted, and rich with moral questions. The end of the film speaks to them in a biblical manner.
If you’re in the mood for a courtroom drama that places you directly in a terrible moral quandary . . .
Juror #2 (2024)
What’s it about? While serving on a jury in a high-profile murder trial, family man Justin Kemp finds himself struggling with a serious moral dilemma that could influence the verdict and potentially convict—or free—the wrong person.
Director: Clint Eastwood
For Streaming or Renting? Streaming on HBO Max
Rated: PG-13
Stage & Story Rating: 4/5
What I like about the film: Clint Eastwood puts us in a murky moral quandary. It’s thought-provoking and haunting fun reminiscent of great films like 12 Angry Men.
If you’re in the mood for a straightforward thriller that’s lots of fun . . .
Relay (2025)
What’s it about? A broker who arranges lucrative payoffs between corrupt corporations and the people threatening to expose them breaks his own rules when a new client seeks his protection to stay alive.
Director: David Mackenzie
For Streaming or Renting? Streaming on Netflix
Rated: R
Stage & Story Rating: 4/5
What I like about the film: It’s not complicated. The acting is great. The plot is clever. Lily James always does a great job in her films.
If you’re in the mood for a terrifying film that will make you grateful for your in-laws no matter what they’re like . . .
Let Him Go (2020)
What’s it about? A retired sheriff and his wife, grieving over the death of their son, set out to rescue their only grandson from a dangerous family living off the grid in the Dakotas.
Director: Thomas Bezucha
For Streaming or Renting? Streaming on Peacock or rent
Rated: R
Stage & Story Rating: 4/5
What I like about the film: It’s a Neo-Western period piece. It’s not for the faint of heart, and it’s one of the most intense films I’ve seen. And yet, the heroes are honorable and face evil head on.
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Dane Bundy is president of Stage & Story and Director of Fine Arts at Regents School of Austin.
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