Which Health-Related Drama Movie Should You Watch Next?
Whether a tear-jerking tragedy, a tense mystery or a heart-breaking love story, everybody loves to watch a great drama flick from time to time. Drama movies not only serve to entertain but can also inform and educate about health conditions when executed well, whether this be in the form of fictional or biographical content.
From The Whale’s representation of obesity to Ordinary Love’s take on Cancer, plenty of different health conditions are explored creatively throughout various drama movies.
The Father (2020)
A man refuses all assistance from his daughter as he ages. As he tries to make sense of his changing circumstances, he begins to doubt his loved ones, his own mind and even the fabric of his reality
Starring: Anthony Hopkin, Olivia Colman, Mark Gatiss
Runtime: 1hr 37m | Genre: Drama/Mystery
RT: 98%
Letterboxd: 4.3
IMDB: 8.2
The Whale (2022)
A reclusive, morbidly obese English teacher attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Ty Simpkins
Runtime: 1hr 57m | Genre: Drama
RT: 64%
Letterboxd: 3.6
IMDB: 7.7
Waves (2019)
Traces the journey of a suburban family — led by a well-intentioned but domineering father — as they navigate love, forgiveness, and coming together in the aftermath of a loss
Starring: Taylor Russell, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Alexa Demie
Runtime: 2hr 15m | Genre: Drama/Romance
Rotten Tomatoes: 84%
Letterboxd: 3.8/5
IMDB: 7.5/10
Amour (2012)
Georges and Anne are an octogenarian couple. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter, also a musician, lives in Britain with her family. One day, Anne has a stroke, and the couple’s bond of love is severely tested
Starring: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva, Isabelle Huppert
Runtime: 2hr 7m | Genre: Drama
RT: 93%
Letterboxd: 4.2
IMDB: 7.9
Control (2007)
A profile of Ian Curtis, the enigmatic singer of Joy Division whose personal, professional, and romantic troubles led him to commit suicide at the age of 23
Starring: Sam Riley, Samantha Morton, Craig Parkinson
Runtime: 2hr 2m | Genre: Drama/Music
RT: 88%
Letterboxd: 3.9
IMDB: 7.6
Wit (2001)
A renowned professor is forced to reassess her life when she is diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer
Starring: Emma Thompson, Christopher Lloyd, Eileen Atkins
Runtime: 1hr 39m | Genre: Drama
RT: 83%
Letterboxd: 3.7/5
IMDB: 8/10
Still Alice (2014)
A linguistics professor and her family find their bonds tested when she is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease
Starring: Julianne Moor, Alec Baldwin, Kristen Stewart
Runtime: 1hr 41m | Genre: Drama
RT: 86%
Letterboxd: 3.7
IMDB: 7.5
My Life Without Me (2003)
A young woman conceals the fact of her terminal cancer to live her life with a passion she never had before
Starring: Sarah Polley, Scott Speedman, Mark Ruffalo
Runtime: 1hr 46m | Genre: Drama/Romance
RT: 65%
Letterboxd: 3.6/5
IMDB: 7.4/10
Away From Her (2006)
A man coping with the institutionalisation of his wife because of Alzheimer’s disease faces an epiphany when she transfers her affections to another man, Aubrey, a wheelchair-bound mute who also is a patient at the nursing home
Starring: Julie Christie, Michael Murphy, Gordon Pinsent
Runtime: 1hr 50m | Genre: Drama
RT: 94%
Letterboxd: 3.7
IMDB: 7.5
Time To Leave (2005)
A fashion photographer with terminal cancer elects to die alone, preparing others to live past him rather than prolong the inevitable with chemotherapy or be smothered in sympathy by those who know him
Starring: Melvil Poupaud, Jeanne Moreau, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi
Runtime: 1hr 21m | Genre: Drama
RT: 74%
Letterboxd: 3.5
IMDB: 7.1/10
Iris (2001)
True story of the lifelong romance between novelist Iris Murdoch and her husband John Bayley, from their student days through her battle with Alzheimer’s disease
Starring: Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent, Kate Winslet
Runtime: 1hr 31m | Genre: Biography/Drama
RT: 79%
Letterboxd: 3.3
IMDB: 7
Ordinary Love (2019)
An extraordinary look at the lives of a middle-aged couple in the midst of the wife’s breast cancer diagnosis
Starring: Lesley Manville, Liam Neeson, Esh Alladi
Runtime: 1hr 32m | Genre: Drama/Romance
RT: 93%
Letterboxd: 3.5/5
IMDB: 6.6/10
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)
Kevin’s mother struggles to love her strange child despite the increasingly dangerous things he says and does as he grows up. But Kevin is just getting started, and his final act will be beyond anything anyone imagined
Starring: Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller
Runtime: 1hr 52m | Genre: Mystery/Drama
RT: 75%
Letterboxd: 3.8
IMDB: 7.5
The Doctor (1991)
When a self-centred doctor is diagnosed with cancer, he becomes better able to empathise with his patients and appreciate life outside his career
Starring: William Hurt, Christine Lahti, Elizabeth Perkins
Runtime: 2hr 2m | Genre: Drama
RT: 83%
Letterboxd: 3.2
IMDB: 6.9/10
Awakenings (1990)
The victims of an encephalitis epidemic many years ago have been catatonic ever since, but now a new drug offers the prospect of reviving them
Starring: Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, Julie Kavner
Runtime: 2hr 1m | Genre: Drama
RT: 89%
Letterboxd: 3.9
IMDB: 7.8
Something The Lord Made (2004)
A dramatisation of the relationship between heart surgery pioneers Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas
Starring: Alan Rickman, Mos Def, Luray Cooper
Runtime: 1hr 50m | Genre: Drama
RT: 93%
Letterboxd: 3.6
IMDB: 8.1
