What makes you to be YOU?
Movies that show what matters to be "you" is the physical, personal and emotional freedom to be who you are or who you want to be, i. e., that inner freedom (of the body, mind or the spirit) is sometimes what matters the most. Freedom, identity and self-identity are intricately linked, from a philosophical point of view. And here is a list of movies that shows just that.
An ongoing list randomly ordered.
An ongoing list randomly ordered.
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102 titles
- DirectorRupert SandersStarsScarlett JohanssonPilou AsbækTakeshi KitanoIn the near future, Major Mira Killian is the first of her kind: A human saved from a terrible crash, who is cyber-enhanced to be a perfect soldier devoted to stopping the world's most dangerous criminals.
- DirectorSophie BarthesStarsPaul GiamattiEmily WatsonDina KorzunPaul is an actor who feels bogged down by his participation in a production of Chekov's play, Vanya.
- DirectorBarry JenkinsStarsMahershala AliNaomie HarrisTrevante RhodesA young African-American man grapples with his identity and sexuality while experiencing the everyday struggles of childhood, adolescence, and burgeoning adulthood.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsHarrison FordRutger HauerSean YoungA blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.
- DirectorCraig GillespieStarsMargot RobbieSebastian StanAllison JanneyCompetitive ice skater Tonya Harding rises amongst the ranks at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, but her future in the activity is thrown into doubt when her ex-husband intervenes.
- DirectorLana WachowskiLilly WachowskiStarsKeanu ReevesLaurence FishburneCarrie-Anne MossWhen a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.
- DirectorFlorian Henckel von DonnersmarckStarsUlrich MüheMartina GedeckSebastian KochIn 1984 East Berlin, an agent of the secret police conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by their lives.
- DirectorSean PennStarsEmile HirschVince VaughnCatherine KeenerAfter graduating from Emory University, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandons his possessions, gives his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhikes to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Along the way, Christopher encounters a series of characters that shape his life.
- DirectorFrançois TruffautStarsOskar WernerJulie ChristieCyril CusackIn an oppressive future, a fireman whose duty is to destroy all books begins to question his task.
- DirectorTerry GilliamStarsBruce WillisMadeleine StoweBrad PittIn a future world devastated by disease, a convict is sent back in time to gather information about the man-made virus that wiped out most of the human population on the planet.
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsNicole KidmanPaul BettanyLauren BacallA woman on the run from the mob is reluctantly accepted in a small Colorado community in exchange for labor, but when a search visits the town she finds out that their support has a price.
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsBryce Dallas HowardIsaach De BankoléDanny GloverA story of slavery, set in the southern U.S. in the 1930s.
- DirectorTerry GilliamStarsJonathan PryceKim GreistRobert De NiroA bureaucrat in a dystopic society becomes an enemy of the state as he pursues the woman of his dreams.
- DirectorAlex ProyasStarsRufus SewellKiefer SutherlandJennifer ConnellyA man struggles with memories of his past, which include a wife he cannot remember and a nightmarish world no one else ever seems to wake up from.
- DirectorGeorge LucasStarsRobert DuvallDonald PleasenceDon Pedro ColleyIn the 25th century, a time when people have designations instead of names, a man, THX 1138, and a woman, LUH 3417, rebel against their rigidly controlled society.
- DirectorMichael AndersonStarsMichael YorkJenny AgutterRichard JordanA police officer in the future uncovers the deadly secret behind a society that worships youth.
- DirectorMichael WinterbottomStarsTim RobbinsSamantha MortonOm PuriA futuristic Brief Encounter (1945), this is a love story in which the romance is doomed by genetic incompatibility.
- DirectorLindsay AndersonStarsMalcolm McDowellDavid WoodRichard WarwickIn this allegorical story, a revolution led by pupil Mick Travis takes place at an old established private school in England.
- DirectorJim SheridanStarsDaniel Day-LewisBrenda FrickerAlison WhelanChristy Brown, born with cerebral palsy, learns to paint and write with his only controllable limb - his left foot.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsGreta GarboMelvyn DouglasIna ClaireA stern Soviet woman sent to Paris to supervise the sale of jewels seized from Russian nobles finds herself attracted to a man who represents everything she is supposed to detest.
- DirectorPhillip NoyceStarsEverlyn SampiTianna SansburyKenneth BranaghIn 1931, three half-white, half-Aboriginal girls escape after being plucked from their houses to be trained as domestic staff, and set off on a journey across the Outback.
- DirectorMichael RadfordStarsJohn HurtRichard BurtonSuzanna HamiltonIn a totalitarian future society, a man, whose daily work is re-writing history, tries to rebel by falling in love.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsJim CarreyEd HarrisLaura LinneyAn insurance salesman discovers his whole life is actually a reality TV show.
- DirectorAndrew NiccolStarsEthan HawkeUma ThurmanJude LawA genetically inferior man assumes the identity of a superior one in order to pursue his lifelong dream of space travel.
- DirectorMichel GondryStarsJim CarreyKate WinsletTom WilkinsonWhen their relationship turns sour, a couple undergoes a medical procedure to have each other erased from their memories forever.
- DirectorRichard RushStarsPeter O'TooleSteve RailsbackBarbara HersheyA fugitive stumbles onto a movie set just when they need a new stunt man, takes the job as a way to hide out and falls for the leading lady while facing off with his manipulative director.
- DirectorRichard LinklaterStarsEthan HawkeTrevor Jack BrooksLorelei LinklaterA man shuffles through a dream meeting various people and discussing the meanings and purposes of the universe.
- DirectorJohn FrankenheimerStarsRock HudsonFrank CampanellaJohn RandolphAn unhappy middle-aged banker agrees to a procedure that will fake his death and give him a completely new look and identity - one that comes with its own price.
- DirectorAndrei TarkovskyStarsAlisa FreyndlikhAleksandr KaydanovskiyAnatoliy SolonitsynA guide leads two men through an area known as the Zone to find a room that grants wishes.
- DirectorAndrei TarkovskyStarsNatalya BondarchukDonatas BanionisJüri JärvetA psychologist is sent to a station orbiting a distant planet in order to discover what has caused the crew to go insane.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsGeorge ClooneyNatascha McElhoneUlrich TukurA troubled psychologist is sent to investigate the crew of an isolated research station orbiting a bizarre planet.
- DirectorArthur PennStarsAnne BancroftPatty DukeVictor JoryThe story of Anne Sullivan's struggle to teach the blind and deaf Helen Keller how to communicate.
- DirectorAlejandro AmenábarStarsJavier BardemBelén RuedaLola DueñasThe factual story of Spaniard Ramon Sampedro, who fought a 28-year campaign in favor of euthanasia and his own right to die.
- DirectorJulian SchnabelStarsJavier BardemJohnny DeppOlatz López GarmendiaThe life of Cuban poet and novelist, Reinaldo Arenas.
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsHarrison FordAnnette BeningMichael HaleyAfter being shot, a lawyer loses his memory and must relearn speech and mobility, but he has a loving family to support him.
- DirectorLee DanielsStarsGabourey SidibeMo'NiquePaula PattonIn New York City's Harlem circa 1987, an overweight, abused, illiterate teen who is pregnant with her second child is invited to enroll in an alternative school in hopes that she can re-route her life in a better direction.
- DirectorFederico FelliniStarsMarcello MastroianniAnita EkbergAnouk AiméeA series of stories following a week in the life of a philandering tabloid journalist living in Rome.
- DirectorJaime de ArmiñánStarsJosé Luis López VázquezJulieta SerranoAntonio FerrandisA 43-year-old woman living in a small town discovers that she is actually a man. Will she change her sex and suffer the reaction of a narrow-minded society?
- DirectorOusmane SembeneStarsFatoumata CoulibalyMaimouna Hélène DiarraSalimata TraoréWhen a woman shelters a group of girls from suffering female genital mutilation, she starts a conflict that tears her village apart.
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsGuy PearceCarrie-Anne MossJoe PantolianoA man with short-term memory loss attempts to track down his wife's murderer.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsHaley Joel OsmentJude LawFrances O'ConnorA highly advanced robotic boy longs to become "real" so that he can regain the love of his human mother.
- DirectorChris ColumbusStarsRobin WilliamsEmbeth DavidtzSam NeillAn android endeavors to become human as he gradually acquires emotions.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsMalcolm McDowellPatrick MageeMichael BatesIn the future, a sadistic gang leader is imprisoned and volunteers for a conduct-aversion experiment, but it doesn't go as planned.
- DirectorJosef RusnakStarsCraig BierkoGretchen MolArmin Mueller-StahlA computer scientist running a virtual reality simulation of 1937 becomes the primary suspect when his colleague and mentor is murdered.
- DirectorRon HowardStarsRussell CroweEd HarrisJennifer ConnellyA mathematical genius, John Nash made an astonishing discovery early in his career and stood on the brink of international acclaim. But the handsome and arrogant Nash soon found himself on a harrowing journey of self-discovery.
- DirectorGus Van SantStarsSean PennJosh BrolinEmile HirschThe story of American gay activist Harvey Milk, who fought for gay rights and was elected as California's first openly gay official.
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsTom HanksDenzel WashingtonRoberta MaxwellWhen a man with HIV is fired by his law firm because of his condition, he hires a homophobic-small time lawyer as the only willing advocate for a wrongful dismissal suit.
- DirectorJane AndersonStarsRichard BullMary SeibelDanny GoldringA Midwestern husband and father announces her plan to have a sex change operation.
- DirectorP.J. HoganStarsToni ColletteRachel GriffithsBill HunterA young social outcast in Australia steals money from her parents to finance a vacation where she hopes to find happiness, and perhaps love.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsPauline CollinsTom ContiJulia McKenzieShirley is a 42-year-old bored Liverpudlian housewife who takes a holiday trip to Greece and meets a local man who bolsters her self-confidence. She evolves and transforms to the point that her husband doesn't even recognize her.
- DirectorKaran JoharStarsShah Rukh KhanKajolSheetal MenonAn Indian Muslim man with Asperger's syndrome takes a challenge to speak to the President of the United States seriously and embarks on a cross-country journey.
- DirectorJaffar MahmoodStarsZachary LeviFran KranzSarah ShahiRay's half Pakistani and half white. When his parents' marriage dissolves, Ray's perspective of Ms. Right falls deeply into question.
- DirectorDuncan TuckerStarsFelicity HuffmanKevin ZegersFionnula FlanaganA transgender woman takes an unexpected journey when she learns that she had a son, now a teenage runaway hustling on the streets of New York.
- DirectorKate WoodsStarsGreta ScacchiAnthony LaPagliaElena CottaAt seventeen Josie Alibrandi is about to enter her final year as a scholarship student at an exclusive Catholic College. It's the year her life is turned upside down and changed forever.
- DirectorPatricia CardosoStarsAmerica FerreraLupe OntiverosIngrid OliuIn East Los Angeles, an 18-year-old struggles between her ambitions of going to college and the desires of her domineering mother for her to get married, have children, and oversee the small, rundown family-owned textile factory.
- DirectorLucía PuenzoStarsRicardo DarínValeria BertuccelliGermán PalaciosThe story of an intersex fifteen-year-old. She lives with her parents, who have to cope with the challenges of her medical condition.
- DirectorSpike JonzeStarsJohn CusackCameron DiazCatherine KeenerA puppeteer discovers a portal that leads literally into the head of movie star John Malkovich.
- DirectorBrad AndersonStarsChristian BaleJennifer Jason LeighAitana Sánchez-GijónAn industrial worker who hasn't slept in a year begins to doubt his own sanity.
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsLim Soo-jungRainPark Byeong-eunA girl who thinks she is a combat cyborg checks into a mental hospital, where she encounters other psychotics. Eventually, she falls for a man who thinks he can steal people's souls.
- DirectorBruce McDonaldStarsElliot PageZie SouwandMaxwell McCabe-Lokos15-year-old Tracey Berkowitz is naked under a shower curtain at the back of a bus, looking for her little brother Sonny, who thinks he's a dog.
- DirectorLuca GuadagninoStarsTilda SwintonFlavio ParentiEdoardo GabbrielliniEmma left Russia to live with her husband in Italy. Now a member of a powerful industrial family, she is the respected mother of three, but feels unfulfilled. One day, Antonio, a talented chef and her son's friend, makes her senses kindle.
- DirectorAnthony MinghellaStarsMatt DamonGwyneth PaltrowJude LawIn late 1950s New York, a young underachiever named Tom Ripley is sent to Italy to retrieve Dickie Greenleaf, a rich and spoiled millionaire playboy. But when the errand fails, Ripley takes extreme measures.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsLeonardo DiCaprioTom HanksChristopher WalkenBarely 17 yet, Frank is a skilled forger who has passed as a doctor, lawyer and pilot. FBI agent Carl becomes obsessed with tracking down the con man, who only revels in the pursuit.
- DirectorVictor FlemingStarsSpencer TracyIngrid BergmanLana TurnerDr. Jekyll allows his dark side to run wild when he drinks a potion that turns him into the evil Mr. Hyde.
- DirectorDon SiegelStarsKevin McCarthyDana WynterLarry GatesA small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.
- DirectorRichard StarzakStarsArthur SmithPhil NiceIdent follows a clay-man and his day to day struggles fitting in the real world. As he keeps changing his face, and struggles to find a connection with anyone beside his dog, the Man finds himself with a rare opportunity: to start a new life reflecting himself, rather than the world at large.
- DirectorDavid FincherStarsJesse EisenbergAndrew GarfieldJustin TimberlakeAs Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg creates the social networking site that would become known as Facebook, he is sued by the twins who claimed he stole their idea and by the co-founder who was later squeezed out of the business.Does having created a world-wide network define who the creator is? Does his network reflect, in a way, the way he related to the world before social networks existed? Does being rich defines who you are (inner identity?). The movie poses interesting questions about personal and social identity in our modern world, although perhaps not too apparently obvious.
- DirectorHenry JoostAriel SchulmanStarsNev SchulmanAriel SchulmanHenry JoostYoung filmmakers document their colleague's budding online friendship with a young woman and her family which leads to an unexpected series of discoveries.It is one of the best docos I have seen in the last 12 months, and poses many interesting questions about self-perception and identity through the Internet. Is the image we present to our Internet buddies our real self? In which way? In which degree? Is our edited life profile a real representation of who really are inside down? It is necessary to present our real self to the world through the Internet to communicate with others? Gazillion questions that this movie poses to the viewer on identity issues.
- DirectorSarah PolleyStarsJulie ChristieMichael MurphyGordon PinsentA man coping with the institutionalization 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.
- DirectorRichard EyreStarsJudi DenchJim BroadbentKate WinsletTrue 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.
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsBibi AnderssonLiv UllmannMargaretha KrookA nurse is put in charge of a mute actress and finds that their personae are melding together.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsKarolina GruszkaKrzysztof MajchrzakGrace ZabriskieAs an actress begins to adopt the persona of her character in a film, her world becomes nightmarish and surreal.
- DirectorKimberly PeirceStarsHilary SwankChloë SevignyPeter SarsgaardA young man named Brandon Teena navigates love, life, and being transgender in rural Nebraska.
- DirectorArthur de PinsStarsAnne-Charlotte GuillotCamille SerceauGerard is dealing with an unwanted sex change.
- DirectorJaume Collet-SerraStarsLiam NeesonDiane KrugerJanuary JonesWhen a man awakens from a coma only to discover that someone has taken on his identity, he teams up with a young woman to prove who he is.
- DirectorJeremy SimsStarsSteve Le MarquandTom BudgeGigi EdgleyTwo thugs from the Perth suburb of Midland catch the last train to Fremantle. When a young woman boards the train a few stops later, they begin talking and find out not everyone on the train is who they seem to be.
- DirectorHiroshi TeshigaharaStarsTatsuya NakadaiMikijirô HiraKyôko KishidaA businessman with a disfigured face obtains a lifelike mask from his doctor, but the mask starts altering his personality.
- DirectorJo SolStarsLazlo PearlmanVeronika ArauzoLydia LunchAn examination of why people feign sexual pleasure.
- DirectorAlberto RodríguezStarsJimmy RocaManuel MorónVanesa Cabezaillegal African immigrant Patricio is given a suit as thanks for helping a man change his flat tire. The new clothes improve his self-image.
- DirectorÓscar AibarStarsSantiago SeguraMercè LlorensÁlex AnguloIs it possible to live aside of the system, thinking only about the present and oneself? A feature film about Manuel Vázquez, the best comic book author in Barcelona during the sixties, but, mainly, a man with a very particular way of living his life.
- DirectorBart LaytonStarsAdam O'BrianNicholas BarclayCarey GibsonA documentary centered on a young man in Spain who claims to a grieving Texas family that he is their 16-year-old son who has been missing for 3 years.
- DirectorBenj BinksStarsGennieGeeQuizaForget about nomads and monks, it's hip hop that's making Mongolia move in the 21st century. Mongolian Bling jumps into the thriving music scene in the capital; Ulaanbaatar, and follows stars as they rap nationwide.
- DirectorLorraine LévyStarsEmmanuelle DevosPascal ElbéJules SitrukTwo young men, one Israeli and one Palestinian, discover they were accidentally switched at birth.
- DirectorJonathan DaytonValerie FarisStarsPaul DanoZoe KazanAnnette BeningA novelist struggling with writer's block finds romance in a most unusual way: by creating a female character he thinks will love him, then willing her into existence.
- DirectorJaco Van DormaelStarsJared LetoSarah PolleyDiane KrugerA boy stands on a station platform as a train is about to leave. Should he go with his mother or stay with his father? Infinite possibilities arise from this decision. As long as he doesn't choose, anything is possible.
- DirectorShane CarruthStarsAmy SeimetzFrank MosleyShane CarruthA man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives.
- DirectorJonah BekhorZach MathStarsSigurður HjartarsonPáll ArasonTom MitchellThirty miles from the Arctic Circle, in the northern Icelandic town of Husavik, stands the Icelandic Phallological Museum - the world's only Penis museum. Over 40 years, the founder and curator has collected every specimen from every mammal except for one elusive penis needed to complete his collection: The Human Specimen. The film follows the curator's incredible, sublimely comic, often shocking quest to complete his eccentric collection, and the two intrepid men who have raised their hands to be the first human donor.
- DirectorJoshua OppenheimerAnonymousChristine CynnStarsAnwar CongoHerman KotoSyamsul ArifinA documentary which challenges former Indonesian death-squad leaders to reenact their mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers.
- DirectorMike CahillStarsMichael PittSteven YeunAstrid Bergès-FrisbeyA molecular biologist and his laboratory partner uncover evidence that may fundamentally change society as we know it.
- DirectorMatthew VaughnStarsJames McAvoyMichael FassbenderJennifer LawrenceIn the 1960s, superpowered humans Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr work together to find others like them, but Erik's vengeful pursuit of an ambitious mutant who ruined his life causes a schism to divide them.
- DirectorJae-young KwakStarsCha Tae-hyunJun Ji-hyunIn-mun KimA young man sees a drunk, cute woman standing too close to the tracks at a metro station in Seoul and pulls her back. She ends up getting him into trouble repeatedly after that, starting on the train.
- DirectorByron HowardRich MooreJared BushStarsGinnifer GoodwinJason BatemanIdris ElbaIn a city of anthropomorphic animals, a rookie bunny cop and a cynical con artist fox must work together to uncover a conspiracy.
- DirectorGary RossStarsTobey MaguireJeff DanielsJoan AllenTwo 1990s teenage siblings find themselves transported to a 1950s sitcom where their influence begins to profoundly change that colorless, complacent world.
- DirectorDavid FincherStarsBen AffleckRosamund PikeNeil Patrick HarrisWith his wife's disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it's suspected that he may not be innocent.
- DirectorJohn LandisStarsEddie MurphyDan AykroydRalph BellamyA snobbish investor and a wily street con artist find their positions reversed as part of a bet by two callous millionaires.
- CreatorNaoki UrasawaStarsHidenobu KiuchiLiam O'BrienMamiko NotoTenma, a brilliant neurosurgeon with a promising future, risks his career to save the life of a critically wounded young boy. The boy, now a charismatic young man, reappears 9 years later in the midst of a string of unusual serial murders.
- DirectorDenis VilleneuveStarsHarrison FordRyan GoslingAna de ArmasYoung Blade Runner K's discovery of a long-buried secret leads him to track down former Blade Runner Rick Deckard, who's been missing for thirty years.
- DirectorChloé ZhaoStarsBrady JandreauMooneyTim JandreauAfter suffering a near fatal head injury, a young cowboy undertakes a search for new identity and what it means to be a man in the heartland of America.
- DirectorDarren Paul FisherStarsDaniel FraserEleanor WyldOwen PughIn an alternate reality, children learn how lucky they will be (their "frequency"), knowledge which shapes their destiny. The unluckiest boy must parse the mysteries of free will in order to pursue his forbidden love of the luckiest girl.
- DirectorTim WardleStarsRobert ShafranMichael DomnitzHoward SchneiderIn 1980 New York, three young men who were all adopted meet each other and find out they're triplets who were separated at birth. But their quest to find out why turns into a bizarre and sinister mystery.