Movies That Make You Think: Part 35

Four films about what happens when control slips away: a political family’s worst nightmare, a dad discovering how much work keeps a home running, a world overtaken by disaster, and a campaign that tests the limits of idealism.

Animals (Netflix)

Ben Affleck and Kerry Washington play a Los Angeles mayoral candidate and his wife whose son is kidnapped. Raising the ransom forces them into choices that threaten to unravel the life they’ve built. A thriller about the collision between public power and private desperation, and what people are willing to sacrifice when their family is on the line.

The Breadwinner (Netflix)

Nate Bargatze plays a father of three who takes over at home when his wife’s business takes off and sends her away on a work trip. Mandy Moore co-stars in a family comedy built around the gap between bringing home a paycheck and actually keeping a household running. Beneath the chaos is a familiar question: how much work do we take for granted when somebody else is doing it?

The Day After Tomorrow (Netflix)

Dennis Quaid plays a scientist trying to save his son, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, as catastrophic storms push the world toward a new ice age. It’s big-screen disaster spectacle with a father-and-son story at its center. Beyond the destruction, it invites a conversation about collective responsibility and how quickly the things we treat as permanent can disappear.

The Ides of March (Netflix)

Ryan Gosling plays an idealistic press spokesman working for a presidential candidate played by George Clooney. As the campaign turns ugly, loyalty, ambition, and dirty tricks put his principles under pressure. A political drama about the distance between believing in a cause and protecting the people who claim to represent it, and what gets lost when winning becomes the only measure that matters.

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