Note: Some of these titles may be difficult to find, either in DVD format or streaming.
Film
Animation
Animal Farm (1954)
Based on George Orwell’s novel of the same name, farm animals successfully revolt against their human farmer, only to devolve into a new tyranny.
Anomalisa (2015)
A man who sees the same face on, and hears the same voice from, each person he encounters, meets a woman who is unique.
Antz (1998)
An individualistic and neurotic ant falls in love with a princess but is constrained by his colony.
Horton Hears a Who! (2008)
Horton’s neighbors do not believe in Whoville, a tiny community he is protecting.
Paprika (2006)
A woman works to stop a rogue therapist who has stolen a machine that lets the user watch a person’s dreams.
Princess Mononoke (1997)
A child searches for a cure to a curse, and winds up in the middle of a war between forest gods.
A Scanner Darkly (2006)
A man’s identity unravels after he takes a new drug.
Sisyphus (1974)
A depiction of the Greek myth of Sisyphus.
Waking Life (2001)
A man dreams about discussions with various people about the meaning of the universe.
Biopics
Al-Ghazali: The Alchemist of Happiness Islamic legal scholar and philosopher, Al-Ghazali struggles with faith.
Alexander (2004)
Alexander grows up to be King of Macedonia and undertakes multiple conquests.
Beyond Good and Evil (1977)
Nietzsche’s life and thought is explored through a focus on his friendship with Lou Salomé and Paul Rée.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
Elle magazine editor Jean-Dominique Bauby is left with the use of only his left eye after a stroke paralyzes the rest of his body.
Elephant Man (1980)
Based on the true story of John Merrick, a disfigured man who earns a living as an attraction in a Victorian England side-show, but is given a home and a new life by a surgeon who wants to help him.
Hannah Arendt (2012)
Philosopher Hannah Arendt reported on Adolf Eichmann’s trial in Jerusalem after WWII.
Hilary and Jackie (1998)
The relationship between famed cellist Jacqueline du Pré, stricken with multiple sclerosis, and her sister, flautist Hilary de Pré-Finzi, is told from each sister’s perspective.
Iris (2001)
The story of aging philosopher Iris Murdoch and her husband.
The Last Days of Immanuel Kant (1994)
A fictionalized account of the final years of Kant’s life.
Wittgenstein (1993)
The story of philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein’s life and thought.
Comedies
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)
Two teenagers use a time machine to help them prepare for a history presentation.
The Cow (1969)
A man’s beloved cow dies while he is away from his village, and his neighbors cover it up.
La Dolce Vita (1960)
A week in the life of a journalist in Rome.
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) An insane U.S. general orders a first-strike nuclear attack.
The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)
A Bushman encounters civilization—and some of its peculiarities.
Groundhog Day (1993)
A weatherman goes to Punxsatawney, Pennsylvania to cover the annual Groundhog Day event, only to find himself trapped in a time-loop.
I Heart Huckabees (2004)
A husband and wife detective team investigate people’s existential crises.
Love and Death (1975)
A wife and husband plot to assassinate Napoleon, who has invaded Imperial Russia.
Monty Python’s Holy Grail (1975)
King Arthur and his Nights of the Round Table embark on a quest for the Holy Grail.
Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
A mean learns he is actually a character in a novelist’s mind.
Synecdoche, New York (2008)
A theater director creates a continually-expanding life-sized replica of New York City in a warehouse.
The Truman Show (1998)
A man learns his entire life is a television show.
Documentaries
Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life (1996)
A look at philosopher and novelist, Ayn Rand.
Being in the World (2010)
Thinkers discuss Martin Heidegger’s work, whose influence is seen in across fields, from sports to cooking.
Days of Nietzsche in Turin (2001)
Quotes from Nietzsche’s writings are narrated over images.
Derrida (2002)
A look at the life of French philosopher Jacques Derrida, famous for introducing Deconstruction.
Examined Life (2008)
Philosophers such as Kenneth Kwame Appiah, Judith Butler, and Cornell West discuss what it is to
lead an examined life.
Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)
Street artist Banksy follows Thierry Guetta, an immigrant intensely interested in street art.
The Ister (2004)
Inspired by a series of lectures in 1942 by Martin Heidegger, people are interviewed along a trip up the Danube.
Lake of Fire (2006)
Thinkers and activists on both sides of the abortion debate present the issues.
The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema (2006)
Slavoj Zizek analyzes films through psychoanalytic and philosophical lenses.
What Is Democracy? (2018)
An examination of some of the philosophical thought that drives the concept of democracy.
Zizek! (2005)
Philosopher and Slovenian presidential candidate, Slavoj Zizek is the study of this documentary.
Drama
12 Angry Men (1957)
Jurors argue over whether a young man accused of murder is guilty or not guilty.
Agora (2009)
A slave falls in love with his mistress, philosopher and mathematician Hypatia.
American Beauty (1999)
A man is infatuated with his teenage daughter’s friend.
Animal Farm (1999)
Based on George Orwell’s novel of the same name, farm animals successfully revolt against their human farmer, only to devolve into a new tyranny.
Antigone (2019)
A contemporary adaptation of Sophocles’ play about a girl who flouts community norms and rebels against authority.
Apocalypse Now (1979)
A U.S. Army captain is ordered to track down and kill a Special Forces colonel who has disappeared into the Vietnamese jungle.
City of God (2002)
Two boys’ lives take different paths in Rio’s slums.
The Conformist (1970)
A man plots the assassination of his former college professor.
Bad Lieutenant (1992)
A corrupt detective investigates the rape of a young nun.
The Drinking Party (1965)
Based on Plato’s dialogue, Symposium, an Oxford don brings together a group of students to discuss the nature of love.
Fight Club (1999)
An insomniac meets a soap salesman, and the two begin a basement fight club.
The Fountain (2006)
A scientists searches for a way to save his dying wife.
The Fountainhead (1949)
An architect struggles against societal pressures to maintain his individualism.
Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
Salesmen fight to be top dog on the month’s real estate sales board
Goodbye to Language (2014)
Two versions of a couple having affairs.
The Green Mile (1999)
A black man imprisoned for raping and murdering a child has a profound effect on a death row prison guard.
Ida (2013)
On the brink of taking her vows, a novice nun uncovers a dark family secret.
Ikiru (1952)
A man searches for meaning after discovering he has cancer.
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
An angel shows a man what life would be like if the man had never been born.
A Ghost Story (2017)
The ghost of a recently deceased man returns home to his bereft wife.
Leviathan (2014)
A man fights to save his home from being demolished by corrupt government forces.
The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001)
A barber blackmails his wife’s boss, who, he suspects, is also having an affair with her.
Mindwalk (1990)
A poet, politician, and scientist engage in philosophical dialogue.
Mirror (1975)
A dying man remembers his past.
My Night at Maud’s (1969)
A divorcé tests a Catholic man’s principles.
My Dinner with Andre (1981)
Two old friends discuss their worldviews over dinner.
No Country for Old Men (2017)
A hired killer tracks down a hunter who came upon millions of dollars of drug money, while a sheriff investigates the crime that set off the chase.
Notes from Underground (1995)
A man keeps a video diary of his thoughts; adapted from Dostoevsky’s novella of the same name.
Paths of Glory (1957)
A unit’s commanding officer must defend his men from accusations of cowardice, after they refuse to attack an enemy position.
Pi (1998)
A mathematician suffering from paralyzing migraines searches for a numeric answer to the ultimate question.
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Four intersecting stories of hitmen, a gangster’s wife, and bandits.
Rope (1948)
Two friends decide to murder a classmate because they believe they can get away with it.
Rashomon (1950)
The story of a rape and a murder is told from four perspectives.
The Science of Sleep (2006)
A young man tries to share his vivid dreams with the woman he loves.
The Seventh Seal (1957)
During the Black Plague, a man plays chess with the Grim Reaper.
Sex, Lies and Videotape (1998)
A woman whose husband is having an affair with her sister meets her husband’s former college friend.
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Two prisoners become friends.
Ship of Theseus (2012)
Three individuals grapple with fundamental questions about identity and other important questions.
Sliding Doors (1998)
A woman’s future is determined by whether or not she catches a train, and both possibilities are played out in parallel.
The Sunset Limited (2011)
After a chance meeting, two men discuss topics fundamental to human concerns.
Stalker (1979)
The “Stalker” guides two men into the restricted Zone to find a wish-granting room.
The Stranger (1967)
An Algerian is arrested for the murder of an Arab man.
Talk to Her (2002)
The husbands of two women in comas forge a friendship.
The Third Man (1949)
A novelist investigates the death of an old friend.
Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (2001)
Various people’s lives intersect over the question of happiness.
Tree of Life (2011)
The eldest son of a family in 1950s Waco, Texas, witnesses his family’s difficulties.
Water (2005)
A widowed child is returned to her home, where her presence affects her community.
What Dreams May Come (1998)
A dead man goes on a quest to find his wife after she kills herself in her grief.
When Nietzsche Wept (2007)
Nietzsche seeks a doctor’s help for his despair.
The Widow of St. Pierre (2000)
The residents of a small French colony await the arrival of a guillotine for the execution of a local man, who slowly transforms into a good person.
Dramedies
Barton Fink (1991)
A playwright comes to 1941 Hollywood to write for the movies, only to experience writer’s block and strangely macabre events.
Being John Malkovich (1999)
A portal to John Malkovich’s head seems to allow a puppeteer to create the ultimate show.
Being There (1975)
A simple-minded man who has spent his whole life tending a garden is mistaken for a sage.
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
One man gets away with murdering his mistress, while another is besotted with a woman who is not his wife.
Dead Poets Society (1989)
An unorthodox teacher transforms the lives of his boys’ boarding school students.
Do the Right Thing (1989)
A Brooklyn neighborhood erupts in racial violence on the hottest day of the year.
Force Majeure (2014)
A family’s vacation in the French Alps is interrupted by an avalanche.
Harold and Maud (1971)
A young man obsessed with death becomes friends with an elderly woman.
Lost in Translation (2003)
A lonely wife befriends a faded actor in Japan.
Lucky (2017)
A 90-year old atheist begins to think about his mortality.
Modern Times (1936)
A homeless woman helps the Tramp navigate modern industrial society.
My Dinner with Andre (1981)
Two old friends discuss their worldviews over dinner.
My Night at Maud’s (1969)
A divorcé tests a Catholic man’s principles.
Pay It Forward (2000)
A teacher inspires a boy to pursue his idea of making the world better.
A Serious Man (2009)
A physics teacher’s life falls apart.
Thank You for Smoking (2005)
Big Tobacco’s spokesman tries to be a role model for his 12-year old son.
The Truman Show (1998)
A man learns his entire life is a television show.
Horror
The Addiction (1995)
A graduate student in Philosophy becomes a vampire.
Final Destination (2000)
A young woman’s attempt to prevent a disastrous accident sets off another series of deadly events.
Us (2019)
Dopplegängers terrorize a family.
Science Fiction
1984 (1984)
A man defies the restrictions of his totalitarian society by having an illicit affair.
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
A team of astronauts search for a monolith, but HAL 9000, the ship’s super-AI computer, sabotages the mission.
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
An artificial boy wants to be real, so his human mother will love him.
After the Dark, a.k.a., The Philosophers (2013)
A philosophy teacher sets an experiment for his graduating class.
Alphaville (1965)
A U.S. agent searches for a missing person in a space city ruled by a tyrant.
Blade Runner (1982)
A former policeman hunts down four humanoids, who have “illegally” returned to Earth.
Brazil (1985)
A government employee becomes an enemy of the state.
The Butterfly Effect (2004)
A psychologically damaged young man learns he can travel back in time and change his past.
The City of Lost Children (1995)
A scientist who wants to slow his aging process kidnaps children to steal their dreams.
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
The sadistic leader of a gang volunteers for an behavior-aversion experiment that goes awry.
Dark City (1998)
An amnesiac is suspected of murder, and learns that Strangers are experimenting with people’s memories.
Donnie Darko (2001)
A giant rabbit influences a young man to commit crimes.
Equilibrium (2002)
A man in charge of enforcing a law forbidding feelings decides to overthrow the system.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
After their relationship fails, a couple undergo a procedure to erase memories of each other.
Ex Machina (2014)
A programmer wins a contest to meet the secretive CEO of the company for which he works, and is enlisted to test an A.I. for personhood.
eXistenZ (1999)
A game designer is hunted by assassins as she tests her latest virtual reality creation.
Gattaca (1997)
A man tries to hide his genetic defect in a society where genetics determine your life.
Ghost in the Shell (1995)
A cyber-enhanced soldier tracks down criminals.
I, Robot (2004)
A detective investigates a crime possibly committed by a robot.
Inception (2010)
Thieves who steal corporate secrets through dream technology are tasked with implanting an idea in a C.E.O.’s mind.
Interstellar (2014)
Humanity’s survival is at stake as a team travels through a wormhole.
The Matrix (1999)
A man learns that what he thought was his real life was actually a computer simulation.
Melancholia (2011)
While a planet threatens to crash into Earth, two sisters struggle with their relationship.
Minority Report (2002)
A member of a police unit that arrests murderers before they happen is accused of a murder in the future.
Mr. Nobody (2009)
The last mortal recounts his life and lives.
Possible Worlds (2000)
A man falls in love with the same woman in two parallel worlds, as police track down a brain-stealing serial killer.
Solaris (1972; 2002)
A psychologist is sent to a space station to investigate the crew, which has gone insane.
Stalker (1979)
The “Stalker” guides two men into the restricted Zone to find a wish-granting room.
Total Recall (1990)
A man takes a virtual vacation memory to Mars.
V for Vendetta (2005)
A young woman helps a freedom fighter’s efforts to overthrow a tyrant.
Thrillers/Mysteries
Barton Fink (1991)
A playwright comes to 1941 Hollywood to write for the movies, only to experience writer’s block and strangely macabre events.
Chinatown (1974)
A private eye gets more than he bargains for after a woman hires him to investigate her husband.
The Experiment (2001)
Participants chosen to play guards and prisoners in a psychological study go off the rails.
Frailty (2001)
A man enters an F.B.I. office and declares his brother is a notorious serial killer.
Gaslight (1944)
A woman’s husband tries to drive her insane in order to keep a secret.
Get Out (2017)
A black mans visit to his white girlfriend’s family home turns into our worst nightmare.
Gone Baby Gone (2007)
Boston detectives investigate the kidnapping of a little girl.
Memento (2000)
A man who can’t form new memories searches for his wife’s murderer.
Mulholland Drive (2001)
An eager young actress helps a woman who loses her memory after a car accident.
No Country for Old Men (2017)
A hired killer tracks down a hunter who came upon millions of dollars of drug money, while a sheriff investigates the crime that set off the chase.
Oldboy (2003)
A man is kidnapped and imprisoned in a hotel room for 15 years, after which he has five days to discover the reason for his kidnapping.
Persona (1966)
A nurse begins caring for an actress who has suddenly stopped speaking, and over time, their identities seem to meld.
Possible Worlds (2000)
A man falls in love with the same woman in two parallel worlds, as police track down a brain-stealing serial killer.
Rope (1948)
Two friends decide to murder a classmate because they believe they can get away with it.
Run Lola Run (1998)
Lola has 20 minutes to save her boyfriend after a money delivery goes awry.
Vertigo (1958)
A former police detective becomes obsessed with a woman.
Television Productions
Biopics
Augustine of Hippo (1972)
The story of philosopher and theologian, Augustine’s life and thought.
Blaise Pascal (1972)
The story of philosopher Blaise Pascal’s life and thought.
Cartesius (1974)
The story of philosopher René Descartes’ life and thought.
Giodorno Bruno (1973)
The story of philosopher Giodorno Bruno’s life and thought.
Socrates (1971)
The story of philosopher Socrates’s life and thought.
Comedies
Bojack Horseman (2014-2020)
A washed up television star lives in Hollywood.
The Good Place (2016-2020)
A woman tries to become a better person after she dies.
Rick and Morty (2013-present)
A scientist and his grandson go on adventures.
Dramas
Atlanta (2016-present)
Two cousins try to make careers in Atlanta’s rap music scene.
Hannibal (2013-2015)
A psychiatrist treats an F.B.I. profiler who empathizes with serial killers.
Lost (2004-2010)
A group of people survive a plane crash on a deserted island.
Merlí (2015-2018)
A high school philosophy teacher’s unorthodox style creates unique experiences for his students.
Ozark (2017-present)
A financial advisor-cum-drug money launderer tries to make enough money to escape with his family.
The Wire (2002-2008)
Drug dealer and police lives intertwine in Baltimore, Maryland.
The Young Pope/The New Pope (2016 and 2019)
The first American pope of the Catholic church struggles with his role and faith; after the first American pope of the Catholic church wakes up from a coma, the Catholic church effectively has two popes.
Thrillers/Mysteries
Mr. Robot (2015-2019)
A computer hacker with psychological trauma plots to take down a corrupt corporation.
The Shield (2002-2008)
A corrupt cop leads a drug unit.
Science Fiction
Black Mirror (2011-present)
An anthology of stories about the intersection of digital technology and the human condition.
Humans (2015-2018)
Incredibly humanlike robots transforms life.
Westworld (2016)
Artificial intelligences stage a revolt to escape their human masters.
Books About Philosophy on Film
Socrates and Subtitles: A Philosopher’s Guide to 95 Thought-Provoking Movies from Around the World, by William G. Smith (McFarland and Company, Inc., 2010)
Plato and Popcorn: A Philosopher’s Guide to 75 Thought-Provoking Movies from Around the World, by William G. Smith (McFarland and Company, Inc., 2004)
Philosophy Through Film, 3rd edition, by Mary Litch and Amy Karofsky (Routledge, 2014)
Philosophy and Film, edited by Cynthia A. Freeland and Thomas E. Wartenberg (Routledge, 1995)
Thinking on Screen: Film as Philosophy, by Thomas E. Wartenberg (Routledge, 2007)
Philosophy Goes to the Movies: An Introduction to Philosophy, 3rd edition, by Christopher Falzon (Routledge 2015)
Thinking Through Film: Doing Philosophy, Watching Movies, by Damian Cox and Michael Levine (Wiley-Blackwell, 2011)
Classic Questions and Contemporary Film: An Introduction to Philosophy, 2nd edition, by Dean A. Kowalski (Wiley-Blackwell, 2015)
The Blackwell Philosophy and Popular Culture series offers film and television anthologies: https://andphilosophy.com
Open Court’s Popular Culture and Philosophy series offers film and television anthologies: http://www.opencourtbooks.com/categories/pcp.htm
