Arthouse(ish) Films on Hulu

For all of you Quarantining at home who are sick of your regular binge-watching go-to’s, here is a list of arthouse-leaning films to watch on Hulu. 

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

If you’re in the mood to escape into an intimate and gorgeously shot film centered on two women in 18th century France, watch Portrait. Desire drives this film, beginning with a painter’s stolen glances of her portrait subject. Celine Sciamma’s brilliant writing and directing deconstruct the traditional roles of muse and artist and positions Marianne and Héloïse as equal emotional collaborators in their experience of each other. Portrait transports the viewer to a world of organic female relationships, while the ever-present patriarchy looms beyond the ocean. Like the rising tide off the coast of Brittany, Sciamma’s story ebbs and flows with poetic female-gaze ferocity. 

Honeyland (2019)

Hatizde is a seasoned beekeeper who uses centuries old techniques to harvest wild honey. This film explores the relationship between humanity, the earth, and the heartbreaking consequences of over consumption in a remote Macedonian town. This fly-on-the-wall style documentary showcases Hatizde’s message of sustainability, the importance of artisanal craftsmanship, and perseverance. By the end of this film all you’ll want to do is give Hatizde a hug and buy as much of her honey as possible. 

Shoplifters (2018)

Kore-eda is a master of strange family dramas, and Shoplifters is no exception. This film follows an impoverished group of people in Tokyo as they try to make ends meet by any means necessary. While there are elements of a crime drama in this piece, this film is a deep dive into what makes a group of people a family—whether they are biologically related or not. If you want to explore more of Kore-eda’s work, make sure to check out Like Father, Like Son.

The Square (2017)

The Square has a challenging ambiance to describe because it takes place in the equally challenging ambiance of the art world. Christian, a museum curator in Stockholm, opens a new exhibit (titled “The Square”) which is a “sanctuary of trust and caring--” two traits that Christian’s pretentious world thinks they exude but most definitely do not. Alongside his professional curatorial challenges, he finds himself in the midst of surreal personal situations that manage to be hilarious and disturbing at the same time. There’s a man that acts like an ape. There’s a robbery. There’s a conflict about a used condom during a one-night stand with Elizabeth Moss. A man with Tourette’s interrupts Dominic West’s artist interview. Christian says in an interview, “if we placed your bag in the museum, would that make it art?” to which he receives no answer. This film is both an entertaining exploration of human nature, and also a harsh critique of the unspoken rules of social expectations. Ruben Östlund also directed Force Majeure, which you can find on Hulu as well. 

Jonny Guitar (1954)

Wild. This film is wild. Granted, it is a Nicolas Ray drama starring Joan Crawford that takes place in the literal Wild West, so it’s kind of a given that it’s wild. Jonny Guitar has all of the western genre tropes but puts them in trucolor melodrama madness. There’s a stagecoach robbery, gambling, violent gang fighting, the threat of a railroad coming through town, Joan Crawford monologuing while playing the piano in a white dress, and cowboys dying left and right—all around Vienna’s Saloon in the Arizona desert. Jonny Guitar has all the indicators of a classic Hollywood b-movie western paired with an unlikely emotional outpour of poetic dialogue, aggressive female characters, complicated romantic situations, and theatric violent circumstances. This film also had a heavy influence on many of the French New Wave filmmakers. Truffaut states, Jonny Guitar is “the Beauty and the Beast of Westerns, a Western dream,” and I humbly agree.  

Parasite (2019)

If you don’t know what this film is about at this point then you’re just going to have to catch up with the rest of the world and watch it. Just do it. It’s great. Enough said. 

If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)

Barry Jenkins strikes again in this painful romantic drama about a woman’s fight to clear her wrongly accused lover’s name. If the visual poetry he constructed in Moonlight spoke to you, you have to see this film. Jenkins’ directing weaves together a profoundly challenging nonlinear narrative flawlessly. That being said, Jenkins’ nonlinear style would not be as effective without the genius of the Beale Street editor, Joi McMillon, who also edited Moonlight, and was the first black woman to be nominated at the Oscars for editing. Watch this film for a masterclass on editing, poignant performances, and an artful protest against bigotry.