Best new indie Drama movies in 2025 & 2024 (Netflix, Prime, Hulu & Cinema List)
List of the latest drama movies in 2025 and the best drama movies of 2024 & the 2010's. Top drama movies to watch on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney+ & other Streaming services, out on DVD/Blu-ray or in cinema's right now.
New drama movies in 2025 in Cinema & on VOD
Top movies up for release in 2025 in cinema and on VOD
DIRECTOR: Scott McGehee, David Siegel CAST: Naomi Watts, Bill Murray & Ann Dowd
Based on the novel by Sigrid Nunez, a writer tries to find a way to deal with the loss of a good friend and great mentor. The best way to carry on that memory is to care for the dog that was left behind. While taking in this Great Dane, valuable life lessons are learned about moving on, lingering love, and maintaining friendships, where it doesn’t matter how old you are to learn these valuable lessons. This touching drama comes from directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel (Montana Story) and stars the talents of Naomi Watts, Bill Murray, Sarah Pidgeon, Carla Gugino, Constance Wu, and Ann Dowd.
Read more Watch the trailer of The Friend Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
Best drama movies on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Disney+ or DVD in 2025
2024, 2023, 2021, 2020 and the 2010's best rated drama movies out on DVD, Bluray or streaming on VOD (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Disney+ & More).
DIRECTOR: Sean Price Williams CAST: Talia Ryder, Earl Cave & Simon Rex
When Lillian, a high school senior, finds herself separated from her class, she ends on a journey across the United States of America. Traveling from South Carolina to Washington D.C., she gets to witness all the beauty that the Eastern US has to offer on this wondrous adventure. It’s a class trip she’ll never forget. Directed by Sean Price Williams in his directorial debut with a script by Nick Pinkerton, this American coming-of-age road trip movie was produced by Alex Ross Perry and stars Talia Ryder, Earl Cave, Simon Rex, Ayo Edebiri, Jeremy O. Harris, Jacob Elordi, and Rish Shah.
Read more Watch the trailer of The Sweet East Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
DIRECTOR: Jessica Hausner CAST: Mia Wasikowska, Sidse Babett Knudsen & Amir El-Masry
Miss Novak has taken on teaching duties at an elite school. She takes to the job well as she soon forms a strong bond with the students. She becomes incredibly close with five of those students, but that relationship soon takes a dark turn that she didn’t count on transpiring. Directed by Jessica Hausner (Little Joe, Amour Fou), this dramatic thriller that competed for for the Palme d'Or at the 76th Cannes Film Festival stars Mia Wasikowska, Mathieu Demy, Elsa Zylberstein, Amir El-Masry, and Sidse Babett Knudsen.
Read more Watch the trailer of Club Zero Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
DIRECTOR: Celyn Jones, Tom Stern CAST: Rebel Wilson, Charlotte Gainsbourg & Trine Dyrholm
Based on the stage play The Almond and the Seahorse by Kaite O'Reilly, this introspective journey touches upon the tragedies of life, the warmth of love, and the humanity we seek in this world. The film centers around an archaeologist and an architect both battle their traumatic brain injuries as they find themselves drifting away from their loved ones, seeking comfort anywhere they can. As a contemplative depiction of the frailty of life and love, this independent British drama comes from directors Celyn Jones and Tom Stern with a screenplay by Kaite O'Reilly and Celyn Jones. The film stars Trine Dyrholm, Meera Syal, Rebel Wilson, and Charlotte Gainsbourg.
Read more Watch the trailer of The Almond and the Seahorse
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DIRECTOR: Rodrigo García CAST: Ewan McGregor, Ethan Hawke & Sophie Okonedo
Raymond and Ray are half-brothers who find themselves struggling to life up to the expectations of their late father. Their dad, however, was a terrible man. This makes attending their dad’s funeral very awkward but it also makes for an introspective experience as the two brothers take a harsh look at themselves. Hopefully, they’ll become better than the father they grew to spite. Written and directed by Rodrigo García (Four Good Days, In Treatment) and produced by Alfonso Cuarón (Roma, Children of Men), this mix of comedy and drama stars the talents of Ewan McGregor, Ethan Hawke, Maribel Verdú, and Sophie Okonedo.
Read more Watch the trailer of Raymond & Ray Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
DIRECTOR: Michael Showalter CAST: Jim Parsons, Ben Aldridge & Sally Field
Kit Cowan was a photographer that found his life tragically cut short after a cancer diagnosis. Living only 11 months after his diagnosis, the film documents his life’s work leading up to his demise. His love life is also revealed through his spouse Michael Ausiello of 14 years, finding tenderness amid tragedy. Based on the biographical novel of the same title by Michael Ausiello, this true-story romantic drama comes from director Michael Showalter (The Eyes of Tammy Faye, The Big Sick) and stars the talents of Jim Parsons, Ben Aldridge, Sally Field, Bill Irwin, Antoni Porowski, Nikki M. James, Jeffery Self, and Tara Summers.
Read more Watch the trailer of Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies
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DIRECTOR: Kelly Reichardt CAST: Michelle Williams, Amanda Plummer & James Le Gros
Lizzy Carr is an artist who is going through a difficult time in her life. She’s hoping that her latest exhibit will bring about a great change in her career and inspiration for the future. But will her exhibit impress enough or be too radically different for the audience to accept? Directed and co-written by Kelly Reichardt (First Cow, Night Moves), this slow-paced drama of introspection competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and stars Michelle Williams, Hong Chau, Judd Hirsch, André Benjamin, Heather Lawless, and Amanda Plummer.
Read more Watch the trailer of Showing Up Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
DIRECTOR: Sean Baker CAST: Simon Rex, Bree Elrod & Suzanna Son
Mikey Saber was a man who left his small hometown in Texas to pursue a career in acting. Having become a washed-up adult film star for years, he returns home after seventeen years. However, the town he returns to is one where nobody is happy to see him as he struggles to start over. Directed by Sean Baker (The Florida Project, Tangerine), this dramedy about coming home stars Simon Rex, Bree Elrod, and Suzanna Son. Read more Watch the trailer of Red Rocket Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
DIRECTOR: Justin Chon CAST: Justin Chon, Alicia Vikander & Mark O'Brien
Antonio LeBlanc is a Korean refugee who finds himself being adopted in America. Growing up in the bayous of Louisiana, he tries to make a life for himself and establish a family with his wife, Kathy, and his stepdaughter, Jessie. This American life, however, is threatened when his citizenship is called into question. With the threat of deportation, Antonio finds his mind lingering back to the past where some dark secrets come back to haunt him once more. Written and directed by Justin Chon (Gook, Ms. Purple), this somber drama about the American experience debuted at the Cannes Film Festival and stars Justin Chon, Alicia Vikander, Mark O'Brien, Linh Dan Pham, Sydney Kowalske, Vondie Curtis-Hall, and Emory Cohen. Read more Watch the trailer of Blue Bayou
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DIRECTOR: Uberto Pasolini CAST: James Norton, Daniel Lamont & Eileen O'Higgins
John doesn’t have much as a window cleaner and father. While John may only be thirty-five, he doesn’t have long to live. Realizing his time on this planet is limited, he tries to find a place for his three-year-old son. John’s goal is to both find the right family to raise his boy as well as protect his son from learning the truth about his terminal illness. It’s not going to be easy as John struggles to find just the right way to say goodbye. Written and directed by Uberto Pasolini (Machan, Still Life), this somber drama premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2020 and stars James Norton and Daniel Lamont. Read more Watch the trailer of Nowhere Special Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
DIRECTOR: Maggie Gyllenhaal CAST: Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson & Jessie Buckley
A college professor is hoping for some rest and relaxation on her vacation to the beach in Italy. What she finds instead of a dark confrontation with her own troubled past. Sinister secrets are unearthed when her trip leads to her meeting another woman and her daughter. Early motherhood becomes a painful memory that the professor would rather remain buried. Written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, this psychological drama debuted at the 78th Venice International Film Festival where it won the award for Best Screenplay and stars Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson, Peter Sarsgaard, Oliver Jackson-Cohen ,Paul Mescal, and Ed Harris. Read more Watch the trailer of The Lost Daughter
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DIRECTOR: Philippe Falardeau CAST: Margaret Qualley, Sigourney Weaver & Douglas Booth
Joanna (Margaret Qualley) is an aspiring writer of the 1990s who is seeking a means of breaking into the industry while working for literary agent Phyllis Westberg. She may receive the advice of a lifetime when she stumbles onto the agency’s biggest client: J. D. Salinger. Having become involved in answering Salinger’s fan mail, she soon finds herself swept up in the unique world of writing in this intriguing drama based on the memoir of Joanna Rakoff and directed by Philippe Falardeau (The Good Lie). Read more Watch the trailer of My Salinger Year
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DIRECTOR: Kitty Green CAST: Julia Garner, Matthew Macfadyen & Makenzie Leigh
Jane (Julia Garner) is a quiet and shy assistant who works what seems like a dull job. She comes in early and begins her daily duties inside the film studio office, engaging in the most mundane of tasks. Yet she is also working in a very hostile work environment where immoral actions go on behind closed doors as careers are made and broken. Writer and director Kitty Green weaves an uncomfortable narrative of how such toxic work environments go unnoticed by those hoping to keep their job. Read more Watch the trailer of The Assistant
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DIRECTOR: Sean Durkin CAST: Jude Law, Carrie Coon & Charlie Shotwell
The middle class life of Englishman Rory O'Hara (Jude Law) and his American wife, Allison (Carrie Coon), isn’t easy in 1980s New York City. But it’s about to get much worse for their family once they move into an old mansion in South East England. When it’s revealed that Rory can’t afford such a lavish estate, arguments break out as the family struggles to make ends meet. The family crumbles while they descend into depth in this stirring thriller directed by Sean Durkin (Martha Marcy May Marlene). Read more Watch the trailer of The Nest
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DIRECTOR: Sally Potter CAST: Javier Bardem, Elle Fanning & Salma Hayek
A day in the life of Leo, a mentally unstable man (Javier Bardem) and Molly, his young daughter (Elle Fanning). Dwelling the streets of New York, Leo contemplates on the lives he could have lived while his daughter tries her best to connect with him. Read more Watch the trailer of The Roads Not Taken
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DIRECTOR: Florian Zeller CAST: Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman & Olivia Williams
Impressive and gripping drama about an elderly man with a deteriorating health (Anthony Hopkins) who refuses to accept his daughter's (Olivia Colman) help. Read more Watch the trailer of The Father
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DIRECTOR: Lulu Wang CAST: Awkwafina, Tzi Ma & Diana Lin
When the aged Chinese grandmother Nai Nai (Zhao Shuzhen) has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, the family doesn’t have the heart to tell her. To give her one last goodbye, they all assembled in China to stage a fake wedding as an excuse to give her one last farewell. Her granddaughter, Billi (Awkwafina), however, is compelled to tell her the truth but finds it hard to do in a society that chooses to hide emotion in this touching tale of family drama. Read more Watch the trailer of The Farewell
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DIRECTOR: John Crowley CAST: Nicole Kidman, Sarah Paulson & Ansel Elgort
Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Donna Tart, 'The Goldfinch' tells the remarkable story of a boy who, after surviving a terrorist attack on the Metropolitan art museum, ends up in the world of art forgery. Read more Watch the trailer of The Goldfinch
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DIRECTOR: Björn Runge CAST: Glenn Close, Jonathan Pryce, Max Irons, Christian Slater
Well in his seventies, Joe Castelan wins the Nobel Prize for Literature. He travels to Stockholm to collect his prize, accompanied by his wife. Upon arriving, their relationship slowly falls apart as his wife starts doubting the 'supporting' the role she has always played in her husbands' life. Impressively acted by Glen Close as 'the wife', this beautiful drama will stay with you for a while. Read more Watch the trailer of The Wife
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DIRECTOR: Jordana Spiro CAST: Dominique Fishback, Tatum Marilyn Hall, Nastashia Fuller, Lovie Marie Allen
A gripping and tough film about an eighteen-year old girl who has just been released from prison and has to take care of her 10-year old sister. Read more Watch the trailer of Night Comes On
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DIRECTOR: Rungano Nyoni CAST: Benfors 'Wee Do, Boyd Banda, Kalundu Banda, Boniventure
I am not a Witch showcases how accusations of witchcraft where just another way to suppress powerful women. It's a beautifully shot movie with a strong political message about a young girl orphan who gets accused of witchcraft after a banal incident in her village in Zambia. Read more Watch the trailer of I Am Not a Witch Netflix | Amazon | All Release dates
DIRECTOR: Ben Lewin CAST: Dakota Fanning, Toni Collette, Alice Eve
Dakota Fanning stars as Wendy, a young autistic. Being a die hard 'Trekkie', she is determined to hand in her 500-pages script at Paramount office in Los Angeles. She decides to run away from her home and embarks on a journey. An often funny character portrayal. Read more Watch the trailer of Please Stand By RATING: 77/100
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DIRECTOR: Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland CAST: Julianne Moore
Alec Baldwin
Kristen Stewart
A linguistic professor's life turns tragic when she is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease; her family's affection and love for her are tried and tested... Read more Watch the trailer of Still Alice RATING: 75/100
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DIRECTOR: Christian Petzold CAST: Nina Hoss
Ronald Zehrfeld
Nina Kunzendorf
A woman who survives the holocaust but it unfortunately blemishes her beauty and now she sets out to find that if the man she had loved had really maligned her trust in... Read more Watch the trailer of Phoenix RATING: 73/100
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DIRECTOR: Xavier Dolan CAST: Anne Dorval
Antoine Olivier Pilon
Suzanne Clément
A widowed woman is having troubles raising his violent, difficult son all by herself but she sees hopes when a mysterious neighbour introduces herself to her household. Read more Watch the trailer of Mommy RATING: 81/100
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DIRECTOR: Sebastián Lelio CAST: Paulina García
Sergio Hernández
Diego Fontecilla
The story depicts a middle-aged woman living in Santiago, and the truth of her frivolous and whimsical relationship with a former Navy officer whom she meets at random... Read more Watch the trailer of Gloria RATING: 67/100
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DIRECTOR: James Gray CAST: Marion Cotillard
Joaquin Phoenix
Jeremy Renner
A brilliant magician tries to save an immigrant woman who has been tricked into a life of burlesque and vaudeville, and unite her with her sister who is held in... Read more Watch the trailer of The Immigrant RATING: 66/100
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DIRECTOR: Alejandro G. Iñárritu CAST: Daniel Giménez Cacho, Griselda Siciliani & Íker Sánchez Solano
Alejandro G. Iñárritu (The Revenant, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)) crafts a relatable drama of a man grappling with his culture. The film centers around Silverio Gama, a man who has made a big name for himself as a journalist and documentarian. His heavy success leads to him winning international awards. Residing in Los Angeles, Silverio decides to take a trip to Mexico to find himself. He finds more than he bargained for as his past catches up with him and forces him to reexamine his worldview. The film made its premiere at the 79th Venice International Film Festival and features the talents of Daniel Giménez and Cacho Griselda Siciliani.
Read more Watch the trailer of Bardo
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Related: Top 28 romantic movies in 2025 & 2024 (Netflix, Prime, Hulu & Cinema list)
Not a genre encompasses as much as the ‘drama film’, in that sense we consider it more to a genre that sets it self apart by not really adhering to any other genre. Although an impossible task, we managed to put together this list of great films, of which we have chosen mainly American indie drama movies. Movies made outside of the studios, or with an independent spirt.
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