Dear friends,
As promised and requested by many of you, here are family-appropriate recommendations to watch. I tried to avoid what most lists online do, which is to only have animations. Instead, I hope this list that includes interesting documentaries will provide meaningful viewing with family members of all ages.
There are MPAA ratings under each title and age estimations next to them.
5 movies, 2 on Netflix, 2 on Amazon Prime, and 1 on both.
Embrace
TV-PG (14+). On Amazon Prime. 🍅 rating: 100%.
It is reported that 90% of women are "highly dissatisfied" with their bodies. This inspiring documentary follows Australian body image activist Taryn Brumfitt as she investigates her own body perception and the prevalence of body image issues.
Leslie Felperin of The Guardian: “It has an indisputably worthy message, and should be essential viewing for young people.”
The Little Prince
PG (8+). On Netflix in most countries. 🍅 rating: 93%.
A little girl is raised in a pragmatic world, where every moment of her life and career has already been planned for her. One day a neighbor introduces her to a different world, that of the little prince, where anything is possible.
Directed by Mark Osborne (Kung Fu Panda) and voiced by an ensemble cast: Jeff Bridges, Paul Rudd, Rachel McAdams, Benicio Del Toro, Ricky Gervais, James Franco, Paul Giamatti, and Marion Cotillard.
Boom Bust Boom
G (all ages). On Amazon Prime. 🍅 rating: 85%.
What if we could explain financial crashes by looking at the behavior of monkeys? To quote a specialist: “monkeys and not similar to people because of how smart they are, but because of how dumb they are”.
This documentary is presented by a Monty Python member who meets with scientists and entrepreneurs to try to understand why speculative bubbles happen. An amusing and educational watch.
Klaus
PG (6+). On Netflix everywhere. 🍅 rating: 94%.
A beautiful 90s-Disney-like animation about the origin story of Santa Klaus. It starts with a mailman who gets sent away to a bleak northern town inhabited by two large families who have been fighting each other for centuries.
There are no colors and no joy left in this town. But when this mailman stumbles upon a faraway estate, he makes an acquittance that will change the town forever, and with it, how Christmas is celebrated around the world.
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
TV-PG (11+). On Netflix & Amazon Prime. 🍅 rating: 86%.
In a true story told in English and Chichewa (a language from Malawi), a young boy is expelled from school because his parents couldn’t afford tuition. At the same time, his village is struck by a variety of natural circumstances that bring them the threat of drought and famine.
The young boy sneaks into the library in the hopes of making a windmill and saving his village, and you can guess what follows from the title.
The triumph of engineering and a boy with a dream; mix in an incredibly interesting culture, full of unique family dynamics and a thought-provoking intersection between religion, tradition, and technology. The result is a delicate but uplifting movie, not to be missed.
That’s it for today, I hope one of these is for your family.
Talk soon,
Bilal