Days of Heaven
1978 | Rated PGdirected by Terrence Malick On the plains of the Texas Panhandle, a young farmhand and his employer love the same girl. Their happiness is short-lived. But it is the dazzling, relentless drama of nature around them—sunsets, seasons, a locust plague—that makes them seem as ephemeral as “flowers of the field.”
Blade Runner
1982 | Rated Rdirected by Ridley Scott A band of human-like robots is running from the law through a dystopian Los Angeles. They want to extend the expiration date programmed into them. The detective who hunts them must confront the terror brought by death when it is not sleep but an end.
Grave of the Fireflies
1988 | Not rateddirected by Isao Takahata A brother and sister living in Japan are orphaned during World War II. We know from the start of this anim film that neither will survive, so it is gut-wrenching to follow their tender relationship, drawn with surprising naturalism and moments of quiet beauty.
The Seventh Seal
1957 | Not rateddirected by Ingmar Bergman A knight returns from the Crusades to find the plague ravaging his homeland. He soon begins an iconic game of chess with Death and an existential struggle with God’s silence. The images are stark—white-faced Death, a procession of flagellants, and 28-year-old Max von Sydow looking 48.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy
2001-03 | Rated PG-13directed by Peter Jackson Tolkien’s story delves into the peculiar nature of mortality by juxtaposing mortal and immortal peoples. As the ring proves, death is not the real enemy. In fact, some wounds, like the ring-bearer’s, will not fully leave us until we exchange this world for another.
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