The best of magic realism
There are many good movies which tell a story in real world (neither in a fantasy one nor a straight sci-fi film) but that present enchanting fairy elements.
List activity
1.4K views
• 1 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
90 titles
- DirectorJean-Pierre JeunetStarsAudrey TautouMathieu KassovitzRufusDespite being caught in her imaginative world, Amelie, a young waitress, decides to help people find happiness. Her quest to spread joy leads her on a journey where she finds true love.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsJim CarreyEd HarrisLaura LinneyAn insurance salesman discovers his whole life is actually a reality TV show.
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsLiberto RabalFrancesca NeriJavier BardemAfter leaving jail, Víctor is still in love with Elena, but she's married to the former cop -now basketball player- who became paralysed by a shot from Víctor's gun...
- DirectorMarcelo GomesStarsJoão MiguelPeter KetnathMadalena AcciolyA road movie about a German man who went to the Northeast of Brazil in 1942 to sell Aspirin.
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsEwan McGregorAlbert FinneyBilly CrudupA frustrated son tries to determine the fact from fiction in his dying father's life.
- DirectorMikhail KalatozovStarsSergio CorrieriSalvador WoodJosé GallardoFour vignettes about the lives of the Cuban people set during the pre-revolutionary era.
- DirectorLaurent TirardStarsMaxime GodartVincent ClaudeCharles VaillantNicholas has every reason to keep things in life unchanged; however, when he accidentally overhears mum and dad talking about a new baby brother, his world will turn upside down. Will they abandon him to make room for the little stranger?
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsNaomi WattsLaura HarringJustin TherouxAfter a car wreck on Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesiac, she and a Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsLeonardo DiCaprioCameron DiazDaniel Day-LewisIn 1862, Amsterdam Vallon returns to the Five Points area of New York City seeking revenge against Bill the Butcher, his father's killer.
- DirectorPablo BergerStarsMaribel VerdúEmilio GaviraDaniel Giménez CachoA twist on the Snow White fairy tale that is set in 1920s Seville and centered on a female bullfighter.
- DirectorSergio LeoneStarsHenry FondaCharles BronsonClaudia CardinaleA mysterious stranger with a harmonica joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.
- DirectorGuy RitchieStarsJason StathamBrad PittStephen GrahamUnscrupulous boxing promoters, violent bookmakers, a Russian gangster, incompetent amateur robbers and supposedly Jewish jewelers fight to track down a priceless stolen diamond.
- DirectorRobert StevensonStarsJulie AndrewsDick Van DykeDavid TomlinsonIn turn of the century London, a magical nanny employs music and adventure to help two neglected children become closer to their father.More fantasy than magic realism, but not pure fantasy either.
- DirectorTerry GilliamStarsChristoph WaltzLucas HedgesMélanie ThierryA hugely talented but socially isolated computer operator is tasked by Management to prove the Zero Theorem: that the universe ends as nothing, rendering life meaningless. But meaning is what he already craves.
- DirectorWes AndersonStarsJason SchwartzmanNatalie PortmanWaris AhluwaliaA prologue of one heart-breaking history of love and the prologue of the travel told in The Darjeeling Limited (2007).
- DirectorWalter SallesStarsJosé DumontRodrigo SantoroRita AssemanyWhen ordered by his father to avenge the death of his older brother, a young man questions the tradition of violence between two rival families.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsRyan O'NealMarisa BerensonPatrick MageeAn Irish rogue wins the heart of a rich widow and assumes her dead husband's aristocratic position in 18th-century England.
- DirectorRené ClairStarsGérard PhilipeMartine CarolGina LollobrigidaA young composer has vivid dreams of the past that reflect, yet conflict with his waking life.
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsRobin WilliamsShelley DuvallRay WalstonThe adventures of the famous sailor man and his friends in the seaside town of Sweethaven.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsAsa ButterfieldChloë Grace MoretzChristopher LeeIn 1931 Paris, an orphan living in the walls of a train station gets wrapped up in a mystery involving his late father and an automaton.
- DirectorÁlex de la IglesiaStarsGuillermo ToledoMónica CerveraEnrique VillénAn ambitious salesman will do anything for that big promotion he's been chasing, but inevitably, he will learn that there is no such thing as the perfect crime.
- DirectorGuel ArraesStarsAndré MattosAramis TrindadeBruno GarciaThis is the fun story of the mischievous, adventurous and conquering Leléu and the dreamy Lisbela, who loves watching American movies and dreams of movie heroes.
- DirectorLaurent TirardStarsValérie LemercierKad MeradDominique LavanantThe summer holidays begin, Nicolas and his family travel to the seaside where a whole new series of adventures await them.
- DirectorWes AndersonStarsRalph FiennesF. Murray AbrahamMathieu AmalricA writer encounters the owner of an aging high-class hotel, who tells him of his early years serving as a lobby boy in the hotel's glorious years under an exceptional concierge.
- DirectorCarla CamuratiStarsMarco NaniniNey LatorracaLuisa ArraesAfter many flops, a theatrical producer decides to stage a former hit, "O Mistério de Irma Vap," but he faces many problems to find the right actors and get the necessary permissions.
- DirectorJulie TaymorStarsSalma HayekAlfred MolinaGeoffrey RushA biography of artist Frida Kahlo, who channeled the pain of a crippling injury and her tempestuous marriage into her work.Indeed, the film reminds Mexican murals.
- DirectorJuliano DornellesKleber Mendonça FilhoStarsBárbara ColenThomas AquinoSilvero PereiraAfter the death of her grandmother, Teresa comes home to her matriarchal village in a near-future Brazil to find a succession of sinister events that mobilizes all of its residents.
- DirectorEmir KusturicaStarsPredrag 'Miki' ManojlovicLazar RistovskiMirjana JokovicTwo underground black marketeers, Marko and Blacky, sell weapons to the Communist resistance in wartime Belgrade, living the good life along the way.
- DirectorDominique AbelFiona GordonBruno RomyStarsDominique AbelFiona GordonPhilippe MartzTeachers in a rural school, happy couple Fiona and Dom have a common passion: Latin Dancing. One night, after a glorious dance competition, they have a car accident and see their lives turn upside down. Rumba or how optimism and humour can overcome fatality!
- DirectorWarren BeattyStarsWarren BeattyMadonnaAl PacinoThe comic strip detective finds his life vastly complicated when Breathless Mahoney makes advances towards him while he is trying to battle Big Boy Caprice's united mob.
- DirectorGuilherme FontesStarsMarco RiccaAndrea BeltrãoPaulo BettiThe story of Assis Chateaubriand, the first magnate of communication in Brazil. Due to his influence during the late 1930s up to the early 1960s, he has come to be called The Brazilian Citizen Kane.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsMarilyn MonroeTom EwellEvelyn KeyesWhen his family goes away for the summer, a hitherto faithful husband with an overactive imagination is tempted by a beautiful neighbor.
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsColin FarrellMichael KeatonDanny DeVitoA young elephant, whose oversized ears enable him to fly, helps save a struggling circus, but when the circus plans a new venture, Dumbo and his friends discover dark secrets beneath its shiny veneer.The film is in the border between what I consider fantasy and what I refer to magic realism.
- DirectorEthan CoenJoel CoenStarsTim Blake NelsonWillie WatsonClancy BrownSix tales of life and violence in the Old West, following a singing gunslinger, a bank robber, a traveling impresario, an elderly prospector, a wagon train, and a perverse pair of bounty hunters.
- DirectorWes AndersonStarsJason SchwartzmanGiada ColagrandeGiorgio ZancollaItaly, September 1955. A Formula One driver crashes his car during a race, leaving him stuck in a small village but good surprises will come his way.https://youtu.be/b87B7zyucgI
- DirectorTerry GilliamStarsJosé Luis FerrerIsmael FritschiJuan López-TagleToby, a disillusioned film director, is pulled into a world of time-jumping fantasy when a Spanish cobbler believes himself to be Sancho Panza. He gradually becomes unable to tell dreams from reality.
- DirectorSergey SnezhkinStarsSvetlana KryuchkovaAleksey PetrenkoMariya ShukshinaA small child is trapped in a tug-of-war battle between his frivolous, but loving mother and an emotionally abusive neurotic grandmother, who wants to "shelter" her beloved grandson at all cost.
- DirectorJonas ÅkerlundStarsMads MikkelsenVanessa HudgensKatheryn WinnickA retiring assassin suddenly finds himself on the receiving end of a hit, contracted by none other than his own employer seeking to cash in on the pensions of aging employees.
- DirectorJosé Henrique FonsecaArthur FontesCláudio TorresStarsTuca AndradaAlexandre BorgesPedro CardosoThree short stories adapted from Nelson Rodrigues works and all revolving around infidelity, some with humored moments and others with more tragic results. "Traição" ("Betrayal") presents the story of a man who falls in love with a married woman; a segment where a young girl captures the attention of her sister's fiancee; and a third one about an unfaithful wife who is taken hostage by her husband after he finds out she's cheating him with his best friend.
- DirectorMauro LimaStarsSelton MelloOtávio MüllerRafaela MandelliEstado do Rio de Janeiro, 1963. O coreto da praça principal de Bacaxá explode no momento de abertura da gincana de primavera da pequena cidade. O alvo do atentando é Amélia Castanho, cantora de boate escolhida para a tarefa da efeméride anual. Segundos antes de o coreto ir pelos ares, ela escuta do rádio do automóvel uma bizarra transmissão: o locutor, em transe, revela o plano que pretendia vitimá-la pela explosão onde ela deveria estar mas não estava! Assim começa Reis e Ratos. A partir daí, a narrativa quebrada em flashbacks nos traz de volta até a explosão do coreto e seu desfecho. A trama e suas situações conduzem o espectador pela atmosfera conspiratória das vésperas do Golpe Militar de 1964. A narrativa suja e delirante de Reis e Ratos ocorre numa certa antessala do cenário golpista. A história é contada através dos pontos de vista de um grupo de personagens de alguma forma ligados à direita. Esse grupo de pessoas é parte de um plano pra tirar o presidente do governo sem que o uso do dispositivo militar, tanto golpista quando legalista, precise ser empreendido. (Fonte: site oficial do filme)
- DirectorAng LeeStarsSuraj SharmaIrrfan KhanAdil HussainA young man who survives a disaster at sea is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While cast away, he forms an unexpected connection with another survivor: a fearsome Bengal tiger.
- DirectorGuillermo del ToroStarsSally HawkinsOctavia SpencerMichael ShannonAt a top secret research facility in the 1960s, a lonely janitor forms a unique relationship with an amphibious creature that is being held in captivity.The film is in the border between what I consider fantasy and what I refer to magic realism.
- DirectorFlávio MigliaccioStarsFlávio MigliaccioOdete LaraWalter ForsterAn uncle travels with his three nephews once a year, during the holidays, looking for adventure.
- DirectorWoody AllenFrancis Ford CoppolaMartin ScorseseStarsWoody AllenNick NolteRosanna ArquetteA middle-aged artist obsessed with his pretty young assistant, a precocious 12-year-old living in a hotel, and a neurotic lawyer with a possessive mother make up three Gotham tales.
- DirectorBenjamin CrottyStarsAlexis ManentiAntoine CholetPauline JacquardDuring his acceptance speech for a lifetime achievement award, Nicolas Chauvin - farmer-soldier, veteran of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and father of chauvinism - embarks on a grand monologue, sending him back in time and space.
- DirectorJean-Pierre JeunetStarsDany BoonAndré DussollierNicolas MariéA man and his friends come up with an intricate and original plan to destroy two big weapons manufacturers.
- DirectorPedro MarquesClaudia PriscillaStarsLaerte CoutinhoMicaela CampionKiko GoifmanThe cartoonist Laerte goes a long way through São Paulo searching for a certificate.Watch it here: https://vimeo.com/42651791
- DirectorMåns MårlindBjörn SteinStarsAdam LundgrenEric EricsonMarie RichardsonPål dreams about success within the musical world, but he has an obstacle; himself. His deep thoughts keeps him end up in trouble. We follow Pål on a emotional inner travel to find his call on the swedish west coast of Gothenburg.Very irregular movie, sometimes silly and kitsch, but with great moments.
- DirectorRuy GuerraStarsTony RamosJoão MiguelCharles FricksCarlos is a man doomed by restless memories, that meets with himself, in a time warp. Young Carlos faces the forgetfulness of old Carlos, who doesn't recognize his own appearance. They get a package. But the package seems odd. The knot that ties, the smell, the handwriting on the envelope: this could only be sent by his father, Ernesto, dead many years ago. A father who always created unusual situations. In this time warp, has one Carlos that remembers and a Carlos who forgets, his fun memories besides this genially crazy father.
- DirectorStephen HerekStarsGlenn CloseJeff DanielsJoely RichardsonAn evil high-fashion designer plots to steal dalmatian puppies in order to make an extravagant fur coat but creates an extravagant mess instead.
- DirectorAlfonso ArauStarsMarco LeonardiLumi CavazosRegina TornéWhen tradition prevents her from marrying the man she loves, a young woman discovers she has a unique talent for cooking.
- DirectorStephen ChowStarsStephen ChowWah YuenQiu YuenIn Shanghai, China in the 1940s, a wannabe gangster aspires to join the notorious "Axe Gang" while residents of a housing complex exhibit extraordinary powers in defending their turf.
- DirectorMarina MeliandeStarsMarina ProvenzzanoSandra MariaPedro GracindoRio de Janeiro, 2016. The hottest summer in history. The city is preparing for the Olympic Games. Ana, a 32-year-old public defender, works in the defense of a community threatened with removal by the works of the Olympic Park. Meanwhile, she's been noticing purple fungus-like spots on her body. Strange things begin to happen in the city as well as in Ana's body. The temperature rises, creating a humid and suffocating atmosphere. The sultriness accumulates before giving way to heavy rain.
- DirectorClaude ZidiStarsPierre RichardJane BirkinClaude PiépluPierre Durois, a teacher at a girls' boarding school, does journalism in his spare time. When a movie crew arrives in town, he writes a venomous note about an American movie star, the volcanic Jackie Logan.
- DirectorBenjamín NaishtatStarsDarío GrandinettiAndrea FrigerioAlfredo CastroIn Argentina pre-coup d'etat, a successful lawyer starts to feel against the ropes when a secret of the past threatens his present.
- DirectorHarry BradbeerStarsMillie Bobby BrownHenry CavillSam ClaflinWhen Enola Holmes (Sherlock's teen sister) discovers her mother is missing, she endeavours to find her, becoming a super-sleuth in her own right as she outwits her famous brother and unravels a dangerous conspiracy.
- DirectorRichard LoncraineStarsIan McKellenAnnette BeningChristopher BowenThe classic Shakespearean play about the murderously scheming 15th-century king is reimagined in an alternative setting of 1930s England as clouds of fascism gather.
- DirectorNelson Pereira dos SantosStarsNey SantannaAnecy RochaJofre SoaresTo entertain some thieves, a blind guitar player tells them the story of a man from the Northeast of Brazil, involved with criminals living in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro, who allegedly had a "closed body", meaning that his body couldn't be hit by bullets or other weapons, by the wish of Ogum, one of the gods of Candomblé, a religion common in Brazil and Africa.
- DirectorDev BenegalStarsAbhay DeolSatish KaushikTannishtha ChatterjeeA young man's journey across the mythic Indian landscape becomes a life-changing odyssey.
- DirectorNorman JewisonStarsTopolNorma CraneLeonard FreyIn pre-revolutionary Russia, a Jewish peasant with traditional values contends with marrying off three of his daughters with modern romantic ideals while growing anti-Semitic sentiment threatens his village.
- DirectorEmir KusturicaStarsEmir KusturicaMonica BellucciSloboda MicalovicA story that stretches across war, blossoming love and living as a recluse.
- DirectorAlla SurikovaStarsAndrey MironovAlexandra YakovlevaMikhail BoyarskiyMr Jonny First arrives to the Wild West to present the art of the Cinematograph.
- DirectorOswaldo CaldeiraStarsDiogo VilelaDébora BlochGeraldo CarratoViramundo is a sympathetic guy, perhaps insane, perhaps a genius, who decides to leave his tiny hometown and turn the world upside down.
- DirectorNicholas HytnerStarsMaggie SmithAlex JenningsJim BroadbentA man forms an unexpected bond with a transient woman living in her van that's parked in his driveway.
- DirectorPaolo SorrentinoStarsToni ServilloAnna BonaiutoGiulio BosettiThe story of Italian politician Giulio Andreotti, who has served as Prime Minister of Italy seven times since the restoration of democracy in 1946.
- DirectorFrank CoraciStarsJackie ChanSteve CooganJim BroadbentTo win a bet, an eccentric British inventor embarks, with his Chinese valet and an aspiring French artist, on a trip full of adventures and dangers around the world in exactly 80 days.
- DirectorJocelyne SaabStarsEmile AccarPierre ChamassianAbou El AbedTwo young girls of the war generation, Yasmin and Leila, are in search of Beirut. When they meet an elderly film enthusiast with a secret store of Lebanese films, they persuade him to screen his collection for them. So begins an initiation into the myths and images of Beirut, but the girls want cold figures and facts, war babies indifferent to the memories evoked.
- DirectorLui FariasStarsBetty FariaReginaldo FariaMário GomesWhen her husband dies, Lili asks Guerreiro if she can join his gang of bank robbers. She soon gains notoriety in the press but is relentlessly pursued by an honest police officer.
- DirectorEric BarbierStarsPierre NineyCharlotte GainsbourgDidier BourdonA man recounts his life, from his childhood through his experiences in World War II, and the story of his self-sacrificing mother, who raised him alone.
- DirectorDaniel RezendeStarsGiulia BeniteKevin VechiattoLaura RauseoJimmy Five gathers his friends Monica, Maggy and Smudge to find his kidnapped dog Fluffy.
- DirectorOleg TrofimStarsTikhon ZhiznevskiyLyubov AksyonovaSergei GoroshkoSupercop Grom fights crime in St. Petersburg - an uphill battle. A vigilante starts killing the powerful, who escaped justice.
- DirectorSantiago DellapeStarsEdu MoraesEucir de SouzaBianca MüllerIn a forgotten corner of the vast Brazilian bureaucracy, a psychotic boss uses a time machine to enslave his lazy employees and increase productivity.
- DirectorFellipe FernandesStarsZoraide ColetoKildery KilderyFábio LealIn the distance, flying over the multiplied volcanoes, an electric storm was generated in silence.
- DirectorAly MuritibaStarsPaulo MiklosSergio MaroneMaureen MirandaWestern book writer, Eugenio is going through a difficult phase. He is famous for the novels starring the Jesus Kid, but his sales have been going from bad to worse for some time. The light at the end of the tunnel seems to be a film director's invitation: he wants Eugenio to write a film script. However, to write this script, Eugênio must spend three months isolated in a luxury hotel, without being able to go out or have contact with the world he knows. Based on this premise, Mutarelli builds a scathing critique of the publishing market and the film market - where he has been circulating for years. Bringing to Eugênio much of his own personality, the author shows how the commercial part of culture can be perverse to those who work in it.
- DirectorJulia Zanin de PaulaStarsCarlo CancelliDelson RabelloMarcos SigalesAn adaptation of the Guy de Maupassant's tale, a film about how far we can go with entertainment.
- DirectorMariano CohnGastón DupratStarsOscar MartínezDady BrievaAndrea FrigerioA winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, who has been living in Europe for decades, accepts an invitation to receive another award. In Argentina he finds both similarities and irreconcilable differences with the people of his hometown.
- DirectorGuillermo del ToroStarsFernando Garcia MarinGuadalupe Del ToroNapoA boy is tired of failing geometry, so he summons a demon.
- DirectorLuís Alberto PereiraStarsJackson AntunesMarianna ArmelliniPaulo BettiQuinzinho (Matheus Nachtergaele) has a promise to keep: take his child, Neco (Vinicius Miranda), to the city to watch a Mazzaropi's movie. They live in a small farm in São Paulo. In this odyssey by the city of São Paulo, he also leads his wife Zulmira (Gorete Miracles), which part unwillingly, and the donkey Policarpo. On the journey, they find regional peculiarities and undergo magical situations, related to popular belief.
- DirectorJocelyn MoorhouseStarsKate WinsletJudy DavisLiam HemsworthA glamorous woman returns to her small town in rural Australia. With her sewing machine and haute couture style, she transforms the women and exacts sweet revenge on those who did her wrong.
- DirectorYorgos LanthimosStarsBarry G. BernsonHerb CaillouetBill CampSteven, a charismatic surgeon, is forced to make an unthinkable sacrifice after his life starts to fall apart, when the behavior of a teenage boy he has taken under his wing turns sinister.
- DirectorShahrbanoo SadatStarsKaran Jeet SinghQodratEshanullah KharotiA 15-year-old ticket scalper in Kabul dreams of Bollywood until the Soviets force him into a state facility.
- DirectorBuza FerrazLuiz Carlos LacerdaStarsBetty FariaJosé WilkerPaulo GorgulhoDuring the Second World War, the U.S.A. established a military base in Natal, Brazil, changing in many ways people's lives and behavior.
- DirectorAndre Alves PintoStarsZé AlexBruno BennecHugo Germano
- DirectorMario MonicelliStarsMonica VittiStanley BakerCorin RedgraveA Sicilian woman "dishonored" by her lover goes to England with a pistol intending to murder him.
- DirectorFernando SanchesStarsLuciana PaesGilda NomacceDane TaranhaKatia Fontinelle is a great actress who requests an Uber to go to a party in a far away city on a Saturday night. To her surprise the driver is a woman, the journey goes smoothly until weird things start to happen and what was supposed to be a quiet ride turns into a night of horror.
- DirectorCarlos DieguesStarsMarília PêraPaulo JoséZezé MottaEarning her living by dubbing American TV Series, a woman dreams of becoming an international Hollywood star.
- DirectorGuillaume CanetStarsGuillaume CanetGilles LelloucheVincent CasselThe only daughter of the Chinese emperor Han Xuandi, escapes from a strict prince and seeks help from the Gauls and the two brave warriors Asterix and Obelix.
- DirectorReginaldo FariaStarsReginaldo FariaStepan NercessianNeuza AmaralTwo young men in search of adventure meet Iracema, a bride who's been left waiting at the church. They give her a ride on their jeep, until they find the most strange family: a couple with seven girls and a son. According to popular tradition, a man born after seven girls is bound to become a werewolf.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsBarney ClarkBen KingsleyJeremy SwiftAn adaptation of the classic Dickens tale, where an orphan meets a pickpocket on the streets of London. From there, he joins a household of boys who are trained to steal for their master.