National Theatre Live: The Effect (2024)

Romeo's Distress

"Romeo's Distress" is a weird, gothic noir horror-thriller that tells a story of a boy name James, his unrequited love for a girl named Jane, and her father's sadistic (yet dutiful) response to it all.

Zandalee

Bored with her marriage to burnt out poet turned corporate executive Thierry, Zandalee falls prey to an old friend of her husband, the manipulative and egotistical Johnny and becomes enmeshed in a sensual, passionate and destructive affair.

Lolita

Humbert Humbert is a middle-aged British novelist who is both appalled by and attracted to the vulgarity of American culture. When he comes to stay at the boarding house run by Charlotte Haze, he soon becomes obsessed with Lolita, the woman's teenaged daughter.

… verdammt, ich bin erwachsen

15-year old Klaus Kambor, called Kurbel, is living in a village in Lusatia and already thinks of himself as an adult. He can hold a lot of rhubarb wine and has already kissed a girl. But with his new method of lawn mowing, which he thinks is brilliant, Klaus makes a big mistake: He causes a wild fire in the forest. Then he does not react adult-like at all, but shirks the responsibility, which leads to the break-up with his girlfriend Daniela. Furthermore, Klaus does not realize that several of the places he likes the most in his environment are now going to be sacrificed to mining. When Klaus becomes friends with the teacher Konzak and with the construction worker Jule, he feels understood for the first time and starts to take more responsibility.

I Am Here

A young man, looking to start his life over moves into a new neighborhood. In his new home, he discovers a picture of a beautiful girl with a phone number along side of it. As time passes by, his curiosity and affection of the girl grows and compels him to text the number. He eventually gets pulled into an unconventional relationship with the girl over text messages, but they never actually meet.

Jaan Tere Naam

Lovely Pinky Malhotra is a heart-breaker in the college where she studies, and has a number of young men who would lay down their lives for her. Amongst them are Sunil and Vicky. She is attracted to Sunil, and both carry on a romantic relationship, hoping to get married after finishing college. Before that could happen, Pinky finds out that Sunil has been two-timing her as he is already dating another young collegian. Angered and hurt at this, she decides she will have nothing to do with him, and starts her romance with Vicky. Sunil, who does not know what has transpired, wants to talk to Pinky with a view of rekindling their romance, but Pinky refuses to speak with him. The question remains is Sunil really in love with another girl, and if so, why did he take the trouble to woo Pinky?

Anchorless

During a trip to Brazil in 2022, Augusto (15), an introspective and dreamy young man, becomes enchanted by Antônio (16), a magnetic and unpredictable boy from Belém. Amid the heat of the World Cup and the waters reflecting a fleeting encounter, a fragile connection is born, stretching across distance when Augusto returns to Italy, turning desire into obsession. While Augusto loses himself in idealizations and the emptiness of delayed responses, Antônio continues his life between parties, friends, and fleeting loves. What begins as a promising romance crumbles under the weight of time, silence, and the things that were never said. As the years pass, Augusto is forced to face an inevitable truth: some loves do not belong to the future, they exist only in memory. An intimate and visceral portrait of love, loss, and growth, Anchorless delves into the fragility of first feelings and the pain of learning that not every story is destined to last.

Icharus Broken

After four years in prison, Bobby is released into a world he no longer recognizes. His exgirlfriend Penny is abusing drugs. Their daughter is in foster care. Bobby's sister is in the process of rebuilding her life after a bad relationship.

Broken Embraces

Harry Caine, a blind writer, reaches this moment in time when he has to heal his wounds from 14 years back. He was then still known by his real name, Mateo Blanco, and directing his last movie.

Le Divorce

While visiting her sister in Paris, a young woman finds romance and learns her brother-in-law is a philanderer.

Love is a Fairy Tale

In this 1993 Hong Kong film, a boathand (Aaron Kwok) falls in love with a supermodel (Rosamund Kwan) he sees on a billboard.

Titanic

101-year-old Rose DeWitt Bukater tells the story of her life aboard the Titanic, 84 years later. A young Rose boards the ship with her mother and fiancé. Meanwhile, Jack Dawson and Fabrizio De Rossi win third-class tickets aboard the ship. Rose tells the whole story from Titanic's departure through to its death—on its first and last voyage—on April 15, 1912.

Heaven

Cate Blanchett stars as Philippa, a British teacher living in Turin, Italy, who has seen many friends, including her husband, fall victim to drug overdoses. Philippa has repeatedly contacted the police with information about Turin's biggest drug dealer but, complicit in his dealings, they have completely ignored her. So Philippa decides to dole out her own form of justice with a homemade bomb -- setting her off on a journey from young widow to fugitive on the run.

Autumn in New York

Will Keane, a Manhattan restaurateur, is content with his playboy lifestyle until he meets Charlotte Fielding, a free-spirited young woman. Together the pair pursue a passionate affair that forces them both to reevaluate what they want out of life, even as fate threatens to steal away their future.

Faust

God and Satan war over earth; to settle things, they wager on the soul of Faust, a learned and prayerful alchemist.

The Clearing

When affluent executive Wayne Hayes is kidnapped by a disgruntled employee and held for ransom in a forest, Wayne’s wife is forced to reckon with the FBI agents as they negotiate with the kidnapper.

Ben-Hur

In 26 AD, Judah Ben-Hur, a Jew in ancient Judea, opposes the occupying Roman empire. Falsely accused by a Roman childhood friend-turned-overlord of trying to kill the Roman governor, he is put into slavery and his mother and sister are taken away as prisoners.

Manhattan

Manhattan explores how the life of a middle-aged television writer dating a teenage girl is further complicated when he falls in love with his best friend's mistress.

Annie Hall

New York comedian Alvy Singer falls in love with the ditsy Annie Hall.

Faces

Middle-aged suburban husband Richard abruptly tells his wife, Maria, that he wants a divorce. As Richard takes up with a younger woman, Maria enjoys a night on the town with her friends and meets a younger man. As the couple and those around them confront a seemingly futile search for what they've lost -- love, excitement, passion -- this classic American independent film explores themes of aging and alienation.

Don Juan DeMarco

John Arnold DeMarco is a man who believes he is Don Juan, the greatest lover in the world. Clad in a cape and mask, DeMarco undergoes psychiatric treatment with Dr. Jack Mickler to cure him of his apparent delusion. But the psychiatric sessions have an unexpected effect on the psychiatric staff and, most profoundly, Dr Mickler, who rekindles the romance in his complacent marriage.

Children of Paradise

In a chaotic 19th-century Paris teeming with aristocrats, thieves, psychics, and courtesans, theater mime Baptiste is in love with the mysterious actress Garance. But Garance, in turn, is loved by three other men: pretentious actor Frederick, conniving thief Lacenaire, and Count Edouard of Montray.

Belle Époque

In 1931, a young soldier deserts from the army and falls into a country farm, where he is welcomed by the owner due to his political ideas. Manolo has four daughters, Fernando likes all of them and they like him, so he has to decide which one to love.

Jodoh 3 Bujang

Three bachelor brothers—Fadly, Kifly, and Ahmad—were asked by their parents to have a joint wedding due to financial limitations in upholding tradition. However, Fadly's fiancée was suddenly arranged by her parents to marry a more well-off man. Now, Fadly must find a new bride in the short time remaining, or their joint wedding will be in jeopardy!

Water and Fire

A pretty young girl falls for an enigmatic, shy man who sweeps her off her feet. She becomes pregnant but is not allowed to tell him. His advisers are adamant. Back home, they have set up a wedding with the daughter of an antagonistic family and marriage will put an end to the blood feud between them.

It's Official...

The twists and turns of the life of the youngest child named Mar who always tries to fulfill her family's expectations. But this time, Mar is faced with a difficult situation, because she is suddenly matched with a man named Marno. The two of them must get married in front of Mar's father's body, right on the day of his death. In fact, Mar herself already has a lover. So, will Mar and Marno's wedding procession go smoothly?

Come Early Morning

A thirty-something southern woman searches for love, despite the burdens she carries with her.

Side Effects

America! Built on a better pill. Karly Hert has spent the last ten years selling drugs. Legally, that is. Karly is a pharmaceutical sales representative. She sells pills to doctors. She makes lots of money. She has a company car. She has a nice fat expense account. But there's a growing pit in Karly's stomach. Something isn't right behind the scenes at big pharma. Based on the director's decade working directly for the industry.

Entanglement

While recovering from a suicide attempt, Ben Layten accidentally falls in love with a girl who was very nearly, almost his sister - and then things start to get weird.

Life and Death on the Shore

Set in 1945 at the end of World War II. Saku arrives on Kakeromajima as the head of navy special forces. He is admired by the children on the island and he is interested in learning the island song as well as drinking with his men. Toe is an elementary school teacher on Kakeromajima and she has feelings for Saku.

PLEH

An experimental journey through a year in the life of the director, using his always playing playlist to cross the boundaries of fiction and documentary. Through scenes of both comedy and tragedy, realistic documentary footage and experimental sequences of the director's environment and daily life we get a sometimes estranging image of a young man and also an intriguing insight in his mindset and how this translates to the imagery on screen.

Rocco and His Brothers

When a impoverished widow’s family moves to the big city, two of her five sons become romantic rivals with deadly results.

Heavenly Creatures

Precocious teenager Juliet moves to New Zealand with her family and soon befriends the quiet, brooding Pauline through their shared love of fantasy and literature. This friendship gradually develops into an intense and obsessive bond.

Notes on a Scandal

A veteran high school teacher befriends a younger art teacher, who is having an affair with one of her 15-year-old students. However, her intentions with this new "friend" also go well beyond platonic friendship.

Stranger Than Fiction

Harold Crick is a lonely IRS agent whose mundane existence is transformed when he hears a mysterious voice narrating his life.

¡Tango!

¡Tango! follows a formula established by Carlos Gardel with films such as Luces de Buenos Aires (The Lights of Buenos Aires, 1931) in which a melodramatic story is interspersed with tango songs. However, the film had less dialog and more music, making it more like a musical revue. This format would be copied by many subsequent films. The plot is derived from tango songs. Many of these songs tell of the seduction of an innocent slum girl by a rich man who promises her a glamorous life, but who abandons her when her looks fade. The stylized and sentimental plot of ¡Tango! revolves around a young man who is abandoned by his girlfriend for an older rich man and is heartbroken. The film follows his misfortunes.

First Name: Carmen

The protagonist is Carmen X, a sexy female member of a terrorist gang. She asks her uncle Jean, a washed-up film director if she can borrow his beachside house to make a film with some friends, but they are in fact planning to rob a bank. During the robbery she falls in love with a security guard. The film intercuts between Carmen's escape with the guard, her uncle's attempt to make a comeback film, and a string quartet attempting to perform Beethoven.

Now, Voyager

A woman suffers a nervous breakdown and an oppressive mother before being freed by the love of a man she meets on a cruise.

The Vicious Kind

A man tries to warn his brother away from the new girlfriend he brings home during Thanksgiving, but ends up becoming infatuated with her in the process.

High Art

When Syd, a young editor at an influential art magazine, becomes involved with her neighbor, a drug-addicted lesbian photographer, both seek to exploit each other for their respective careers while slowly falling in love with each other.

Anthony Adverse

Based on the novel by Hervey Allen, this expansive drama follows the many adventures of the eponymous hero, Anthony Adverse. Abandoned at a convent by his heartless nobleman father, Don Luis, Anthony is later mentored by his kind grandfather, John Bonnyfeather, and falls for the beautiful Angela Giuseppe. When circumstances separate Anthony and Angela and he embarks on a long journey, he must find his way back to her, no matter what the cost.

Marat, Lika and Leonidik

The story of three young men during the siege who were looking for an apartment that had survived the bombing, but found each other for life. Marat and Lika (she loved the proud Marat, but married Leonidik, who had lost his arm at the front) fled from their own happiness and are now painfully returning to it, learning to be happy again with such difficulty, as if learning to walk again. And Leonidik, for whom the burden of his love has become unbearable, unbearable, is learning to be free again with the same difficulty.

Nenu

A genius-yet-introverted orphan, raised by a church priest, is sent to college where he turns out to be a social outcast. Although he is shunned by the majority of the other students, one girl shows him kindness and befriends him. Things take a turn when he falls for her, and she in turn falls for another classmate.

Whisper of the Heart

Shizuku lives a simple life, dominated by her love for stories and writing. One day she notices that all the library books she has have been previously checked out by the same person: 'Seiji Amasawa'.

Only Old Men Are Going to Battle

Alexey Titarenko is very talented pilot and brave leader of "Singing group". He also must look after some new cadets and fight together with them against German Luftwaffe planes. Close to Alexey always are his friends, they are all from different parts of the country, but they all became real brothers.

The Pokrovsky Gates

Stories from the lives of the tenants of the Moscow's communal apartment: Kostik, who is a college student, lives with his aunt while studying; Arkady Velyurov who is a performing artist; Khobotovs, who are a divorced couple; and Sava, who is Margarita Khobotov's new fiancé. All these people live in one apartment and their lives constantly touch each other's.

Thousand Cranes

The entangled relations between the son of a seductive tea-ceremony teacher and the women in his father's life. Based on the novel by Kawabata Yasunari.

The Jacket

A military veteran goes on a journey into the future, where he can foresee his death and is left with questions that could save his life and those he loves.

Casanova

With a reputation for seducing members of the opposite sex, regardless of their marital status, a notorious womanizer discovers a beauty who seems impervious to his charms. However, as he continues to pursue the indifferent lady, he finds himself falling in love.

North Country

A fictionalized account of the first major successful sexual harassment case in the United States — Jenson vs. Eveleth Mines, where a woman who endured a range of abuse while working as a miner filed and won the landmark 1984 lawsuit.

A Walk in the Clouds

World War II vet Paul Sutton falls for a pregnant and unwed woman who persuades him -- during their first encounter -- to pose as her husband so she can face her family.

Ziarah

Mbah Sri (95 years old) is looking for the grave of her husband, who has been missing for decades, with one simple aim: she wants to rest in peace beside her husband’s grave.

Excursion

1941 and the war culminates. The wife of a lieutenant and a sergeant fall madly in love. Times and circumstances -military service, marriage, friendship between the two men- forbid this love, but do not negate it. When the lieutenant is injured and taken to hospital, the two lovers, against all odds, dare the only possible way out: he defects, she leaves her husband, and they begin a journey without return towards the border.

The Lover

A poor French teenage girl engages in an illicit affair with a wealthy Chinese heir in 1920s Saigon. For the first time in her young life she has control, and she wields it deftly over her besotted lover throughout a series of clandestine meetings and torrid encounters.

The Postman

Simple Italian postman learns to love poetry while delivering mail to a famous poet; he uses this to woo local beauty Beatrice.

Never Been Kissed

Josie Geller, a baby-faced junior copywriter at the Chicago Sun-Times, must pose as a student at her former high school to research contemporary teenage culture. With the help of her brother, Rob, Josie infiltrates the inner circle of the most popular clique on campus. But she hits a major snag in her investigation -- not to mention her own failed love life -- when she falls for her dreamy English teacher, Sam Coulson.

Love Songs

Ismael and Julie, in the hope of sparking their stalled relationship, enter a playful yet emotionally laced threesome with Alice. When tragedy strikes, these young Parisians are forced to deal with the fragility of life and love. For Ismael, this means negotiating through the advances of Julie's sister and a young college student – one of which may offer him redemption.

Breaking Pencils

Sep learns how to navigate high-school life.

Aaja Nachle

Dia is a divorced mom living in New York and must go back to India after she receives news that her guru is on his death bed. When she arrives she finds he is gone and has left her the responsibility of saving and reviving the Ajanta Theater where she used to dance. The problem is that the political officers want it torn down and turned into a shopping mall. The storyline follows Dia and her challenge to stand up for what she believes in and fight the cause to the end, while trying to win back the love and support of the people of the town whom she walked out on ten years prior.

maboroshi

A factory explosion plunges a small town into a timeless freeze, leaving teenage Masamune and his pals to grapple with a quickly collapsing reality.

Feast of Love

A meditation on love and its various incarnations, set within a community of friends in Oregon. It is described as an exploration of the magical, mysterious and sometimes painful incarnations of love.

Green Card

Urban horticulturalist Brontë Mitchell has her eye on a gorgeous apartment, but the building's board will rent it only to a married couple. Georges Fauré, a waiter from France whose visa is expiring, needs to marry an American woman to stay in the country. Their marriage of convenience turns into a burden when they must live together to allay the suspicions of the immigration service, as the polar opposites grate on each other's nerves.

High Crimes

A female attorney learns that her husband is really a marine officer awol for fifteen years and accused of murdering fifteen civilians in El Salvador. Believing her husband when he tells her that he's being framed as part of a U.S. Military cover-up, the attorney defends him in a military court.

In the Land of Women

After a bad breakup with his girlfriend leaves him heartbroken, Carter Webb moves to Michigan to take care of his ailing grandmother. Once there, he gets mixed up in the lives of the mother and daughters who live across the street.