Begin Again (2014)

Familiar strangers have always been a matter of fascination for me. It’s sometimes the beginning of something brilliant, like in the famous trilogy which began with Before Sunrise. Or it might be something liberating and reinforcing, like in Lost in Translation. It might even be empowering but borderline scandalous, like in The Bridges of Madison County. In each case however, there’s always a special place in your heart reserved for that stranger, and the journey you two share makes a significant impact on you as a person. Sometimes, it’s purely platonic, but still making just as much impact on both people involved, like in Begin Again. Even more enticing are the ones with a distinct age gap. It’s a familial sort of bond, but without the weight of being actual family, and thus more candid and so even more redeeming, like Charlie’s bond with his English teacher in The Perks of Being a Wallflower. If you’re also a major fan of the familiar strangers story between two people of different generations, here are 5 underrated films you probably haven’t heard of, but might thoroughly enjoy.

Miss Stevens tells the story of three school children Margot (Lili Reinhart), Sam (Anthony Quintal), Billy (Timothée Chalamet) and their English teacher Rachel (Lily Rabe) as they go for a two day trip for the students’ participation in an acting tournament. Billy is mentally ill, but his parents have given permission because he needs the experience. Plus, he’s extremely talented, and their best hopes at winning. During their stay, Billy and Rachel connect, forging a bond beyond the traditional, but consciously not crossing any boundaries. He helps her with her repressed emotions, and she helps him with his disconnection from people.

I imagine that it would be a dream job for an actor to play the parts of twin brothers Dominick and Thomas Birdsey in I Know This Much Is True. They are both deeply complex and multifaceted characters, while also being starkly different from each other. There is so much room there for an actor to play within, and to shine as they give two nuanced and powerful performances. In the case of HBO’s six part limited series, the lucky actor who gets to take this on is Mark Ruffalo.

I have been a fan of Ruffalo for a long time. He first popped up on my radar when he debuted as Bruce Banner in The Avengers (2012). Since then, I have been nothing short of amazed by his truly raw talent. His performances in movies such as Begin Again (2013), Foxcatcher (2014), and Spotlight (2015) — the latter two garnering him Oscar nominations — cemented him for me as one of my favorite working actors. Anything that Mark Ruffalo is in will immediately have my attention.

In I Know This Much Is True, Dominick (Ruffalo) struggles to care for his paranoid schizophrenic brother, Thomas (Ruffalo). The more Dominick fights to help his brother, the more he feels he is losing the war. It’s within his moments of absolute loss and devastation that we see who Dominick truly is as a person.

As the series progresses, we also come to learn more about Dominick’s past. His relationships with his brother, his stepfather Ray (John Procaccino), his ex-wife Dessa (Kathryn Hahn), and his mother (Melissa Leo) all have secrets that are slowly unearthed. That is the biggest aspect of I Know This Much Is True that makes it as compelling as it is: the secrets and mysteries that take their time to be fully revealed.