Blue Valentine (2010)

Directed by Derek Cianfrance
Starring Ryan Gosling & Michelle Williams

Dean is a high school dropout who never saw himself getting married or having a family, but that all changed when he found Cindy, a hard-at-work nursing student. Both come from dysfunctional families and hit it off immedialy, prompting the pair to get married and start a family. A few years in things change, however, and not for the better. This is one of the most depressing movies out there, but art isn't always supposed to be roses and butterflies.

Fruitvale Station (2013)

Directed by Ryan Coogler
Starring Michael B. Jordan & Octavia Spencer

The true story of the 2009 New Year's Day shooting at Bay Area Rapid Transit in Oakland California. Jordan plays Oscar Grant III, a young African-American man who wakes up on December 31st deciding to get a head start on his New Year's resolutions. He wants to be a better father, boyfriend, and a better son to his mother (Octavia Spencer). He learns that all of this will be easier said than done, but looks forward to the challenge. His biggest challenge, though, comes two hours into the new year when he meets the Bay Area Transit Police.

The Kids Are All Right (2010)

Directed by Lisa Cholodenko
Starring Annette Bening, Julianne Moore & Mark Ruffalo

This comedic drama is led by the strong performances of Annette Bening and Julianne Moore, who play a lesbian couple who've successfully raised two bright teenagers thanks to artificial insemination. Drama ensues when their kids decide they want to meet their biological father and sperm donor, making the modern family even more untraditional. You'll laugh, you'll get mad, but you'll also love this movie.

Lars and the Real Girl (2007)

Directed by Craig Gillespie
Starring Ryan Gosling

Lars is an awkward, shy man living in small town, nowhere. Worried that Lars spends too much time alone, his brother and sister-in-law (who live right next door) encourage Lars to start dating. Soon after Lars brings home the girl of his dreams - a sex doll he ordered off the internet. His brother and sister-in-law are worried there may be something psychologically wrong with him, but soon they and the rest of the town go along with it. This movie is a riot and undoubtedly one of Gosling's greatest performances.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)

Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Starring Thomas Man, Olivia Cooke & RJ Cyler

Greg is a wise-cracking, sarcastic teenager coasting through his senior year of high school. He and his friend Earl have a passion for making movies, usually short knock-offs of films that have inspired them. When a classmate of his gets diagnosed with leukemia, Greg's mother asks him to befriend her, which he does. No, this is not like The Fault in Our Stars and no it is not a love story, which you will learn in the opening minutes of the film. You'll laugh, you'll cry and you'll be really glad you watched Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.

Moonlight (2016)

Directed by Barry Jenkins
Starring Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris & Janelle Monae

This film chronicles the life of Chiron, an African-American gay man raised in the ghettos of Miami, who is struggling to come to terms with who he is and what is purpose in society is. Chiron is befriended in his youth by a drug dealer and his wife, whom he remains close to in his upbringing, and is raised by his crack-addicted mother. This film won Best Picture recently at the Academy Awards and people still haven't heard of it in spite of that. Please, go see this movie.

Rabbit Hole (2010)

Directed by John Cameron Mitchell
Starring Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckart & Miles Teller

Becca and Howie's lives are turned upside down when their young son gets hit by a car and is killed by a teenage driver. The film takes place eight months after the incident and the pair go about their grief in different ways. Howie wants to hold on to everything that reminds him of Danny, while Becca wants to sell the house and move for a fresh start. Their relationship begins to slip as Howie seeks solace in another member of their therapy group, while Becca begins a friendship with Jason, the driver who killed her little boy.

Room (2015)

Directed by Lenny Abrahamson
Starring Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay

This film is about a teenage girl who is abducted and held hostage in a 10-by-10, sound proof tool shed. Fast-forward seven years, the teenage girl, whose real name we never learn, is the mother to a spirited five-year-old boy named Jack. In an effort to keep Jack happy and safe, Ma tells him that the tool-shed is the world and nothing or no one exists outside of it, except for old-Nick who only visits at night-time when Jack is supposed to be sleeping. Ma plans a risky escape, in which both her and Jack's lives are in danger, in an attempt to live a normal life.

Short Term 12 (2013)

Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton
Starring Brie Larson

Grace is a twenty-something counselor working at a foster-care facility for at-risk teenagers. Engaged to her coworker, Mason, the two work to try and help these teenagers cope with the experiences they've endured which placed them in the facility. Grace struggles to open up to anyone, including Mason, which brings about a great deal of stress to their relationship, making them wonder if they are even suitable for one another. It isn't until Grace meets a snotty teenage girl named Jayden that she is able to cope with her own past.

We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)

Directed by Lynne Ramsay
Starring Tilda Swinton & Ezra Miller

Not everyone is meant to be a mother and that is the case for Eva, who spends a majority of the film trying to piece together where she went wrong raising her son Kevin, who is approaching his 18th birthday. Separated from Kevin, her husband and hated by the town she lives in, Eva lives a solitary life working a low-paying job as a clerk in a travel agency where she spends her days looking at a computer screen, reminiscing on all of the "what ifs" that could have made things so different.