As the holidays approach again, here are some suggestions for what to watch at the cinema or on streaming platforms — not Christmas stories, but real ones (or drawn from real life) that offer both entertainment and something to think about.
Once Upon a Time, My Mother
In theaters December 4
In France, lawyer Roland Perez is known for his radio and television appearances and for his memoir Ma mère, Dieu et Sylvie Vartan, which Canadian director Ken Scott adapted into this widely celebrated film. Roland was born into a working-class family of Moroccan descent with a congenital clubfoot that every doctor insisted would prevent him from walking. His mother rejected their verdict. She refused to let him wear a brace and pursued every possible medical solution, despite universal opposition. Was this an act of unconditional love — a mother determined to give her son every opportunity available to anyone else? Or an unwitting hymn to ableism, the refusal of a mother to accept that her son could navigate life with a motor disability? This story of profound, moving maternal love carries a suffocating edge. Look past the surface emotion and the moral contradictions become impossible to ignore.
Little Amélie
In theaters January 1
This animated film softens the partially autobiographical novel by Amélie Nothomb. It's told from the perspective of Amélie herself, a girl born in Japan to a Belgian family who, for her first two and a half years, has no bodily control — she lies still. Then, as if by magic, she catches up, learning rapidly to move, speak, and interact with the world around her. Japanese tradition holds that all children under three are like gods. So Amélie feels she truly is a small deity, and as such, she observes and experiments with everything within reach — beautiful discoveries (chocolate) and hard ones (death, separation). The soft, colorful drawings create a tender portrait of early childhood, the kind we might wish we could remember if we could travel back to our first three years. That the film — directed by Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han — speaks to all ages was confirmed when it won the prestigious audience prize for best European film in the Perlak section at the San Sebastián Film Festival a few months ago.
Deaf President Now!
On Apple TV
In 1988, Gallaudet University in Washington became the site of massive student protests. Though widely participated in, they were relatively quiet — this is a university for deaf students, the only college in the United States where courses are taught in American Sign Language (ASL). The protests erupted when a hearing woman was appointed president instead of either of two deaf candidates, a decision consistent with tradition but no longer acceptable to a generation of students aware of their own capabilities. Some protest leaders agreed to be interviewed, recounting those decisive weeks for the civil rights movement. They speak in sign language, with voice actors providing the translation. What stands out in this documentary — directed by Nyle DiMarco and Davis Guggenheim, which reconstructs events from multiple perspectives — is the unbridgeable divide between a proud, mature deaf community and an academic establishment convinced that deaf people needed supervision.
Chris Hemsworth: A Memorable Road Trip
On Disney+
Famous for playing Thor in Marvel films, Australian actor Chris Hemsworth faced his father's Alzheimer's diagnosis the way he knows best: he made a documentary about it. Reminiscence therapy — the idea that stimulating the retrieval of memories can help people with cognitive decline and slow disease progression — becomes concrete practice through a father-and-son journey to places where the family had lived. They travel by motorcycle through remote stretches of northern Australia, eventually joined by Hemsworth's mother. The camera captures the good moments and the difficult ones, unable to predict in advance what will unfold. For Hemsworth, diving into his father's memories (and his own) is also a way to create new shared experiences, preserved forever in this film. One day, if he develops the same disease his father has, these images may help his own children face what he faces today.
Pulse — Season 1
On Netflix
Hospital dramas all share roughly the same ingredients. This one tries to tackle urgent contemporary themes from the opening episode: a Miami emergency room where English and Spanish are both spoken (migration), overwhelmed by workplace harassment (women's rights) and a hurricane disaster (climate change). The real novelty, in pursuit of realism, appears within minutes: Harper Simms, an emergency medicine resident who uses a wheelchair. Jessy Yates, a young actress with cerebral palsy in what has been her most significant role, learned from actual disabled physicians how to convincingly portray medical procedures from her particular perspective — something rarely seen on screen. Speaking about the character, she said: "Harper's disability clearly comes through, but it's not her main source of conflict. That pretty much sums up my experience with disability." Whether you love this series or not, though, don't get too attached to the characters. There won't be a second season.