There is a saying by David Wark Griffith (often wrongly attributed to Jean-Luc Godard) that all one needs to make a movie is a girl and a gun. Sex and death are definitely the two things that are sure to sell, and both are featured prominently in cinema as we know it today, but they mostly function as plot details and do not necessarily make the spectator ponder about them in a deeper sense. Mortality is a fundamental part of the human condition, so movies with a more central role of mortality deserve more attention.

Not all of the movies in this list have mortality as the main subject, but all of them say something interesting about it. These dramas explore mortality in a way that can inspire our personal outlook.

1. Le Petit Soldat (1963, Jean-Luc Godard)

Le Petit Soldat is a French New Wave classic about Bruno and Veronica who fall in love with each other despite being on opposite sides of the Algerian war for independence from France. Bruno is often faced with life-or-death situations and although he tries to leave his dangerous business behind when spending time with Veronica, they still discuss death and suicide quite a bit. The backdrop of war creates an atmosphere of urgency about life when every moment feels precious.

One of the most interesting moments of Le Petit Soldat is the ending. It is so abrupt that it might seem that the movie is unfinished. In this way, it offers a metaphor for how life ends. While fictional stories usually have a nice resolution at the end, they are unrealistic to how the story of one’s life actually ends. So the takeaway regarding mortality here is twofold: the interesting thoughts in the character’s conversations and the formal cinematic language.

2. Youth (2015, Paolo Sorrentino)

On one hand, Youth seems to be a nostalgia-fueled movie that circles around two elderly men looking at their best times in the past. On the other hand, the movie does not paint this picture in dark and melancholic colors. The subject of mortality is presented here as that which should not appear scary to us. There is a grace to how the characters in Youth approach death.

This courage in the face of death is largely based on how the characters understand their identity. It is their achievements in life that bring them strength and peace of mind when it comes to mortality. What we make of ourselves during our life makes the time spent worth it and that is one of the things that can allow us to accept even the prospect of death.

3. Biutiful (2010, Alejandro G. Iñárritu)

Biutiful is set in a poor neighborhood in Barcelona, Spain. Uxbal has custody of two of his children and is struggling to earn money by doing illegal jobs. Suddenly, he learns that he has only a couple of months left to live due to his health worsening at a rapid rate. This makes him look at his life in a different light. Uxbal used to be impatient and angry at his children, but faced with mortality he appreciates every moment with them. Although that might sound like a cliché idea, the movie communicates it powerfully.

The point that Biutiful makes is that even a life full of hardships can appear beautiful if for a mere second. The knowledge that we have of our mortality renders all worries meaningless. It opens space for clarity and inspires us to dwell in the here and now.

4. Melancholia (2011, Lars von Trier)

The plot of Lars von Trier’s visually beautiful Melancholia takes place in the days leading up to the apocalypse as another planet is traveling on a collision course with Earth. The metaphor of this plot communicates the truth that mortality concerns every human being, for it is our inevitable fate.

Different characters in the movie react to the doomsday situation differently. Some of them enter into a state of denial, some become desperate to find a way to avoid the apocalypse, while others surrender to it in either a nihilistic or peaceful attitude. In any case, the initial panic and anxiety induced by the certainty of death is universal and it is a striking point of Melancholia.

5. The Seventh Continent (1989, Michael Haneke)

The Seventh Continent tells the story of a middle-class family that decides to commit suicide. As horrible as that sounds, it is based on real events that the director read in a news article. This drama truly carries a disturbing effect on the spectator and it is a worthwhile piece if only for that experience.

The interesting spin on mortality here is that the family seems to understand their possessions as an extension of themselves. Humans are inherently technological beings, so to really annihilate oneself requires not only killing one’s physical self but also destroying one’s belongings. The movie puts the focus on things rather than people from the very beginning: the camera angles deliberately show inanimate objects at the center.

6. Wiener-Dog (2016, Todd Solondz)

Todd Solondz’s Wiener-Dog is classified as a comedy, but that is probably based on the quirkiness of the characters. Overall, it plays with the emotions of the spectator, has a rather somber mood and a gut-punching message. Wiener-Dog could be called a tragic drama about sad people’s lives with left-field humorous moments. There are plenty of deaths and talks about death in it.

In the first of the four stories told in the movie, there is a very touching dialog between a mother and her son as the boy learns about mortality through the death of their dog. The mother tries to explain that death is natural and sometimes it happens without any reason. The terrifying idea that we all are going to die is framed to be a good thing because that is what makes us love each other. It is exactly in love that solace can be found despite our mortal nature.

7. Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962, Agnès Varda)

In Cléo from 5 to 7, a young singer Cléo spends two hours waiting for the results of a test that might confirm a diagnosis of cancer. For the two hours, she worries about her well-being and encounters a number of bad omens that remind her of her own mortality. Cléo does not want to die, but fame and youth does not make her invincible.

Cléo from 5 to 7 shows the reality of what the notion of death makes us feel: anxiety. People naturally tend to fear death and wish to live. This movie focuses on what is there to lose when one’s life is at stake. When one has so much to live for, coming to terms with mortality is an extremely difficult task.

8. Amour (2012, Michael Haneke)

Amour is a heartbreakingly real piece of work. It invites the spectator to think about mortality in the context of old age, which we usually associate with death. Anne suffers from a stroke, but luckily she has her husband Georges to take care of her. In this context of old age, the characters pose the problem of when being alive is not worth it anymore and what it means to be a burden to someone.

Throughout Amour, there is a feeling of imminent death that renders every conversation and action somehow related to it or furthered by it. For instance, when the old couple is having lunch, the husband tells his wife a story of how he was moved by a movie that he saw as a young kid. He no longer remembers much of what the movie was about; all he remembers is the general feelings that it provoked within. Perhaps this is a larger point that could be made about life: we cannot really remember everything that happened to us in detail, but we certainly have an idea of what life felt like to us.

9. Enter the Void (2008, Gaspar Noé)

Enter the Void opens with a dialog about the question of what happens after death. The movie then suggests an answer, which the spectator later sees playing out on the screen: the main character goes through a series of flashbacks of his past, and then floats as a spirit over the city of Tokyo. Some might think that the latter part is stunning, and others might think it is boring. Either way, it presents a fascinating depiction of what it would be like to experience your own funeral.

At the core of Enter the Void is the subject of loss. In particular, the loss of one’s loved ones, which causes the feeling of being lost in the world without a genuine connection to anyone. Through raw and psychedelic imagery Enter the Void also illustrates the idea of how minuscule each of us is in the grand scheme of things. After death, life only stops for us, but for everybody else, life continues to go on.

10. The Sunset Limited (2011, Tommy Lee Jones)

The underrated HBO TV movie The Sunset Limited has two men in an apartment talking about life and death for an hour and a half. One is convinced that existence is futile and the only rational thing for humans to do is to choose the path to extinction; the other believes in god and the gift of life. They enter into a philosophical discussion on a variety of topics, but it all comes down to the meaning of life.

This movie showcases two outlooks on mortality. One of them is extreme and uncommon, for it embraces death. However, it should not be instantly disregarded as an insane position – it proposes a challenging argument that is not so easy to rebut.