What’s the one film or television show that you haven’t been able to stop talking about this year? For me, it’s been “The Last of Us”. The second season of the post-apocalyptic show has provoked visceral reactions in my household. (So elevated was my heart rate while I watched that my smartwatch told me to “consider doing a breathing exercise”.) The show has also prompted some amusing debates between me and my husband. Which of us, we’ve wondered, would be more useful to the self-sufficient community of survivors in Jackson, Wyoming? Alas they don’t seem to have much need for culture editors. 

“The Last of Us” embodies what good storytelling should do: move you and make you think. If you’re looking for some inspiration for your Saturday-evening viewing, we’ve rounded up 14 other titles which do just that. Their settings range from Brazil to Iraq and from rural France to a galaxy far, far away.