Movies with parallel stories (hyperlink, ensemble, episodic movies)
by henrimaine | created - 25 Nov 2015 | updated - 1 month ago | PublicI like movies that include several storylines that are usually shown in parallel interlocking fashion (also called hyperlink or ensemble or episodic movies). So I decided to create a list of such movies that I have seen.
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1. The Young Lions (1958)
Approved | 167 min | Action, Drama, War
The lives of three young men, a German and two Americans, during WWII.
Director: Edward Dmytryk | Stars: Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Dean Martin, Hope Lange
Votes: 8,860 | Gross: $9.96M
Possibly the earliest movie that fits the definition of an ensemble movie. It includes just two parallel story lines, most ensemble movies have more. Based on a novel with a similar structure.
2. Kanchenjungha (I) (1962)
102 min | Drama
An upper-class Bengali family is on vacation in Darjeeling, a popular hill station and resort near Kanchenjungha.
Director: Satyajit Ray | Stars: Chhabi Biswas, Karuna Bannerjee, Pahadi Sanyal, Anil Chatterjee
Votes: 1,207
An early example of an ensemble movie from India.
3. American Graffiti (1973)
PG | 110 min | Comedy, Drama
A group of teenagers in California's central valley spend one final night after their 1962 high school graduation cruising the strip with their buddies before they pursue their varying goals.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith
Votes: 98,191 | Gross: $115.00M
The first movie that really demonstrated the power of parallel stories.
4. Nashville (1975)
R | 160 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
Over the course of a few hectic days, numerous interrelated people prepare for a political convention.
Director: Robert Altman | Stars: Keith Carradine, Karen Black, Ronee Blakley, Shelley Duvall
Votes: 28,573 | Gross: $14.82M
Robert Altman is the king of ensemble movies. Nashville is his first experiment with this style of movie making.
5. Yol (1982)
PG | 107 min | Drama
When five Kurdish prisoners are granted one week's home leave, they find to their dismay that they face continued oppression outside of prison from their families, the culture, and the government.
Directors: Serif Gören, Yilmaz Güney | Stars: Tarik Akan, Serif Sezer, Halil Ergün, Meral Orhonsay
Votes: 14,512
6. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
PG-13 | 107 min | Comedy, Drama
Between two Thanksgivings two years apart, Hannah's husband falls in love with her sister Lee, while her hypochondriac ex-husband rekindles his relationship with her sister Holly.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Mia Farrow, Dianne Wiest, Michael Caine, Barbara Hershey
Votes: 76,803 | Gross: $40.08M
7. Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
PG-13 | 104 min | Comedy, Drama
An ophthalmologist's mistress threatens to reveal their affair to his wife while a married documentary filmmaker is infatuated with another woman.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Martin Landau, Woody Allen, Bill Bernstein, Claire Bloom
Votes: 60,806 | Gross: $18.25M
8. Grand Canyon (1991)
R | 134 min | Crime, Drama
The fates of several people are randomly intertwining. Their sympathy of each other faces multiple differences in their lifestyles.
Director: Lawrence Kasdan | Stars: Danny Glover, Kevin Kline, Steve Martin, Mary McDonnell
Votes: 16,709 | Gross: $33.24M
9. Dazed and Confused (1993)
R | 103 min | Comedy
The adventures of high school and junior high students on the last day of school in May 1976.
Director: Richard Linklater | Stars: Jason London, Wiley Wiggins, Matthew McConaughey, Rory Cochrane
Votes: 199,696 | Gross: $7.99M
10. Short Cuts (1993)
R | 188 min | Comedy, Drama
The day-to-day lives of several suburban Los Angeles residents.
Director: Robert Altman | Stars: Andie MacDowell, Julianne Moore, Tim Robbins, Bruce Davison
Votes: 47,389 | Gross: $6.11M
11. Pulp Fiction (1994)
R | 154 min | Crime, Drama
The lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster and his wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.
Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis
Votes: 2,221,403 | Gross: $107.93M
12. 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance (1994)
Not Rated | 100 min | Drama
71 scenes revolving around a recent immigrant, a couple that has just adopted a daughter, a college student and a lonely old man.
Director: Michael Haneke | Stars: Gabriel Cosmin Urdes, Lukas Miko, Otto Grünmandl, Anne Bennent
Votes: 8,737
13. Happiness (1998)
NC-17 | 134 min | Comedy, Drama
The lives of several individuals intertwine as they go about their lives in their own unique ways, engaging in acts which society as a whole might find disturbing in a desperate search for human connection.
Director: Todd Solondz | Stars: Jane Adams, Jon Lovitz, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Dylan Baker
Votes: 74,452 | Gross: $2.81M
14. Life Is to Whistle (1998)
106 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
Three characters in present-day Havana must choose between clinging to their self-restricting beliefs, or getting rid of them to live more freely. Ballerina Mariana has promised God ... See full summary »
Director: Fernando Pérez | Stars: Luis Alberto García, Coralia Veloz, Claudia Rojas, Ana Victoria Pérez
Votes: 705 | Gross: $0.06M
15. Fiona (1998)
85 min | Drama
Despite the fact that Fiona has lived apart from her mother, they lead parallel lives as bi-sexual prostitutes. The meeting of the two women spells tragedy for the mother and hope for the daughter.
Director: Amos Kollek | Stars: Anna Thomson, Felicia Maguire, Alyssa Mulhern, Anna Grace
Votes: 647
16. Magnolia (1999)
R | 188 min | Drama
An epic mosaic of interrelated characters in search of love, forgiveness and meaning in the San Fernando Valley.
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson | Stars: Tom Cruise, Jason Robards, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman
Votes: 328,608 | Gross: $22.46M
17. 200 Cigarettes (1999)
R | 101 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A collection of twentysomethings try to cope with relationships, loneliness, desire and their individual neuroses.
Director: Risa Bramon Garcia | Stars: Ben Affleck, Casey Affleck, Dave Chappelle, Guillermo Diaz
Votes: 16,350 | Gross: $6.85M
18. Traffic (2000)
R | 147 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A conservative judge is appointed by the President to spearhead America's escalating war against drugs, only to discover that his teenage daughter is a crack addict. Two DEA agents protect an informant. A jailed drug baron's wife attempts to carry on the family business.
Director: Steven Soderbergh | Stars: Michael Douglas, Benicio Del Toro, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jacob Vargas
Votes: 219,806 | Gross: $124.12M
19. Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her (2000)
PG-13 | 109 min | Drama, Romance
Five California women struggle with personal problems as their own paths unwind in unexpected ways.
Director: Rodrigo García | Stars: Glenn Close, Cameron Diaz, Calista Flockhart, Kathy Baker
Votes: 7,375
20. Lantana (2001)
R | 121 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
The relationships of four couples unravel after the discovery of a young woman's body in Lantana bush in suburban Sydney.
Director: Ray Lawrence | Stars: Anthony LaPaglia, Geoffrey Rush, Rachael Blake, Kerry Armstrong
Votes: 20,223 | Gross: $4.46M
21. The Safety of Objects (2001)
R | 121 min | Drama
Meet four neighboring, suburban families, each with their own problems.
Director: Rose Troche | Stars: Glenn Close, Dermot Mulroney, Mary Kay Place, Patricia Clarkson
Votes: 4,370 | Gross: $0.32M
22. Dog Days (2001)
R | 121 min | Drama
In the tomb-like quiet of their ranch-style purgatory, a divorced husband and wife fight a wordless war while mourning an unspeakable mutual loss. A sadistic lover's ritual humiliation spawns both tenderness and revenge.
Director: Ulrich Seidl | Stars: Maria Hofstätter, Christine Jirku, Viktor Hennemann, Georg Friedrich
Votes: 6,548 | Gross: $0.01M
23. The Hours (2002)
PG-13 | 110 min | Drama, Romance
The story of how the novel "Mrs. Dalloway" affects three generations of women, all of whom, in one way or another, have had to deal with suicide in their lives.
Director: Stephen Daldry | Stars: Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, Stephen Dillane
Votes: 138,543 | Gross: $41.68M
24. Love Actually (2003)
R | 135 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Follows the lives of eight very different couples in dealing with their love lives in various loosely interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before Christmas in London, England.
Director: Richard Curtis | Stars: Hugh Grant, Martine McCutcheon, Liam Neeson, Laura Linney
Votes: 531,647 | Gross: $59.70M
25. Alila (2003)
123 min | Comedy, Drama
Slice-of-life look at the lives of twelve people who live or work in the same apartment complex in Tel Aviv.
Director: Amos Gitai | Stars: Yaël Abecassis, Hana Laslo, Uri Klauzner, Liron Levo
Votes: 648 | Gross: $0.05M
26. Crash (I) (2004)
R | 112 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Los Angeles citizens with vastly separate lives collide in interweaving stories of race, loss and redemption.
Director: Paul Haggis | Stars: Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Thandiwe Newton, Karina Arroyave
Votes: 449,080 | Gross: $54.58M
27. On the Outs (2004)
R | 86 min | Drama
Follows the choices made by three young women - one a drug dealer, one an addict, one a pregnant teen - in Jersey City.
Directors: Lori Silverbush, Michael Skolnik | Stars: Anny Mariano, Judy Marte, Paola Mendoza, Dominic Colón
Votes: 692 | Gross: $0.05M
28. Nine Lives (2005)
R | 115 min | Drama
Captives of the very relationships that define and sustain them, nine women resiliently meet the travails and disappointments of life.
Director: Rodrigo García | Stars: Kathy Baker, Amy Brenneman, Glenn Close, LisaGay Hamilton
Votes: 7,135 | Gross: $0.48M
29. Sin City (2005)
R | 124 min | Crime, Thriller
An exploration of the dark and miserable Basin City and three of its residents, all of whom are caught up in violent corruption.
Directors: Frank Miller, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez | Stars: Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen, Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba
Votes: 793,956 | Gross: $74.10M
30. Syriana (2005)
R | 128 min | Drama, Thriller
A politically charged epic about the state of the oil industry in the hands of those personally involved in and affected by it.
Director: Stephen Gaghan | Stars: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Amanda Peet, Kayvan Novak
Votes: 134,289 | Gross: $50.82M
31. Babel (I) (2006)
R | 143 min | Drama
Tragedy strikes a married couple on vacation in the Moroccan desert, which jump starts an interlocking story involving four different families.
Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Stars: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Gael García Bernal, Mohamed Akhzam
Votes: 317,190 | Gross: $34.30M
32. Bobby (I) (2006)
R | 117 min | Biography, Drama, History
The destinies of 22 people of different races, sexes, beliefs and social classes are intertwined on the night that politician Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated.
Director: Emilio Estevez | Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Demi Moore, Sharon Stone, Harry Belafonte
Votes: 42,810 | Gross: $11.24M
33. Fast Food Nation (2006)
R | 116 min | Comedy, Drama
An examination of the health risks involved in the fast food industry as well as its environmental and social consequences.
Director: Richard Linklater | Stars: Greg Kinnear, Bruce Willis, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Wilmer Valderrama
Votes: 25,153 | Gross: $1.00M
34. Autumn Ball (2007)
Not Rated | 123 min | Drama
A film about the loneliness, despair and hope of six people who all live in a bleak Soviet-era apartment complex in Tallinn, Estonia.
Director: Veiko Õunpuu | Stars: Rain Tolk, Taavi Eelmaa, Juhan Ulfsak, Maarja Jakobson
Votes: 2,114
35. Lions for Lambs (2007)
R | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Injuries sustained by two Army rangers behind enemy lines in Afghanistan set off a sequence of events involving a congressman, a journalist and a professor.
Director: Robert Redford | Stars: Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, Michael Peña
Votes: 52,721 | Gross: $15.00M
36. Look (2007)
R | 102 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
The lies, betrayal, and desires of nine different groups of people are revealed as they live out their secret lives in the sight of the security cameras that capture our every movement.
Director: Adam Rifkin | Stars: Jamie McShane, Spencer Redford, Hayes MacArthur, Nichelle Hines
Votes: 1,862 | Gross: $0.02M
37. Adrift in Manhattan (2007)
R | 91 min | Drama
The lives of three lonely strangers intersect while commuting on New York's 1 and 9 subway lines.
Director: Alfredo Rodriguez de Villa | Stars: Heather Graham, Victor Rasuk, Dominic Chianese, Marlene Forte
Votes: 1,850
38. Trick 'r Treat (2007)
R | 82 min | Comedy, Horror
Five interwoven stories that occur on Halloween: an everyday high school principal has a secret life as a serial killer; a college virgin might have just met the guy for her; a group of teenagers pull a mean prank; a woman who loathes the night has to contend with her holiday-obsessed husband; and a mean old man meets his match with a demonic, supernatural trick-or-treater.
Director: Michael Dougherty | Stars: Anna Paquin, Brian Cox, Dylan Baker, Rochelle Aytes
Votes: 104,648
39. Gomorrah (2008)
Not Rated | 137 min | Crime, Drama
Scampia Vele is the Corbusian architecture which has become a stronghold for Mafia of Naples, Italy.
Director: Matteo Garrone | Stars: Gianfelice Imparato, Salvatore Abbruzzese, Toni Servillo, Simone Sacchettino
Votes: 51,218 | Gross: $1.58M
40. The Informers (2008)
R | 98 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
One week in L.A. in 1983, featuring movie executives, rock stars, a vampire and other morally challenged characters in adventures laced with sex, drugs and violence.
Director: Gregor Jordan | Stars: Billy Bob Thornton, Kim Basinger, Mickey Rourke, Jon Foster
Votes: 17,464 | Gross: $0.30M
41. Brooklyn's Finest (2009)
R | 132 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Three unconnected Brooklyn cops wind up at the same deadly location after enduring vastly different career paths.
Director: Antoine Fuqua | Stars: Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke, Wesley Snipes
Votes: 66,415 | Gross: $27.15M
42. The Myth of the American Sleepover (2010)
TV-14 | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Four young people navigate the suburban wonderland of metro-Detroit looking for love and adventure on the last weekend of summer.
Director: David Robert Mitchell | Stars: Claire Sloma, Marlon Morton, Amanda Bauer, Brett Jacobsen
Votes: 4,672 | Gross: $0.04M
43. Cloud Atlas (2012)
R | 172 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
An exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution.
Directors: Tom Tykwer, Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Hugo Weaving
Votes: 374,481 | Gross: $27.11M
44. To Rome with Love (2012)
R | 112 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
The lives of some visitors and residents of Rome and the romances, adventures and predicaments they get into.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Penélope Cruz, Jesse Eisenberg, Elliot Page
Votes: 90,907 | Gross: $16.69M
45. Neighboring Sounds (2012)
Unrated | 131 min | Drama, Thriller
The lives of the residents of a Brazilian apartment building and the security guards who get the job guarding the surrounding streets.
Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho | Stars: Ana Rita Gurgel, Caio Almeida, Maeve Jinkings, Dida Maia
Votes: 8,753 | Gross: $0.03M
46. Living (2012)
119 min | Drama
The heroes of the film are not ready to put up with their losses. They challenge fate, declare war on it and reach the human limit in it. And they go on, winning in their own way .
Director: Vasiliy Sigarev | Stars: Olga Lapshina, Marina Gavrilova, Sasha Gavrilova, Yana Troyanova
Votes: 1,782
47. The Paradise Suite (2015)
123 min | Drama
The jarring lives of six immigrant residents of Amsterdam intertwine in a poetic mosaic.
Director: Joost van Ginkel | Stars: Anjela Nedyalkova, Boris Isakovic, Erik Adelöw, Issaka Sawadogo
Votes: 1,800
48. A Christmas Horror Story (2015)
Not Rated | 99 min | Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
Interwoven stories that take place on Christmas Eve, as told by one festive radio host: A family brings home more than a Christmas tree, a student documentary becomes a living nightmare, a Christmas spirit terrorizes, Santa slays evil.
Directors: Grant Harvey, Steven Hoban, Brett Sullivan | Stars: William Shatner, George Buza, Rob Archer, Zoé De Grand Maison
Votes: 12,489
49. Dark Night (2016)
85 min | Drama
The lives of six strangers intersect at a suburban Cineplex where a massacre occurs.
Director: Tim Sutton | Stars: Robert Jumper, Anna Rose Hopkins, Rosie Rodriguez, Karina Macias
Votes: 1,081
50. Australia Day (2017)
98 min | Drama
A trio of intertwined tales of racial prejudice, misunderstanding and revenge play out against the backdrop of Australia's national holiday.
Director: Kriv Stenders | Stars: Miah Madden, Elias Anton, Jenny Wu, Daniel Webber
Votes: 504
51. Someone, Somewhere (2019)
PG | 110 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Rémy is a young Parisian with an unskilled job. Mélanie is a young Parisienne who works in scientific research. Two depressive moods living in close proximity, but being unaware of each other. Will they ever meet?
Director: Cédric Klapisch | Stars: François Civil, Ana Girardot, Camille Cottin, François Berléand
Votes: 5,181
52. Crisis (I) (2021)
R | 118 min | Drama, Thriller
Set against the backdrop of the opioid epidemic, stories of an undercover cop, a professor and a grieving mother collide.
Director: Nicholas Jarecki | Stars: Gary Oldman, Armie Hammer, Evangeline Lilly, Greg Kinnear
Votes: 13,835
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