Taxi (2015)
Jafar Panahi directs and stars in this film, nearing a hidden-camera documentary about a cab driver’s day in Tehran. We see him interact with a wide range of passengers, as a taximan does, engaging in funny, profound or mundane discussions about nothing and everything. It gives us an overview of modern-day Iran, its complexity, and underlines the importance of drivers making people’s lives easier. The guerrilla-style can be explained because of the director’s filmmaking ban in his home country.
Premium Rush (2012)
This American action thriller directed by David Koepp was somewhat of a sensation when it came out. It is a story about a messenger played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt dashing around NYC on his bike. One day he has to make a very special delivery, putting his life (even more!) at risk. This one is for all the delivery folks out there doing their best to distribute packages, groceries, or take-outs so we could stay home and have a movie-night-out in!
Border (2018)
This surrealist Swedish tale with nordic twisted humor sprinkled here, and there is an addition about custom agents and border patrol staff. The critically acclaimed “grounded fantasy” film by Ali Abbasi is about a strange, almost animalistic looking customs officer with a 6th sense. She can sniff people’s emotions or dubious actions, which proves to be useful on the job as she can detect criminals or smugglers. From there, things get weirder and weirder!
Cold Pursuit (2019)
This one is a drastic change of tone from everything else, but why not also envisage an essential worker being a badass in an action thriller – or something a little dark – because we all need a vengeful snowplow driver righting wrongdoings! Norwegian director Hans Petter Moland English remake of his previous crime thriller stars Liam Neeson, bringing his menacing Taken vibes, as a grieving snow plower seeking revenge for his son’s death. There is always someone somewhere (and those living far far close to the poles) in need of snow removal, and it is, without doubt, an essential service saving lives.
Man Push Cart (2005)
Ramin Bahrani’s first feature about a cart vendor in New York is a film as independent as it gets, with its guerrilla-style sequences, visibly low-budget, and minimalist aesthetic. Sure this might be a far-fetched addition to this list, as the protagonist is not really what one would consider an essential worker. He is an immigrant, mainly pushing a coffee cart around NYC, but the thing is, he is more than that, and many of us know a guy like this (or maybe are him). He is the guy who will do what needs to be done to survive, and that might include jobs putting him at risk. Man Push Cart is an ode to unofficial essential workers, the invisible people working no matter the risks, immigrant or not.
Dancer in the Dark (2000)
This one is a musical?! Granted a very weird one, but imagine if Lars Von Tier made a musical with Bjork and Catherine Deneuve dancing around in a factory to the sounds of machines (amongst other things.) Well, imagine no more because it was done! A film as acclaimed for its artistry as it was loathed for its “messiness” and could easily be the most polarizing of Y2K… Like illustrated in many movies since the birth of Cinema, there is something of a visual rhythm about factories and large crowds of workers or laborers, moving in sync. This is heightened by the repetitiveness of mechanisms, as seen in the likes of Chaplin’s Modern Times or the factory scenes with Oompa-Loompas in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. But Dancer in the Dark pushes it to the limit of and makes it weird with machine sound-making beats and (too many) dizzying hand-held filmed scenes.
24 City (2008)
We decided to stay away from non-fiction projects (otherwise, this list would have been triple the size!) but this film by Chinese maestro Jia Zhangke is something different entirely, or perfectly fitting the docudrama genre. The eminent filmmaker is melting documentary-style interviews of three people from different generations who used to work at a now-destroyed factory and then add reenactments of the real events discussed. 24 City, like many of Zhangke’s movies, offers a musing and lyrical portrait of contemporary China and is an ode to factory workers past and present.
Cart (2014)
Inspired by a real event, this South Korean ensemble drama by Boo Ji-young mainly takes place in a Wal-Mart like shop taking advantage of his employees, the majority of them female temporary workers. They have to suffer oppressive management who instilled humiliating “cult-ish practice” to make inconsiderate customers feel like royalties. Those women from various walks of life and ages will have to unite when they are suddenly and dubiously laid off. They will go on a strike while their superiors unscrupulously intimate and threaten them. Another cautionary tale of how many companies lack decency or consideration for their bottom-line employees and will do all in their power to bend the law for profit.
The Nothing Factory (2017)
Pedro Pinho Portuguese epic 3 hours long show is more than meets the eye. It follows workers who learn that their elevator plant is being shut and relocated without their knowledge. As they are offered no alternative but to accept ridiculous conditions set by their sneaky bosses, they have no choice but to come up with a plan of their own. Blending facts and fiction the filmmaker is serving us a “genre milkshake” with acts resembling drama, documentary, goofy comedy, thriller-ish, and, the penultimate act, is, to say the least, unexpected! This is a film that has a lot to say and says it pretty well, offering explanations for the current situation and modern exploitative capitalism.
At War (2018)
The intense French social drama directed by Stéphane Brizé, and starring Vincent Lindon in a terrific performance, is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat. The film is about workers going on strike following the abrupt closing down of their industrial factory. We see the movement and its evolution from the inside as the tension escalates not only between employer and employees but also amongst the picketers. This is a great, incredibly detailed, and sadly realistic example of social movement issues, workers’ negotiations (or lack thereof), and how they work.
The Measure of a Man (2015)
Sure we might as well watch all the Ken Loach movies, but this Stéphane Brizé double-bill makes so much sense, and really, you can’t watch one without the other! It seems there is a natural link between this film and the previous one and with the same actor in the lead role – again in an impressive turn. (Although it would be more of a sequel /prequel situation since The Measure of a Man was made before At War) Here Lidon portrays a man who lost a factory job and, after painful months of unemployment, manages to find a security guard job at a grocery store with a repressive boss. Internalizing and externalizing their rage or passionate cry for justice, the characters make us realize (if for some reason we were not aware!) how unjust and cruel society can be, particularly for those at the bottom.
Giant (2009)
Because life is not always grim and depressing, this is a rather different movie about a supermarket security man set in Montevideo. The fun and charming Uruguayan film directed by Adrían Biniez is a comedy following a chubby metalhead guard filling his somehow uneventful shifts at the store by observing his colleagues’ antics on CCTV. A young and quiet janitor catches his eyes and will give him a new purpose in life.
Menashe (2017)
Menashe is an American independent drama, mostly in Yiddish, directed by Joshua Z. Weinstein and inspired by the life of the central player Menashe Lustig. He is a Hasidic widower, now hoping to get custody of his son as a single father while barely making ends meet working as a clerk for a small corner store. It is a very touching film about human relationships, faith, and our aptitude for moving on and adapting.
In the Aisles (2018)
Taking place in the world of wholesale supermarkets, this German film by Thomas Stuber is led by in-demand actor Franz Rogowski. He portrays an odd new employee, who, while learning how to do his job, starts to daydream and develop an interest in a secretive coworker (played by another celebrated German actress, Sandra Hüller.) The film is a sweet one about falling in love in between the aisle, and the dedication of some supermarket staff.
Neighboring Sounds (2012)
Kleber Mendonça Filho’s first feature is an acclaimed Brazilian dramedy about the arrival of security guards in a middle-class neighborhood. This genre mix-match is a cinephile treat and announced the director’s wild and whimsical imagination. Neighboring Sounds interweaves the lives of various people with various problems and shows things changing for the weirder when the private security start patrolling. Although the film might not necessarily focus on the guards, it is a nice addition about a profession we so often disregard, but that is so important to the good functioning of society. (like making sure people follow social distancing in those long pharmacy lines storm or heatwave!)
