10 Essential Movies Featuring Multi-Narrative Plots

Robert Altman‘s classic film set the gold standard for the multi-narrative film. Following 24 characters over a three-day period, Altman’s film is an examination of the lives of those working within the country-western music scene in Nashville as well as the madness and political paranoia growing within the United States. Ronee Blakley in particular stands out as a damaged country singer desperate to maintain her public image following a mental breakdown, and Lily Tomlin, Henry Gibson, Keith Carradine, and Geraldine Chaplin also offer astounding turns. [Where to stream Nashville]

The movie that brought Quentin Tarantino — and indie cinema at large — into the mainstream, Pulp Fiction is more of an anthology film than a hypernarrative, but it still plays with non-linear storytelling in a way movies hadn’t tackled before, inspiring countless copycats that tried, with varied success, to replicate its groundbreaking style. [Where to stream Pulp Fiction]

Paul Thomas Anderson‘s follow-up to his porn epic Boogie Nights is a multi-layered masterpiece about the lives of a random selection of denizens of Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley. Stuffed to the brim with incredible performances from the likes of Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, John C. Reilly, and Julianne Moore, and covering themes that range from love, grief, and the tragic hand of fate, Anderson proved himself as a director worthy of the torch laid down by Robert Altman. [Where to stream Magnolia]

Doug Limon made a name for himself with the comedy Swingers, and eventually went on to direct big-budget action movies like The Bourne Identity. But sandwiched in there is the underrated Go, which takes the Pulp Fiction model of telling the major stories centered around drug deals gone wrong. With an awesome soundtrack and stellar performances from Sarah Polley, Katie Holmes, and Timothy Olyphant, Go is an underseen ’90s flick that’s definitely worth revisiting (or watching for the first time). [Where to stream Go]

Long before he won Oscars for directing and co-writing Birdman, Alejandro González Iñárritu gained international attention for his directorial debut (which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film). Made up of three separate stories that are connected by a car crash, Amores Perros is an intense look at inequality and violence among the segregated classes in Mexico City. [Where to stream Amores Perros]

Featuring an impressive ensemble cast that includes Holly Hunter, Salma Hayek, Danny Huston, Leslie Mann, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Kyle MacLachlan, and Stellan Skarsgard, Mike Figgis’ experimental drama includes four 90-minute single takes, filmed simultaneously and displayed in four quadrants on the screen, that they intertwine while telling various sides of the story about a film production in Los Angeles. [Where to stream Timecode]

Guy Ritchie’s high-octane follow-up to Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels is, at its center, a diamond heist, with many different players in London and New York vying for the treasure. This violent, often hilarious film features a cast of macho figures like Benicio del Toro, Vinnie Jones, Jason Statham, and Brad Pitt. [Where to stream Snatch]

Steven Soderbergh won an Oscar for directing this multi-layered film about the war on drugs in America and drug trafficking in Mexico, with Benicio del Toro playing a Mexican cop who works against corruption within the force (he won an Oscar for his role), Michael Douglas as the new American drug czar whose daughter is a heroin addict, and Catherine Zeta-Jones as the pregnant wife of an accused drug lord who must do whatever it takes to save her family. [Where to stream Traffic]

While it’s certainly the frothiest title on this list, this Christmas ensemble comedy from director Richard Curtis is a perennial crowd-pleaser and follows various love stories between a whole slew of Londoners played by Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Colin Firth, Keira Knightley, Martin Freeman, Bill Nighy, and Alan Rickman. [Where to stream Love Actually]

Steven Soderbergh’s study of how a pandemic starts and ultimately makes its way across the globe — as well as government bureaucracy, international relations, and medical discoveries that often impede the progress of healthcare and finding a cure — offers an incredible cast of A-list actors including Matt Damon, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Bryan Cranston, Laurence Fishburne, and Gwyneth Paltrow, as well as a truly terrifying look at a very real scenario. [Where to stream Contagion]