Ida

Ida (2013), directed by Paweł Pawlikowski, is a Polish-Danish drama you can watch online on iFILM. The year is roughly 1962. Anna has grown up inside a convent and is days away from taking her vows. The abbess sends her to meet the only family she has left: an aunt named Wanda, played with cold ferocity by Agata Kulesza.

Wanda is a former state prosecutor, now drinking heavily and carrying things she won't name. She tells Anna what no one at the convent ever did — her real name is Ida Lebenstein, and her parents were killed during the German occupation. The two women drive out to find what's left. First-time actress Agata Trzebuchowska plays Ida with almost no visible expression, which is precisely the point.

Shot in black and white with a near-square 1.37:1 frame, the film picked up the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2015 ceremony — the first Oscar Poland had taken in that category. Pawlikowski keeps the running time to 82 minutes and never explains more than he needs to; the restraint is what makes it stay with you. Watch Ida (2013) online on iFILM.