Dallas Buyers Club

If you want a drama that takes its characters as seriously as its plot, Dallas Buyers Club is available in Australia on Beamafilm, and in the UK on Lionsgate+ Amazon Channels right now. It knows exactly what kind of film it is from the opening scene, and never loses that thread. With 9,136 viewer ratings on TMDB, this is not a title flying under the radar. Matthew McConaughey anchors it with a performance that rewards close attention. Start it on Beamafilm whenever you need something guaranteed to land.

Whatever else is competing for your attention this week, Dallas Buyers Club is worth clearing space for. The writing in Dallas Buyers Club treats its characters as people first, plot devices second. Loosely based on the true-life tale of Ron Woodroof, a drug-taking, women-loving, homophobic man who in 1986 was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and given thirty days to live. The performances from Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner give it more weight than the premise alone would suggest. It was released in 2013. What elevates Dallas Buyers Club is a refusal to let any character off the hook too easily. The consistency throughout is what elevates it — not every moment is the best, but none of them are a reason to stop watching.

Viewers drawn to character-driven storytelling will find plenty to sit with in Dallas Buyers Club. It stands on its own even without an obvious comparison point. A contained runtime means every scene is doing real work. Matthew McConaughey carries the material with a performance that rewards close attention. Worth starting sooner rather than later.