Nell

Nell (1994) is a quiet drama-thriller you can watch online on iFILM. Deep in the North Carolina woods, a young woman who grew up with no one but her late mother is found speaking a private language no outsider can decode.

Country doctor Jerome Lovell (Liam Neeson) stumbles onto Nell in an isolated lakeside cabin. Joined by clinical psychologist Paula Olsen (Natasha Richardson), he has to decide what she really needs: to be studied in a hospital, or to be left in the only world she has ever known. The closer they get, the clearer it becomes that her invented words and rituals aren't symptoms of illness but a complete inner life with its own logic. Jodie Foster carries the title role almost entirely through gesture, eyes and sound rather than ordinary speech.

Directed by Michael Apted, the film rests on Foster's performance, which earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. It's a gentle, humane story about the right to be different and the lines science and society draw around anyone who doesn't fit. One for viewers who love patient, actor-driven drama. Stream Nell (1994) online on iFILM.