6 Best Bhutanese Movies to Watch

By Vlad Zakh · December 29, 2025

Bhutan Drama feel good thought provoking

Bhutan’s tiny film industry, shaped largely by filmmaker-lama Khyentse Norbu, produces gentle, meditative dramas about people caught between Buddhist tradition and the modern world creeping in. Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom has a reluctant teacher exiled to one of the world’s most remote schools, Travellers and Magicians has a frustrated official’s journey interrupted by fellow travelers, and The Next Guardian has a teenager torn between monkhood and music. Hema Hema, Milarepa and Vara: A Blessing round out the list.

Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (2019)

TMDB ★ 7.8

A reluctant teacher exiled to one of the world's most remote schools slowly falls for the place and its people.

Directed by Pawo Choyning Dorji · 1h 49m · Rated PG-13

Where to watch

Stream: Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Travellers and Magicians (2003)

TMDB ★ 7.1

A frustrated government official's journey to emigrate abroad is interrupted by fellow travellers and their stories.

Directed by Khyentse Norbu · 1h 48m

Where to watch

Stream: Criterion Channel · Rent or buy: Apple TV Store

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Hema Hema (2016)

TMDB ★ 6.4

Masked villagers gathered for a secret ritual held once every twelve years find their true identities dissolving.

Directed by Khyentse Norbu · 1h 35m

Where to watch

Stream: Eternal Family · Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

The Next Guardian (2018)

TMDB ★ 7.1

A Bhutanese teenager is torn between his father's wish for him to become a monk and his love of football.

Directed by Arun Bhattarai & Dorottya Zurbó · 1h 15m

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Google Play Movies, YouTube

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Milarepa (2006)

TMDB ★ 6.6

A young Tibetan Buddhist master-to-be studies dark magic to avenge his family before renouncing violence entirely.

Directed by Neten Chokling · 1h 30m

Where to watch

Stream: Gaia Amazon Channel

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Vara: A Blessing (2014)

TMDB ★ 6.5

A devoted temple dancer in Bhutan is torn between her artistic calling and forbidden love.

Directed by Khyentse Norbu · 1h 36m

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Streaming availability data from JustWatch, via TMDB. Availability changes often, so check the service before you plan a movie night.

Vlad Zakh

Founder, Movieix

Founder of Movieix. He started the site because most recommendation pages felt like noise. Here, lists are sorted by who's in the film, where it's from and what mood you're in tonight.

6 Best Bhutanese Movies to Watch

Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (2019)

Travellers and Magicians (2003)

Hema Hema (2016)

The Next Guardian (2018)

Milarepa (2006)

Vara: A Blessing (2014)

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