Not every film gets the attention it deserves. Some of the most underrated movies on Netflix are those that never made much of a splash upon release, but are absolutely worth your time if you know where to look.
This weekend we’re skipping the algorithm and going deeper into the library. Here are three underrated films worth watching this weekend.
We also have guides to the best new movies to stream, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best free movies, and the best movies on Amazon Prime Video.
1922 (2017)
If you’re in the mood for something slow, unsettling and quietly devastating, 1922 is worth your time. Based on Stephen King’s novel, this Netflix psychological horror drama follows Wilf James, a 1920s Nebraska farmer who plans to murder his wife after she threatens to sell the family land and move to the city.
What follows is not just a crime story, but a slow, suffocating portrait of the guilt that eats away at a man from the inside out. Despite being a horror drama, “1922” relies on isolation and consequence rather than relying solely on jump scares.
Thomas Jane delivers one of the most underrated performances in this film. I really like that in the film you can never completely hate or sympathize with Wilf. You understand its logic until the moment the deed is done, and then its weight just settles over everything like a fog that never lifts.
You can see 1922 on Netflix.
Secret Sunshine (2007)
If you’ve ever felt like movies don’t really capture what grief actually looks like, Secret Sunshine might change that. Directed by Lee Chang-dong, this Korean drama follows Shin-ae, a widow who moves to a small town with her young son in hopes of a quiet new beginning.
What unfolds is one of the most emotionally raw portraits of loss, faith and human stubbornness ever put on screen. What I love most about this film is the fact that it refuses to make the grief seem clear or linear. Shin-ae doesn’t just cry and heal. She experiences silence, hysteria, false hope, anger and something more bordering on revenge, sometimes all in the same chapter of her life. It’s unpleasant at best and stays with you long after the credits roll.
You can watch Secret Sunshine To Netflix.
Mind Horn (2016)
If you’re in the mood for something completely silly and strangely charming, Mindhorn is the kind of British comedy that sneaks up on you. Julian Barratt plays Richard Thorncroft, a washed-up actor who once played a fictional television detective in the 1980s named Bruce Mindhorn, a character known for having a bionic eye that could detect lies.
The trouble begins when a real-life suspect on the Isle of Man refuses to cooperate with the police unless the actual Mindhorn comes to help, apparently not realizing that the character is fictional. Thorncroft, desperate and deceived, obliges.
The film is full of gloating and mostly slapstick, but what gives it a little more texture than your average comedy is the sad, gloating portrait of a man who never quite figured out who he was without the costume. I really like how Barratt plays Thorncroft’s delusion with a straight face, which makes the whole thing funnier.
You can see Mindhorn on Netflix.
