The feature-length movies that currently make it into theaters are, by and large, spectacles and events. Smaller titles that have theatrical releases don’t usually find great success, anymore. If they’re lucky enough to get a box office run, it essentially serves as an advertisement for their home video release. Pretty soon, that step is going to be skipped entirely and anything that is produced for under $100 million and doesn’t feature a superhero or space adventure isn’t going to see a theatrical release.
But there is a happy ending for smaller films, and that lies in today’s VOD/streaming market. Today’s edgier, riskier, and quirkier titles are finding their primary audiences through streaming services. The new art house isn’t a charmingly dingy place with a musky smell, mono sound, and metal seats. It’s in your own home. There are truly great movies out there today that are just as rewarding as the classics of years past. You just have to give them a chance and know where to find them. The communal experience of seeing the next Blue Velvet with a beautifully mixed and responsive crowd may no longer be a possibility, but that doesn’t mean such a film will cease to exist.
The downside to VOD is that it provides too much content and too many options for viewers. Where do we begin? How do we decide? Is it worth our valuable time and money to take a risk on something we haven’t already heard or read everything about before sitting down to watch it? If there’s an up-and-coming Scorsese out there, it’s going to take a magnifying glass to find him or her. The market is overstuffed with filmmakers struggling to succeed just as it is full of already-established talent struggling to keep their footing secured. As a result, surprising films and talented filmmakers that cater to and challenge adult thinking are getting lost now more than ever.
Today’s most groundbreaking movies, by and large, aren’t the box office and critical darlings that audiences turn out for in droves. They are the risk-taking films that are buried in the endless sea of today’s streaming services. The following list showcases under-known films that have been unjustly lost and forgotten about in today’s overly saturated market. They are all currently lacking the audience and the praise they need in order to have the success they deserve.
30. Together Together (2021)
Writer/director Nikole Beckwith’s Together Together is an endearingly sweet and character-driven comedy/drama that unfolds in a truthful and non-formulaic manner. Centering on the relationship between a middle-aged man (a never-better Ed Helms) and the dryly humored, mid-twenties surrogate (an excellent Patti Harrison) who is carrying his child, the film never takes the obvious or expected route. Every choice in this film comes from a realistic and organic place, and the film’s highly moving final moments pay off splendidly as a result. Together Together may currently be lacking a large audience, but this has little to do with its actual quality and highly rewarding impact.
29. Unicorn Store (2019)
Star Brie Larson also made her feature directorial debut with this endearing and whimsical comedy. Larson portrays a failed art student in arrested development who just might be close to achieving her childhood dream of owning her very own unicorn. Samuel L. Jackson shines with his typical brilliance and charisma in a supporting role. Unicorn Store is an inventive, colorful, and pleasantly charming movie that still needs its deserved audience.
28. Arizona (2018)
Centering on a struggling realtor (Rosemarie DeWitt) who witnesses a murder committed by an inept criminal (Danny McBride), Arizona is a dark, violent, and endearingly quirky film that warrants comparison to some of the Coen Brothers’ best work. The film, which runs just under ninety minutes, is an intense exercise in brevity and maintains an unrelenting pace for most of its duration. Arizona also manages to create humor through its suspense and discomfort, exhibiting sophisticated tonal shifts that effectively keep its audience off-balance. The under-known film is a nice surprise for those who are fortunate enough to come across it.
27. Light of My Life (2019)
After a pandemic seemingly wipes out all the females, a devoted father (Casey Affleck, who also wrote and directed the film) is forced to protect his daughter (Anna Pniowsky) from the remaining population. Light of My Life is a rare post-apocalyptic story that is more concerned with developing its character relationships and provoking thought than it is in thrilling its audience with yet another depiction of a chaotic and unruly futuristic world. The film is sensitive, moving, and steadily paced. Despite its lack of audience attention, Light of My Life showcases one of the most moving and honest father/daughter relationships that has recently been put on screens.
26. The Professor and the Madman (2019)
Stars Mel Gibson and Sean Penn deliver typically powerful performances in this exceptionally well-made historical drama. Centering on the fascinating and complex history behind the creation of the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, The Professor and the Madman manages to captivate its audience both emotionally and intellectually. The film serves as an essential history lesson and as a fascinating dramatic examination of madness, unlikely friendships, and the power behind words. The Professor and the Madman may currently be lacking a sizable audience, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a highly effective and competent film.
25. Galveston (2018)
Based on True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto’s debut novel, Galveston is a heart-wrenching and character-driven thriller that centers on a terminally ill hitman’s (Ben Foster) relationship with a teenage runaway (Elle Fanning). Well-acted and classily directed by Melanie Laurent, the film puts as much emphasis on depicting honest human behavior as it does the seedy details of its characters’ criminal underworld. Galveston is ultimately a sensitive and moving story about broken people trying to find themselves. It may not have found the biggest audience yet, but that shouldn’t detract anyone from seeking out this exceptional film.
24. Fear of Rain (2021)
This multi-purpose film works not only as a top-notch mystery/thriller, it also serves as an astute, evocative, and sensitive depiction of mental illness. Madison Iseman delivers a powerful lead performance as a schizophrenic teenager who is unable to tell if her suspicions that her teacher and neighbor (Eugenie Bondurant) has kidnapped a child are real or the product of delusion. Writer/director Castille Landon’s presence behind the camera is as assured as it is subtle. Fear of Rain is a great film still awaiting its justifiably sized audience.
23. The Standoff at Sparrow Creek (2019)
Writer/director Henry Dunham delivers an expertly executed feature debut with this intelligent, intense, and slow-burning thriller. Centering on a militiaman’s (the always reliable James Badge Dale) investigation of a police shooting by one of his own men, the film unravels with deliberately steady pacing that increasingly builds in unrelenting suspense. In a strange way, The Standoff at Sparrow Creek plays like a unique hybrid of Reservoir Dogs and Alien—one that is filled with action and machismo but also balanced by a very determined, specific, and careful style. The Standoff at Sparrow Creek will serve as a great and rewarding surprise to anyone who wants to take a risk on an under-known title.
22. Concrete Cowboy (2021)
The always-reliable Idris Elba stars in this moving and informative drama about a little-known subculture of horse-riding Black cowboys in the modern-day city of Philadelphia. Concrete Cowboy’s fascinating characters provide support to the strained father/son relationship at the film’s heart, but they never feel sidelined or improperly developed. The film is a full and complete viewing experience that follows a simple and thoughtful story, but also educates and enlightens the viewer along the way. Concrete Cowboy has yet to reach the audience that suits its exceptionally high quality.
21. The Perfection (2019)
This twisted and twisty mystery/revenge thriller is a provocative, shocking, and unpredictable film that aggressively demands its audience’s attention. The film is also surprisingly thoughtful, as it sheds necessary light on the complex and painful psychology possessed by abuse survivors. The Perfection’sambitious designs pay off to result in a film that is as playfully and dementedly entertaining as it is revelatory and meaningful. Films like this don’t come around too often, and they need more audience support than The Perfection has currently received when they do.
20. Lost Girls (2020)
Amy Ryan delivers a powerhouse performance as a mother who uncovers the work of a potential serial killer while desperately trying to locate her missing daughter. Based on a true story, Lost Girls is a hypnotic and fascinating film that leaves its audience shrouded in a cloud of endlessly fascinating mystery. It also sensitively treats the victims as human beings with families and loved ones, not as mere, undeveloped statistics. Lost Girls needs a larger audience not only because it’s a masterfully crafted film, but also because its captivating story needs and deserves to be heard.
19. Knives and Skin (2019)
The effects of a teenage girl’s (Raven Whitley) disappearance spread throughout the residents of her small town in this moody, surreal, and wholly individualistic drama. There isn’t anything else quite like Knives and Skin, as it is a deeply meditative film about growing up that also casts a strangely mystical and unforgettable spell. Writer/director Jennifer Reeder possesses one of the freshest and most distinct voices amongst today’s rising filmmakers. Knives and Skin is an unforgettable film that is sadly still in need of a decent-sized audience.
16-18. Joe (2013)/ The Trust (2016)/ Mom and Dad (2018)
For roughly a decade, the films that have starred Nicolas Cage have solely been straight-to-VOD titles with occasional limited theatrical releases to accompany them. Some films are better than others, but the one constant they all contain is a Cage performance in which he puts everything he has into it. There are no exceptions to this. Big or small, good or bad, a film that stars Nicolas Cage is guaranteed to, at the very least, have interesting and/or bold work by him.
Joe, The Trust, and Mom and Dad exemplify this with three wildly different roles. Joe exhibits one of Cage’s most subtle and still performances, showing off his often-under-utilized ability to communicate a great deal with very little. The Trust casts Cage as a quirkily endearing crooked cop whose polite demeanor eventually makes him oddly and surprisingly threatening. Mom and Dad features Cage in one of his most rambunctiously deranged performances, portraying one of many parents who are inexplicably and absurdly filled with bloodlust for their own offspring. All three films are among Cage’s best works, and they are all still looking for the appropriately sized audience to match their quality.
15. The Night Clerk (2020)
This character-driven mystery centers on a young man with Asperger’s Syndrome (Tye Sheridan) who gets wrapped up in a murder investigation. The Night Clerk is a beautiful examination of someone who desperately wants to fit in with society but is tragically unable to form connections with other people. Sheridan communicates his character’s deep longing with subtlety and sensitivity, making it one of the most unnoticed great performances in recent memory. Simply put, The Night Clerk deserves much more attention than it has currently received.
14. Mute (2018)
Co-writer/director Duncan Jones’ futuristic sci-fi thriller is a fascinating accomplishment. Though it warrants comparisons to such films as Blade Runner and Brazil, it’s an overall quirkily unique film that almost entirely follows its own bent logic. Mute is the kind of movie that would have found its audience on late-night cable programming in the eighties or nineties. So far today, it’s primarily been lost amongst competing films that aren’t nearly as interesting or original.
13. Zoe (2018)
Story creator/director Drake Dormeus’ Zoe is a deeply romantic and heavily contemplative film about a scientist’s (Ewan McGregor) relationship with his synthetic human (Lea Seydoux) creation. It is a surprisingly beautiful and touching film that seriously explores the possibilities of unnatural love. There is nothing predictable or typical about the handling of Zoe’s premise, which could have easily taken routes we’ve all previously witnessed in other films. Hopefully, it’s only a matter of time before a larger audience discovers this exceptionally moving film.
12. Fatman (2020)
Writers/directors Eshom and Ian Nelms deliver a hilariously dark and cleverly twisted take on Santa Claus in this wholly atypical Christmastime film. Mel Gibson delivers one of his best performances in quite some time with a disheartened, tired, and bitter portrayal of Chris Kringle. The great Walton Goggins provides excellent support as a psychotic hitman hired to take Chris out. Fatman is a gleefully demented film that is still waiting for its properly sized audience to make it an official holiday classic.
11. Allure (2018)
Evan Rachel Wood delivers one of the most powerful and underrated dramatic film performances in recent years, portraying a house cleaner who begins an abusive relationship with a client’s teenage daughter (Julia Sarah Stone). Wood’s work in the film is extraordinarily complex, as her character horrifically and uncontrollably exhibits the type of destructive behavior towards others that previously and deeply damaged her. Allure is an extremely thoughtful portrayal of a woman who is both a tragic victim and a compulsive predator. The challenging film doesn’t supply any easy answers, which is perhaps why it hasn’t found a particularly sizable audience to date.
10. Swan Song (2021)
The endlessly talented Mahershala Ali stars in this sci-fi/drama as a terminally ill man who decides to clone himself in order to spare his family the pain of losing him. Writer/director Benjamin Cleary delivers a sensitive and meditative film about loss, grief, and mortality. Swan Song stimulates the intellect along with many powerful emotions, resulting in a film that is every bit as fascinating as it is dramatically moving. The film’s high quality warrants a far larger audience than it has currently received.
9. Above Suspicion (2021)
This reality-based drama centers on an F.B.I. Agent’s (Jack Huston) torrid affair with one of his informants (Emilia Clarke). Above Suspicion is the kind of gritty and uncompromising movie we saw a lot of in the seventies, but have only sporadically gotten in the decades since. It packs a sizable dramatic wallop that is comparable to far more successful and popular films. Above Suspicion may not be a particularly recognizable title at the moment, but that is nowhere near to being a reflection of its extraordinarily high quality.
8. Mean Dreams (2017)
The late, great Bill Paxton’s last major feature film role was in this tense and character-driven thriller. The film centers on two troubled teens (the excellent Josh Wiggins and Sophie Nelisse) who run away from their homes with a bagful of stolen drug money only to be tracked by the girl’s corrupt cop father (Paxton). Mean Dreams beautifully captures the tumultuous yet wonderfully wistful emotions associated with troubled young love. It is an unforgettable film that also serves as a fitting send-off to one of our most talented and likable onscreen presences. The fact that it hasn’t yet reached its deserved audience has nothing to do with Mean Dreams’ immense quality.
7. Under the Silver Lake (2019)
If Hitchcock, De Palma, Lynch, and Gilliam all collaborated with the goal to create a mind-bending and downright strange modern-day cult film, the result might resemble Under the Silver Lake. Writer/director David Robert Mitchell’s follow-up to his horror hit, It Follows, offers a challenging and surreal depiction of Los Angeles. Under the Silver Lake exaggerates the city’s many odd attributes and quirks so they can be examined more closely by the film’s darkly absurd and dream-like point of view. There is nothing else quite like this film, and it’s a downright shame that a larger audience has yet to fully embrace it.
6. Only God Forgives (2013)
Star Ryan Gosling and director Nicolas Winding Refn’s follow-up to their hit 2011 collaboration, Drive, is a risky and somewhat demanding effort. Only God Forgives is a severely brutal, highly surreal, and intoxicatingly dream-like action-thriller that isn’t designed to fully add up without each viewer’s own unique interpretation. Refn, who is perhaps today’s predominant successor to David Lynch, is more interested in communicating abstract emotions than he is in telling a clear and inclusive story. Because of its challenging nature, the film never appealed to mainstream audiences and is still in search of its large and warranted cult.
5. Vivarium (2020)
Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots star as a young couple who, while searching for their dream home, gets inexplicably trapped in a seemingly endless subdivision. This highly intelligent and thoroughly strange film belongs to many different genres, as it is part horror, part science fiction, part mystery/thriller, and part comedy. Vivarium is ultimately an intricate and astute examination of the horrific monotony found at the heart of everyday middle-class life. Though it hasn’t been fully accepted by mainstream audiences just yet, there’s a very good chance that it could be if more people gave it a chance.
3-4. Ask Me Anything (2014)/ Another Girl (2021)
Writer/director Allison Burnett explores life in the internet age with this excellent pair of films. Ask Me Anything rivals The Social Network as the definitive film of its time about lives lived online. The film follows the exploits of Katie Kampenfelt (the excellent Britt Robertson), a promiscuous teenage blogger who shamelessly posts about all her exploits for the entire world to see. Ask Me Anything ends with a mysterious and haunting feeling that forces its audience to thoroughly ponder its many thoughtful ambiguities, themes, and events.
Another Girl is Ask Me Anything’s sequel. It’s like Ask Me Anything’s leaner, meaner, and blunter younger sister. The film follows a young woman (a sensational Sammi Hanratty) who thinks she’s communicating with Katie via her website. The two develop an intimate online relationship without ever meeting in person, and it becomes increasingly unclear whether or not “Katie” is actually who she says. Like Ask Me Anything, Another Girl is an ambiguous and complex film that leaves its viewers shrouded in an intoxicating cloud of mystery. Both titles are great, timely films that need larger audiences in order to reach their deserved classic status.
2. Psycho Goreman (2021)
This endlessly inventive and gleefully demented horror/comedy already has a small but growing cult of appreciators. Psycho Goreman centers on two children (Nita-Josee Hannah and Owen Myre) who accidentally awaken an all-powerful and destructive being (Matthew Ninaber) only to discover that they have full control over its otherworldly powers. The film feels like a classic eighties movie, as it is filled with hilarious one-liners, beautifully executed practical effects, and wonderfully fitting synthesized music. Psycho Goreman is the ultimate cult movie just waiting for its deserved large audience.
1. Dragged Across Concrete (2019)
There isn’t a more fascinating or underrated talent working behind the camera today than the steadily rising S. Craig Zahler. Dragged Across Concrete is, to date, the most accomplished and ambitious of the three excellent films he has directed (which also include Bone Tomahawk and Brawl in Cell Block 99). The film centers on two disgruntled police officers (Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn) who hatch a plan to steal from criminals after they are suspended for excessive force. Dragged Across Concrete is a thinking person’s action movie filled with hefty character development, brutal violence, and surprising ruminations about the consequences of its characters’ actions. Movies like this are rare, and they deserve far more support and attention from critics and audiences than Dragged Across Concrete has currently received.
