A few years ago, moviegoers would eagerly wait for weeks for the movie to premiere at the cinema, where they would be able to watch it with friends and family on the big screen. If for any reason they happened to miss the premiere of a film, they would have to wait for it to be available in rental stores or to be released on TV. Nowadays, many movies are still theatrically released, but technology has evolved and a large number of productions are now reaching audiences in a different way thanks to streaming platforms.
The massive selection of content available on streaming platforms makes it much easier to find a movie or show. However, it makes it nearly impossible to keep up with all the latest releases. There is simply so much content being uploaded per month that it can get overwhelming. Netflix, for one, is among the streaming platforms with the most movies and series released per year, many of which are actually originals. And while several of its titles enjoyed widespread acclaim and popularity, many others were either underrated or overshadowed by other releases. Netflix has a few hidden gems that deserve a bit more love from fans.
Updated on August 5th, 2023 by Federico Furzan: This article has been updated with additional content to keep the discussion fresh and relevant with even more information and new entries.
15 I Care A Lot (2020)
For her leading role in I Care A Lot, Rosamund Pike won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture. This 2020 film follows Marla, an unscrupulous woman who lives at other people's expense. For several years, she has been exploiting elderly people as their legal guardians, under the pretext that they are incapable of taking care of themselves.
Along with Fran, her life and business partner, they pick up a new victim to swindle, a lady named Jennifer Peterson. However, their job won't be as easy as they expect, because Jennifer is secretly connected to the criminal world, and that threatens to destroy Marla forever. Pike is joined in this production by Peter Dinklage, Dianne Wiest, Eiza Gonzalez, and Chris Messina.
14 Apostle (2018)
Apostle is a film set in 1905 that follows Thomas, a British man who embarks on a trip to a distant island isolated from the outside world to rescue his sister Jennifer, who has been kidnapped by a religious cult. The young man attempts to reveal all of this organization's secrets in order to destroy it from the inside, but he ends up discovering things that are more horrifying than he thought.
This production was written and directed byGareth Evans and starred Dan Stevens, Lucy Boynton, Mark Lewis Jones, Michael Sheen, Bill Milner, Paul Higgins, and Kristine Froseth. Apostle premiered in September 2018 at Fantastic Fest and just a few weeks later had its second premiere on Netflix.
13 The Perfection (2018)
The 2018 film The Perfection is a terrific combination of horror, crime thriller, and black comedy, and it's one of those productions that you don't quite figure out until the very end of it. It was directed by Richard Shepard and starred Allison Williams and Logan Browning alongside Steven Weber, Alaina Huffman, Mark Kandborg, Graeme Duffy, and Eileen Tian.
The Perfection explores the human obsession with achieving perfection and follows Charlotte, a prodigious cellist who had to give up her career to take care of her mother. After a decade, she finally comes back to the conservatory where she was trained, only to discover that her spot has been taken by a young up-and-coming star named Elizabeth. These two women strike up a romance that will lead them down a dark and winding path with dire consequences.
12 The Call (2013)
The Call is one of the many movies whose theatrical release was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which is why it ended up premiering on Netflix in November 2020. Directed by Lee Chung-hyun, this South Korean thriller is based on the 2011 film The Caller, and stars Park Shin-hye and Jeon Jong-seo, whose performance earned her a few nominations and a Director's Cut Award.
The Call follows Seo-yeon and Young-sook, two women who connect through a phone call and find out that they are living in different eras: one in 1999 and the other in 2019. Following this call, they start to help each other solve some difficult personal situations, dramatically changing each other's lives. But not all that glitters is gold, as changing things from the past can lead to very, very dangerous consequences for everyone involved.
11 The Platform (2019)
The Platform is a Spanish movie that premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the People's Choice Award for Midnight Madness. It is set in a dystopian future and presents a tower made up of many levels with two inmates living on each floor, rotating randomly.
Right in the center of this building lies a hole through which descends a platform overflowing with food, provided under one condition: the prisoners on each floor are to eat what the ones on the previous floor have left over, and so on until the platform reaches the final floor. Naturally, this system creates conflicts among the inmates, who are willing to do absolutely anything in order to satiate their hunger. This production stars Iván Massagué, Zorion Eguileor, Antonia San Juan, Emilio Buale Coka, and Alexandra Masangkay.
10 Okja (2017)
Two years before he directed the Oscar-winning film Parasite, Bong Joon-ho helmed Okja, a co-production between South Korea and the United States that competed for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. It stars Ahn Seo-hyun alongside both South Korean and Hollywood stars such as Byun Hee-bong, Yoon Je-moon, Choi Woo-shik, Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Steven Yeun, Daniel Henshall, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Giancarlo Esposito.
Okja follows Mija, a young girl who lives in South Korea with her grandfather and a super pig called Okja that has been genetically modified by a corporation. The girl and the animal are great friends and spend their days going on adventures. Eventually, the corporation recaptures Okja and transports her to New York City, where she faces a fateful destiny. Without hesitation, Mija embarks on a rescue mission to bring her friend back, and she will meet several allies that will help her on this journey.
9 The Fundamentals of Caring (2016)
Ben is a writer who quit his job following an accident that took the life of his young son and ended his marriage. Trying to give a new meaning to his life, he enrolls in a course to become a registered caregiver and is hired by Elsa to take care of Trevor, a young teenager suffering from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.
Trevor is fond of roadside attractions so, with his mother's permission, he embarks on a cross-country road trip with his caregiver that will transform their growing bond into a friendship. In the midst of it, they meet Dot, a teenager who is trying to run away from her past and who will join them on the journey, as they search for new reasons to embrace life. The Fundamentals of Caring is a 2016 film written and directed by Rob Burnett based on the novel The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison. It starred Paul Rudd, Craig Roberts, and Selena Gomez.
8 Private Life (2018)
Private Life is a 2018 film that revolves around the lives of a couple in the pursuit of conceiving a child. This comedy-drama was written and directed by Tamara Jenkins and featured starring performances by Paul Giamatti and Kathryn Hahn alongside Kayli Carter, Molly Shannon, John Carroll Lynch, and Denis O'Hare.
The story is about Rachel and Richard, a middle-aged couple who for many years have been trying to have a child. After attempting all possible fertility and adoption methods without success, their desperation along with their obsession to conceive, start to damage the couple as well as their relationship with the people around them. Joining them in their mission to have a baby is Sadie, their 25-year-old niece, who is willing to be their egg donor, a move that is bound to get her in trouble with her own mother.
7 Cam (2018)
Cam is a 2018 film directed by Daniel Goldhaber and written by Isa Mazzei, drawing inspiration from her years working as a camgirl. It stars Madeline Brewer as Alice, a very reserved girl who is keeping a secret from her family: she works as a camgirl on adult websites. This young woman intends to keep her private life detached from her professional life and her clients.
One day things take a turn for the worse as she tries to log into her account only to discover that someone is using her profile: an exact replica of herself. Because of this situation and the things that her look-alike is doing on the Internet, Alice starts to lose control of her life and her relationships. So, she sets out on a mission to expose the impersonator and regain her audience, and with it, some sense of normalcy. Joining Brewer in the cast are Cam Patch Darragh, Melora Walters, Michael Dempsey, and Devin Druid.
6 I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Wrapping up this list is I'm Thinking of Ending Things, a 2020 film that left audiences scratching their heads. This production was written and directed by Charlie Kaufman based on the novel of the same name by Iain Reid. Starring Jessie Buckley and Jesse Plemons, the film follows a woman who drives with her boyfriend to meet his parents while having second thoughts about him.
Upon arriving at the secluded farmhouse where Jake's parents live, her doubts about the relationship and her partner grow ever greater, forcing her to reconsider her life and all she knows so far. Joining Buckley and Plemons in the cast are Toni Collette, David Thewlis, Guy Boyd, and Hadley Robinson, among others. Trust us when we say you have never seen a film like this.
5 Tell Me Who I Am (2019)
Tell Me Who I Am starts as a documentary about one man helping his brother recover his memory after an accident left him blank. What Alex discovers by Marcus' revelations is that they were sexually abused by their own family.
However, there's more, and you will have to see for yourself in this 2019 documentary that drifts away from the Netflix formula, It's a compelling film about the driving force of brotherhood in the strangest of circumstances
4 The Hater (2020)
Jan Komasa is a Polish film director who's able to tackle uncomfortable subjects and imprint a human value that's seldom seen in genre films. His films are emotional, but they don't exactly make you feel good.
Instead, he goes for deep dives into the dark corners of the soul and shows audiences what they're afraid to admit sometimes. In The Hater, one of 2020's best films, a college student uses the Internet to instigate hate in all directions. This one is actually inspired by a true story. We can't recommend this one enough.
3 Oxygen (2021)
Alexandre Aja's Oxygen is a one-woman show for Mélanie Laurent who stars as Liz, a woman trapped in a cryogenic chamber where oxygen is starting to go down. We won't spoil much for you as this sci-fi thriller gets better with each twist and turn.
There's actually a great story in the main twist, which might keep viewers hanging around on the edges of their seats until the finale. Fans can think of "Buried in space". It's a crafty and clever movie that goes by in a flash.
2 I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017)
I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore is probably the best Netflix film you can find in the catalog. This is an insane ride through the dynamics Macon Blair has been able to follow up on after Jeremy Saulnier created them.
It's a crime comedy starring Melanie Lynskey and Elijah Wood as neighbors who start investigating a "breaking and entering", only to find themselves deep in a world of shady criminals and mobsters. There's a scene in a resale shop that will leave you breathless: too much tension and nervous laughing as it seldom happens in Hollywood.
1 Calibre (2018)
Calibre, written and directed by Matt Palmer, is a solid Netflix film that not many people saw in 2018 when it was released. Unfortunately, it fell under the radar as it was a small thriller without known faces. However, don't let this make you think it's a lesser film.
This is the story of two friends who go on a hunting trip to the Scottish Highlands, piss off the locals, and then things turn for the worse when a fatal hunting accident turns the friends into prey. You will never guess where the story goes. It's dark and grim, and it never loses steam. This one is a great Netflix pick, but you probably want to see it on a sunny day.