NOTE: I’ve bumped this article up in what appears to be a slow day for film-related content. Chime in with your underseen gems in the comments section below!
Netflix started producing original films back in 2015 with the release of Cary Fukunaga’s “Beasts of No Nation,” which opened in select movie theaters and then hit the streaming platform on October 16th.
Ever since then, Netflix has gone on to release over 500 original films. Of course, when amassing a list of the best Netflix films, there’s the obvious titles that you’ll see pop up on practically every list — “The Power of the Dog,” “The Irishman,” “Marriage Story,” “Uncut Gems,” “Roma,” but what about the lesser known titles?
It’s become such a daunting task to catch up with, let alone know about, all of these titles that I decided it was maybe a good idea to shed off the fat and come up with the 20 underrated gems that I’ve screened over the years via the Netflix catalog.
“Apollo 10 1⁄2: A Space Age Childhood”
“Apollo 10 1/2” is not a space movie as much as it is about childhood in mid-to-late ‘60s Texas. So it comes as no surprise that Richard Linklater directed this highly personal film about growing up. Playing like a slice of life, albeit in dreamy rotoscope animation, Linklater’s film feels like a time machine back to when things were much simpler in America. Very light on its feet, and, oddly enough, recalling “The Wonder Years” in its heavy usage of narration, this is a vivid portrait of a very specific time and place in American history. The July 20, 1969 moon landing might be semi-referred to in the title, but this is very much about Linklater’s banal day-to-day childhood and the suburban families who lived around him.
“Cam”
Daniel Goldhaber‘s film felt like a great, un-aired episode of Netflix’s acclaimed anthology series “Black Mirror.” Set against the backdrop of online sex work, “Cam” grips you and doesn’t let go from its very opening scene, as you are thrust into the world of young women who host sexually explicit shows online. More specifically, Goldhaber is interested in the psyche of Alice, the intriguing lead character, whose identity, which she has meticulously built up over the years, is threatened by a mysterious outside force. The result is a hypnotic dive into the unknown, a dreamy and surreal take on social networking that will make you think twice about not just webcamming, but what identity actually means in the social media age.
“Dolemite is My Name”
Craig Brewer’s “Dolemite Is My Name” has Eddie Murphy playing 1970s-era blaxploitation icon Rudy Ray Moore in a film about how Moore’s famous movie character Dolemite came to be. Call this the blaxploitation version of “Ed Wood,” filled with the same deft comic touch. This is one of the funniest comedies of the last five years, a hoot and a holler about a black man living in whitey America yearning to make a name for himself. With a little help from some shady friends, he takes over and renovates a needle and rat-infested crackhouse into a soundstage for the production of his dream project.
“Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile”
A Ted Bundy biopic. In “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile,” director Joe Berlinger decides to turn his camera towards the “charismatic killer” and the way evil can easily be shaded by charm. This is a character study about a charming and intelligent guy who exhibited kindness to women and children alike, but also happened to be a murderer. Who else but Zac Efron to play Bundy, an actor known for his rugged good looks, nice-guy persona, and overall chill demeanor? It’s a stroke of perceptively brilliant casting.”
“Happy as Lazzaro”
Alice Rohrwacher's hypnotic, surreal and sensual "Happy As Lazzaro," which won the Best Screenplay prize at Cannes, has a moody atmosphere delivered through the mysteriously dreamy ambiguity of the narrative. The film, a sort of hybrid of Pasolini and Bresson, is an indictment of the social problems in Italy as seen through the eyes of a — let’s be clear here — dim-witted Dostoyevskyan protagonist, a simple peasant returning to his life 20 years after his death. It takes a major detour in its second half, one which I will not reveal, but that's when the film gets going and becomes damn-near hypnotic.
“Hold the Dark”
If you haven’t seen any films by filmmaker Jeremy Saulnier (“Green Room”, “Blue Ruin”), then you’re missing out. He’s one of the very best up-and-coming directors around. Saulnier’s latest venture into the dark abyss, “Hold the Dark,” follows a wolf expert who travels to a small Alaskan village to investigate the disappearances of three children, who may or may not have been killed by wolves. The retired naturalist and wolf expert, Russell Cole, is played by Jeffrey Wright as he journeys to the very edge of civilization to find answers. Medora Slone (Riley Keough), a young mother whose son was one of three children killed by a pack of wolves, has called for his help. Saulnier continues his knack for visceral violence; you feel every gunshot wound, every stabbing of the knife, every punch, with the director inserting a kind of magical surrealism into the world being created.
“Horse Girl”
Written by Baena, “Horse Girl” stars Alison Brie as Sarah, an arts and crafts store employee who may be slowly, but surely losing her own grasp of reality. Brie delivers some of her finest work as the complex, fragile, and, potentially, delusional Sarah. In the first few minutes, you wouldn’t think Sarah is just a mere brain switch away from the loony bin. The deceptively simple way that Baena builds up his movie could have you thinking it’ll be another observational, low-key, character-driven indie, but that “Horse Girl” isn’t.
“Hustle”
Another great Adam Sandler performance. This is a feel-good sports movie that doesn’t shortchange its audience. In it, Sandler plays Stanley Sugerman, a travel-weary NBA scout who has dreams of becoming a coach, all while looking for the next big talent overseas. His search leads him to Spain, where he discovers Bo Cruz (NBA player Juancho Hernangómez). Cruz has no professional experience, opting to play streetball while taking care of his young daughter at home. Directed by Jeremiah Zagar, who helmed the excellent Sundance indie “We the Animals,” the film hits its stride in the connection between Stanley and Bo, on and off the court. Hernangómez and Sandler’s chemistry together is contagious.
“Icarus”
A shocking doc about an elaborate doping scheme involving the Russian government and its athletes. Much of the credit should go to its director, Bryan Fogel, for stumbling onto the international scandal while making the film, leading to the IOC banning Russia. The scandal was uncovered by accident by Fogel, who was following a Russian scientist for a doping documentary, but found out he had a much bigger story at hand. This is the kind of film, an absurdist thriller, where a twist seems to happen almost every few minutes. There’s also an air of paranoia throughout — the viewer is on the edge, with the full knowledge that any of the on-screen characters could get killed at any moment.
“I Don’t Feel at Home in this World Anymore”
Actor-turned-director Macon Blair takes quite a bit from his pal Jeremy Saulnier’s visceral style of filmmaking for his feature directing debut. Melanie Lynskey and Elijah Wood make a formidable team in this tale set in a generation that is further dissolving into complete and utter narcissism. Her character’s home is broken into, and her personal belongings, including stuff her grandma gave her before she passed, are stolen. Wood is the weirdo neighbor she teams up with to find the “asshole” that committed the crime. Engrossing, comic, frightening, isolated, and filled with dread, the film is a brilliant dissection of the current state in America. Blair is influenced by Lynch’s “Blue Velvet,” which depicted a dark underbelly of Americana that this film seems to embrace wholeheartedly.
“I Lost My Body”
An existential mystery about a severed hand, originally screened at Cannes and wound up getting a Best Animated Feature Oscar nod. French director Jérémy Clapin’s film is an adult-oriented and boldly original movie that uses flashbacks to slowly reveal the reasons why its main character ends up in a tragic accident where his hand gets chopped off. The hand ends up becoming a character of its own. Disembodied, it escapes from a medical lab’s refrigerator and spends the rest of the movie desperately trying to reunite with its owner. It’s much more touching than it sounds. Only the French can pull something like this off.
“Jim and Andy”
Back in 1999, Jim Carrey was chosen to play Andy Kaufman in the major Hollywood biopic, “Man on the Moon.” This doc is built around 20 hours of camcorder footage of Carrey on the set. You thank the cinematic heavens it was placed in a vault by Universal Pictures because this extraordinary doc captures the ordeals that come with an artist finding his or herself through extreme measures. It turns out, during the shoot of the film, Carey never left character, he was always Andy Kaufman, whether the camera was shooting or not, much to the chagrin and barely held tolerance of the cast/crew.
“The Kindergarten Teacher”
Sara Colangelo’s remake of the Israeli film “The Kindergarten Teacher” is a fascinating character study that features an awards-worthy lead performance. Maggie Gyllenhaal is a Staten Island early-childhood educator who starts obsessing over a gifted student, which leads to problems too good to reveal in this capsule. Colangelo’s American remake of the similarly-titled Israeli drama maintains its own unique identity. However, the movie belongs to Gyllenhaal, who keeps playing with our heads throughout the film. The fact that she maintains our sympathy for her character is all the more mysterious.
“Paddleton”
The fact that Alex Lehmann’s film concerns two friends, one of which has just been told he’s dying of cancer, could make you run scared from the sob-fest that is about to happen, but “Paddleton” isn’t a “Love Story” or a “Terms of Endearment,” rather it’s a film that is incredibly light on its feet with humor and heartbreak. Michael (Mark Duplass) is terminally ill, but decides that he wants to end his life on his terms before the inevitable suffering begins. That means no chemo, no sick pills, just a medically legal suicide. He needs his upstairs neighbor and best friend Andy (Ray Romano) to help him out; these guys are inseparable, chilling at the apartment by watching old kung-fu movies, or playing paddleton outdoors, a game they invented which involves a paddle and hitting a ball against a factory wall. The mix of comedy and drama is well-mixed, and the payoff is beautifully rendered.
“Pieces of A Woman”
For 128 minutes, Vanessa Kirby has you hooked to her every move in Kornel Mundruczo’s domestic drama. As Martha, a high-powered executive who loses her child during a harrowing home birth, Kirby mesmerizes by showcasing the human frailty and devastation that happens when tragedy comes knocking at the door. Her acting tour-de-force reminded me of Gena Rowlands’ masterful work in John Cassavetes’ 1974 classic, “Woman Under the Influence.” Shot in one long 23-minute continuous take, the opening scene is a harrowing one to watch and sets up the stakes for the rest of the film, which flows magnificently well thanks to Mundruczo’s firm grasp of his narrative — his work here is a directorial high-wire act of the highest order.
“The Polka King”
In 2004, a Polish immigrant by the name of Jan Lewan was arrested for being the mastermind behind a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme. It was a story so bizarre that someone thought it was a good idea to cast Jack Black as Lewan in a film version. The result is a masterstroke of casting. The dubious comedian/musician sinks his chops into the role of the unusually always joyous Lewan. There’s backstabbing, murder, money-laundering, and, did I mention, polka? Jenny Slate is great as Jan’s homegrown beauty-queen wife, and Jason Schwartzman hilariously deadpan as the right-hand man. It’s all as outrageous as it sounds, but it works, boy oh boy does it ever gloriously work. It plays almost as a spiritual sequel to Black/Linklater’s “Bernie”
“Private Life”
Tamara Jenkins' film gets the details right. It zeroes in on a married couple (played by Katherine Hahn and Paul Giamatti) coping with a never-ending infertility struggle and the collapse of their marriage, as they navigate through the world of adoption and assisted reproduction. It features indelibly pertinent performances from Hahn, Giamatti, and newcomer Kayli Carter, the latter plays the married couple's niece who agrees to be their egg donor. The New York City apartment that all three share in the film, as they navigate in and out going to endless doctor's appointments, feels very much like a character of its own. It's in this closed, claustrophobic atmosphere that the film manages to squeeze out the inner-kept emotional trauma of the characters.
“Tramps”
Adam Leon’s “Tramps” was a buried indie treasure stacked inside the 2016 TIFF lineup, only to then get even more buried by a barely promoted Netflix pickup and release. Leon’s first film, Gimme the Loot, was part of the Cannes Un Certain Regard selection in 2012, and the writer-director has built a cult following in France, whereas in the U.S., he is still relatively unknown. That could potentially change in the coming years as more and more people stumble upon “Tramps,” a romance about two young criminals. It has to happen, Leon is a major talent waiting to spring.
“Triple Frontier”
Former elite soldiers go on an Expendables-like heist in J.C. Chandor’s (“All Is Lost,” “A Most Violent Year”) indelibly exciting and pulse-pounding film. Written by journalist turned screenwriter Mark Boal of “The Hurt Locker” and “Zero Dark Thirty” fame, Oscar Isaac’s Santiago reconnects with his former Special Ops buddies hoping they will join him on a high-paying, very illegal legal operation in South America, the film eventually turns into a cautionary tale about greed, very much akin to past classics “Treasure of the Sierra Madre” and “Wages of Fear.” It's an epic and visceral adventure, the kind of action movie that feels like it is part of a bygone Hollywood era, one in which smartly-delivered action spectacles used to be the norm.
“Win it All”
“Win It All” is a worthy new addition to Joe Swanberg’s canon. It is a straightforward character study about a compulsive gambler (Jake Johnson) trying to get his life back on track. The film features not only the best performance Johnson has ever given, but more proof that Swanberg, who usually uses a ton of improv in his movies, can even make solid indie movies that rely more on the scripted than on-the-spot creative thinking. Unlike their last two films, Johnson and Swanberg knew what story they wanted to tell, and used a three-act structure that was highly influenced by the maverick Hollywood cinema of the 1970s. The influence of Robert Altman’s “California Split” is all over this movie.