Here’s another repost, further edited.
A list of the most underrated films of the 2000s was already published over the weekend, and inspired by the debate—and the 400+ comments it generated—how about we tackle the 2010s?
As with most lists dating back from a few years, some things have changed. As far as critics go, a good blueprint would be the massive critics poll I conducted in the summer of 2019. You’ll find none of those films here. We’re trying to unearth the hidden gems, not the ones that were widely acclaimed.
William Friedkin’s late-career run is one of the easiest cases of underappreciation in the 2010s. “Killer Joe” was a vicious, tightly controlled Southern noir that felt like a director reasserting pure instinct rather than any sort if safety net. It came and went with surprisingly little long-term critical presence, especially for something so tonally fearless.
Shane Carruth is almost the definition of a “what happened next?” filmmaker. “Upstream Color” expanded his experimental logic into something more lyrical and emotionally daring. His retreat from filmmaking after the film—and the surrounding controversies—only deepened the sense that it might stand as a final, unresolved statement from one of the decade’s most singular voices.
Clint Eastwood, meanwhile, has been quietly undervalued as a 2010s filmmaker, as if longevity itself unfairly dulled perception of his work. “The Mule” is deceptively slight but thematically rich, playing like a late-life confession disguised as a crime film. “Richard Jewell” was a sharp institutional critique that was largely shrugged off despite being one of his most controlled modern works.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Saulnier delivered one of the decade’s purest exercises in stripped-down revenge filmmaking with “Blue Ruin,” but it never quite broke into the wider conversation despite its precision and emotional restraint. JC Chandor suffered the opposite fate—widely respected, but under-remembered in the broader 2010s canon, likely because “A Most Violent Year” opted for restraint and moral ambiguity rather than easy answers. And Trey Edward Shults’ “Krisha,” shot for almost nothing and bursting with controlled chaos, remains one of the most intense debuts of the decade, even if its raw, almost invasive emotional style kept it from reaching a larger audience.
The term “underrated,” for me, at least, means films that slipped under the radar and barely get talked about today. I went through my archives and found these 28 titles that deserved a better fate or some kind of reappraisal in the near future.
Jeremy Saulnier’s Blue Ruin, JC Chandor’s A Most Violent Year, Trey Edward Shultz’s Krisha, Sebastien Schipper’s Victoria, Shane Carruth’s Upstream Color, Casey Affleck’s I’m Still Here, Sylvain Chomet‘s Le Illusioniste, William Friedkin’s Killer Joe, David Ayer’s Fury, Dan Trachtenberg’s 10 Cloverfield Lane, Kogonada’s Columbus, Evan Glodell’s Bellflower, Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi‘s The Tribe, Craig Zobel’s Compliance, Jim Rash/Nat Faxon’s The Way Way Back, Joe Swanberg’s Drinking Buddies, Woody Allen’s Irrational Man, Kelly Fremon Craig’s The Edge of Seventeen, Nadav Lapid’s Policeman, Na Hong-jin’s The Waling and The Chaser, John Lee Hancock’s The Founder, Robin Swicord’s Wakefield, Matt Spicer’s Ingrid Goes West, Clint Eastwood’s The Mule and Richard Jewell, Eliza Hittman’s Beach Rats, Julia Leigh’s Sleeping Beauty
Time for some recommendations. What are your undervalued movies of 2010s?