10 Underrated Movies You Probably Haven't Seen

The Films That Slipped Through the Cracks

For every film that dominates the cultural conversation, dozens of remarkable works pass through cinemas almost unnoticed. They may lack the marketing budgets of studio tentpoles or the awards-campaign machinery of prestige pictures, but they offer something equally valuable: fresh perspectives, uncompromising vision, and the thrill of discovering something genuinely unexpected. These ten films represent some of the best cinema that most people have never seen.

1. The Fall (2006)

Tarsem Singh spent four years filming The Fall across 28 countries, financing much of it himself after studios balked at his vision. The result is one of the most visually extraordinary films ever made. Set in a 1920s Los Angeles hospital, it follows a bedridden stuntman who tells an increasingly fantastical story to a young girl with a broken arm. The fantasy sequences, shot in locations ranging from Rajasthan to Namibia to the blue city of Jodhpur, use no CGI whatsoever. Every impossible image is real. The film's emotional core, the relationship between the storyteller and his audience, gives the visual splendor genuine weight. Catinca Untaru, the child actress, was never told she was in a film, and her unrehearsed reactions give scenes an authenticity that scripted performances rarely achieve.

2. A Prophet (2009)

Jacques Audiard's A Prophet (Un prophete) follows Malik, an illiterate nineteen-year-old of Arab descent, as he navigates the brutal hierarchy of a French prison. Over the course of six years, Malik transforms from a terrified newcomer into a figure of considerable power, learning to read, speak multiple languages, and manipulate the criminal ecosystem around him. Tahar Rahim's performance is astonishing in its range, conveying intelligence, fear, and ruthless calculation often within a single scene. The film is a crime epic that also functions as a damning portrait of France's treatment of its marginalized communities.

3. Capernaum (2018)

Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki's Capernaum opens with its twelve-year-old protagonist, Zain, suing his parents for the crime of giving him life. What follows is a devastating journey through Beirut's most impoverished neighborhoods, where children are married off, undocumented migrants live in constant fear, and survival requires a resourcefulness that no child should need. Zain al Rafeea, a real Syrian refugee with no acting experience, delivers a performance of staggering naturalism. The film never sentimentalizes its subject matter; instead, it burns with righteous anger at the systems that fail the most vulnerable.

4. The Handmaiden (2016)

Park Chan-wook's The Handmaiden is a sumptuous erotic thriller set in 1930s Korea under Japanese colonial rule. Based loosely on Sarah Waters' novel Fingersmith, it follows a pickpocket hired to help a con man seduce a Japanese heiress out of her inheritance. The story unfolds in three parts, each revealing new layers of deception and desire, until the audience's understanding of events has been completely overturned. The film is gorgeous, shocking, and ultimately a love story of extraordinary tenderness. Its three-act structure is a masterclass in how perspective reshapes narrative.

5. Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)

Before Taika Waititi directed Thor and won an Oscar for Jojo Rabbit, he made this small New Zealand comedy about a rebellious foster child and his grumpy bush-dwelling uncle who become the subjects of a nationwide manhunt. Hunt for the Wilderpeople is endlessly charming, with Sam Neill delivering one of his best performances as the reluctant father figure Hec, and Julian Dennison stealing every scene as the Tupac-quoting Ricky Baker. Beneath its comedy lies a genuine warmth and a pointed commentary on New Zealand's child welfare system. It became the highest-grossing New Zealand film in history but remains surprisingly underseen internationally.

6. Columbus (2017)

Kogonada's debut feature is a quiet revelation. Set in Columbus, Indiana, a city renowned for its modernist architecture, the film follows two strangers: Jin, a Korean man whose father has fallen into a coma, and Casey, a young architecture enthusiast stuck in her hometown caring for her recovering-addict mother. Columbus unfolds at a contemplative pace, using the city's buildings as both backdrop and metaphor. The compositions are immaculate, each frame carefully considering the relationship between human figures and architectural space. John Cho and Haley Lu Richardson share a chemistry built on intellectual connection rather than physical attraction, making their tentative bond feel genuinely rare.

7. The Farewell (2019)

Lulu Wang's The Farewell is based on her own family's experience: when her grandmother was diagnosed with terminal cancer, the family decided not to tell her, instead staging a wedding as a pretext for everyone to gather and say goodbye. Awkwafina, in a dramatic role that silenced anyone who doubted her range, plays Billi, the American-raised granddaughter who struggles with a cultural practice that feels like a lie. The film is funny, heartbreaking, and profoundly specific in its portrayal of the immigrant experience, the feeling of belonging fully to neither the country you left nor the one you live in.

8. Incendies (2010)

Before Denis Villeneuve directed Dune and Arrival, he made this shattering drama about twin siblings who travel to an unnamed Middle Eastern country to uncover their mother's hidden past. Based on Wajdi Mouawad's play, Incendies unfolds as a mystery whose revelations grow increasingly horrifying, building to a final twist that is both logically inevitable and emotionally devastating. The film demonstrates Villeneuve's gift for controlled, patient storytelling, building tension across parallel timelines until they converge with the force of a detonation. It earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film and remains essential viewing for anyone who wants to understand Villeneuve's artistic DNA.

9. A Separation (2011)

Asghar Farhadi's A Separation begins with a couple arguing before a judge: Simin wants to leave Iran for a better life abroad; Nader refuses to leave his father, who has Alzheimer's. From this domestic premise, Farhadi constructs a thriller of escalating moral complexity, where every character's perspective is understandable and every choice has unintended consequences. The film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the Golden Bear at Berlin, and it deserved every accolade. Farhadi's genius lies in his refusal to judge his characters; instead, he presents a web of circumstance and lets the audience grapple with questions that have no clean answers.

10. Sound of Metal (2019)

Darius Marder's Sound of Metal follows Ruben, a punk-metal drummer who begins losing his hearing rapidly. Riz Ahmed's performance is a tour de force of physicality and emotional restraint, capturing the panic, denial, and eventual reckoning of a man whose identity is inseparable from sound. The film's innovative sound design places the audience inside Ruben's experience, alternating between the muffled distortion of hearing loss and the rich auditory world he is losing. When Ruben enters a deaf community, the film becomes a thoughtful exploration of disability, acceptance, and the difference between silence and peace. Ahmed was nominated for Best Actor, and the film won two Academy Awards for its groundbreaking sound work.

Why These Films Matter

What unites these ten films is their commitment to telling stories that mainstream cinema overlooks. They come from different countries, speak different languages, and span different genres, but each offers a perspective that broadens our understanding of what cinema can achieve. In an era of franchise dominance and algorithm-driven content, seeking out films like these isn't just a matter of taste; it is an act of cultural preservation. The next time you're scrolling through endless options wondering what to watch, consider giving one of these overlooked gems the audience it always deserved.