Not all movies get the attention they deserve. Some of the best movies on Netflix are the ones that didn’t make a big splash when they were released but aren’t worth your time if you know where to look.
This weekend, we’re skipping the algorithm and delving deeper into the library. So here are three underrated movies to watch this weekend.
We also have guides to the best new movies to stream, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best free movies, and the best movies on Amazon Prime Video.
1922 (2017)
If you’re in the mood for something slow, restless, and quietly destructive, 1922 is worth your time. This Netflix psychological horror drama is based on Stephen King’s novel, following Wilf James, a Nebraska farmer in the 1920s, who plans to kill his wife after she threatens to sell the family land and move to town.
What follows is not just a crime story but a small, depressing picture of the guilt that eats a man alive inside. Despite being a horror drama, 1922 relies on detachment and its effects rather than relying solely on the jump scares.
Thomas Jane delivers one of the most underrated performances in this movie. I really like how the movie doesn’t allow you to fully hate or fully sympathize with Wilf. He understands his mind until the act is done, and then its weight hangs over everything like an endless fog.
You can watch 1922 on Netflix.
Secret Sunshine (2007)
If you’ve ever felt like movies don’t really capture what grief looks like, Secret Sunshine can change that. Directed by Lee Chang-dong, this Korean drama follows Shin-ae, a widow who moves to a small town with her young son, hoping for a calm, fresh start.
What ensues is one of the most emotionally wrenching portraits of loss, faith, and human stubbornness ever put on screen. What I love most about this film is how it refuses to make grief look clean or straightforward. Shin-ae doesn’t just cry and heal. He goes through silence, fear, false hope, anger, and something close to revenge, sometimes all within the same chapter of his life. It’s uncomfortable in the best way, and stays with you long after the credits roll.
You can watch Secret Sunshine to Netflix.
Mindhorn (2016)
If you’re in the mood for something completely silly and outrageously charming, Mindhorn is a sneaky British comedy. Julian Barratt plays Richard Thorncroft, an actor who once played a fictional television detective named Bruce Mindhorn in the 1980s, an actor famous for having a bionic eye that can detect lies.
Trouble begins when a real suspect in the Isle of Man refuses to cooperate with the police unless the real Mindhorn comes to help, apparently unaware that the character is a fictional character. Thorncroft, desperate and deceived, obliges.
The film is delightfully absurd and mostly slapstick, but what gives it more texture than your average comedy is the sad, schadenfreude-laced portrait of a man who has never found out who he is without a costume. I really like how Barratt plays Thorncroft’s illusion with a straight face, which makes the whole thing fun.
You can watch Mindhorn on Netflix.
