7 Hidden Gems Streaming on Netflix Right Now
Even when they are released in theaters, some movies still end up falling through the cracks of the public consciousness. It is only inevitable that some would, therefore, experience the same fate on streaming. Netflix, in particular, has a library full of underseen, underrated movies, most of which are not as actively promoted to users by the streamer or its algorithm as others.
A lot of those films deserve to be on subscribers’ radars, even if they have so far flown under them, so here are seven great hidden gem movies streaming on Netflix in June.
“Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” (2023)
“Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” is, like directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley’s 2018 comedy “Game Night,” a refreshingly clever, funny and likable film. An ingenious mash-up of a heist thriller, fantasy adventure and “Monty Python”-esque comedy, the film honors its tabletop gaming source material by focusing on an adventuring party comprised of unwanted, ill-fitting misfits who, against all odds, become a supportive, sweetly charming found family for each other.
That journey gives “Honor Among Thieves” a surprising amount of heart, which in turn ensures that the movie’s many unforgettable visual and narrative jokes never end up feeling empty or cheap. No matter how or where you watch it, the film is a good time, and one can only hope that the growing support and love for it will one day result in a sequel that allows us to spend more time with the film’s characters and in its vast fantasy world.
“The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” (2015)
Like “Dungeons and Dragons,” “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” flew disappointingly under the radar when it was originally released. Over the years, though, more and more people have rightly come around to discovering and loving this breezy, Guy Ritchie-directed action romp. Based on the television series of the same name, the film follows Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill), an American spy, and Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer), a Soviet spy, who are forced to partner up on an undercover mission in the 1960s in the midst of the Cold War.
The resulting blockbuster is a slick, stylish action comedy that endears itself to you quickly and never loses your affection. Ritchie has made more than a few underrated, reliably entertaining action films over the past decade, but none of them crackle and zip quite like “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” does.
“Pig” (2021)
“Pig” is a modest, deceptively powerful food industry noir from first-time director Michael Sarnoski. It follows a truffle-hunter (Nicolas Cage) who is forced out of his solitary, hermit-like life in the Oregon wilderness when he is beaten and his beloved foraging pig is kidnapped by unknown assailants. As he journeys into Portland to find his missing companion, more is revealed about Cage’s Robin Feld, including his prestigious past and the severity of his inner turmoil.
Drenched in dark shadows, “Pig” alternately feels like an off-key kind of neo-noir and a Western about a man — the man, in fact — coming back into town. But all of it, even its brief ventures into Portland’s criminal underworld, feels consistently grounded in tangible, aching humanity. Cage himself once described “Pig” as a “folk song,” and that is about as good a way as any to describe the haunting, mythic quality of the film.
“Kubo and the Two Strings” (2016)
A visually stunning stop-motion film, “Kubo and the Two Strings” is an action fantasy adventure that deserves to be more widely known and revered. Produced by stop-motion studio Laika and directed by “Bumblebee” filmmaker Travis Knight, this 2016 gem is set in feudal Japan and follows a young boy with a magical musical instrument who must set out on a quest to confront and defeat his mother’s powerful, evil twin sisters and their even more dangerous father.
Punctuated by action sequences that astonish and thrill, “Kubo and the Two Strings” is a film that knows how to inspire awe and make your heart race. While it was well-received at the time of its release, it has become one of the most underrated animated films of the past decade, which is why it more than deserves a place on this list of hidden gems.
“Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping” (2016)
Parody films have become a rare breed of entertainment these days. New ones are, to put it lightly, few and far between. But 2016’s “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping” is so good it will make you wish there were more movies like it. Following their stint at “SNL” together, Lonely Island trio Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone got together for this parody of the modern, artist-produced-and-approved musical documentary.
It follows Conner Friel (Samberg), a Macklemore and Justin Bieber hybrid whose total lack of self-awareness is exposed when his second album as a solo artist is met with disdain and mockery by the general public. Like most Lonely Island hits, the songs featured in “Popstar” are hilarious and ridiculously catchy, but the film is far more than just a loose collection of “SNL”-esque sketches. It is a complete, cohesive film that works whether you understand all of its references, tongue-in-cheek jabs and celebrity cameos or not.
“Rear Window” (1954)
One of the greatest films made by one of Hollywood’s greatest filmmakers, director Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rear Window” has arrived — along with a few other Hitchcock classics — on Netflix this month. Written with ample wit, humor and intellect by frequent Hitchcock collaborator John Michael Hayes, this contained thriller about a wheelchair-bound photojournalist (James Stewart) who becomes convinced that one of his neighbors (Raymond Burr) has secretly murdered his wife was a massive hit with moviegoers when it was released in September 1954.
Over 70 years later, the film now seems not only masterfully enthralling but also ahead of its time. Contained within it are ideas about voyeurism that feel, frankly, prophetic. “Rear Window” explores, among other things, the difference between the person we are in private and the one we pretend to be in public, the allure of true crime and the very same appeal of looking into each other’s lives that modern social media is built on. “Rear Window” is, in other words, timeless. It is a perfect piece of summer entertainment — one with themes just as sharply realized as its many thrills.
“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” (2024)
It seems strange to call a movie as big as “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” a hidden gem, but that’s what it is. Director George Miller’s prequel to 2015’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” received a largely tepid response from moviegoers when it hit theaters in 2024 and it, consequently, underperformed at the box office. Many were taken aback by the differences between “Furiosa” and its 2015 predecessor. They were let down by the film’s smaller focus on large-scale action sequences, as well as its reliance on elaborate, years-spanning plotting.
But “Furiosa” is no less an epic than “Fury Road.” It is immense in its scale and depth — an “Odyssey”-like drama about trying to hold onto hope in a world where it is the scarcest resource of all. Featuring a career-best turn from Chris Hemsworth, “Furiosa” is a film made for right now, and every one of its frames is alive with its creator’s cockeyed, inimitable cinematic imagination.
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