It's easy to fall into Netflix habits of watching your same favourites over and over again or never exploring beyond the big buzzy titles [1] on the front page. Beyond those popular titles [2], though, are a ton of underrated movies [3] on Netflix that definitely deserve your attention. Whether they're older movies that you haven't thought about in years or smaller indies that you maybe never even caught the first time around, there's a whole world of lesser-known movies just waiting to be found. If you don't want to sift through dozens and dozens of movies on Netflix, we've got you covered with a list of our underrated faves [4]. Keep reading to find your next movie night pick!
About Time
A young man discovers that his family has a genetic ability to travel through time. He uses this ability first to go back and undo the mistakes he makes in the process of trying to win the heart of his true love, then to touch on his complicated relationship with his similarly-gifted father.
Watch About Time on Netflix. [5]
Bathtubs Over Broadway
In this niche but delightful documentary, a comedy writer begins researching the world of obscure, increasingly bizarre, and little-known musicals and their cast recordings, leading to a deep dive into some of the funniest forgotten musicals of the past century.
Watch Bathtubs Over Broadway on Netflix. [6]
The Duchess
This historical drama is loosely based on one of the most headline-grabbing figures of the 18th century: Georgiana Cavendish, the Duchess of Devonshire. Married off to one of the most powerful men in England, Georgiana rebels against the stifling expectations of her role, only to wind up tangled in a devastating love quadrangle.
Watch The Duchess on Netflix. [7]
God's Own Country
A young sheep farmer in Yorkshire copes with monotony and loneliness through casual sex and drinking. When a migrant worker arrives to help with the farm, the relationship between the two men slowly shows them a different way to live and maybe even to be happy.
Watch God's Own Country on Netflix. [8]
The Hundred-Foot Journey
When a talented Indian chef moves with his family to France, they set up an Indian restaurant in their new home village. Only a hundred feet away, however, is an established and acclaimed restaurant run by a haughty chef with very strict ideas about how food should be — until the rivalry between the two turns into a learning experience.
Watch The Hundred-Foot Journey on Netflix. [9]
Mansfield Park
Less sunny and humourous than some of Jane Austen's more famous works, this dramedy follows a girl sent to be raised by her rich aunt and uncle. As she and her cousins reach adulthood, their hopes and desires come into conflict with what's expected of them, resulting in a series of messy love triangles and family secrets revealed.
Watch Mansfield Park on Netflix. [10]
Burlesque
For campy, over-the-top fun, you can't beat this musical. Christina Aguilera [13] plays a small-town girl with a big voice who arrives at a burlesque club run by a former dancer (played by Cher). It's an old-fashioned musical with a straightforward plot and tons of glitzy song-and-dance, with two pop divas at centre stage.
Watch Burlesque on Netflix. [14]
Frances Ha
This quirky indie stars Greta Gerwig (who co-wrote the screenplay with her partner, director Noah Baumbach) as a free spirit and aspiring dancer in New York City. As Frances struggles to make her dreams come true, she and her friends encounter the very real struggles of city life and of growing up.
Watch Frances Ha on Netflix. [15]
Julie & Julia
Meryl Streep [16] and Amy Adams [17] play two different women in two different times whose stories nevertheless intersect. In one narrative, Julia Child [18] fights to be taken seriously and develops her iconic brand of cooking instruction. In the other, a blogger decides to try to cook every recipe in Child's famous cookbook, which turns out to be a much more emotionally demanding undertaking than she thought.
Watch Julie & Julia on Netflix. [19]
Strictly Ballroom
It's the first and least famous of Baz Luhrmann's "Red Curtain Trilogy," but it's definitely worth a second glance! A ballroom dancer with unconventional ideas chooses a total novice as his new partner after getting dumped before a big competition, and the unexpected pairing pursues the coveted national championship title with their own unique style.
Watch Strictly Ballroom on Netflix. [20]
Jupiter Ascending
It may be deeply meme-able, but this bizarre and beautiful sci-fi movie is also strangely engageing. When a young working-class woman discovers she's the genetic heir to a cosmic empire, she's tossed into the deep end of political scheming that could put her life and the future of the universe in jeopardy.
Watch Jupiter Ascending on Netflix. [21]
Salt
Angelina Jolie [22] plays a falsely accused spy in a role that was, famously, originally written as a male character. After being set up to take the fall for being a sleeper agent, she goes on the run in an attempt to clear her name and find out what's really happening and who's really behind the conspiracy.
Watch Salt on Netflix. [23]
Sleeping with Other People
Years after hooking up in college, two sort-of exes reconnect and realise that they've both been equally unlucky and self-sabotageing in their love lives. As they try to support each other through starting new relationships, they start to realise that their feelings for each other are getting a lot messier and more complicated.
Watch Sleeping with Other People on Netflix. [24]
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
In this dark musical tale of revenge, a wrongfully convicted man returns home after his imprisonment to find his wife gone and his daughter the captive of the man who imprisoned him. With the help of his equally twisted landlady, he vows bloody revenge — and is perfectlly willing to turn his blade on anyone who gets in his way.
Watch Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street on Netflix. [25]
Suffragette
In early 20th-century England, a young suffragette's ideals are shattered when she encounters the reality of the opposition to giving women the right to vote. Over time, she begins joining in with more radical and outspoken activists, including some of the most famous suffragettes of the era, even as they face more and more severe threats to their livelihoods and lives.
Watch Suffragette on Netflix. [26]
Elizabeth
Part of a wave of historical films in the late '90s and early '00s, Elizabeth stars Cate Blanchett [27] as a young Queen Elizabeth I. When her sister Mary dies childless, Elizabeth becomes the queen, and as an unmarried and young woman in a world run by men, she struggles to assert her own power and stay alive while also trying to follow the desires of her heart.
Watch Elizabeth on Netflix. [28]