What to Watch
Underrated Movies from the 2010s: Recent Classics
By Jordan A. · · 3 min read
The 2010s were absolute chaos for movies. Streaming was rising, franchises were dominating, and it became nearly impossible to see everything. Some underrated 2010s movies got released to streaming audiences with almost no marketing and then disappeared into the void. These are the ones that deserved theatrical runs and got buried instead.
This decade was when the streaming wars started. Independent films went straight to Netflix or Amazon. Good movies got lost because there was no cultural moment around them. Some of the best cinema of the decade premiered to tiny audiences or just dropped on a streaming service on a Tuesday.
The Hidden Treasures
Moonlight - Barry Jenkins' intimate coming-of-age film about a Black gay man told across three time periods. Beautifully shot and emotionally devastating. This one actually got recognition.
A Ghost Story - Casey Affleck as a literal ghost watching the woman he loved move on. Existential, minimal, and surprisingly devastating.
Under the Skin - Jonathan Glazel's sci-fi art film with Scarlett Johansson as an alien. Unsettling, beautiful, and completely unique.
The Neon Demon - Nicolas Winding Refn's neon-soaked thriller about the LA modeling world. Visually spectacular and deeply unsettling.
High Life - Claire Denis' space film about prisoners on a one-way mission to a black hole. Bleak, artistic, and completely uncompromising.
First Reformed - Paul Schrader's indie drama about a priest dealing with environmental despair. Quiet, intense, and philosophically complex.
The Florida Project - Sean Baker's film about families living in budget motels near Disney World. Child's perspective on economic desperation and joy.
A Serious Man - Coen Brothers film about a Jewish physics professor in 1960s Minnesota dealing with chaos. Funny and devastating and completely unique.
Inside Llewyn Davis - Coen Brothers film about a struggling folk singer in 1960s NYC. Deadpan and beautiful and crushingly sad.
Only God Forgives - Nicolas Winding Refn's Bangkok thriller with Ryan Gosling. Slowly paced and visually hypnotic and difficult.
Lost River - Ryan Gosling's directorial debut about a mother and sons in a decaying Detroit. Dreamlike and dark and experimental.
A Cure for Wellness - Gore Verbinski's weird psychological thriller about a corporate investigator at a Swiss wellness resort. Genuinely unsettling.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer - Yorgos Lanthimos' psychological thriller about revenge. Formal, tense, and deeply wrong in the best way.
Climax - Gaspar Noé's film about dancers whose sangria is spiked with LSD. Visually inventive and morally dark.
Uncut Gems - The Safdie Brothers' frenetic thriller about a jeweler and a basketball player. Anxiety-inducing and genuinely exhilarating.
Good Time - Safdie Brothers' noir about a criminal on the run through NYC. Real-time tension and desperate desperation.
It Comes at Night - Ari Aster's slow-burn horror about families isolated during a plague. Dread without jump scares.
Hereditary - Aster's family horror-drama about curse and mental illness. Genuinely terrifying and philosophically complex.
The Lighthouse - Robert Eggers' black and white film about two lighthouse keepers descending into madness. Claustrophobic and hypnotic.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer - Wait, I listed that. You Were Never Really Here - Lynne Ramsay's brutal film about a traumatized cleaner. Fragmented, violent, and emotionally raw.
The 2010s hid some genuine masterpieces in plain sight. Explore what the decade produced beyond the obvious blockbusters.
Cinema in the 2010s got weird in the best ways. Streaming meant risk-takers could find audiences if they looked hard enough. Some of those risk-takers made art that's still challenging us today.
Topics covered: underrated, 2010s, movies, recent-gems, streaming
About the author
Jordan A., Founder, BingeNext
Jordan A. is the founder of BingeNext and writes every guide on this site. He built the recommendation engine after one too many nights lost to the streaming menu, and he still tests every pick the hard way: by watching it.