By any definition, 2024 was a long year. And the extra day from the Leap Year didn’t help. Thankfully, you can get 2025 started on the right foot by staying home to catch a few films that flew under the radar during their original release and their digital afterlife.
Our picks for the five underrated movies to watch on New Year’s Day are admittedly a little action-heavy. But there’s also a superhero spoof, a thrilling crime drama, and a chilling horror title to add a little variety to the following selections.
Need to watch more movies and shows to ring in 2025? Then try 5 great free movies to watch on New Year’s Eve, 5 great Netflix movies to watch on New Year’s Day, 5 great Netflix thrillers to watch on New Year’s Eve, and 5 great Netflix sci-fi movies to watch on New Year’s Eve.
The Northman (2022)
Since Nosferatu is doing extremely well in theaters, it’s worth revisiting Robert Eggers’ previous film, The Northman. You’ll see a lot of Hamlet in this story, since it’s based upon the legend of Amleth that inspired William Shakespeare’s play. Alexander Skarsgård leads the film as the vengeful Viking prince, Amleth, and he’s more prone to violence than Hamlet ever was.
When Amleth was young, his father, King Aurvandill War-Raven (Ethan Hawke), was murdered by his uncle, Fjölnir the Brotherless (Claes Bang), who then ran off with Amleth’s mother, Queen Gudrún (Nicole Kidman). When Amleth catches up to them, there’s going to be hell to pay. Yet not even a warrior like Amleth can walk down this road without paying a price for his actions.
Watch The Northman on Peacock.
The Town (2010)
Ben Affleck co-wrote, directed, and starred in The Town, a crime drama about four longtime friends who decide to rob banks together. Doug MacRay (Affleck), James “Jem” Coughlin (The Mayor of Kingstown‘s Jeremy Renner), Albert “Gloansy” MacGloan (Slaine), and Desmond “Dez” Elden (Owen Burke) pull it off, but they also complicate the heist by kidnapping the bank manager, Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall), before later releasing her.
In the name of learning what Claire knows about them, Doug approaches her and strikes up a romance. Because the robbers wore masks, she doesn’t recognize him. However, Claire does remember an identifying detail that could send Doug and his buddies to prison. And if Jem discovers what Doug’s been doing behind his back, prison might be the least of his worries.
Watch The Town on Hulu.
Colombiana (2011)
If the rights to Leon: The Professional hadn’t been tangled up, Colombiana would have been the sequel to that film. Instead, it became an original story about Cataleya (Emilia Perez‘s Zoe Saldaña), a woman who was the daughter of a drug cartel member, Fabio (Jesse Borrego), who tried to leave that life behind for the sake of his family. Consequently, Don Luis (Beto Benites) ordered Fabio and his entire family to be murdered, leaving only Cataleya behind.
Fifteen years later, Cataleya is a fully trained assassin, and she’s out for payback against Don Luis and the man who pulled the trigger on her family, Marco (Jordi Mollà). In the intervening years, Don Luis struck a deal with the CIA and he may be more protected than ever. But that’s not going to stop Cataleya from chasing after her revenge, even if it winds up getting her killed.
Watch Colombiana on Netflix.
Mystery Men (1999)
Mystery Men unleashed Smash Mouth’s All Star on the world two years before Shrek did, and it also got a head start on the superhero cinema that’s dominated the 21st century. This film is based upon Bob Burden’s superhero spoof Flaming Carrot Comics, minus The Flaming Carrot himself. The characters who are featured — Mr. Furious (Ben Stiller), Blue Raja (Hank Azaria), The Shoveler (William H. Macy), The Bowler (Janeane Garofalo), Spleen (Paul Rubens), and Invisible Boy (Kel Mitchell) — aren’t exactly super. But they’re the best heroes that Champion City has to offer.
The reason Champion City is so hard up for champions is because its previous hero, Captain Amazing (Greg Kinnear), got too arrogant and unleashed his old nemesis, Casanova Frankenstein (Geoffrey Rush), just to give himself someone to fight. Casanova turned the tables on Captain Amazing, and now a bunch of grade Z superheroes are all that stand between him and total victory.
Watch Mystery Men on Prime Video.
Final Destination (2000)
Final Destination: Bloodlines is heading to theaters later this year, and it will once again feature the late Tony Todd as William Bludworth, the coroner who has a unique insight into death’s plan. But the original Final Destination is a horror classic that doesn’t get its due. This is a slasher film where there is no killer and the villain is death itself. And through the lens of the camera, we see how fate conspires against the hapless teens in its wake.
In a way, this is all the fault of Alex Browning (Devon Sawa). He had a premonition of his plane exploding, and some of his classmates, including Clear Rivers (Ali Larter), Carter Horton (Kerr Smith), and Billy Hitchcock (Seann William Scott), were escorted off the plane with him. Once the plane really does explode, death takes steps to reclaim those who dared to avoid their fate. And there may not be anything Alex and his friends can do to stop it.
Watch Final Destination on Paramount+.
Need more recommendations? We also have guides for the best new movies to stream, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Netflix, and the best movies on Disney+.
