There have been plenty of critically acclaimed mainstream movies released in theaters and on streaming this year. There have, however, also been just as many great movies unveiled throughout this year that have unfortunately failed to capture any level of widespread audience attention. With that in mind and, given that there are fewer than two weeks to go before this year comes to an end, now seems like as good a time as any to look back at some of those 2024 movies and give them the second chance at breakthrough success that they deserve.
So, without any further ado, here are 10 underrated films that you probably missed this year.
Self-Reliance
Jake Johnson made his feature directorial debut with this small, DIY comedy about a man who agrees to participate in a dark web reality game show where he becomes the target of unknown assassins for 30 days in exchange for a potential $1 million cash prize. The only way to survive the game is to make sure he’s never alone long enough for his unknown attackers to reach him unnoticed. The further into the experience he gets, though, the more blurred the lines between his reality and his imagination become.
Self-Reliance quietly dropped on Hulu in January and flew relatively under-the-radar, but it’s a nifty and playful comedy. Even more notably, it introduces Johnson as a director with surprisingly experimental instincts and an admirable desire to explore whacky, high-concept ideas in modest ways.
Strange Darling
Among those who have seen it, writer-director JT Mollner’s Strange Darling ranks high as one of the most divisive genre films of the year. Boasting a positively Tarantino-esque non-linear structure and a shocking mean streak, it’s a low-budget but immaculately photographed cat-and-mouse thriller that turns its initial, familiar premise of a young woman (Willa Fitzgerald) crossing paths with a possibly dangerous stranger (Kyle Gallner) completely on its head.
Its many surprises, whether they ultimately work for you or not, are best left unspoiled, but Strange Darling emerges across its 96 minutes as one of the year’s most daring and subversive films. It’s a deceptively sharp piece of genre filmmaking, and Fitzgerald’s central turn as its female lead is one of the best movie performances of 2024.
Didi
Didi was warmly received by critics when it hit theaters in late July, but it failed to achieve the kind of mainstream success that many hoped it would. Writer-director Sean Wang’s feature directorial debut is a sharply conceived slice-of-life coming-of-age dramedy about a Taiwanese-American middle schooler (Izaac Wang) struggling to find his way in the 2000s at a time when online social platforms like YouTube and Myspace are already starting to complicate his and his friends’ means and methods of communicating.
The film finds the right balance between affectionately looking back at its time period and still offering an unvarnished look at its young protagonist’s many struggles and faults. Seek it out if you haven’t already and be prepared to be blown away by Joan Chen’s breathtaking, quiet supporting performance as the caring, lonely mother of Didi‘s adolescent lead.
The Bikeriders
Writer-director Jeff Nichols’ The Bikeriders received a bit of a muted response when it made its fall festival debut in late 2023, which may have been what led to Searchlight Pictures surprisingly dropping it altogether. The film was, thankfully, picked up and revived by Focus Features, which gave it a late-June theatrical release befitting its sunburnt, wind-in-your-hair vibes and aesthetic.
Those who took the time to catch The Bikeriders this past summer were consequently treated to one of the best films of the year. Based on a book about the rise and fall of a real-life Midwest motorcycle club in the 1960s, it’s an observational, romantic, and deeply cinematic piece of work, and stars Jodie Comer, Tom Hardy, and Austin Butler give three of the year’s most underrated performances in it.
The Order
The Order only hit theaters a few weeks ago, but it seemed fated even before its release to make less of a splash among casual moviegoers than it deserved to. Whether you want to blame that on this year’s crowded December release slate or just poor marketing is up to you. Either way, it’s already set to make its VOD debut Christmas week (December 24, to be exact), and it should be at the top of your end-of-the-year watchlist.
Based on real-life events, this thriller about an FBI investigation into an emboldened white supremacist organization is one of 2024’s most affecting crime dramas. It’s worth catching up on just for Superman star Nicholas Hoult’s chilling performance in it as a neo-Nazi who believes it’s his destiny to give America “back” to its “rightful sons,” but its expertly staged bank robbery and shootout sequences pack just as much of a punch.
Blitz
Apple’s decision this year to move away from theatrically releasing its original films may be partly why director Steve McQueen’s Blitz didn’t make a wider impact when it was finally released on Apple TV+ in late November. The film, a sweeping, Spielbergian World War II drama about life on London’s streets during the Nazis’ bombing campaign on the city, had all the potential to emerge as a widely appealing mainstream hit. Instead, it seems destined now to remain an underrated gem in its director’s filmography.
Fortunately, time will likely be kind to Blitz, a mournful yet frequently thrilling drama. It takes many of the thematic ideas that have long fascinated its director and repackages them in a more straightforwardly entertaining but no less artistic cinematic experience than McQueen’s fans are used to getting from him, and there are certain sequences throughout Blitz that are more immediately impactful than almost any others you’ll see this year.
Woman of the Hour
Based on the shocking real-life event when a serial killer appeared on The Dating Game in 1978, Woman of the Hour is a tense, difficult, and intelligent thriller about how the human gaze can be weaponized to hurt, minimize, and control others. It marks star Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut, and if the film is any true indication of her artistic abilities and wider interests, then it may also mark the beginning of an exciting new chapter of her career.
The film is one of the best movies Netflix had to offer this year — a confident piece of true-crime storytelling that’s brimming with real, infectious anger and heartache. Its final 10 minutes will shock you by providing an epilogue to its story that is simultaneously cathartic and haunting.
Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1
For a brief time this past summer, Kevin Costner’s latest directorial effort, Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1, the film that was seemingly at the center of his contentious Yellowstone exit, seemed primed to be one of the biggest cinematic punchlines of the year. Few could have predicted that, despite its poor box office performance and the uncertainty surrounding its planned sequels, it would actually end up ranking as one of 2024’s most underrated films. Lo and behold, though, Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1 is a rich, majestic blockbuster the likes of which audiences rarely get nowadays.
Yes, it is overflowing with familiar Western archetypes and clichés. Yes, it’s too long and ends with a trailer for its sequel. Accept these issues and you’ll be treated to an epic that features not only some of 2024’s most stunning imagery but also some of its best practically created set pieces and action sequences. Say what you will about the merits of Costner’s directorial vision: Few other working directors could have put together and pulled off the explosive, pulse-pounding midnight raid that sets Horizon‘s story of Western migration into motion.
My Old Ass
At the center of writer-director Megan Park’s underrated coming-of-age comedy My Old Ass is a question we’ve all asked ourselves at one time or another: What would you do if you could talk to your older self? That’s a chance that Elliott (Maisy Stella), a young teenage girl on the brink of going to college and leaving her hometown behind, receives when a mushroom trip results in her 39-year-old self (Aubrey Plaza) literally appearing next to her. When her future self tells her to appreciate her family more and gives her an ominous warning about a boy, Elliott gets caught up in a million dilemmas regarding her life, her future, and her priorities.
My Old Ass eventually winds its way to ideas about grappling with loss, whether it be circumstantial or universal, that strike a deeper chord than first-time viewers may expect. The film isn’t exactly subtle, and it struggles a bit to articulate its themes in a non-ham-fisted manner in its third act, but My Old Ass has enough heart to make up for its flaws, and it is buoyed at all times by Stella’s luminous breakthrough central performance.
The Outrun
The Outrun made waves when it premiered in January at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival but went on to only briefly appear and disappear from movie theaters in early October with little promotion or acknowledgement. That’s a disappointing fate to befall a film as good and worthwhile as The Outrun. Based on the memoir of the same name by co-writer Amy Liptrot, the drama follows a struggling alcoholic (Saoirse Ronan) who returns to her home in Scotland’s Orkney Islands in an attempt to achieve consistent sobriety and some kind of stability.
It’s a non-linear drama about the difficulties of addiction and the importance of putting some stable ground beneath your own feet. At the center of it all is a lived-in, commanding performance from Ronan that is not only one of the best she’s ever given but also deserves to be seen and more widely appreciated than it has been up to this point. Above all else, The Outrun reminds us why Ronan really is one of the greatest actresses working in Hollywood right now.
