My top 50 Underrated/Hidden Gem Movies
by Coolhandluke1906 | created - 27 Mar 2020 | updated - 18 Feb 2023 | PublicIn this list i include movies that are unknown from the commom viewer or unpraised by the critics. The First 20 are by order.
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1. A Dog's Will (2000)
104 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Follows the lives of 2 poor Brazilians and their schemes to get money and the consequences of their actions.
Director: Guel Arraes | Stars: Matheus Nachtergaele, Selton Mello, Rogério Cardoso, Denise Fraga
Votes: 16,884
2. The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)
R | 140 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Two men and their sons must deal with the unforeseen consequences of their actions.
Director: Derek Cianfrance | Stars: Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes, Craig Van Hook
Votes: 290,310 | Gross: $21.38M
3. Thief (1981)
R | 123 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An ace safe cracker wants to do one last big heist for the mob before going straight.
Director: Michael Mann | Stars: James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Willie Nelson, Jim Belushi
Votes: 38,976 | Gross: $11.49M
4. Woman in the Dunes (1964)
Not Rated | 147 min | Drama, Thriller
An entomologist on vacation is trapped by local villagers into living with a woman whose life task is shoveling sand for them.
Director: Hiroshi Teshigahara | Stars: Eiji Okada, Kyôko Kishida, Kôji Mitsui, Hiroko Itô
Votes: 22,692
5. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011)
Not Rated | 157 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A group of men set out in search of a dead body in the Anatolian steppes.
Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan | Stars: Muhammet Uzuner, Yilmaz Erdogan, Taner Birsel, Ahmet Mümtaz Taylan
Votes: 50,288 | Gross: $0.14M
6. 3-Iron (2004)
R | 88 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A transient young man breaks into empty homes to partake of the vacationing residents' lives for a few days.
Director: Kim Ki-duk | Stars: Lee Seung-yun, Jae Hee, Hyuk-ho Kwon, Joo Jin-mo
Votes: 58,258 | Gross: $0.24M
7. Naked (1993)
Not Rated | 131 min | Comedy, Drama
An unemployed Mancunian vents his rage on unsuspecting strangers as he embarks on a nocturnal London odyssey.
Director: Mike Leigh | Stars: David Thewlis, Lesley Sharp, Katrin Cartlidge, Greg Cruttwell
Votes: 43,934 | Gross: $1.77M
8. Following (1998)
R | 69 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
A young writer who follows strangers for material meets a thief who takes him under his wing.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Jeremy Theobald, Alex Haw, Lucy Russell, John Nolan
Votes: 101,722 | Gross: $0.05M
9. Sexy Beast (2000)
R | 89 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Brutal gangster Don Logan recruits "retired" safecracker Gal for one last job, but it goes badly for both of them.
Director: Jonathan Glazer | Stars: Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley, Ian McShane, Amanda Redman
Votes: 69,225 | Gross: $6.95M
10. The Vanishing (1988)
Not Rated | 107 min | Mystery, Thriller
Rex and Saskia, a young couple in love, are on vacation. They stop at a busy service station and Saskia is abducted. After three years and no sign of Saskia, Rex begins receiving letters from the abductor.
Director: George Sluizer | Stars: Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Gene Bervoets, Johanna ter Steege, Gwen Eckhaus
Votes: 44,166
11. Only God Forgives (2013)
R | 90 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Julian, a drug-smuggler thriving in Bangkok's criminal underworld, sees his life get even more complicated when his mother compels him to find and kill whoever is responsible for his brother's recent death.
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn | Stars: Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas, Vithaya Pansringarm, Gordon Brown
Votes: 118,093 | Gross: $0.78M
12. The Long Good Friday (1980)
R | 114 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
An up-and-coming gangster is tested by the insurgence of an unknown, very powerful threat.
Director: John Mackenzie | Stars: Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren, Paul Freeman, Leo Dolan
Votes: 25,592
13. The Day of the Jackal (1973)
PG | 143 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
In the aftermath of France allowing Algeria's independence, a group of resentful military veterans hire a professional assassin codenamed "Jackal" to kill President Charles de Gaulle.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Edward Fox, Terence Alexander, Michel Auclair, Alan Badel
Votes: 44,917 | Gross: $16.06M
14. Sin Nombre (2009)
R | 96 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
A young Honduran girl and a Mexican gangster are united in a journey across the U.S. border.
Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga | Stars: Paulina Gaitan, Marco Antonio Aguirre, Leonardo Alonso, Karla Cecilia Alvarado
Votes: 34,048 | Gross: $2.53M
15. Under the Skin (I) (2013)
R | 108 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A mysterious young woman seduces lonely men in the evening hours in Scotland. However, events lead her to begin a process of self-discovery.
Director: Jonathan Glazer | Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy McWilliams, Lynsey Taylor Mackay, Dougie McConnell
Votes: 158,184 | Gross: $2.61M
16. The Limey (1999)
R | 89 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
An extremely volatile and dangerous Englishman goes to Los Angeles to find the man he considers responsible for his daughter's death.
Director: Steven Soderbergh | Stars: Terence Stamp, Peter Fonda, Lesley Ann Warren, Luis Guzmán
Votes: 34,823 | Gross: $3.19M
17. Sonatine (1993)
R | 94 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Several yakuza from Tokyo are sent to Okinawa to help end a gang war. The war then escalates and the Tokyo drifters decide to lay low at the beach.
Director: Takeshi Kitano | Stars: Takeshi Kitano, Aya Kokumai, Tetsu Watanabe, Masanobu Katsumura
Votes: 23,276
18. Inherent Vice (2014)
R | 148 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
In 1970, drug-fueled Los Angeles private investigator Larry "Doc" Sportello investigates the disappearance of a former girlfriend.
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson | Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Katherine Waterston
Votes: 110,704 | Gross: $8.11M
19. Layer Cake (2004)
R | 105 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A successful cocaine dealer gets two tough assignments from his boss on the eve of his planned early retirement.
Director: Matthew Vaughn | Stars: Daniel Craig, Sienna Miller, Michael Gambon, Tom Hardy
Votes: 195,543 | Gross: $2.34M
20. New World (2013)
Not Rated | 135 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An undercover cop finds it difficult to play both a cop and a goon.
Director: Park Hoon-jung | Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Choi Min-sik, Hwang Jung-min, Park Sung-woong
Votes: 26,356 | Gross: $0.46M
21. Body Double (1984)
R | 114 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A young actor's obsession with spying on a beautiful woman who lives nearby leads to a baffling series of events with drastic consequences.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Craig Wasson, Melanie Griffith, Gregg Henry, Deborah Shelton
Votes: 38,174 | Gross: $8.80M
22. Confessions (2010)
Not Rated | 106 min | Drama, Thriller
A psychological thriller of a grieving mother turned cold-blooded avenger with a twisty master plan to pay back those who were responsible for her daughter's death.
Director: Tetsuya Nakashima | Stars: Takako Matsu, Yoshino Kimura, Masaki Okada, Yukito Nishii
Votes: 42,056
23. Arlington Road (1999)
R | 117 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A man begins to suspect his neighbors are not what they appear to be and their secrets could be deadly.
Director: Mark Pellington | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Tim Robbins, Joan Cusack, Hope Davis
Votes: 91,863 | Gross: $24.36M
24. 13 Tzameti (2005)
Not Rated | 93 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A man takes over a dead man's task without realizing the horror it entails.
Director: Géla Babluani | Stars: George Babluani, Aurélien Recoing, Pascal Bongard, Fred Ulysse
Votes: 18,032 | Gross: $0.12M
25. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
R | 103 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
After being mistaken for an actor, a New York thief is sent to Hollywood to train under a private eye for a potential movie role, but the duo are thrown together with a struggling actress into a murder mystery.
Director: Shane Black | Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer, Michelle Monaghan, Corbin Bernsen
Votes: 237,380 | Gross: $4.24M
26. Revanche (2008)
Not Rated | 121 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Ex-con Alex plans to flee to the South with his girl after a robbery. But something terrible happens and revenge seems inevitable.
Director: Götz Spielmann | Stars: Johannes Krisch, Irina Potapenko, Andreas Lust, Ursula Strauss
Votes: 15,943
27. Mystery Train (1989)
R | 110 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Three stories are connected by a Memphis hotel and the spirit of Elvis Presley.
Director: Jim Jarmusch | Stars: Masatoshi Nagase, Yûki Kudô, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Cinqué Lee
Votes: 30,821 | Gross: $0.37M
28. Elevator to the Gallows (1958)
Not Rated | 91 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A self-assured businessman murders his employer, the husband of his mistress, which unintentionally provokes an ill-fated chain of events.
Director: Louis Malle | Stars: Jeanne Moreau, Maurice Ronet, Georges Poujouly, Yori Bertin
Votes: 28,632 | Gross: $0.11M
29. Identity (2003)
R | 90 min | Mystery, Thriller
Stranded at a desolate Nevada motel during a nasty rain storm, ten strangers become acquainted with each other when they realize that they're being killed off one by one.
Director: James Mangold | Stars: John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet, John Hawkes
Votes: 267,141 | Gross: $52.16M
30. Deja Vu (2006)
PG-13 | 126 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
After a ferry is bombed in New Orleans, an A.T.F. agent joins a unique investigation using experimental surveillance technology to find the bomber, but soon finds himself becoming obsessed with one of the victims.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Denzel Washington, Paula Patton, Jim Caviezel, Val Kilmer
Votes: 327,579 | Gross: $64.04M
31. The Tree of Life (2011)
PG-13 | 139 min | Drama, Fantasy
The story of a family in Waco, Texas in 1956. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence and struggles with his parents' conflicting teachings.
Director: Terrence Malick | Stars: Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain, Hunter McCracken
Votes: 184,107 | Gross: $13.30M
32. Thesis (1996)
R | 125 min | Crime, Horror, Mystery
While doing a thesis about violence, Ángela finds a snuff video where a girl is tortured until death. Soon she discovers that the girl was a former student in her faculty...
Director: Alejandro Amenábar | Stars: Ana Torrent, Fele Martínez, Eduardo Noriega, Xabier Elorriaga
Votes: 42,453
33. Side Effects (I) (2013)
R | 106 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A young woman's world unravels when a drug prescribed by her psychiatrist has unexpected side effects.
Director: Steven Soderbergh | Stars: Rooney Mara, Channing Tatum, Jude Law, Catherine Zeta-Jones
Votes: 197,118 | Gross: $32.17M
34. Lone Star (1996)
R | 135 min | Drama, Mystery, Western
When the skeleton of his murdered predecessor is found, Sheriff Sam Deeds unearths many other long-buried secrets in his Texas border town.
Director: John Sayles | Stars: Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Peña, Stephen Mendillo, Stephen J. Lang
Votes: 32,328 | Gross: $13.27M
35. The Fountain (2006)
PG-13 | 97 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
As a modern-day scientist, Tommy is struggling with mortality, desperately searching for the medical breakthrough that will save the life of his cancer-stricken wife, Izzi.
Director: Darren Aronofsky | Stars: Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz, Sean Patrick Thomas, Ellen Burstyn
Votes: 248,735 | Gross: $10.14M
36. Shallow Grave (1994)
R | 89 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Three friends discover their new flatmate dead but loaded with cash.
Director: Danny Boyle | Stars: Kerry Fox, Christopher Eccleston, Ewan McGregor, Ken Stott
Votes: 66,223 | Gross: $2.88M
37. Manhunter (1986)
R | 120 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Former FBI profiler Will Graham returns to service to pursue a deranged serial killer dubbed "the Tooth Fairy" by the media.
Director: Michael Mann | Stars: William Petersen, Kim Greist, Joan Allen, Brian Cox
Votes: 80,912 | Gross: $8.62M
38. The Pledge (I) (2001)
R | 124 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A retiring police detective pledges to catch the killer of a young child.
Director: Sean Penn | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Benicio Del Toro, Patricia Clarkson, Beau Daniels
Votes: 67,697 | Gross: $19.72M
39. Kill List (2011)
Not Rated | 95 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Nearly a year after a botched job, a hitman takes a new assignment with the promise of a big payoff for three killings. What starts off as an easy task soon unravels, sending the killer into the heart of darkness.
Director: Ben Wheatley | Stars: Neil Maskell, MyAnna Buring, Harry Simpson, Michael Smiley
Votes: 45,329 | Gross: $0.03M
40. The Hitcher (1986)
R | 97 min | Action, Mystery, Thriller
A young man who escapes the clutches of a murderous hitchhiker is subsequently stalked by the hitcher and framed for his crimes.
Director: Robert Harmon | Stars: Rutger Hauer, C. Thomas Howell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jeffrey DeMunn
Votes: 52,534 | Gross: $5.84M
41. Point Break (1991)
R | 122 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
An F.B.I. Agent goes undercover to catch a gang of surfers who may be bank robbers.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow | Stars: Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Gary Busey, Lori Petty
Votes: 202,216 | Gross: $43.22M
42. Revolver (2005)
R | 111 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Gambler Jake Green enters into a game with potentially deadly consequences.
Director: Guy Ritchie | Stars: Jason Statham, Ray Liotta, André 3000, Vincent Pastore
Votes: 102,728 | Gross: $0.08M
43. Ronin (1998)
R | 122 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A freelancing former U.S. Intelligence Agent tries to track down a mysterious package that is wanted by the Irish and the Russians.
Director: John Frankenheimer | Stars: Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, Natascha McElhone, Stellan Skarsgård
Votes: 195,109 | Gross: $41.62M
44. Pieta (2012)
Not Rated | 103 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A loan shark is forced to reconsider his violent lifestyle after the arrival of a mysterious woman claiming to be his long-lost mother.
Director: Kim Ki-duk | Stars: Jo Min-soo, Lee Jung-Jin, Woo Ki-hong, Eunjin Kang
Votes: 15,766 | Gross: $0.02M
45. Locke (2013)
R | 85 min | Drama
Ivan Locke, a dedicated family man and successful construction manager, receives a phone call on the eve of the biggest challenge of his career that sets in motion a series of events that threaten his carefully cultivated existence.
Director: Steven Knight | Stars: Tom Hardy, Olivia Colman, Ruth Wilson, Andrew Scott
Votes: 159,565 | Gross: $1.36M
46. The Spanish Prisoner (1997)
PG | 110 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
An employee who develops a lucrative secret process for his corporation is tempted to betray the company when higher ups attempt to take the process from him. Dastardly intrigue ensues.
Director: David Mamet | Stars: Steve Martin, Ben Gazzara, Campbell Scott, Ricky Jay
Votes: 25,850 | Gross: $10.20M
47. Frailty (2001)
R | 100 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A mysterious man arrives at the offices of an FBI agent and recounts his childhood: how his religious fanatic father received visions telling him to destroy people who were in fact "demons."
Director: Bill Paxton | Stars: Bill Paxton, Matthew McConaughey, Powers Boothe, Matt O'Leary
Votes: 91,331 | Gross: $13.10M
48. Fermat's Room (2007)
Not Rated | 89 min | Mystery, Thriller
4 mathematicians are invited to solve an enigma. Once there, they're locked in a mechanically shrinking room and given 1 minute to solve each puzzle via cellphone while also figuring out why they're there.
Directors: Luis Piedrahita, Rodrigo Sopeña | Stars: Alejo Sauras, Elena Ballesteros, Lluís Homar, Santi Millán
Votes: 22,808
49. Matchstick Men (2003)
PG-13 | 116 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A phobic con artist and his protégé are on the verge of pulling off a lucrative swindle when the former's teenage daughter arrives unexpectedly.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Alison Lohman, Sam Rockwell, Bruce Altman
Votes: 138,285 | Gross: $36.91M
50. The Body (2012)
Not Rated | 112 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A detective searches for the body of a femme fatale which has gone missing from a morgue.
Director: Oriol Paulo | Stars: Jose Coronado, Hugo Silva, Belén Rueda, Aura Garrido
Votes: 72,455
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