There’s no shortage of great movies to watch on Netflix, with the streamer’s critically acclaimed films spanning the horror movie, action movie and romance movie genres.
But once you’ve had your fill of the most popular hits, and you’re keen to find out what else Netflix has to offer, dig a little deeper and you’ll find the service’s ‘hidden gems’ – those movies which you might previously have overlooked, but arrived on the streaming platform with rave reviews and audience acclaim.
You may not have heard of all these movies or all of their stars – although there are some big names scattered among them – but we can guarantee you’ll get a great evening’s entertainment if you choose any of them.
Read on to find out about those Netflix films you may have never seen – but should consider adding to your watchlist…
1. Wicked Little Letters (2024)
Kicking off our round-up is this 2024 effort featuring the very wonderful Olivia Colman – except this is Olivia as you’ve never seen her before, showing off her finest potty-mouthed skills in a period comedy inspired by a true story.
Set in 1920, it stars Colman as devout Christian Edith Swan, who becomes the target of a string of expletive-filled hate mail and begins to suspect her neighbour, single mother Rose (Jessie Buckley) is responsible.
If sweary movies aren’t your thing, you may want to give this one a miss, but if a bit of fruity language doesn’t bother you then it’s well worth your time.
‘The movie is full of goofy side characters and one-liners, yet elevated occasionally to genuine complexity by Colman and Buckley, who are consistently the best thing about any movie they’re in,’ the New York Times said of the movie, which comes to Netflix trailing an 80% Rotten Tomatoes rating in its wake.
2. The Autopsy Of Jane Doe (2016)
If you’re in the mood for something a bit less cosy and a bit more shocking, consider this 2016 horror mystery.
It stars Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch as father and son coroners, who experience some seriously weird phenomena while examining the body of an unidentified woman.
With an 86% Rotten Tomatoes rating, this is one which is guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat – or possibly even sleeping with the lights on after you’ve watched it.
The Radio Times called the film ‘an engaging combination of nerve-jangling suspense, graphic swerves into unexpected shock, queasy surgical procedures and the blackest humour’.
3. The Guest (2014)
You might well have loved Dan Stevens in Downton Abbey, but the roles he’s taken on since appearing in the hit period drama have been very different indeed.
Thus we have The Guest, in which he plays a US soldier who unexpectedly shows up on a family’s doorstep, claiming to be a friend of their son who died in combat in Afghanistan.
Except, their hospitality towards him turns pretty sour when folks start dying and their daughter (Maika Monroe) starts suspecting he might be to blame.
This one has an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score of 92%, with CineVue among those raving about the flick.
‘Stevens is excellent both as the cordial house guest and the brooding time-bomb ever present beneath his earnest veneer,’ they said in their review. We’re inclined to agree.
4. Calibre (2018)
Another homegrown effort, which may well have flown under your radar given it only had a very limited cinema release (before quietly slipping onto Netflix).
Calibre stars Jack Lowden and Martin McCann as two hunters who are caught in a shocking incident while on a weekend away in the Scottish highlands – and have to escape the village before the finger of suspicion points at them.
This one’s got a very strong 95% Rotten Tomatoes rating, with Den Of Geek praising it as ‘an absorbing, gripping story’ and The Ringer calling it ‘one of the year’s best genre efforts’. Go seek it out.
6. Dumb Money (2023)
There’s a few familiar faces in this inspired-by-true-events comedy-drama, which debuted in 2023 with little fuss but picked up some good reviews before quietly showing up on Netflix.
The likes of Paul Dano, Vincent D’Onofrio, Shailene Woodley, Nick Offerman and Seth Rogen show up in the film, which is based on the events surrounding the GameStop short squeeze of January 2021 – in which the stock of the US video game retailer was affected, causing significant financial consequences.
A lot of critical love was sent the way of this one, with The Sun saying it’s ‘worth investing your time in’ and the Express calling it ‘tense, funny and surprisingly rousing’.
7. The Fundamentals of Caring (2016)
You’ll recognise a few faces in this one too, since Paul Rudd, Selana Gomez and Pride and Prejudice’s Jennifer Ehle all put in an appearance in the charming comedy drama.
Based on the 2012 novel by Jonathan Evison, Rudd stars as an out-of-work writer who trains as a carer and takes on the job of looking after a sardonic, wheelchair-bound teenager (Craig Roberts) who is suffering from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Which turns out to be a life-changing experience for them both, of course.
The critics showered plenty of praise on this one, with the Huffington Post describing it as ‘a dramedy with a little soul’ and the Daily Telegraph calling it ‘one of this summer’s most enjoyable lightweight comedies’.
7. Molly’s Game (2017)
Finally, we enter the world of high-stakes poker, with Jessica Chastain taking on the role of entrepreneur Molly Bloom, in a movie written and directed by Oscar-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin.
The film is an adaptation of the memoir by Bloom – aka the ‘Poker Princess’ – who made a name for herself organising underground tournaments of the card game in Los Angeles, which attracted their fair share of A-list actors.
However, she later became the target of an FBI investigation after the empire she created was exposed.
It’s a fascinating story and, with the film nabbing a solid 81% Rotten Tomatoes rating, the critics thought so too.
Metro.co.uk’s very own review reads: ‘Based on real events, this tale of a talented woman trying to make it in a Hollywood stacked against her gains extra currency in the post-Weinstein climate.’
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