The 10 Most Underrated Movies Of 2024, Ranked

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There's no such thing as a "bad" year for movies — not if you watch enough of them. That statement might come across like a hackneyed cliché every time film fans trot that out and lob it into the ether like a self-righteous grenade ... but it's still true!

Okay, we won't put lipstick on a pig: the state of the industry these days feels, to put a fine point on it, dire. Blockbusters have bullied out smaller and more original offerings on their way to ruling the roost, though even that's no guarantee anymore with the way budgets keep skyrocketing. Streaming platforms have become a last, desperate haven for passion projects from our best and brightest filmmakers ... but that only makes it easier for the Powers That Be to take movies like Clint Eastwood's "Juror #2" and sentence them to a digital death penalty. And unless they're dealing with names like Christopher Nolan, Denis Villeneuve, Jordan Peele, or M. Night Shyamalan, none of the decision-makers seem particularly inclined to be in the risk-taking business.

It's never been harder for the underdogs; not just to get them made, but simply to motivate belt-tightening general audiences to actually go out and watch them. By that same token, however, it's never been more important to hold these movies up, spread awareness as best we can, and celebrate them for pulling off a minor miracle. Still, it wasn't enough to merely exist in such a hostile environment. Each of the following titles went above and beyond to rank among the best of the year. These are the hidden gems, the pleasant surprises, and the little engines that could — the ones that refused to accept defeat in the face of overwhelming odds — that make up the most underrated movies of 2024.

Vertical

2024 saved one of its best efforts for last. No, "The Order" won't blow any minds for completely upending genre conventions. You have an on-the-cusp-of-retirement FBI agent (Jude Law) with a dark past, a brazen and charismatic criminal (Nicholas Hoult) who relishes going head to head with such an obsessive adversary, and a young, inexperienced cop (Tye Sheridan) caught in the middle. Instead of reinventing the wheel, here's a reminder that tropes are tropes for a reason — when they're executed this well, it hardly even matters if we've seen movies like this before. Director Justin Kurzel takes the chilling (and nonfictional) story of white supremacist Bob Mathews, as documented in the 1989 book "The Silent Brotherhood," and breathes new life into a horrific series of events from decades past that continues to feel all too relevant today.

Taking its cues from recent efforts such as "Sicario" and "Hell or High Water," "The Order" confronts the rotten ideology festering at the heart of America under the guise of prestige drama. On the surface, this is a tragic tale of radicalized men driven by desperate circumstances straight into the arms of a cult, escalating from armed robberies to bombings to dreams of full-scale revolution. In the capable hands of Kurzel, writer Zach Baylin, and a wonderfully lived-in ensemble (also featuring Marc Maron in a small, but incredibly significant supporting role), this transforms into something else entirely: pulse-pounding action, unrelenting tension, and a timely warning of what we're up against.

Quim Vives/Netflix

Depictions of inspiring, real-life stories oftentimes forget one key aspect — in order to make the feel-good emotions hit harder, you first have to confront the darkness. "Society of the Snow" stands alone among countless survivalist dramas, the vast majority of which pale in comparison to the sheer ambition, attention to detail, and unflinching descent into despair on display here. None of that might make director J.A. Bayona's Spanish-language film sound like the kind of movie you can casually flip on during a casual Sunday afternoon, and it most certainly isn't. This is an experience that viewers need to go into with both eyes wide open, prepared to come out the other side feeling utterly drained ... but also profoundly moved.

"Society of the Snow" depicts the true story of a rugby team whose plane crash-lands in the barren, desolate heights of the Andes mountains in 1972. Cut off from the rest of the world, those still alive are left to fend for themselves in an unforgiving environment with no natural resources whatsoever for as long as they can. A more conventional adaptation might've leaned much harder into the exploitative, headline-grabbing details. Yes, the survivors must eventually choose between certain death and cannibalism of their fallen friends. But Bayona and co-writers Bernat Vilaplana, Jaime Marques, and Nicolás Casariego use this to turn the film into a treatise on faith and the costs of true sacrifice. The result is a movie unlike any other this year.

SRH

Everyone loves complaining that all Hollywood has to offer these days are sequels, reboots, and other unoriginal ideas ... but how many of them bothered to watch arguably the most creative 2024 offering of them all? "Hundreds of Beavers" is as rare a gem as you'll find these days. A black-and-white silent film that plays like a slapstick comedy lifted right out of the Charlie Chaplin playbook? This DIY-heavy indie even comes with the added bonus of feeling like it was put together with little more than scotch tape, discount animal costumes, and a dream.

That's just a taste of the hijinks director Mike Cheslik and co-writer/main lead Ryland Brickson Cole Tews manage to cook up here. The story begins in the wilds of 19th Century America when rugged outdoorsman Jean Kayak finds his orchard destroyed by renegade beavers. Swearing vengeance upon the shady rodents, he embarks on a quest to catch various animals to survive the winter, procure enough fur pelts to make a profit from a local merchant (Doug Mancheski), and win the heart of the merchant's beautiful, mischievous daughter (Olivia Graves). But first, Jean Kayak must tussle with hundreds of beavers, uncover a vast conspiracy, and even fend off a pair of Sherlock Holmes/Dr. Watson-styled beaver investigators dogging his every step – all of which is boosted by an endearing mix of live action and 2D animation, makeshift props made out of cardboard, and an entire creative team that clearly understood the assignment.

Apple TV+

This same time last year, movie fans in the know were eager to give actor Lily Gladstone her flowers for her scene-stealing performance in Martin Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon." Did the same people know that she also appeared in another great film spotlighting Indigenous characters earlier in 2024, as well? "Fancy Dance" might be the dictionary definition of an under-the-radar title that deserved so much more credit.

Writer/director Erica Tremblay and co-writer Miciana Alise take the trappings of a coming-of-age road-trip movie and spin it into a frequently funny, though unmistakably pointed drama about all the ways that this country has failed its native population. "Fancy Dance" stars Gladstone as Jax, a respected figure in the Seneca–Cayuga reservation who has been reeling from the mysterious disappearance of her sister Tawi (Hauli Gray) two weeks prior. Ever since, she has taken in her young teenage niece Roki (Isabel Deroy-Olson) and kept hope alive that her mother might still turn up — even though, in her heart, she suspects Tawi is likely the latest Indigenous murder victim to vanish without a trace.

With Child Protective Services breathing down her neck, Jax takes Roki (an abduction, in the eyes of the law) on a desperate search to find Tawi and keep young Roki entrenched in her community where she belongs. Along the way, they realize even this simple mission is hopelessly rigged against them — but what else is new? Don't let "Fancy Dance" slip through the cracks.

Neon

In a year full of much higher-profile animated titles like "Inside Out 2," "Moana 2," "Transformers One," and "The Wild Robot," you won't want to miss out on the scrappiest — and most pleasantly surprising — of them all. "Robot Dreams" takes viewers along a nearly wordless journey through 1980s New York City, a setting marked by an opening shot of the World Trade Center that somehow doesn't feel cloying or obvious. In fact, that turns out to be the Rosetta Stone meant to unlock so much of what this wonderfully understated adventure is all about.

Boasting gorgeous, hand-drawn animation and two of the most endearing characters of 2024, "Robot Dreams" wears a love for New York City on its sleeve. More accurately (and more broadly speaking), it's a paean to a more innocent time from our memories that we can't get back, no matter how hard we try. The film focuses on a terribly lonely Dog, cooped up in a studio apartment with only 8-bit video games to keep him company. One day, he decides to buy a build-it-yourself Robot as a much-needed companion — whether platonic or romantic is left, impressively enough, up to interpretation. When a defect forces Dog to leave Robot behind in search of a fix, life ends up taking both in very different directions. Life has a way of imposing its will on us, no matter how much love friends may share.

"Robot Dreams" is a hazy, hilarious, and heartbreaking odyssey.

Sideshow/Janus Films

If there were a prize for the most indescribable movie of the year, "The Beast" ("La Bête," in its original French title) would win handily. It's a good thing, then, that this label-defying film has inspired no shortage of attempts to decipher the enigma at its core. We previously wrote about "The Beast" (a film that's part sci-fi thriller, part dystopian/apocalyptic story, and part soaring romance through the ages), and here we are at the end of 2024 still in awe of its grandeur.

Directed by Bertrand Bonello, "The Beast" begins in a near-future setting where AI has fully taken over and left the human working class scrambling. The only choice left for many is to undergo a harrowing process of entering their own past lives and purging themselves of all emotions, all in the hopes of opening up better and more efficient job opportunities. From there, "The Beast" cycles through a wide range of time periods — from the year 2044 to early 1900s France to 2010s Los Angeles — with a fleetness of foot that might leave your head spinning. Every vignette centers on various characters played by both Léa Seydoux and George MacKay, and every one addresses a range of social concerns from climate change to incel culture.

As all this unfolds, the experience becomes less about solving a genre-bending puzzle and more about feeling the bond between characters. Everything builds to an unforgettable climax and a final shot that'll leave you stunned.

Stéphanie Branchu/IFC Films

There's no porn quite like food porn, as I always say. (Just for the record, I don't think I've ever actually said this until now.) If "The Beast" uses multiple genres to sneak in some of the most potent storytelling you've ever seen, then "The Taste of Things" is a very different French film accomplishing a very similar goal: taking a movie that's ostensibly about food and delivering one of the most stirring, sumptuous, and dizzyingly romantic films of the year. (Okay, technically it was only eligible for this past Academy Awards season, but we're breaking from convention and going by U.S. theatrical releases here.)

Director Trần Anh Hùng sets this intimate portrait of the finest cooks ever committed to film in 1889 France, led by veteran character actor Juliette Binoche as Eugénie. She has worked for decades under the roof of gourmet chef Dodin (Benoît Magimel), a man with tremendous appetites who revels in the finest details. The two are clearly a well-oiled machine, mutually respecting each other for their prodigious talents in the kitchen, yet harboring long-term affections for one another behind closed doors. Despite Dodin's overtures over the years, however, they sleep in separate bedrooms and Eugénie resists his proposals to marry — matrimony comes in distant second to the art they create together.

Nestled comfortably within this deliberate and somewhat episodic narrative is a genuinely touching ode to love and creativity in its many forms.

Neon

Sadness and contentment aren't on opposite sides of the emotional spectrum, but two sides of the very same coin. There are plenty of slice-of-life movies that think they understand this deceptively simple idea, but none grasp this powerful truth quite like "Perfect Days" does. On the face of it, Tokyo-based toilet cleaner Hirayama (Kôji Yakusho) almost seems pathologically happy. The quiet man has little family to speak of outside of his niece Niko, no friends whatsoever, and, oh yeah, his awfully thankless day job renders him all but invisible to most others in public life. But maybe life in the margins isn't so bad when that's the one surefire way to slow down, smell the flowers, and actually live.

I'll freely admit that meditative, slower-paced, and largely plotless scripts might as well be my bread and butter — and "Perfect Days" will either work for you or it won't. For those able to get on its wavelength, however, writer/director Wim Wenders and co-writer Takuma Takasaki craft the cinematic equivalent of a warm, gentle, and wholly nonjudgmental hug. Hirayama isn't as perfect as the title might imply, mind you. He certainly has his cranky days and get-off-my-lawn moments, and the rare moments when he lets his guard down to weep for broken family ties or missed opportunities for love make his endlessly contented smiles hit all the harder.

"Perfect Days" is the best kind of movie — one that sneaks up on you with poignancy and grace.

Amazon MGM Studios

Every end-of-year list tends to have multiple entries earmarked for one audacious, inventive, and genuinely boundary-breaking film; one utterly moving hidden gem featuring some of the most powerful filmmaking in recent memory; and, in a particularly good year, one that transcends what Academy voters usually deem to be "award-worthy" to become a bona fide contender. What's exceedingly rare, however, is when all of that's packed into one single movie.

"Nickel Boys" has made waves for its utterly unique cinematography, switching between two first-person perspectives through the majority of the film, but the real magic comes from how this flashy approach only ever exists in service of the larger narrative at hand. Writer/director RaMell Ross accomplishes something extraordinary here (alongside co-writer Joslyn Barnes), taking the bones of author Colson Whitehead's novel "The Nickel Boys" and bringing it to the screen in as seamless a balance between form and function as you'll ever see. We follow Elwood (Ethan Herisse) in Civil Rights-era Tallahassee, Florida, a promising young student with a passion for activism and high hopes for his future. When convicted of the "crime" of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, he's sent to a brutal reform school carrying on systemic racial abuse under the guise of "education" and "rehabilitation." When he meets the cynical, street-smart Turner (Brandon Wilson), the bond between them becomes a salvation of its own — and the film truly soars.

Believe the hype, folks, because "Nickel Boys" is a monumental work.

Rachel Szor

As the book finally closes on this year in film, I'm hard-pressed to pinpoint any other work that encapsulates our current state of affairs better or more succinctly than "No Other Land." The Palestinian-made documentary details Israel's human rights violations and demolitions of countless homes on the West Bank. It debuted on the film festival circuit early this year and promptly spent the next several months racking up accolades and awards ... yet, somehow, is still looking to secure distribution from obviously reticent studios. For a documentary all about the world's collective unwillingness to right such obvious wrongs, there's no more ironic outcome than that.

Directed by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, and Rachel Szor, "No Other Land" tells the horrifying personal account of Palestinian native Basel Adra attempting to save his village of Masafer Yatta from Israel's occupation and their efforts to chase Palestinians off their own land. Basel frequently films harrowing visuals of innocent men, women, and children forced to stand up to military tanks, bulldozers, and soldiers seeking to destroy their homes in favor of establishing IDF training grounds and settler housing developments. It doesn't take much to figure out who the good guys and who the bad guys are here. The film's true power comes from its documentation of a weary, traumatized, and resilient people who want nothing more than to live in peace.

"No Other Land" is powerful, sobering, and clear-eyed — and exactly the film 2024 needs and deserves.