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If you’re looking for some hidden film gems to check out over the Christmas break, let this be your guide.
Regular readers of JOE will know that we love highlighting underrated or underseen movies.
After all, not every film gets the audience it deserves immediately upon release.
As such, we’ve highlighted 10 of the best examples of movies like this and where you can stream them in the following listicle.
Happy watching!
Arcadian (NOW Cinema, Sky Cinema)
Nicolas Cage plays a father in an apocalyptic future who tries to protect his two children from absolutely terrifying-looking monsters that only come out at night. A must for fans of the A Quiet Place films.
All You Need is Death (Shudder)
In this truly unique spin on folk horror, the dark power of the forgotten past is reawakened by people making a recording of an incredibly rare trad tune sung in an ancient Gaelic language. Super weird but extremely cool.
The Beast (Mubi)
This French sci-fi thriller is set in a world where past lives and reincarnation have been proven real. It follows two star-crossed souls (Léa Seydoux and George MacKay) seemingly destined to intertwine throughout their various lives as they meet in 1910, 2014 and 2044.
Ambitious and stylish, The Beast manages to be darkly comic, romantic, haunting and terrifying all at the same time. Its ending also packs a wallop.
Double Blind (Prime Video)
This Irish horror thriller follows a group of cash-strapped young people who agree to be confined together for days on end in a secure medical facility to take part in an experimental drug trial.
Things inevitably go horribly wrong. A clever, tense and tight genre flick.
The First Omen (Disney+)
This stylish and viscerally gripping ’70s Rome-set prequel to the iconic horror The Omen brought unexpected new life to a faded franchise. In fact, it may even be better than the original.
Kinds of Kindness (Disney+)
Easily the most divisive entry on this list, this 160-minute-plus anthology black comedy/drama from Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things) uses surreality as a way to explore the extreme lengths some people will go to in order to be liked.
It’s also anchored by incredible, brave performances from Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons.
Land of Bad (Prime Video)
When a rookie soldier (Liam Hemsworth) is unexpectedly plunged into a warzone, he must rely on a drone pilot (a very funny Russell Crowe) operating continents away to survive.
Its hard-hitting combat scenes, its portrait of how technology has changed warfare and its oddly emotional central relationship make Land of Bad worth seeking out for action movie lovers.
MadS (Shudder)
Another French flick, this horror is told entirely through one 86-minute unbroken shot and sees a young stoner’s night out take a nightmarish turn.
We won’t reveal any more for fear of spoiling but if you like dark, hard-hitting visceral action horror thrills, this is for you.
Oddity (Shudder)
Alfred Hitchcock’s strain of devilish, gallows humour is alive and well in this deliriously fun Irish horror about a blind medium (Carolyn Bracken) seeking answers after her sister is murdered.
Helping her in that quest is a terrifying life-sized wooden mannequin.
Perfect Days (Mubi)
Last but not least, this character study drama from legendary filmmaker Wim Wenders depicts the quietly content life of an older Tokyo resident (a near-silent Kōji Yakusho) who works in sanitation, as external forces slowly begin to challenge his serenity.
Extraordinarily life-affirming, Perfect Days will make you want to change the way you live. It also has the best soundtrack of the year, courtesy of the vintage cassettes the lead character enjoys.
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