The most underrated movies all time

“A bad movie is just bad. But an underrated movie is forgotten, overlooked, underseen or underappreciated,” says Hannah-Rose Yee, Vogue Australia’s deputy editor and features director, and one of Australia’s most trusted voices on all things film and TV. Underrated films are those that Yee says, “fall through the cracks”. We all have our own personal ones. Films that are in our favourites, but that shockingly, none of our friends have seen. Or a movie that had some buzz when it came out but has fallen out of the canon for no real reason. 

We think of movies like Booksmart, Olivia Wilde’s debut that is as funny now as it was when it came out, but doesn’t ever come up or Ryan Coogler’s debut Fruitvale Station, which Yee says is still his best. An underrated film isn’t just one that is underseen, but also ones that may have been critically acclaimed, but ultimately didn’t earn the accolades that time has shown they deserve. Take Todd Field’s Tár, which is probably one of the best films of the century, but came away from the Academy Awards with zero wins. 

Yee says that movies become underrated for a number of reasons. “A movie can fall through the cracks because it was released at the wrong time of the year and couldn't generate the audience it needed to garner attention,” she says, “or it could simply be too complex for the moment but with hindsight is revealed to have been overlooked.” 

They are different to cult classics, which Yee says are films that have earned a devoted following over the years. For example, a film like Jennifer’s Body “is now hailed as a legendary teen body horror thanks to a fanbase that has loved the film since the beginning,” but Thomas Vinterberg’s 2015 Far From The Madding Crowd? Yee says its truly underrated—deserving of acclaim, but yet to receive it. In a certain sense, an underrated film is a great movie that is waiting to earn itself a cult following. 

Below, Glamour Australia shares the most underrated films of all time, with some picks from Yee throughout. 

1. Booksmart, Olivia Wilde

Well received, but rarely mentioned since, Booksmart is as funny on rewatch as it was when it came out in 2019. Olivia Wilde’s debut film as a director, maybe the flop of her second film Don’t Worry Darling led to its erasure? Now, she’s back with an awards contender with The Invite, it’s time that people gave Booksmart and Olivia Wilde their flowers. 

2. In The Cut, Jane Campion

“I've always liked the idea of looking at an established filmmaker's career and picking something underrated from their filmmography to focus on,” says Yee, “For Jane Campion, it's In The Cut, derided at the time but now held up as one of our great erotic films.”

3. Somewhere, Sofia Coppola

Yee argues that almost all of Sofia Coppola’s films have a cult following, but if we can call any of them underrated, it would be Somewhere. Coming in the wake of Marie Antoinette—a true cult hit that had critics’s knives out, but is now beloved—is a quieter examination of father-daughter relationships and fame in the shadow of the Chateau Marmont. If you liked Aftersun, you need to watch this.

4. Tár, Todd Field

We mentioned it above, but Tár just seems like one of those films that will get better and better with age, but no one seems to be going back to it. It reminds us of The Social Network, which has aged like fine wine, both in tone and its prescient take on power. Cate Blanchett is endlessly magnetic, too. 

5. Hedda, Nia DaCosta

“In this day and age of streaming oversaturation, sometimes a movie can be underrated simply because it got dumped on one of the myriad platforms without fanfare. Last year, Nia DaCosta's Hedda, which transformed its Henrik Ibsen source material into something astoundingly fresh and relevant thanks to a skin-crawlingly good performance from star Tessa Thompson, is a good example of that. Nobody saw it, but it's ripe for rediscovery,” Yee says. 

6. Asteroid City, Wes Anderson

For a director as precise as Wes Anderson, it’s remarkable how prolific he is. In the past five years, he’s put out The French Dispatch, Asteroid City, a series of shorts for Netflix, and The Phoenician Scheme. We could argue that they are all underrated, but Asteroid City is the pick of the bunch. Every time we watch it, it has more heart, and the Margot Robbie-wielding final punch seems to carry more weight. This, of all of Anderson’s recent work, seems to be his thesis statement. 

7. The Lost Daughter, Maggie Gyllenhaal

Another one of those streaming films that seemed to come and go in a week, The Lost Daughter is criminally underrated. Starring a murderer’s row of acting talent with Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson, Paul Mescal and Peter Sarsgaard, this adaptation of the Elena Ferrante novel from director Maggie Gyllenhaal is extremely potent viewing that doesn’t get nearly enough credit.

8. Chungking Express, Wong Kar Wai

Wong Kar Wai has been enjoying a recent resurgence from Letterboxd top fours to moodboards, but so much of the fuss seems to be about In the Mood for Love. Equally deserving of fuss, but less often mentioned, Chungking Express is a masterclass. 

9. West Side Story, Steven Spielberg

Some could argue Disclosure Day has been one of Spielberg’s underrated recent releases, but Yee calls out West Side Story, “which is depressing,” she says, “because that movie has such a wonderful, kinetic energy and is so alive with song and dance and you can tell that Spielberg was so inspired while making it simply by the way he moves the camera.”

10. Bottoms, Emma Seligman

Whenever someone mentions this film it makes you think “why aren’t I watching that right now?!” Ayo Edebiri, Havana Rose Liu, Rachel Sennott and Kaia Gerber? Come on. 

11. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Vinterberg

Yee mentions From The Madding Crowd is a truly underrated film. She says, “it's a beautiful and painterly film that adapts its 19th-century source material in a really modern way, not dissimilar to Greta Gerwig's Little Women but without the same acclaim, though it's definitely deserving of it.”

12. After Yang, Kogonada

An underrated movie from a constantly underrated director. It’s a cliche, but Kogonada is your favourite director’s director. He doesn’t always hit the mark—his latest efforts, Zi and A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, are evidence—but After Yang is proof of his visual genius. It’s also a before-its-time treatise on the faults of AI. 

13. Eternity, David Freyne

Coming out only last year, A24’s Eternity is so charming we feel like everyone should be talking about. Elizabeth Olsen finds herself in heaven’s waiting room, where her incredibly handsome first husband (Callum Turner) who died at war and her recently deceased husband of 40 years (Miles Turner) are both anticipating her arrival. What more do you want? 

14. Rye Lane, Rainn Allen-Miller

With his announcement as the next Black Panther, we hope David Jonsson’s back catalogue gets much more interest. Rye Lane from 2023 is nestled right in there. A dazzling and unique rom-com, more people need to see this film! 

15. The Lost City of Z, James Gray

As Yee says, all James Gray’s movies are underrated, but The Lost City of Z takes the cake from his filmography. A slow-moving, but rewarding adventure into the South American jungle, this period piece gets better with every watch. It just takes patience to keep heading back.