Rated 7+ IMDb · 70%+ RT Little-known finds Curated by humans

Emil Hofileña

Emil Hofileña: My Curated Picks on Streaming Services

Emil Hofileña is a curator at A Good Movie to Watch. He also writes as a theater critic, with work published in Rogue and Out of Print, among others. He’s probably crying over a movie or an episode as we speak.

8.7

Rated 8.5 or above

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9.0

Rated 8.5 or above

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Brian Simpson: Live from the Mothership (2024)
Brian Simpson: Live from the Mothership (2024)
7.7
2024Movie

Brian Simpson: Live from the Mothership

Dir. Baron Vaughn

Demonstrating that a great stand-up routine should always stem from strong writing first and foremost, Brian Simpson makes common subjects…

8.5

Rated 8.5 or above

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The Eternal Memory (2023)
The Eternal Memory (2023)
7.9
2023Movie|Berlin · Sundance · Oscar

The Eternal Memory

Dir. Maite Alberdi

Documentaries about people suffering from dementia, Alzheimer’s, or other neurodegenerative diseases will always occupy a bit of an uneasy space—how…

Kokomo City (2023)
Kokomo City (2023)
7.8
2023Movie|Spirit · Sundance Winner · Berlin Winner

Kokomo City

Dir. D. Smith

The idea of representation in movies is often limited to superficial gestures of putting on screen people who look a…

Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man and the Pool (2023)
Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man and the Pool (2023)
7.7
2023Movie

Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man and the Pool

Dir. Seth Barrish

Many comedians use humor as a way to ease into more serious subject matter, though there always exists a risk…

Ralph Barbosa: Cowabunga (2023)
Ralph Barbosa: Cowabunga (2023)
7.8
2023Movie

Ralph Barbosa: Cowabunga

Dir. Eric Abrams & Eric Adams

Being an awkward comic is a very difficult trick to pull off; even self-deprecating humor and long, quiet beats in…

Mr. Dress-Up: The Magic of Make Believe (2023)
Mr. Dress-Up: The Magic of Make Believe (2023)
7.6
2023Movie

Mr. Dress-Up: The Magic of Make Believe

Dir. Robert McCallum

Just like with his mentor and contemporary, Fred Rogers, there are no dark secrets to Ernest Coombs’ earnest belief in…

Lakota Nation vs. United States (2022)
Lakota Nation vs. United States (2022)
8.2
2022Movie

Lakota Nation vs. United States

Dir. Jesse Short Bull & Laura Tomaselli

Using the documentary form with supreme clarity and righteous fury, Lakota Nation vs. United States distills hundreds of years of…

Blue Jean (2023)
Blue Jean (2023)
7.7
2023Movie|BAFTA · Venice · Venice Winner

Blue Jean

Dir. Georgia Oakley

Led by Rosy McEwen’s commanding performance brimming with fear and self-loathing, Blue Jean pours all of the anguish and defiance…

The Kidnapping Day
The Kidnapping Day
7.5
2023Show

The Kidnapping Day

Dir. Park Yoo-young

Genuinely exciting but with more than enough heart to keep its genre trappings from overwhelming the story, The Kidnapping Day…

My Adventures with Superman
My Adventures with Superman
7.6
2026Show

My Adventures with Superman

Bright, breezy, and refreshingly unburdened by the seriousness of so many live-action Superman shows and movies, this new animated series…

Upon Entry (2023)
Upon Entry (2023)
7.4
2023Movie|Spirit

Upon Entry

Dir. Alejandro Rojas & Juan Sebastián Vásquez

He may be out of office, but films about Donald Trump’s racist and xenophobic immigration policies will continue to feel…

Yoh! Christmas
Yoh! Christmas
7.3
2023Show

Yoh! Christmas

With all the holiday-themed movies and shows that pop up on streaming at this time of year, it’s incredibly refreshing…

20 Days in Mariupol (2023)
20 Days in Mariupol (2023)
7.4
2023Movie|Sundance · BAFTA · Oscar Winner

20 Days in Mariupol

Dir. Mstyslav Chernov

Formally speaking, 20 Days in Mariupol is little more than a compilation of footage bravely collected by Mstyslav Chernov in…

Kumari Srimathi
Kumari Srimathi
7.5
2023Show

Kumari Srimathi

Dir. Gomtesh Upadhye

Sometimes the ability to create good drama (and comedy!) just depends on one’s attentiveness to how the world works and…

This Much I Know to Be True (2022)
This Much I Know to Be True (2022)
8.1
2022Movie|Berlin

This Much I Know to Be True

Dir. Andrew Dominik

Whether or not you’re a fan of Nick Cave’s contemplative, idiosyncratic style of music, This Much I Know to Be…

The Burial (2023)
The Burial (2023)
7.6
2023Movie

The Burial

Dir. Margaret Betts

Many people lament the decline of the mid-budget drama with Hollywood A-listers in the lead roles, and for good reason:…

Descendant (2022)
Descendant (2022)
8.0
2022Movie

Descendant

Dir. Margaret Brown

Although Descendant is built around the finding of the Clotilda—the last ship to bring African slaves to the United States—this…

Lawmen: Bass Reeves
Lawmen: Bass Reeves
7.3
2023Show

Lawmen: Bass Reeves

Knowing better than to dwell on its title character’s early life in bondage, Lawmen: Bass Reeves grants him his freedom…

Soap Opera
Soap Opera
7.3
2023Show

Soap Opera

Dir. Gigi Soares & Renata Pinheiro

The less you try to think about the absurd fantasy premise of this satire on Brazilian telenovelas, the better. Based…

Katrina Babies (2022)
Katrina Babies (2022)
7.8
2022Movie

Katrina Babies

Dir. Edward Buckles

If Katrina Babies seems like a somewhat disjointed account of the myriad responses to Hurricane Katrina and the U.S. government’s…

Fabric of the Human Body (2023)
Fabric of the Human Body (2023)
7.2
2023Movie

Fabric of the Human Body

Dir. Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Véréna Paravel

While primarily a showcase of endoscopic footage of various surgeries in different hospitals throughout Paris—which should already be enough to…

20,000 Species of Bees (2023)
20,000 Species of Bees (2023)
7.2
2023Movie

20,000 Species of Bees

Dir. Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren

As far as LGBTQIA+ stories go, 20,000 Species of Bees isn’t the best at talking about its themes of identity…

8.8

Rated 8.5 or above

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The League (2023)
The League (2023)
7.1
2023Movie

The League

Dir. Sam Pollard

An essential documentary for sports fans but one that may be too specialized for casual viewers, The League continues director…

8.8

Rated 8.5 or above

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Castlevania: Nocturne
Castlevania: Nocturne
7.1
2025Show

Castlevania: Nocturne

While this spin-off of Netflix’s previous Castlevania series doesn’t have the most interesting take on vampires, Nocturne’s stellar action scenes…

The Territory (2022)
The Territory (2022)
7.7
2022Movie

The Territory

Dir. Alex Pritz

Surprisingly dramatic for a documentary but without exoticizing its central characters for a privileged audience, The Territory is that rare…

Dew Drop Diaries
Dew Drop Diaries
7.0
2023Show

Dew Drop Diaries

For a series designed to keep young children still for 10 to 12-minute chunks, Dew Drop Diaries is refreshingly thoughtful—not…

Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America (2022)
Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America (2022)
7.8
2022Movie

Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America

Dir. Emily Kunstler & Sarah Kunstler

Although Who We Are is essentially a professionally recorded masterclass interspersed with additional interviews, it only emphasizes Jeffery Robinson’s skill…

Afire (2023)
Afire (2023)
7.2
2023Movie|Berlin Winner

Afire

Dir. Christian Petzold

There’s something rich at the heart of Afire that, whether intentionally or not, is kept at arm’s length from the…

Is She the Wolf?
Is She the Wolf?
7.0
2023Show

Is She the Wolf?

Even within the first two episodes of the Japanese reality series Is She the Wolf? (a spin-off of parent show…

Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power (2022)
Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power (2022)
7.6
2022Movie

Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power

Dir. Geeta Gandbhir & Sam Pollard

By retelling a vital chapter of the civil rights movement from the perspective of an entire community—and not just through…

Hit the Road (2021)
Hit the Road (2021)
8.4
2021Movie

Hit the Road

Dir. Panah Panahi

A road trip movie with an unknown destination, Hit the Road plays with our expectations by avoiding any obvious questions…

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