100 Best Not Rated Movies to Watch

Hotel Salvation is a touching movie about a father asking his son for a last wish : let him die in the Holy city of Varanasi. This Indian drama will let you discover a modern Hindu philosophy, the power of the scenic Varanasi and the bonds of family. It faces the question of death in the light, gentle and humorous way that perfectly illustrates the contradiction in question: celebrating life while surrounded by death.

Amazon

Comedy / Drama

2016

Foreign

Good Movie

76% Vouch

Elena

Realistic, intimate, and compelling, Elena is a movie that makes you think a lot after you finish watching it. It is an inherently Russian movie, however there is something about how the story is told that makes it a universal family drama. A woman from a modest background to which she still has a lot of attachement is married to an old wealthy business man. Upon learning that the man might write her off his will, she feels pushed to get her hands dirty to honor her responsibilities towards her original family. The question of right and wrong when faced with extreme situations is at the heart of this aesthetically slow-burning family drama.

Amazon

Drama

2011

Good Show

80% Vouch

Ugly Delicious

Man, don’t watch this show hungry. Chef David Chang has both the genius and humility to make whatever food he touches both fascinating and insanely appealing. Each episode follows a particular dish in the places where it’s made best, but also in the places that’s it’s known for. So for example the first episode about pizza goes to Japan to investigate a new pizza in a Michelin-star restaurant, but also goes to Domino’s. Chang has almost a f*ck it attitude towards the food industry that’s not only refreshing to watch on him, but also disarms his guests and sparks interesting conversation. One of the best food shows you can watch today.

Good Show

83% Vouch

Queer Eye

Don’t be surprised if you cry at every single episode of this show. I know that sounds crazy, given that Queer Eye is technically a reality TV show, but the levels of honesty and genuine care at play here are out of this world. Most of the time, it’s a fun show about gay guys making over straight guys in hopeless situations, featuring characters as hilarious and playful as Jonathan Van Ness, and as pleasant and insightful as Tan France. However, a lot of times, addressing those hopeless situations in the delicate way Queer Eye manages to do, it touches on heavy themes like loneliness, body image issues, sacrifice for one’s family, etc. This is a celebration of tolerance, empathy, and amazing craftsmanship by its creators that will not only make you go “why am I crying right now?” but also “why can’t I stop binge watching a reality TV show?”.

Good Movie

75% Vouch

The Selfish Giant

A Ken Loach type of vibe drives The Selfish Giant to be an interesting mix between anger, desperation, and the beauty and humor often found in tough circumstances (think I, Daniel Blake but with kids as main characters). This sort of contemporary fable tells the story of two friends who skip school and hustle for work from a local scrap-dealer. As they get more and more involved with him and his entourage, the grim realities of what once seemed a way out start to cast a shadow over their lives. The script is based on a short story by Oscar Wilde, it’s a beautiful, ultimately sad portrayal of the British underclass.

Amazon

Drama

2013

Good Movie

76% Vouch

Bone Tomahawk

A peculiar Western that might not please everyone if it wasn’t for its main star, Kurt Russel. It’s a mix between classic western material, a horror flick, and a fantasy movie. Yes, it’s a lot. And not only that, it can be slow at times. However, in those perks it also finds a lot of originality in a saturated genre, and one more time: Kurt Russel. He’s amazing as can be expected, playing the sheriff of a quiet town that gets struck by sudden disappearances. The suspect is a faraway tribe known for its cannibalism practices, the movie follows the sheriff as he leads an expedition to save a disappearing woman.

Prime

Drama / Horror

2015

Good Show

90% Vouch

The Honourable Woman

Think of The Honourable Woman as Homeland on steroids. In Homeland, the question was whether the main character was good or bad, in The Honourable Woman, the question is whether anybody is good or bad. The characters are all so well-crafted that it’s difficult to ever feel comfortable with any one of them. This Netflix/BBC mini-series is set around Nessa Stein (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a heiress to a large arms company involved in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. When her father is assassinated, her willingness to keep the business alive by diversifying it away from the war business is met with strong economic and political opposition. Easily one of the best political thrillers ever made. Won Gyllenhaal the Golden Globe for Best Actress.

Good Show

98% Vouch

Wild Wild Country

A Netflix documentary mini-series that follows the relocation of a cult from India to a small town in Oregon and the ensuing events. It’s a completely true story, but the events it portrays are so bizarre and unexpected that they have to be seen to be believed. The cult, led by a controversial Indian guru, drew worldwide attention to its beginnings in India and then to its conflict with the locals once it relocated to the United States. If you were a contemporary, you must know that the town is Antelope and the guru is Bhagwan or Osho, but if you were not, it is very unlikely you’ve even heard of it. What was a very significant moment in American media and history has been long forgotten, and is retold here in a captivating way. An extremely well-executed and a powerful account of a very unlikely story.

Foreign

Good Movie

75% Vouch

A Taxi Driver

A cynical down-on-his-luck Seoul taxi driver is hired by a German journalist to go to another town called Gwangju. What seemed like an easy and overcompensated journey at first takes him into the heart of a city under siege by the military. This is in fact the student uprising that will be a very important event in South Korean history, known as 1980 Guangju Democratic Uprising. Both the journalist and the taxi driver confront life-threatening situations as they find themselves at the center of the movement. A true-story-based movie, it’s a heartfelt and entertaining political drama about one of the bleakest chapters of modern Korean history. In 2018 it was the country’s official submission to the Oscars.

Hulu

Drama

2017

Foreign

Best Film

91% Vouch

On Body and Soul

On Body and Soul is the impeccably crafted winner of the 2017 Berlin Film Festival. Two strangers have the same dream every night, they meet as deer in a forest and eventually fall in love. When they run into each other in real life and search for the love they experience once unconscious, their introverted personalities as well as their surroundings add variables that make it hard to establish that same connection. This unconventional love story is beautifully and passionately made by Hungary’s best director, who had taken an 18-year break from making movies. When you watch it you will realize that her break was probably the only way someone could so creatively and tenderly make something like On Body and Soul.

Netflix

Romance

2017

Good Movie

74% Vouch

Unrest

A deeply affecting and meaningful documentary, directed by the woman who it revolves around. Jennifer Brea, a Harvard Ph.D student, begins suffering from unusual symptoms: prolonged and extreme fatigue, mental confusion, full-body pain, etc. When she goes to the doctor she is dismissed for being dehydrated and depressed. Later she finds an extended community suffering from her exact same symptoms, all of which fall under the umbrella of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, more widely known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. She decides to tell their stories from her bed, and as such this movie is a collection of videos from her and her partner, added to the stories of others living with the disease. An important and inspiring movie that sheds a light on the lives of the millions affected by CFS around the world. Watch the trailer.

Netflix

Documentary

2017

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