Photo Credit (Freepik)

Welcome back to The Friendly Film Fan, everyone! It’s true that movies are frequently overlooked. The films themselves frequently fall short of what the real best-of-the-year rankings deem deserving of inclusion, or the promotion for the picture is insufficient to pique viewers’ attention. However, occasionally a movie gets a good score and some good reviews before going unnoticed for the remainder of its run in theaters. Here is a list of those films: those with somewhat lower scores, those that didn’t make the rounds long enough, and those who deserve more recognition for achieving what they did in spite of whatever obstacles they encountered. These are the Top 10 Most Underappreciated Films of 2021, according to The Friendly Film Fan.

10. No Unexpected Movement

Making a film with Steven Soderbergh is a lot of fun, isn’t it? Despite its flaws, this short crime comedy, which starred Don Cheadle and Benicio Del Toro, was a lot of fun to see when it first aired on HBO Max in the summer. Soderbergh somehow knows every Hollywood celebrity we adore and brings them together to create a film in which they may flaunt themselves. Additionally, it includes a very impressive performance by David Harbour, who plays a character that is far less confident than we typically see in Stranger Things. Excellent stuff.

9. The Courier

The Courier was a Cold War thriller that did just enough right to be worth seeing at least once, but it came and went with little fanfare, leaving theaters as silently as it had arrived. Benedict Cumberbatch is excellent in this movie, playing what is maybe his least confident role to date. His transition from this to the acclaimed Power of the Dog shows off his extraordinary talent. Take a chance on this film, if only to witness what might be the final one of its sort to be shown in theaters these days.

8. Tiny Fish

Those who did check out Little Fish were treated to a true treat. The film was launched on VOD with little fanfare, and its Rotten Tomatoes score was hardly displayed on the site’s main page long enough to register with more than the tiniest audience. The movie, which is set during a worldwide pandemic of memory loss (I know, I’m sick of it too), follows young adults as they fall in love and connect with one another until things start to go wrong as they always do. Olivia Cooke’s performance in this film, along with her chemistry with co-star Jack O’Connell (who is also incredibly underappreciated), is a clear example of why she is one of the best unsung leading actresses of our time. The plot is never overly drawn out or theatrical, and the script is surprisingly subtle considering the subject matter it tackles. This (well, also Together Together, but that one isn’t on the list) is the indie you should be looking for if you want to fall deeply in love.

7. On Earth

Ben Wheatley’s quasi-horror film about a mysterious wooded location was the first of all the “Covid films” to be released between 2020 and 2022, and it was objectively—well, not awful. Although the first two acts are quite well done and don’t overpower the spectator with the film’s location, I still find it difficult to believe that the third act is handled in an entertaining or intriguing manner. Its center-most segment offers some genuinely terrifying thrills, and eventual Cruella co-star Joel Fry manages to bring it across the finish line just enough to be worth seeing.

6. Profile
   Given that the film’s climax is noticeably less engaging than its most significant turning point, I can definitely understand why many people will be upset with the way it ends. On its own, though, that pivotal moment makes a very strong statement, and it is entirely because of the strength of that statement that this “screen thriller” achieves its high rating. Aside from that particular scene, the movie is also incredibly suspenseful, and both of its leading actors give plenty of room for the tension to build throughout the whole movie. Like many screen thrillers, it’s easy to see through; it’s brief and direct, but it does make some mistakes in its last scenes. Nevertheless, there is a lot of promise in this film.
7. The Tigers of Paper

I can’t even begin to count how many people I know have seen this little film about three middle-aged former Kung-Fu masters seeking revenge by juggling their desire for vengeance with their now mostly normal lives. This is primarily because I don’t know anyone else who has seen it at all. I wasn’t really sure what I was getting into with this, except from the fact that it was near the top of a couple Rotten Tomatoes lists during the summer, but I really enjoyed the experience. Although the battles don’t really last that long and the picture has a notably low budget, there is some excellent comedy, and the heart is evident throughout the narrative. If one movie were to fully meet that description, it would be a hidden gem.

4. The Dream Horse

It would have been simple to dismiss Dream Horse based on its trailer as another Seabiscuit or Secretariat imitative movie, but when Toni Collette makes an appearance, you can’t help but watch it, and I’m pleased I gave it a chance. Dream Horse is a nice ride about a community not just coming together but finding something they could all agree on, even though it doesn’t really offer anything noteworthy outside of the typical rhythms for a story like this. The supporting cast, who all capture distinct aspects of living in a close-knit town and fascinate the audience with their many whimsies and desires, are what really make the picture worth seeing, even though Collette does a fantastic job in it. Although there is room for improvement in terms of originality, this narrative is heartwarming and definitely worth seeing if you’re looking for something a little lighter.

3. The Dry

Forgive the metaphor, but The Dry is—well, emotionally at least—a little dry. However, that doesn’t mean the plot of this inquiry into the murder of a local in a small Australian town isn’t strong. As the lead detective who returns to his hometown to oversee the case, Eric Bana is superb. What truly makes the movie memorable are his contacts with the different community people, the majority of whom don’t believe him because they think she killed a childhood friend and got away with it. The Dry is still as deserving of your attention as the majority of lousy action films or nearly anything currently showing in theaters, even though I might have liked the ending to have been more unclear in that respect.

2. Valuable

Although many have attempted (and many more have ruthlessly failed) to address the aftermath, it is a fool’s errand to attempt to do it in a movie. Even if the victims of such a horrible incident were not people they knew or were not related to, how can one ever convey the sorrow and the fortitude of a whole population losing something or someone so important to them? Worth’s description of the victim’s fund setup that followed could have been as much of a train wreck as the absurd conclusion of Remember Me, but it’s clear from the viewing that the filmmakers were making a sincere effort to address this as best they could. Although the first five to ten minutes of the film don’t really add anything significant to the plot, and the movie doesn’t really get going until Stanley Tucci shows up to spar against Michael Keaton in the acting battles, this film is about as good as it could be given the small scope of the subject. If you’re willing to test that theory, you can watch it on Netflix. Go ahead and play.

1. Collectively

Stephen Daldry’s fourth-wall-breaking Covid project, which no one watched but which everyone felt looked really strange, is the most underappreciated movie of 2021. They would be right in part—the movie is strange, outlandish, confrontational, and largely a Covid-centric tale about two individuals in a tense relationship who are compelled to live in quarantine together for several months. It’s not exactly a recipe for summer 2021 suspense. But in some ways, Together is the movie that best captures how difficult the entire pandemic has been for a wide range of people, including those who, for whatever reason, are still unable to get the vaccine. The film’s central theme is the human cost of all of this, and James McAvoy and Sharon Horgan are more than capable of addressing what that cost entails on a fundamental level. Particularly, Horgan ruins a scene she had to give shortly after a hospital stay, and the audience is left feeling heartbroken by her agonizing words. It’s not the most depressing of Covid-centric stories because there is a lot of humor in it, but when it comes to openly discussing the subject, it is the one that does the best job of navigating the gloom of the entire situation.
And those are our choices for 2021’s Top 10 Most Underappreciated Films! Which films from the previous year, in your opinion, were unjustly underappreciated or ignored? Have we overlooked any here?