Have you ever watched a movie and said to yourself, “Wow, that was amazing, how have I never heard of this movie before?” only to look up the release date and realize, “Oh, that makes sense, it opened a week after the Titanic.”
The worst part is that the dominating movie doesn’t even have to be good or financially successful, it just has to be popular. Then there’s the over-saturation factor. If seven “alien invasion” movies all come out within weeks of each other, some of them are bound to miss out.
This list will give you ten movies to check out from the past 20 years that deserve more recognition than they got. Give these movies a shot if you haven’t already and you might find yourself pleasantly surprised with a new favorite!
Pig (2021)
Nicolas Cage movies have been something of a mixed bag, especially in the last couple of years, but Pig is one of the actor's best films in recent memory. The movie features Cage as a reclusive truffle hunter whose only companion is his beloved pig. Believe it or not, the truffle-hunting industry can get a little cutthroat at times so when his pig is stolen, Rob (Cage) stops at nothing to track her down.
Released on July 16, 2021, Pig was up against quite a few big summer releases such as Disney’s Jungle Cruise and A24’s The Green Knight (both released on July 30), M. Night Shyamalan’s Old (released July 19), and the Netflix original Gunpowder Milkshake (released July 14).
Nightmare Alley (2021)
Regardless of the multiple Oscar nominations that Nightmare Alley has received, the movie that drew the largest buzz (and crowds) on December 17, 2021, was Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Nightmare Alley follows Bradley Cooper as a man with a questionable past who takes on a job with a carnival in the late 1930s. He learns about some of the deceitful practices and questionable ethics of the owner and fellow carnies and soon becomes entangled in their lives. Despite receiving widespread acclaim from critics, there’s no arguing the fact that it faced an opening weekend competitor of Goliath-like proportions.
Language Lessons (2021)
Language Lessons is an American drama that follows the journey of an unexpected friendship between Adam (Mark Duplass) and his Spanish-language instructor, Cariño (Natalie Morales). Filmed entirely throughout the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, the two main characters interact with each other through video calls. Adam’s husband Will (Desean Terry) purchases 100 lessons for Adam as a gift but tragically dies before the second lesson. Cariño convinces Adam to continue with the weekly lessons and the two of them form a unique bond as they learn more about each other’s lives.
Despite a 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a weighted average of 7.5/10 on IMDb, this movie did not get much attention. Its competition? Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was released just a week before Language Lessons, attracting a larger and broader audience. Additionally, James Wan’s much-anticipated Malignant was released on the same date as Language Lessons.
The Humans (2020)
This movie is adapted from the stage play of the same name, both written and directed by Stephen Karam. The Humans is best described as a dysfunctional family drama, starring Richard Jenkins, Beanie Feldstein, Stephen Yeun, Amy Schumer, June Squibb, and (reprising her role from the original play) Jayne Houdyshell.
Unfortunately for The Humans, it was released two weeks after another major film that also focuses on a dysfunctional family dynamic: Hillbilly Elegy. Furthermore, The Humans was only available in theaters or with a Showtime subscription whereas Hillbilly Elegy was more widely available to anyone who had access to a Netflix account.
The Empty Man (2020)
It makes sense to release a horror movie during the month of October. However, this can sometimes lead to an oversaturation of horror movies flooding the market at the same time. When this happens, some movies are bound to get pushed below the surface.
The Empty Man is a supernatural thriller that involves grisly deaths, horrific imagery, cults, and local legends, not unlike the 2018 hit Hereditary. Released October 23, 2020, The Empty Man found itself in direct competition with a multitude of other horror movies such as Books of Blood, The Banishing, Evil Eye, Nocturne, Amityville: Harvest, Cadaver, The Craft: Legacy, Come Play, His House, and the list goes on and on.
Bad Times at the El Royale (2018)
Best described as a neo-noir thriller, Bad Times at the El Royale focuses on an ensemble cast (Chris Hemsworth, Dakota Johnson, Cynthia Erivo, Jeff Bridges, and John Hamm) as guests at the struggling El Royale hotel in 1969. Each character introduced has their own mysterious history, which leads to the film’s main theme of what society deems “good” or “bad.”
Unfortunately, this movie came out only a week (October 12, 2018) before a much-anticipated, major horror franchise movie was released, Halloween. As the eleventh movie in the Halloween franchise, audiences were foaming at the mouth to see this, and it didn’t take long for Bad Times at the El Royale to be swept under the carpet. How can any movie compete with the new release of a fan-favorite franchise by the name of Halloween during the month of October? “Bad Times?” More like “bad timing.”
A Cure for Wellness (2016/2017)
Dane DeHaan stars as an executive sent to investigate the sudden and unexpected disappearance of his company’s CEO, Roland Pembroke (Harry Groener). Pembroke told his board of directors that he was going to a mysterious “wellness center,” and that’s the last they heard from him. This movie has a similar feel to the 2010 movie Shutter Island, as Lockhart (DeHaan) struggles to uncover the truth, in spite of the best efforts of the center’s doctors and staff.
With a limited release at Alamo Drafthouse on December 10, 2016, A Cure for Wellness found itself stacked up against a movie with the same exact release date: the multiple Academy Award-winning Manchester by the Sea. The wide release of A Cure for Wellness was on February 17, 2017. More than two months after the first theatrical run, it should have had a better fighting chance, right? It might have, except for the fact that John Wick 2 came out a week prior, and Get Out and Doctor Strange both came out about a week after.
The Illusionist (2006)
Sometimes these overlooked movies don’t have to be squared off directly with each other at the box office. Despite being released two months prior and making more net profit, The Illusionist was without a doubt overshadowed by The Prestige which had a very similar premise. How did this happen when The Illusionist came out first?
Similar to how The Village (2004) failed to impress as a horror movie, it boils down to marketing and audience expectations. The Illusionist and The Prestige were both marketed as suspense-thrillers that focus on magic and the art of illusion. In reality, The Illusionist is more of a romance-drama. An incredibly well-done movie at that, but still left audiences feeling a bit duped. When The Prestige came out two months later and delivered what was promised from advertisements, The Illusionist took a back seat.
Road to Perdition (2002)
Set in Chicago during the early 1930s, this period piece follows an Irish mafia hitman, Michael Sullivan (Tom Hanks) as he desperately tries to protect his son, Michael Sullivan Jr. (Tyler Hoechlin) after he witnesses something he shouldn’t have. Other prominent actors in this movie include Paul Newman, Daniel Craig, Jude Law, and Stanley Tucci. Under the direction of Sam Mendes, this star-studded cast gives brilliant performances, filled with nuance and emotion.
While it did fantastic at the 2003 Oscars, (winning six awards), this movie is surprisingly not well-known. Instead, the box office flop Reign of Fire opened on the same day and was met with mixed reviews from audiences and critics, which sparked more curiosity and buzz about this post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller than a depression-era drama.
Treasure Planet (2002)
Disney animated movies are usually a guaranteed hit. In the case of Treasure Planet, that was not the case. Based on the classic novel Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, it takes place on a retro-futuristic planet where spaceships are literally wooden ships with solar-powered sails. Young James Hawkins (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) embarks on an adventure to find the legendary Treasure Planet, which is said to hold the spoils of notorious pirate Nathaniel Flint, voiced by Disney voice-over veteran, the late Tony Jay (Beauty and the Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame).
Warner Brothers Pictures had something a little more magical than Disney could provide at the time. Released on November 27, 2002, Treasure Planet had no chance against Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which was released just two weeks earlier. The two movies had the same target audience, which ultimately pitted them against each other as direct competition.