10 Movies From the Last Five Years That Deserve a Second Chance
Some films arrive at the wrong moment. A slow release weekend, a marketing campaign that misrepresents the movie, a title that doesn’t communicate what the experience is actually like — any of these can doom a genuinely excellent film to obscurity. The streaming era has given movies a longer afterlife, but the algorithm still buries most of them after 30 days.
These ten films were critically acclaimed, audience-beloved, or both — yet somehow slipped through the cultural conversation. If you missed them in theaters, now is the time.
1. “The Farewell” (2019) — A24’s Most Personal Film
Awkwafina gives a career-redefining dramatic performance as a Chinese-American woman who returns to China for a family gathering, the true purpose of which — saying goodbye to her grandmother who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer without being told — is hidden from the dying woman herself. The film is about cultural dissonance, what we owe the people we love, and the impossible choices of immigrant families. It will make you call your grandmother.
2. “Pig” (2021) — Nicolas Cage’s Best Performance in 20 Years
Nicolas Cage lives as a reclusive truffle hunter in the Oregon wilderness until his prize pig is stolen, sending him into Portland to find her. What sounds like a John Wick knockoff is actually a quiet meditation on grief, authenticity, and what we build our lives around. Cage is extraordinary — still, controlled, devastating. It’s the film that reminded everyone what he’s capable of when the material deserves his full attention.
3. “First Cow” (2019) — Kelly Reichardt’s Masterpiece
Set in the 1820s Oregon Territory, this gentle, slow-burning film follows an itinerant cook and a Chinese immigrant who form an unlikely friendship and hatch a small business scheme involving the area’s only dairy cow. It’s a film about capitalism, friendship, and America’s foundational myths, told with more patience and visual intelligence than any blockbuster this decade. Not for everyone — but for the right person, unforgettable.
4. “Minari” (2020) — A Korean-American Story That’s Purely American
A Korean immigrant family moves to rural Arkansas to start a farm in the 1980s. The father’s dream, the mother’s doubts, the grandmother who arrives from Korea and doesn’t fit any American idea of what a grandmother should be — Lee Isaac Chung’s autobiographical film is specific and universal simultaneously. Steven Yeun’s performance is extraordinary, and Yuh-Jung Youn won the Oscar for Supporting Actress for her role as the grandmother.
5. “The Invisible Man” (2020) — Horror That Actually Means Something
Elisabeth Moss plays a woman who escapes an abusive relationship with a tech billionaire, only to become convinced — despite everyone’s skepticism — that he has found a way to make himself invisible and is still controlling her life. As a horror film it’s terrifying. As an allegory for how gaslighting works, how victims are disbelieved, and how abusers maintain control through systems, it’s one of the most intelligent horror films in years.
6. “Sound of Metal” (2019) — The Best Film Nobody Saw
A heavy metal drummer begins losing his hearing and must confront the disintegration of the life he built around his identity as a musician. Riz Ahmed gives a performance of raw precision, and the film’s sound design — which immerses you in what hearing loss actually sounds like — is among the most innovative in recent memory. It won two Oscars and was still seen by almost no one. Fix that.
7. “The Power of the Dog” (2021) — Jane Campion Returns
Benedict Cumberbatch as a cruel, brilliant Montana rancher in the 1920s. Kirsten Dunst as the widow he tormentes. Kodi Smit-McPhee as her seemingly fragile son. Jane Campion won the Oscar for directing this slow-coil psychological western, which rewards patience with one of the decade’s great third acts. The film seems to be about one thing and turns out to be about something entirely different. Don’t read reviews before watching it.
8. “Wolfwalkers” (2020) — Animation That Belongs in the Same Sentence as Studio Ghibli
Cartoon Saloon’s Irish animated film set during Cromwell’s invasion of Ireland tells the story of a girl who discovers a hidden world of wolf spirits in the forbidden forest. The animation style is unlike anything in modern cinema — hand-drawn, intricate, electric. It’s available on Apple TV+ and has been seen by a tiny fraction of the people who would love it.
9. “Judas and the Black Messiah” (2021) — Essential American History
Daniel Kaluuya won the Oscar for his portrayal of Black Panther chairman Fred Hampton — a charismatic leader building cross-racial coalitions in Chicago in the late 1960s who was murdered by the FBI at age 21. Lakeith Stanfield plays the informant who helped the FBI track him. The film is enraging, heartbreaking, and meticulously researched.
10. “Fleabag” (the Series) — If You Haven’t, Stop Reading and Watch It
Technically a TV series, but Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s two-season masterpiece is so perfectly constructed that it deserves mention anywhere great storytelling is being discussed. The second season, in particular, is a miracle of writing and performance. It’s on Amazon Prime. It’s free with a subscription. There is no excuse.
The films that matter most are often the ones that arrive quietly, without the marketing machinery that shapes what we watch. These ten deserve your time. All of them are available on major streaming platforms right now.
