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Hidden Gem Movies To Stream On Hulu
Stress Positions (2024)
You might never look at a TheraGun the same way after watching writer-director Theda Hammel's riotous debut feature — one of the very best things to hit theaters during the spring of 2024 and, without a doubt, the very best COVID comedy we've gotten to date. (I'll confess, it's not a crowded category.) John Early (Search Party) is the insufferable Terry Goon (talk about a name that tells you everything you need to know), an unemployed, recent divorcee, stumbling his way through a pandemic while living in his ex-husband's Brooklyn brownstone. A cast of eccentric characters — including his teen-model nephew and COVID-denying upstairs neighbor — pack every minute with spectacular chaos. Watch it on Hulu.
Thelma (2024)
June Squibb just narrowly missed out on an Oscar nomination for Thelma this year — and that's a shame, not only because we could have gotten more cutie-patootie red carpet moments from Squibb and Fred Hechinger, but because this modestly sized indie from Magnolia actually could have used a boost from the telecast. With all the ingredients of a crowdpleaser, this big-hearted comedy about a grandmother (Squibb) getting her revenge on a scammer, simply lacked word of mouth. Notably, the 95-year-old actor performed many of the impressive on-screen stunts herself, which begs the question: Could Thelma have secured a Stunt Design Award if the Academy introduced the new category for this last year? I guess we'll always have to wonder. Watch it on Hulu.
La Chimera (2023)
The forthcoming Mastermind isn't the first film to place Josh O'Connor at the center of an arthouse art heist. In one of his very best roles to date, the perpetually unshowered Challengers star plays Arthur, a grief-stricken Italian tomb raider searching for his missing girlfriend. This Cannes contender, released stateside in 2024, comes from the mind of Alice Rohrwacher (Happy as Lazzaro), which means you can expect plenty of magical realism and intricately designed set pieces to move the plot forward. It is a hallucinogenic, awe-inspiring experience that takes you through Italy's past and present while reminding you that there's pretty much nothing the Internet's husband can't do — like speak near-fluent Italian and get a big fit off in a soot-covered linen suit. Watch it on Hulu.
Ghostlight (2024)
It's a mystery to me why some Sundance darlings, like CODA, go on to win Best Picture at the Oscars and become household names, while others like Ghostlight (touted one of the best movies of [2024] by New York Magazine's Bilge Ebiri) fade into obscurity. This family-drama tearjerker opens by introducing us to Daisy (Katherine Mallen Kupferer), a troubled thespian teen prone to outbursts, who has been suspended from school for pushing a teacher. Her aggression, we learn, has been brought about by an unspeakable family tragedy. Enter: Rita (the always excellent Dolly De Leon), who might just be the key to getting the family back on track. In a chance encounter with closed-off patriarch Dan (Keith Kupferer) — yes, that's Daisy's real-life father — Rita introduces him to a community theater, specifically a production of Romeo and Juliet, which unexpectedly allows the family to process their grief and communicate more openly with one another. Watch it on Hulu.
Strange Days (1995)
Sure, you know The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty, but what about this deep cut from Kathryn Bigelow? A box-office flop, sure, but Strange Days is ripe for a re-appreciation on streaming thanks to its deeply '90s, cyberpunk aesthetic (complimentary) and prescient themes of fascism and police brutality. At least one critic has even touted the film as "better than Blade Runner," which is not nothing. Rounding out the intrigue of this sci-fi action gem is a cast that includes a near-unrecognizable Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett (she certainly did the thing here), and Juliette Lewis — plus, a writing credit from James Cameron, who divorced Bigelow four years prior. Watch it on Hulu.
How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2023)
There's never been a better time to press play on How to Blow Up a Pipeline, an urgent eco-thriller based on Andreas Malm's book of the same name, which asks us to consider when acts of terrorism might be justified for a greater good. Daniel Goldhaber's gripping film follows a group of twenty-something climate activists who band together to take down a West Texas pipeline that is wreaking havoc on its community. Each of the eight members have a different motivation for getting involved in the heist; Theo has contracted terminal leukemia from the town's toxic atmosphere, while the group's resident bomb expert, Michael, is an Indigenous person who has a personal connection to the land that has been occupied by oil workers. Contrary to what the title suggests, the film never feels didactic, and Goldhaber skillfully manages to never talk down to his audience, trusting that they are smart enough to draw their own conclusions from this evocative and quick-moving story. Watch it on Hulu.
Minding the Gap (2018)
The best kind of documentary, IMO? The kind that takes a seemingly narrow focus like, say, skateboarding, and finds a way to turn it into something universal. That's the gist of Bing Liu's masterwork from 2018 which starts off simple enough — a document of three boys and their love of skateboarding — and then plunges into heavier topics of masculinity, class, and race before you know it. This is all to say: Mid90s wants what Minding the Gap it on Hulu.
The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed (2023)
And the winner of the Hardest Movie Title to Remember When Trying to Recommend It to a Friend Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed. Congrats! Yes, this indie stars Scott Cohen (the one and only Max Medina) alongside the multi-hyphenate talent Joanna Arnow, who wrote and directed the film. Arnow's comedy is about millennial malaise, BDSM, and dead-end jobs, and its uncomfortable truths will ring true to anyone who is willing to sit with it for long enough. The New Yorker's critic Richard Brody said it best when he said of Arnow's writing and direction, that she "recognizes that much of life's pain is built around sharp yet minor intimacies, impressions, and humiliations, and she brilliantly captures the sense of disproportion that arises when slight or banal exchanges have mighty emotional effects."Watch it on Hulu.
National Anthem (2024)
You might know him as that hot cowboy photographer from Instagram. Allow Luke Gilford to reintroduce himself as the talented filmmaker behind National Anthem. Told through his signature lush images, the photographer's debut feature film situates us in New Mexico as a 21-year-old construction worker (Charlie Plummer, who you may have also seen riding horses in Lean on Pete) finds himself immersed in the queer rodeo community. If Brokeback Mountain is the entirety of your queer-cowboy media diet, do yourself a favor during Pride Month and press play on this hidden gem. Watch it on Hulu.
Presence (2024)
Leave it to Steven Soderbergh to give us not one, but two, bangers within a year. The less buzzed-about, but equally deserving of your streaming time, film was Presence — a chilling ghost story unlike anything I've seen before. (Though, if you forced me to compare it to existing films, I'd say it brings to mind elements of Olivier Assayas's Personal Shopper and David Lowery's A Ghost Story.) Shot from the perspective of the ghost, this never-dull atmospheric thriller filled with spooky, tracking shots, slowly builds to a satisfying twist. Just don't go into this one expecting jump scares (or, much screen time from Julia Fox, for that matter, who was used in the marketing of the film) because you will be utterly disappointed. Watch it on Hulu.
Perfect Days (2023)
What the world needs now? A gentle, life-affirming film. Specifically, one that reminds us to take stock of the little moments that pass us by each day. I hear how cliche these words sound as I type them, and that only solidifies my belief that Wim Wenders, who directed this Oscar-nominated film, is one of the absolute greats — somehow able to pull at our heartstrings without saccharine storytelling or lousy contrivances. Even more impressive is the fact that Wenders was commissioned to make this film by Japan's Tokyo Toilet project, helping to promote the image of public hygiene. What he is able to pull off is something much more nuanced than an advertisement. It follows a highly routined toilet cleaner as he commutes to the city each day to scrub public toilets and visit the same bar, bath, and spot in the park. But don't be fooled by its deceptively simple, linear structure. Perfect Days is also a brutal takedown of our soul-sucking digital world (...I write, hunched over my MacBook.)Watch it on Hulu.
The Seed of the Sacred Fig (2024)
Here's a hidden gem that Iran's authoritarian government would prefer to keep hidden. Mohammad Rasoulof's powerful, fourth wall-breaking family drama that exposes much of Tehran's political turmoil was able to get made in secret and find global distribution — but not without consequence. Rasoulof was sentenced to eight years in prison and subsequently fled to Germany, along with the film's two stars Setareh Maleki and Mahsa Rostami. Rasoulof is not German, and there is no German language spoken at any point in the film; however, Germany opted to submit the film for Best International Film at the Oscars in lieu of Iran. That certainly gave the film some much-needed visibility but not nearly the amount it deserves. Thankfully, this important piece of filmmaking is now widely accessible stateside on streaming. Watch it on Hulu.
Decision to Leave (2022)
Park Chan-wook doesn't miss. The king of labyrinthian storytelling (Old Boy, The Handmaiden) delivered another instant classic in 2022 with Decision to Leave. Part love story, part murder mystery, the Korean auteur's Cannes hit surprised critics and fans alike by deviating from his usual (spectacularly graphic) mode of filmmaking. The story about a romance between a Busan detective and his prime suspect might feel more restrained, but there's no shortage of Chan-Wook's signature dark humor it on Hulu.
Good Luck To You, Leo Grande (2022)
One of the great, overlooked performances by multi-Oscar winner Emma Thompson is featured in this small Searchlight two-hander. Thompson plays an uptight middle-aged widow who hires a sex worker (Daryl McCormack) to achieve an orgasm for the first time and, of course, what ensues is something much more profound. Its witty and unflinching exploration of sex positivity, female pleasure, and human connection make it something of a spiritual predecessor to FX's current awards juggernaut series Dying For Sex. Free double-feature idea!Watch it on Hulu.
Stream all these hidden gems on Hulu.
