As great as cinema is for a person to enjoy, there is a natural want to view a film not everyone has seen. Significant films like Star Wars or The Godfather will always be regarded as classics, but there’s an even more enticing area to view a hidden gem film to discuss with other film fanatics.
Hidden gems films can mean a wide range of genres and styles that were typically overlooked by the mainstream audience upon their release. There are even hidden gem films that had large budgets and notable casts, but didn’t garnish the same level of attention like so many other great films. Nevertheless, let’s discuss six hidden gem films you need to watch, all of which will have their logline and a brief summary of what to expect. Let’s take a look!
1. The Killing Of A Sacred Deer (2017)
Logline: Steven, a charismatic surgeon, is forced to make an unthinkable sacrifice after his life starts to fall apart when the behavior of a teenage boy he has taken under his wing turns sinister.
Yorgos Lanthimos works as a filmmaker in such a way where each of his films are, to say it simply, odd. Not odd in the sense where it hinders his films, but enriched with dialogue and scenery where every character seemingly has something wrong with them.
2. Super Dark Times (2017)
Logline: Teenagers Zach and Josh have been best friends their whole lives, but when a gruesome accident leads to a cover-up, the secret drives a wedge between them and propels them down a rabbit hole of escalating paranoia and violence.
Coming of age films that take a twisted turn are a challenge to make, primarily because it’s hard to write disturbing scenery related to kids. Super Dark Times combines youthfulness and reality perfectly with an up-and-coming cast and Director that established names for themselves early on.
3. The Vast of Night (2019)
Logline: One night in New Mexico, in the late 1950s, a switchboard operator and radio DJ discover a strange audio frequency that could change the future forever.
Sci-Fi nerds will surely get a great deal of enjoyment out of The Vast of Night. This low-budget indie flick should inspire any aspiring filmmaker who fears they don’t have the funds to make a great film. It’s captivating, surreal, and eerie.
4. A Scanner Darkly (2006)
Logline: An undercover cop in a not-too-distant future becomes involved with a dangerous new drug and begins to lose his own identity as a result.
It’s difficult to imagine a cast with Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr, Winona Ryder, and Woody Harrelson be considered a hidden gem, but A Scanner Darkly was largely ignored upon its release, losing over a million dollars at the box office.
5. Dark City (1998)
Logline: A man struggles with memories of his past, including a wife he cannot remember and a nightmarish world no one else ever seems to wake up from.
Now a cult classic, Dark City lost money at the box office and was nowhere as popular as similar Sci-Fi films of the 1990s. Having largely inspired The Matrix (1999), Dark City is a must-watch for any Neo-Noir or Sci-Fi fans.
6. Good Time (2017)
Logline: After a botched bank robbery lands his younger brother in prison, Connie Nikas embarks on a twisted odyssey through New York City’s underworld to get his brother Nick out of jail.
Although the Safdie brothers gained critical recognition and acclaim with Uncut Gems in 2019, Good Time was their 2017 film that’s equally as anxiety-inducing and stressful to view. Definitely don’t watch if you can’t handle a good deal of stress.
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