Have you binged through Ripley yet? Or watched all of the most popular movies on Netflix this week, which include such diverse pictures as the action movie The Heart of the Hunter, the addictive, ripped-from-the-headlines thriller Scoop, or the Denzel Washington movie The Little Things?
Well, have no fear, this list is just for you. Digital Trends has curated a selection of three underrated movies currently streaming on Netflix that are worth your time and attention this weekend. One is a well-written true-life tale about skiing, poker, and crime (yes, really), another is a sci-fi romance from the ’80s, and the last one is a modern remake of an old Clint Eastwood movie.
Need more recommendations? Read our guides to the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, and the best movies on HBO.
Molly’s Game (2017)
No one can write movie dialogue like Aaron Sorkin, even if it sounds like it’s coming from the same hyper-intelligent, fast-talking person who wrote it. The common complaint about Sorkin is that all of his characters sound exactly alike, but when the wordplay is this good, you don’t really care. That’s true with Molly’s Game, which applies Sorkin’s dialogue to a humdinger of a real-life story, told with only minor exaggerations.
With Molly Bloom’s fledging career as an Olympic-level skier over due to an injury, she turns to a different kind of hustle: poker. And not just any poker, but vaguely illegal card games that involve shady individuals, including bankers, movie stars, and the mafia. Is it a surprise to find out that Molly eventually gets in way over her head? The pleasures of Molly’s Game aren’t in any of its plot twists, but in seeing how skilled, charismatic actors like Jessica Chastain (as Molly), Yellowstone‘s Kevin Costner (as her father), and Idris Elba (as her lawyer) sling Sorkin’s words like they are tennis volleys. Yeah, it’s the wrong sports metaphor, but you get the picture.
Starman (1984)
Sci-fi and romance are two genres that rarely crossover, but when they do, the result is usually something very special. Such is the case with John Carpenter’s Starman, a 1984 movie starring Jeff Bridges as the titular space oddity and Karen Allen as the woman who comes to love him. It’s not love at first sight for Jenny (Allen), who finds a nude man in her isolated cabin who looks and sounds exactly like her dead husband, Scott (Bridges). This revived Scott is really an alien who has crash-landed on Earth. He needs Jenny’s help to reach a rendezvous point where his spaceship will retrieve him. Along the way, Jenny begins to develop feelings for this alien version of her deceased spouse, even as government officials try to capture them both for predictably nefarious purposes.
Starman shares a similar plot to E.T. the Extra Terrestrial, but it couldn’t be more different. By framing its sci-fi story as an on-the-run romance, Starman feels unlike any other movie you’ve seen. That’s due to Bridges’ terrific performance, which resulted in a Best Actor Oscar nomination, and the ethereal, transcendent score, which was composed by the director himself. Stream it and swoon.
The Beguiled (2017)
Sofia Coppola‘s résumé is outstanding, and one of the reasons why is that she’s fairly consistent with her themes and approach to subject matter. Lost in Translation, Nowhere, and last year’s Priscilla all offer looks into the hearts and minds of girls and young women on the verge of a major turning point in their lives. The Beguiled appears to be radically different; after all, a remake of an Clint Eastwood movie from the 1970s doesn’t exactly seem like it fits within Coppola’s scope of interests. But that’s what makes her version so compelling to watch and, yes, beguiling to take in.
The Penguin‘s Colin Farrell stars John McBurney, a wounded Union soldier who seeks refuge from the American Civil War in a mostly abandoned, small all-girls school in Virginia. There, he’s tended to by Miss Farnsworth (Nicole Kidman) and crushed on by Edwina (Kirsten Dunst) and Alicia (Elle Fanning). John is no angel, and soon he’s tempted by his female saviors, who all hide secrets of their own. The Beguiled isn’t your traditional thriller, but if your patient, you’ll be rewarded with a movie that is rich in atmosphere and mystery.
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