Apple TV doesn’t always get the credit it deserves, but its movie catalog is quietly stacked with gems worth your weekend. From a hand-drawn animated masterpiece to a tearjerker sci-fi road trip and a wild real-life political thriller, we have your weekend watchlist covered with these three underrated gems.
We also have guides to the best new movies to stream, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best free movies, and the best movies on Amazon Prime Video.
Wolfwalkers (2020)
- Genre: Animation, Fantasy, Adventure
- IMDB rating: 8.0/10
- Rotten Tomatoes (critics): 99%
Set in 17th-century Kilkenny, Ireland, Wolfwalkers follows Robyn, the daughter of an English hunter tasked with wiping out the last wolf pack in the region. She befriends a wild girl from a mystical tribe that transforms into wolves while they sleep. Irish studio Cartoon Saloon, the four-time Oscar-nominated team behind The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea, crafted the whole film in hand-drawn animation that shifts between sharp geometric lines and loose expressive brushwork.
The visual style changes depending on which world Robyn inhabits at any given moment, and the result is captivating. I also like how Irish folklore and colonial history are woven into the story, and the movie stays with you long after the credits roll.
You can watch Wolfwalkers on Apple TV.
Finch (2021)
- Genre: Sci-fi, Drama, Adventure
- IMDB rating: 6.9/10
- Rotten Tomatoes (critics): 74%
Set in a scorched, post-apocalyptic America after a solar disaster wipes out most of humanity, Finch follows a dying robotics engineer who builds a robot to care for his dog when he’s gone. Tom Hanks plays the title role with the kind of quiet warmth that makes the whole saga land with sincerity rather than schmaltz.
Director Miguel Sapochnik, who helmed some of Game of Thrones‘ most ambitious episodes, brings a sweeping visual sense to a surprisingly intimate story. The film leans into humor and tenderness rather than the bleakness of its setting. I really like how the film leans into warmth and humor rather than leaning on the bleakness of its setting. It’s a sci-fi film with a big beating heart, and it’s more than earned its underrated status.
You can watch Finch on Apple TV.
Boys State (2020)
- Genre: Documentary
- IMDB rating: 7.6/10
- Rotten Tomatoes (critics): 94%
This real-life documentary drops you into a week-long program where a thousand teenage boys from across Texas build a representative government from scratch. Directors Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine embedded themselves in that chaos and captured something remarkable. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, and it earns every bit of that recognition.
You watch these kids invent political factions, run smear campaigns, and find ways to win at almost any cost. It lands as a disturbingly accurate portrait of how American democracy actually operates. I really like how the film lets these young men be genuinely complex and contradictory. Some of them will surprise you in ways you won’t expect going in.
You can watch Boys State on Apple TV.