8 Underrated Movies You Skipped and Owe an Apology

Great scores, small crowds. You walked right past every one of these, and I'm here to make it awkward.

Number one is one long train ride, and nobody gets a quiet car.

1. 8
   Sully (2016)8.0

   A disaster movie with no villain, and it's still tense.

   Clint Eastwood replays one famous landing on the Hudson from every angle, and Aaron Eckhart's co-pilot gets the best lines. CinemaScore A, and a tight 96 minutes.
2. 7
   Jerry Maguire (1996)8.1

   Secretly Tom Cruise's best rom-com, and nobody files it that way.

   Cameron Crowe tucks a real love story inside a sports agent's career crash, and Renée Zellweger is the reason it works. 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, CinemaScore A.
3. 6
   Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)8.0

   A warlord with a teddy bear. George Miller still has it.

   The Wasteland gets 148 minutes of world-building, and young Alyla Browne carries the first stretch like a veteran. Critics rank it above 86% of notable movies.
4. 5
   Serenity (2005)8.3

   Space cowboys, sharp jokes, and a crew you'd actually join.

   Mal, Wash, Jayne and River on one beat-up ship, plus Chiwetel Ejiofor as the calmest villain in space. CinemaScore A, only $25.5 million domestic.
5. 4
   BlacKkKlansman (2018)8.5

   A true story so wild it plays like satire.

   A Black detective talks his way into the Klan over the phone, with Adam Driver as his stand-in. John David Washington carries it. Critics rank it above 94% of notable movies.
6. 3
   Atonement (2007)8.5

   The best single shot of its decade is in here.

   Joe Wright follows James McAvoy across the evacuation beach at Dunkirk in one unbroken take, and it still looks impossible. Audiences rank it above 95% of notable movies.
7. 2
   The Wrestler (2008)9.2

   Shot like a documentary, and it hurts like one.

   Mickey Rourke works small-time shows on weekends and a deli counter during the week, and Marisa Tomei is just as good. 99% on Rotten Tomatoes.
8. 1
   Train to Busan (2016)8.7

   A zombie movie outranks the prestige dramas here, and earned it.

   Gong Yoo just wants to get his kid to her mom, and Ma Dong-seok fights the undead with taped-up arms. 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, made for a reported $8.5 million.

$94.16 says you finish number one and start ranking which coworkers you would want on that train.

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Current mood: ready to fight about it