A Glean movie guide
Hidden Gems: The Best Movies You Missed
Beyond the Blockbusters
From mind-bending sci-fi to gritty thrillers, these overlooked films deserve a spot.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
Coherence
A mind-bending sci-fi that turns a simple dinner party into a chilling psychological puzzle.
Four couples gather for dinner the night a mysterious and powerful comet passes overhead.
- 02
The Vast of Night
An atmospheric mystery that uses masterful sound design and long takes to build 1950s sci-fi tension.
At the dawn of the space-race, two radio-obsessed teens discover a strange frequency over the airwaves in what becomes the most important night of their lives and in the history of their small town.
- 03
Sing Street
A vibrant and heartfelt musical journey through 1980s Dublin that is impossible not to love.
A boy growing up in Dublin during the 1980s escapes his strained family life by starting a band to impress the mysterious girl he likes.
- 04
Blue Ruin
A raw and realistic deconstruction of the revenge thriller that trades spectacle for genuine consequence.
When the quiet life of a beach bum is upended by dreadful news, he sets off for his childhood home to carry out an act of vengeance. However, he proves an inept assassin and finds himself in a brutal fight to protect his estranged family.
- 05
The Invitation
A masterclass in slow-burn tension where a simple dinner party invitation feels increasingly dangerous.
Will and his new girlfriend Kira are invited to a dinner with old friends at the house of Will’s ex Eden and her new partner David. Although the evening appears to be relaxed, Will soon gets a creeping suspicion that their charming host David is up to something.
- 06
Upgrade
A lean, inventive sci-fi actioner featuring some of the most creative fight choreography in years.
A brutal mugging leaves Grey Trace paralyzed in the hospital and his beloved wife dead. A billionaire inventor soon offers Trace a cure — an artificial intelligence implant called STEM that will enhance his body. Now able to walk, Grey finds that he also has superhuman strength and agility — skills he uses to seek revenge against the thugs who destroyed his life.
- 07
Short Term 12
A powerful, character-driven drama featuring breakout performances from a future A-list cast.
Grace, a compassionate young supervisor at a foster care facility, helps at-risk teens. But when a new charge dredges up memories of her own troubled past, Grace's tough exterior begins eroding.
- 08
Columbus
A quiet, visually stunning meditation on architecture and human connection that feels like a living painting.
When a renowned architecture scholar falls suddenly ill during a speaking tour, his son Jin finds himself stranded in Columbus, Indiana - a small Midwestern city celebrated for its many significant modernist buildings. Jin strikes up a friendship with Casey, a young architecture enthusiast who works at the local library.
- 09
Good Time
A neon-soaked, high-anxiety heist gone wrong that moves at a relentless, breathless pace.
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.
- 10
The Nice Guys
A hilarious and sharp-witted 1970s detective comedy that deserved much more love at the box office.
A private eye investigates the apparent suicide of a fading porn star in 1970s Los Angeles and uncovers a conspiracy.
- 11
The Fall
A visually breathtaking fantasy epic filmed across 28 countries with stunning practical cinematography.
In a hospital on the outskirts of 1920s Los Angeles, an injured stuntman begins to tell a fellow patient, a little girl with a broken arm, a fantastic story about 5 mythical heroes. Thanks to his fractured state of mind and her vivid imagination, the line between fiction and reality starts to blur as the tale advances.
- 12
Moon
A haunting and isolated sci-fi character study that proves you don't need a massive budget to tell a big story.
With only three weeks left in his three-year contract, Sam Bell is eager to return to Earth. Stationed alone at a Moon-based facility with his computer assistant GERTY, an unexpected accident sets off a series of unsettling events that shake his isolation.