Netflix‘s trove of underrated, under-promoted movies is even wider and more vast than the streaming service’s subscribers may realize. Beyond its home page recommendations and continually updated Top 10 lists, the platform has hundreds of movies that you either may have never heard of or did not even know were on Netflix.
From the low-budget breakout dramedy that announced one of America’s most decorated living independent filmmakers to the world to a handful of frequently forgotten blockbusters and genre hits, the streamer has enough easy-to-miss films to satisfy just about every mood. Here are the seven best hidden gems on Netflix that you should stream in July.
“Tangerine” (2015)
10 years before he won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing for “Anora,” writer-director Sean Baker received global attention and acclaim for “Tangerine.” Shot entirely with iPhones, the low-budget dramedy follows Sin-Dee Rella (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) and Alexandra (Mya Taylor), a pair of transgender sex workers, who spend Christmas Eve searching for Sin-Dee’s boyfriend and pimp, Chester (James Ransone), after she discovers he has been cheating on her with a cisgender woman.
Propelled along by its own gritty spirit and street-level style, “Tangerine” shares many of the same qualities with Baker’s best films. It is simultaneously empathic and absurd, heartbreaking and screwball. It loves its characters and empathizes with them completely, which only makes it that much easier for you to fall in love with them, too. If you want to know how Baker ended up making as crowd-pleasing and acclaimed a film as “Anora,” look no further than “Tangerine.”
“Zathura: A Space Adventure” (2005)
“Zathura: A Space Adventure” is the most underrated film that Jon Favreau has ever made. The “Iron Man” filmmaker’s 2005 sci-fi riff on “Jumanji” is an imaginative coming-of-age film about a pair of young brothers (Josh Hutcherson and Jonah Bobo) who stumble upon a mysterious board game in their basement that transports them — and their house — into outer space. Stranded with no one but each other and their older sister (Kristen Stewart) to help them, “Zathura” follows its protagonists as they are forced to play through its eponymous board game in order to finish it and get back home.
With both its infectious sense of childhood wonder and its capacity for startling emotional darkness, “Zathura” calls to mind some of the Steven Spielberg classics that clearly influenced it. The film does not, by any means, match the power or artistry of “E.T.” or “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” but it still crafts a compelling and exciting sci-fi adventure of its own nonetheless.
“Red Eye” (2005)
“Red Eye” is a more psychological kind of thriller than the outright horror “A Nightmare on Elm Street” maestro Wes Craven became known for throughout his career. The film follows a hotel manager (Rachel McAdams) whose flight to Miami takes a dark, nerve-wracking turn when she is taken hostage by her fellow passenger, Jackson (Cillian Murphy), a terrorist intent on forcing her to her help him assassinate a powerful U.S. politician. Lean, mean and relentless, “Red Eye” weaponizes Murphy’s capacity to come across as both charming and villainous to full effect, and it does the same with McAdams’ natural likability.
Behind the camera, Craven abandons the bloody, high-concept tricks of his more well-known films, constructing a bare-bones thriller that feels alternately suffocating and thrilling. In doing so, the late, great horror auteur proved that he could create genuine tension and dread onscreen regardless of how many ingredients he had at his disposal.
“Everest” (2015)
Despite its star-studded ensemble cast, “Everest” is an unfairly often-forgotten survival thriller. Dramatizing the devastating 1996 Mount Everest disaster, which claimed the lives of eight climbers, “Everest” depicts both that central, deadly expedition and the rescue efforts that were mounted to try to save the lives of its suddenly stranded explorers.
Featuring humble, low-key performances from Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Jason Clarke, Jake Gyllenhaal, Robin Wright, Keira Knightley and others, “Everest” sensitively and terrifyingly uses its real-life tragedy to explore both the strength of the human spirit and the fragility of life. It is an effortlessly engaging drama — one that refuses to sensationalize any element of its story even as it creates big-screen moments of convincing, life-and-death danger and inspiring heroism.
“Bone Tomahawk” (2015)
“Bone Tomahawk” is not a movie for the faint of heart. The film, writer-director S. Craig Zahler’s directorial debut, follows a small-town 1890s sheriff (Kurt Russell) who leads a posse into the nearby desert in order to save three people who were abducted by a clan of cannibalistic troglodytes. In doing so, Russell’s Sheriff Hunt unknowingly walks himself and his allies into a valley of murder and untold horrors the likes of which neither they — nor viewers — could ever see coming.
Featuring some of the most gruesome, horrifying violence in Western movie history, “Bone Tomahawk” is a brutal blend of the Western and horror genres that works as both a revenge thriller and a chilling slice of pure nightmare fuel. If you are the kind of viewer who gets queasy when you see blood, you should avoid “Bone Tomahawk” at all costs. But if you have the stomach necessary for it and the interest, give it a shot. In the end, you will be rewarded with an unforgettable, upsettingly and viscerally effective film.
“The Intern” (2015)
Is “The Intern” the best film that Robert De Niro, Anne Hathaway or writer-director Nancy Meyers have ever made? No. But it is not nearly as forgettable or bad as its mixed initial reception and reputation might suggest. It is, on the contrary, an immensely charming and touching dramedy. Written by Meyers, the film follows a 70-year-old widower (De Niro) who takes a job as an intern at a modern fashion website and, despite the doubts of his younger co-workers, ends up forming a powerful friendship with his workaholic boss (Hathaway).
Anchored by Hathaway and De Niro’s infectious chemistry and the latter’s unexpectedly tender, warm-hearted performance, “The Intern” will win you over if you give it the chance. It will make you laugh more times than you likely expect and, in certain moments, perhaps even tear up a bit.
“Nonnas” (2025)
Speaking of underrated dramedies, “Nonnas” is one of Netflix’s most charming 2025 originals. While it enjoyed a brief stay in the streamer’s Top 10 titles following its premiere, the film quickly came and went from the public consciousness. That is a shame, given not only the movie’s quality but also the caliber of talent involved in it. Pairing a reliably charismatic Vince Vaughn up with screen legends Susan Sarandon, Lorraine Bracco, Brenda Vaccaro and Talia Shire, the film dramatizes the real-life story of a New Yorker (Vaughn) who decided to open a restaurant and employ actual grandmothers as its chefs.
What could have been nothing more than a maudlin, weightless underdog story is, instead, imbued at all times with relatable human emotions by “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” director Stephen Chbosky and screenwriter Liz Maccie. If you, like many, missed “Nonnas” when it originally premiered on Netflix, take this as your sign to add it to your watchlist.
Everything New on Netflix in July 2025