It may still feel strange to be entering 2024. For me, it feels like 2019 was just last week. But as major global events have changed the trajectory of the world, film has been one of the best ways to cope with the fast-changing world. It has also been one of the key mechanisms in making sense of the world around us, to articulate our thoughts through this powerful medium. Unfortunately, there are far too many to seek out, so it is natural that some movies may slip through the cracks. This decade has been filled with some incredible films, so here are five underrated films that you should seek out as soon as you can!
Some of the best recent movies to come out have brought sharp insight through comedy, as well as conveying strong emotions through their writing and actors. Theater Camp, directed by Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman, can make the most depressed person break out a smile. Shot in a ‘mockumentary’ format, we follow a dysfunctional summer camp developing a theater production of the life of their founder, Joan Rubinsky after she falls into a coma. Filled to the brim with eccentric characters, with some of the sharpest writing in the past year, Theater Camp is heartfelt, daring and exhilaratingly funny. And if you aren’t a fan of Ayo Edebiri yet, you most likely will be after seeing this film.
Continuing with the incredible comedies to have come out in the past few years, Brea Grant’s 12 Hour Shift is smart, quippy, and thrilling. In a hospital set in 1999, our anti-heroine Mandy becomes a part of an organ-trafficking heist that, if she and her scheming cousin fail, could cause their deaths over the course of a single night shift. This film is riddled with great hooks alone: a single location, the events take place over a single night, and a plot that is not afraid to get gross. If you are a fan of the likes of Shaun of the Dead or Jennifer’s Body, chances are, you’ll get a lot out of 12 Hour Shift.
Taking a sharp left turn to something far more eerie rather than funny, I present We’re All Going to the World’s Fair. A film that is certainly destined for cult status, Jane Schoenbrun’s unique debut is intense, nerve-wracking and hypnotic. The film centers around Casey, a lonely teenager who becomes obsessed with an online role-playing game. Admittedly, this film may not be the easiest sell, as a lot of the aspects that make it so special are not very conventional. It is much more surreal and gloomy compared to many other recent films, but it is an experience like no other. It is a prime example of what I find to be so powerful about filmmaking, being that it is entirely personal and reflective of the film’s director. With themes of teenage depression, nostalgia and gender dysphoria, this film perfectly captures the feeling of the lonely world around us.
Jóhann Jóhannsson, who sadly passed away in 2018, was an astonishingly talented composer who gave us the scores for Arrival, Mandy, Sicario and many others. But he also granted us with a directorial effort — his first and, unfortunately, his last. Last and First Men is a hypnotically cinematic experience that puts its audience in a complete trance. It is almost entirely composed of black-and-white footage, set two billion years in the future. As Tilda Swinton narrates the trials and tribulations of the planet, we are able to walk through this entirely unfamiliar world in a dream-like fashion. It is a very simple film on the surface but has a lot of nuances and underlying statements that are presented to the audience to reflect on in terms of the current world we live in, which is told incredibly well. This film is purely one of a kind.
Lastly, Bosnian filmmaker Jasmila Žbani? has directed one of the most anxiety-ridden films of the decade with Quo Vadis, Aida? (which translates to Where Are You Going, Aida?). This film is set in 1995, when the Serbian army had overtaken Bosnia, causing a mass-ethnic cleansing that resulted in the murder of over tens of thousands of Bosniak civilians. Aida is a translator for the UN, trying her hardest to protect her family at all costs as many civilians try to look for shelter in the UN camp. This is a harrowing document of history, and sadly more relevant than we may think. It is a tragedy that to this very day, violence against innocent people is the answer to the government’s conflicts. Of course, it is very complicated, but nothing should ever justify the death of an innocent citizen, especially while government officials can lie back and relax with blood on their hands. This is a haunting reminder of a film, but essential in every way, so if there is any movie I particularly urge people to watch off this list, it is this film.
Augie Brightman is a sophomore cinema & photography major who always makes sure to check out overlooked indies every year. He can be reached at [email protected].