PK's Most Underrated Films of All Time
by PK_71 | created - 9 months ago | updated - 4 months ago | PublicThis is a list of the most underrated films of all time in my opinion, ranked by the largest differences between my rating and the IMDb rating. As you can see, only a handful are underrated by 1.0 or more. This is, however, largely explained by my choice to be very restrictive with the highest rating (10), which shifts all my ratings downward. To compensate for this, I have included all movies for which my rating exceeds the IMDb rating by 0.5 or more.
The list includes my favorite movies of all time (rated 10), which was to be expected. Two other things really struck me, however, in compiling this list.
First and foremost, there is a surprising number of Swedish and Nordic films on the list. While I am Swedish, I have never considered myself to be a greater fan of Swedish movies than other people. In fact, I would have guessed the opposite. This list certainly gives me pause.
Second, there are a few comedies on the list, including one, Intolerable Cruelty, at the very top. I found that noteworthy since I choose to watch fewer comedies than a lot of people.
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1. Intolerable Cruelty (2003)
PG-13 | 100 min | Comedy, Crime, Romance
Miles, a high-profile divorce lawyer, wins a case for his rich but adulterous client Rex Rexroth. But Rex's ex-wife, Marylin, who is no saint and is a gold-digger, plots to take revenge on Miles.
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: George Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Billy Bob Thornton, Geoffrey Rush
Votes: 101,840 | Gross: $35.33M
Underrated by 1.7 (8-6.3).
2. Last Man Standing (1996)
R | 101 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A drifting gunslinger-for-hire finds himself in the middle of an ongoing war between the Irish and Italian mafia in a Prohibition era ghost town.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: Bruce Willis, Bruce Dern, William Sanderson, Christopher Walken
Votes: 60,993 | Gross: $17.60M
Underrated by 1.6 (8-6.4).
3. Dogborn (2022)
84 min | Drama, Thriller
Homeless and invisible - the Twins are constantly struggling to survive. Sister is a ticking time bomb; her screams are loud. Brother, on the other hand, doesn't speak, but rather screams inward.
Director: Isabella Carbonell | Stars: Silvana Imam, Philip Oros, Emma Lu, Mia Liu
Votes: 297
Underrated by 1.3 (7-5.7). Swedish.
4. Inception (2010)
PG-13 | 148 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-sharing technology is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a C.E.O., but his tragic past may doom the project and his team to disaster.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elliot Page, Ken Watanabe
Votes: 2,550,368 | Gross: $292.58M
Underrated by 1.2 (10-8.8).
5. Fight Club (1999)
R | 139 min | Drama
An insomniac office worker and a devil-may-care soap maker form an underground fight club that evolves into much more.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Meat Loaf, Zach Grenier
Votes: 2,323,381 | Gross: $37.03M
Underrated by 1.2 (10-8.8).
6. Ogifta par ...en film som skiljer sig (1997)
90 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Marie and David are always arguing while their friends Sara and Samuel always seem to be happy together. Or are they? This year they decide to spend Christmas in the mountains together.
Director: Peter Dalle | Stars: Lena Endre, Suzanne Reuter, Peter Dalle, Johan Ulveson
Votes: 1,386
Underrated by 1.2 (7-5.8). Swedish.
7. Babylon (I) (2022)
R | 189 min | Comedy, Drama, History
A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, it traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood.
Director: Damien Chazelle | Stars: Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Jean Smart, Olivia Wilde
Votes: 167,436
Underrated by 0.9 (8-7.1).
8. Margin Call (2011)
R | 107 min | Drama, Thriller
Follows the key people at an investment bank over a 24-hour period during the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis.
Director: J.C. Chandor | Stars: Zachary Quinto, Stanley Tucci, Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany
Votes: 144,241 | Gross: $5.35M
Underrated by 0.9 (8-7.1).
9. Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
R | 117 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Over the course of five social occasions, a committed bachelor must consider the notion that he may have discovered love.
Director: Mike Newell | Stars: Hugh Grant, Andie MacDowell, James Fleet, Simon Callow
Votes: 166,105 | Gross: $52.70M
Underrated by 0.9 (8-7.1).
10. One Day All This Will Be Yours (2023)
105 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
Successful cartoonist Lisa and her siblings gather at their parents' farm for the first time in over ten years. The parents want only one of them to inherit the forest, which has been in the family's possessions for generations.
Director: Andreas Öhman | Stars: Karin Franz Körlof, Arvin Kananian, Elvis Ral Lustig, Peter Haber
Votes: 946
Underrated by 0.9 (7-6.1). Swedish.
11. Gentlemen (I) (2014)
141 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
Beaten up, bruised, and scared, a young writer hides in a Stockholm apartment, writing the story of its disappeared inhabitants: the flamboyant and charismatic Morgan brothers.
Director: Mikael Marcimain | Stars: David Dencik, Sverrir Gudnason, David Fukamachi Regnfors, Ruth Vega Fernandez
Votes: 985
Underrated by 0.9 (7-6.1). Swedish.
12. Ronin (1998)
R | 122 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A freelancing former U.S. Intelligence Agent tries to track down a mysterious package that is wanted by the Irish and the Russians.
Director: John Frankenheimer | Stars: Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, Natascha McElhone, Stellan Skarsgård
Votes: 195,112 | Gross: $41.62M
Underrated by 0.8 (8-7.2).
13. The Card Counter (2021)
R | 111 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
William Tell is an ex-military interrogator living under the radar as a low-stakes gambler. When he encounters a young man looking to commit revenge against a mutual enemy, he takes him on the casino circuit to set him on a new path.
Director: Paul Schrader | Stars: Oscar Isaac, Tiffany Haddish, Tye Sheridan, Willem Dafoe
Votes: 42,993
Underrated by 0.8 (7-6.2).
14. Underdog (2014)
97 min | Drama
23-year-old "Dino" (Bianca Kronlöf) dreams of a different life. Like an abundance of Swedes her age, she has fled the mass unemployment of her home country in search of a more worthwhile ... See full summary »
Director: Ronnie Sandahl | Stars: Bianca Kronlöf, Henrik Rafaelsen, Mona Kristiansen, Naomi Emeilie Christensen Beck
Votes: 896
Underrated by 0.8 (7-6.2). Swedish/Norwegian.
15. Adult Behavior (1999)
91 min | Comedy
Frank leads a respectable yuppie life working at a noted Stockholm law firm. He has also been married for eight years to his beautiful wife Nenne, who runs an upscale boutique. Yet Frank is... See full summary »
Directors: Felix Herngren, Fredrik Lindström | Stars: Felix Herngren, Karin Bjurström, Cecilia Ljung, Mikael Persbrandt
Votes: 3,236
Underrated by 0.8 (7-6.2). Swedish.
16. The Year I Started Masturbating (2022)
98 min | Comedy, Drama
Goal-oriented Hanna wants another child before it is too late, but unexpectedly her boyfriend breaks up with her, and Hanna's world collapses. Hanna begins to realize that she may be chasing the wrong things in life.
Director: Erika Wasserman | Stars: Katia Winter, Jesper Zuschlag, Henrik Dorsin, Nour El-Refai
Votes: 3,416
Underrated by 0.8 (6-5.2). Swedish.
17. The Snowman (2017)
R | 119 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Detective Harry Hole investigates the disappearance of a woman whose scarf is found wrapped around an ominous-looking snowman.
Director: Tomas Alfredson | Stars: Michael Fassbender, Rebecca Ferguson, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jonas Karlsson
Votes: 71,649 | Gross: $6.67M
Underrated by 0.8 (6-5.2). International/Swedish/Norwegian.
18. Holy Spider (2022)
118 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A journalist descends into the dark underbelly of the Iranian holy city of Mashhad as she investigates the serial killings of sex workers by the so called "Spider Killer", who believes he is cleansing the streets of sinners.
Director: Ali Abbasi | Stars: Alice Rahimi, Diana Al Hussen, Soraya Helli, Mehdi Bajestani
Votes: 25,355
Underrated by 0.7 (8-7.3). International/Danish.
19. Tenet (2020)
PG-13 | 150 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Armed with only the word "Tenet," and fighting for the survival of the entire world, CIA operative, The Protagonist, journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a global mission that unfolds beyond real time.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Juhan Ulfsak
Votes: 592,545 | Gross: $58.46M
Underrated by 0.7 (8-7.3).
20. La Femme Nikita (1990)
R | 117 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Convicted felon Nikita isn't going to jail; she's given a new identity and trained, stylishly, as a top secret spy/assassin.
Director: Luc Besson | Stars: Anne Parillaud, Marc Duret, Patrick Fontana, Alain Lathière
Votes: 76,424 | Gross: $5.02M
Underrated by 0.7 (8-7.3).
21. Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)
R | 126 min | Biography, Drama, History
Offered a plea deal by the FBI, William O'Neal infiltrates the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party to gather intelligence on Chairman Fred Hampton.
Director: Shaka King | Stars: LaKeith Stanfield, Daniel Kaluuya, Jesse Plemons, Dominique Fishback
Votes: 91,459
Underrated by 0.6 (8-7.4).
22. Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
R | 157 min | Drama, History, Thriller
A chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L.s Team 6 in May 2011.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow | Stars: Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt, Mark Strong
Votes: 318,889 | Gross: $95.72M
Underrated by 0.6 (8-7.4).
23. Pappas lilla tjockis (2005 TV Movie)
59 min | Drama
Director: Tomas Alfredson | Stars: Robert Gustafsson, Johan Rheborg, Ulf Brunnberg, Sofia Helin
Votes: 69
Underrated by 0.6 (8-7.4). Swedish.
24. Pleasure (2021)
R | 109 min | Drama
Bella Cherry arrives in Los Angeles with dreams of becoming an adult film star, but she soon learns that fame won't come easy as she harnesses her ambition and cunning to rise to the top of this mesmerizing and singular world.
Director: Ninja Thyberg | Stars: Sofia Kappel, Zelda Morrison, Evelyn Claire, Chris Cock
Votes: 22,426
Underrated by 0.6 (7-6.4). Swedish.
25. Into the Darkness (2020)
152 min | Drama, History, War
Denmark, April 9th, 1940. Danish industrialist (portrayed by Jesper Christensen of James Bond fame) , cooperates and profits from the German occupation of Denmark. While his family finds themselves on opposite sides of the conflict.
Director: Anders Refn | Stars: Jesper Christensen, Bodil Jørgensen, Mads Reuther, Gustav Dyekjær Giese
Votes: 1,734
Underrated by 0.6 (7-6.4). Danish.
26. En komikers uppväxt (2019)
92 min | Biography, Drama
Novelist Jonas Gardell adapts his own bestseller about growing up in 1970s-era Sweden with its countless perils, heartbreaks, and shifting alliances, in this painfully savvy feature from director Rojda Sekersöz (Beyond Dreams).
Director: Rojda Sekersöz | Stars: Johan Rheborg, Loke Hellberg, Elisabet Xie, Alexander Johansson
Votes: 1,260
Underrated by 0.6 (7-6.4). Swedish.
27. House of Angels (1992)
R | 127 min | Comedy, Drama
A rural village is divided when an extraordinary couple move into a mansion.
Director: Colin Nutley | Stars: Helena Bergström, Rikard Wolff, Sven Wollter, Reine Brynolfsson
Votes: 5,267 | Gross: $0.29M
Underrated by 0.6 (7-6.4). Swedish.
28. The Usual Suspects (1995)
R | 106 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The sole survivor of a pier shoot-out tells the story of how a notorious criminal influenced the events that began with five criminals meeting in a seemingly random police lineup.
Director: Bryan Singer | Stars: Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri, Stephen Baldwin
Votes: 1,145,222 | Gross: $23.34M
Underrated by 0.5 (9-8.5).
29. The Big Blue (1988)
PG | 168 min | Adventure, Drama, Sport
The rivalry between Enzo and Jacques, two childhood friends and now world-renowned free divers, becomes a beautiful and perilous journey into oneself and the unknown.
Director: Luc Besson | Stars: Jean-Marc Barr, Jean Reno, Rosanna Arquette, Paul Shenar
Votes: 55,100 | Gross: $3.50M
Underrated by 0.5 (8-7.5).
30. My Days of Mercy (2017)
R | 108 min | Drama, Romance
The daughter of a man on death row falls in love with a woman on the opposing side of her family's political cause.
Director: Tali Shalom-Ezer | Stars: Elliot Page, Kate Mara, Amy Seimetz, Charlie Shotwell
Votes: 5,863
Underrated by 0.5 (7-6.5).
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