Movies You Missed
Celebrating movies in The Academy's blind spots
In case you missed it, awards season has now come and gone. We waved it into the sunset with the 98th Academy Awards last night as usual, from the Dolby Theater in Hollywood.
I've always been a bit of a contrarian with deep convictions, especially about art. This has earned me somewhat of a (loving) reputation as the annoying friend who has to let you know that even though she loves movies, she finds awards shows deeply arbitrary and needless.
The Oscars have lifted me up and let me down over the years. I am constantly flip-flopping between wanting the movies I love to be recognized, but also understanding that the Oscars are not the be-all-end-all of “good” film. At least anymore.
I felt like most of the movies that came out in 2025 were a unique mix. There was a lot of bad, some good, but even the great ones didn’t feel like they had that extra special sauce. I enjoyed One Battle After Another and Sinners, but Train Dreams was my favorite of the year, even though I don’t think it had the juice to stand up some of the others in the Best Picture category. As I’ve matured over the years, I’ve realized that Oscar Branded Weepies™️ like Hamnet never do much for me. Overall I usually walk away from the Oscars (or the last ten minutes when the prime awards are announced) feeling like Best Picture has become the most arbitrary and forgettable category. Last year, Anora won best picture (much to the surprise of most audiences), and this year I couldn’t even remember that it won. Best Picture is no longer synonymous with resonance.
This whole notion got me thinking about what makes a movie special, rewachable, and lasting. What would my personal Oscars would look like? So without further ado, here are some movies you may have missed that I think you should be adding to your watchlist:
Before Every Movie Was a “Whacky” Odyssey:
Good Time (2017)
Directed by The Safdie Brothers starring Robert Pattinson as our unhinged lead. Good Time is one of those A24 movies that is well loved by film bros and casual watchers alike, but it’s more of a character study than just a wild Odyssey through the underbelly of New York City. The best thing about Good Time is its simplicity. Our characters (while nuanced) have very clear motivations and desires. But while the trappings may be simple, the facets of our protagonist are uncomfortable, morally ambiguous, and give us a story that refuses emotional closure.
Now it seems as though every other “action” movie is some kind of “silly” or outlandish anti-hero Odyssey that follows the same formulaic script over again. Movies like Caught Stealing and Marty Supreme come to mind. But before these, there was Good Time. Good Time ends up being one of those movies you think about for a long time after you finish. For me, Good Time is the peak A24 film that is more emotionally enduring than most of the movies that have come after it.
Stylistically Bold:
Victoria (2015) // The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
The two films for my stylistically bold category are also two of my favorites. Both films challenge what you expect from their genres, and show us that sometimes the most ambitious filmmaking lies in the patience of the audience.
Victoria - There are plenty of movies that try to make you feel like you’re inside the story, but almost none commit to the idea as completely as Victoria. The entire film unfolds in a single, unbroken take. Over two and a half hours of real time that begins as a carefree night out in Berlin, and slowly mutates into something much more dangerous and thrilling.
What makes the film remarkable is the way the format traps you in the characters’ momentum. There are no cuts to give you distance, no edits to soften a bad decision. By the time things spiral, you feel the same helpless inevitability the characters do. This one feels like a bad hangover where you’re remembering all the crazy shit you did the night before.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - Most Westerns are built around mythmaking, but The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford deliberately dismantles the myth instead. More of a noir character study than a Western, the American outlaw legend we see in The Assassination of Jesse James is not a “hero” portrait. The Assassination of Jesse James moves like a slow meditation on celebrity, obsession, and the strange loneliness of being famous for violence.
This one reads a lot like a novel. Long, somber scenes filled with voiceover and some of the most haunting cinematography ever put on screen (a lot like Train Dreams). Gunfights are fun, but what stays past the credits rolling is the uneasy relationship between Jesse James and the young man who idolizes him. By the end, the film feels like a prophetic take on celebrity culture and how we present ourselves to the world. This movie came out almost 20 years ago and it still doesn’t feel dated. It slipped past the wheels of time and is massively underhyped in my opinion.
The Fever Dream
At Eternity’s Gate (2018)
*This one did earn one Academy accolade, with Willem Dafoe nominated for Best Actor, but he lost to Gary Oldman for his role in Darkest Hour. In some of my previous essays I’ve been very open about desire to kill the biopic. I feel that in general they are tired, overdone, and lazy. But every once in a while a biopic comes along that reminds me how artful they can really be. Most of them just try to summarize a life. At Eternity’s Gate actually allows you to see the world through van Gogh’s eyes. Anyone can Google a fact about van Gogh and regurgitate it in a script, but it’s quite an accomplishment to be able to capture his essence on film. This portrait of Vincent van Gogh (which only has 32k reviews on Letterboxd) feels like stepping inside the artist’s consciousness.
The camera drifts through wheat fields, sunlight bleeds across the frame, an ode to the color yellow. Willem Dafoe’s portrayal of van Gogh is not the usual tragic genius, but someone desperately trying to translate what he sees into something permanent. And one of my favorite Dafoe performances—ever. The result is hypnotic and oddly intimate. This is the rare biopic that doesn't bog itself down with facts, and focuses on how the character was perceived by others, and himself. The soundtrack is also heartbreakingly beautiful and could be watched for that alone.
The One That Won’t Behave
Killer Joe (2011)
Some movies are worth watching simply because they break all of our unspoken rules. This pitch-black Southern noir is so brazenly mean, sweaty, and morally rotten that it almost feels like a dare…how long are you willing to sit with these people? Matthew McConaughey’s performance as the subtly terrifying Joe Cooper is one of the most unnerving of the last few decades, the kind of role that crawls under your skin rather than announcing itself with big speeches.
The film doesn’t offer redemption or even the illusion of it. It just lets the ugliness sit there, which may be exactly why it slipped past some people’s radars entirely. It’s a wildly fun watch, but you may never want to eat fried chicken again.
A Little Too Close to Home
The Order (2024)
This one feels a bit like a crystal ball in some ways. The Order digs into the rise of violent extremist movements in America with a tone that is chillingly procedural. Based on a true story, it is methodical, patient, and increasingly alarming. Rather than turning its villains into caricatures, the film focuses on how ordinary frustration and ideology can harden into something more sinister, but not in ways you’ve seen a hundred times before.
It’s the kind of story that feels uncomfortably close to the present moment, and that proximity gives the film an ultra-fine intensity. Movies like this rarely become awards darlings if they don’t balance their intensity with satire (see: One Battle After Another) but if they’re done right, they’re still worth watching all the same.
This year, you’ll see me at Project Hail Mary and Dune Messiah. You’ll see me at The Social Reckoning and The Odyssey. You’ll see me with popcorn in hand at all the other good and bad ones in between too. You just wont see me at the Oscars.
Hope this provided you with one or two additions to your watchlist!
As always, thanks for reading.
I have seen NONE of these!! Thanks for the watch list!