As I have gotten older, I have come to appreciate films and the film industry more and more. While we are blessed every year to have highly anticipated and extremely artistic films, there are always films that get left behind in the avalanche of content that gets produced. Due to this, I have decided to dust off the films of the 2010s and see what old gems exist that we may have left behind.

While I didn’t get every film, I found the ones that I distinctly remember having a fun time watching that have been left on the sidelines for one reason or another. I also decided to just look through the 2010s since it is the most recent decade and a decade that we are far enough away from that most of us should be able to find a fresh perspective. So without further ado, let’s dive into this list:

1: Trollhunter (2010)

Directed by André Øvredal under the title Trolljegeren, this is a found footage film that follows Norwegian students who tag along with a mysterious hunter. As the story progresses, the students and hunter come face to face with the most dangerous game of all time. Trollhunter received modest reviews from critics but didn’t get a wide release to do well at the box office. It did well enough that an American film company acquired the rights for a remake. However, no remake has come of it, yet.

2: Real Steel (2011)

Hugh Jackman and Evangeline Lilly star in this futuristic film where Xbox 720s and robot boxing matches are all the rave. Directed by Shawn Levy, Real Steel follows a father who tries to reconnect with his son by restarting his career as a robot boxer. With multiple awards and nominations, this is a film that has had murmurs of a sequel due to its success, but nothing has come to fruition yet.

3: Emperor (2012)

While lots of films take place surrounding World War Two, Director Peter Webber put together one of the few films that focuses on mainland Japan before and after the war. Starring Matthew Fox and Tommy Lee Jones, this story follows a General who must determine whether Emperor Hirohito (played by Takataro Kataoka) is guilty of war crimes while also tracking down Aya Shimada (played by Eriko Hatsune), an old lover whom the General lost contact with due to the war.

Emperor received a limited run in the United States and Japan which is why it is not as widely known as other war films.

4: Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)

Taking place 20 years before the events of The Wizard of Oz novel, this film serves as an origin story for the Wizard as he gets stuck in the land of Oz. Directed by Sam Raimi of Spider-Man and Evil Dead fame, Oz the Great and Powerful starred the likes of James Franco, Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams, and many other phenomenal actors. Disney did approve plans for a sequel that year, but nothing has happened over the last eleven years to indicate that another film will be released. At least the lovers of Oz still have Wicked to look forward to later this year.

5: Transcendence (2014)

One of the strangest films that Johnny Depp has been a part of, Transcendence is a cautionary tale of technology that was ahead of its time when it came out in 2014. It revolves around a doctor who is able to upload his consciousness into a computer before succumbing to an assassination attempt. Once uploaded, he and his wife create a town for experimentation and development of new technologies.

While all of this is happening, a terrorist organization attempts to hunt down the location of this town to end what is going on there. Transcendence, under the direction of Wally Pfister, was a box office bomb and didn’t sit well with audiences or critics at the time. However, it seems like the few people who stumble upon this film are starting to understand the message more clearly now that AI has begun to dominate the headlines.

6: Project Almanac (2015)

What happens when you give teenagers access to a time machine with no adult supervision? That is the question that Project Almanac tries to answer. Director Dean Israelite takes the audience through a found footage time travel story. It begins as teenagers having fun and quickly goes awry when their actions cause ripple effects that change more than they ever expected to. While Project Almanac got mixed reviews and did pretty well at the box office, it is one of those movies that is perfect for someone going through their teen years.

7: Hush (2016)

By far one of the best realistic horror movies of all time, Hush is a film that centers on a deaf writer who is stalked by a masked man attempting to kill her in a secluded cabin. Mike Flanigan directed and wrote the screenplay along with Kate Siegel, the star of the film. Originally released worldwide on Netflix, Hush is now not able to be viewed on any platform as no one has a distribution license for it.

8: Bright (2017)

A direct-to-streaming movie, Bright starred Will Smith and Joel Edgerton as two cops navigating an alternate present-day where mythical creatures and magic have existed on Earth since the beginning of time. When the two arrive at a crime scene, they find an extremely powerful magical object with a girl, and as a result, a chain of events begins that will lead them down some dark paths that exist in their world.

Directed by David Ayer, Bright was hated by critics and beloved by viewers. Nowadays though, it seems like this film has faded into obscurity due to the massive amount of content that is on Netflix and the lack of physical release.

9: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)

Shortly following the successful release of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, The Crimes of Grindelwald paved the way for the continuing series. Directed by David Yates, The Crimes of Grindelwald takes a darker path compared to its predecessor in showing the cunning brilliance of Gellert Grindelwald (played by Johnny Depp and Kevin Guthrie) and sets Newt Scamander, his friends, and the rest of the Wizarding World down a path where everyone must choose a side.

While this film was a success, it didn’t do well with critics and muddied the water on the future of this franchise. I definitely wasn’t the biggest fan when I saw The Crimes of Grindelwald, but I appreciate it now after seeing the payoff that this film set up for The Secrets of Dumbledore.

10: Blinded by the Light (2019)

Directed by Gurinder Chadha, Blinded by the Light revolves around Javed (played by Viveik Kaira), a Pakistani teenager trying to find his way in the UK. Troubled by his family who are stuck in the past and his social life that seems to be spiraling out of control, he finds solace in the music of Bruce Springsteen. From there he tries to build a bridge to the life he desires while not losing his family in the process. While Blinded by the Light didn’t get a wide release and wasn’t a box office success, it did very well amongst critics and those who did go to see it.

What films from the 2010s do you think are underrated? Feel free to leave all of them in the comments below. If you are looking for films that have been released recently, check out this article that I put together of the best films so far of 2024 here.

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