10 brilliant under-appreciated movies you might have missed in 2017

We’ve detailed our list of the best movies of 2017 here, but there were many films that made it onto our long list that we simply couldn’t ignore.

These are the under-appreciated movies that may have escaped your attention when they arrived in cinemas, but deserve your time over the festive period.

Blade of the Immortal

Based on the manga of the same name, this uber violent action movie is set in feudal Japan and centres on an immortal and highly skilled samurai who promises to help a young woman avenge the death of her parents.

Thelma

Essentially Carrie meets the X-Men, Thelma tells the titular story of a young woman who discovers she has dangerous powers after she leaves home and goes to college, powers that are awakened by her burgeoning sexuality. Atmospheric, emotional, and, at times, spectacular, we wager if this one wasn’t subtitled it would have had a far larger audience.

Brigsby Bear

The only good thing going in James Pope’s life is a children’s TV series caled “Brigsby Bears Adventures” but when reality forces it to come to an abrupt end he sets out on a mission to finish the story himself.

The Work

A documentary about group therapy sessions amongst inmates and visitors at Folsom Prison doesn’t sound like the easiest watch in the world, and, as it turns out, it isn’t. It’ll have you crying within the first 10 minutes, and confronting your preconceptions throughout. But the emotional effort is worth it. Most fictional movies would kill for a cast of characters this strong, who frequently offer revelations so powerful you’d almost think it was scripted.

Prevenge

Alice Lowe’s dark comedy focuses on a pregnant woman, whose partner has died in a climbing accident, who is convinced that her unborn baby is manipulating her into carrying out a killing spree.

Lady Macbeth

Loosely based on Nikolai Leskov’s novel Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, Florence Pugh plays a 19th century woman, in rural Northern England, who is trapped in a loveless marriage to an older man and embarks on a passionate affair with a servant her own age.

Your Name

This Japanese anime follows a country girl and a city boy on a mission to meet each other after discovering they are bodyswapping with each other. See the original before J.J. Abrams gives it the live-action treatment.

Mindhorn

The Mighty Boosh star Julian Barratt plays washed-up TV actor Richard Thorncroft in this hilariously absurd low-key British comedy cut from the same cloth as Alan Partridge and Garth Marenghi’s Dark Place. The down on his luck thespian returns to Jersey to play his most famous character Detective Mindhorn who faces one final case. It even features a cameo from Partridge himself, Mr. Steve Coogan.

Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond

Using behind-the-scenes footage from Jim Carrey’s Golden Globe-winning performance as Andy Kaufman in 1999’s Man on the Moon, and revealing new interviews with Carrey, Jim & Andy is an fascinating exploration of the thin line between inspiration and madness. Carrey’s candid insight offers a look into the mind of comic genius at the height of his powers who dared to push things as far, if not further, than Kaufman himself.

Hounds Of Love

Make no mistake, Hounds Of Love is brutal, in the tradition of the real-world horrors of films like Snowtown and Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer. But unlike those movies, this is an examination of toxic masculinity from a decidedly female perspective, leading to a pay-off that ranks highly among the best endings of the year. On the surface, it’s a kidnap movie, as a couple trick a teenage girl into becoming their victim. But it has deeper things to say about relationships; specifically mother/daughter relationships, that make it stand out from 2017’s more successful horror crowd.

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