We all have those favorite movies—you know, the ones we love so much that we can’t wait to talk about them, only to be met with blank stares because no one else has heard of them. It’s frustrating. I’m always trying to spread the word about my favorites, even though it often feels futile.

But hey, that’s what blog posts are for, right? So here we are!

This is a collection of five of my favorite “undiscovered” films. By “undiscovered,” I simply mean they’re not widely known by the average moviegoer. If you decide to watch any of them, let me know what you think—and feel free to share your own list of hidden gems!

Uncle Frank

R 2020 1h 35m Drama

In 1973, teenaged Beth Bledsoe (Sophia Lillis) leaves her rural Southern hometown to study at New York University where her beloved Uncle Frank (Paul Bettany) is a revered literature professor. She soon discovers that Frank is gay, and living with his longtime partner Walid “Wally” Nadeem (Peter Macdissi) — an arrangement that he has kept secret for years. After the sudden death of Frank’s father — Beth’s grandfather — Frank is forced to reluctantly return home for the funeral with Beth in tow, and to finally face a long-buried trauma that he has spent his entire adult life running away from.

Away We Go

R 2009 1h 37m Comedy

As they await the birth of their baby, a couple (John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph) travel across America in search of the perfect place to raise their family. During their journey, they share assorted misadventures and reconnect with old friends and relatives. The experiences and people they encounter help them define the word home on their own terms, possibly for the first time in their lives.

Interview

R 2007 1h 24 m Drama

Pierre Peders (Steve Buscemi), a political reporter, receives an unwelcome assignment from his editor: Write a puff piece on Katya (Sienna Miller), a sexy starlet whose love life provides plentiful tabloid fodder. The pair manage to alienate each other within minutes, then Pierre is injured in an accident, and Katya brings him back to her apartment. An unusual encounter unfolds for the jaded journalist and the woman who may not be as stupid as she seems.

All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt

PG 2023 1h 32m Drama

A lyrical, decades-spanning exploration across a woman’s life in Mississippi, the feature debut from award-winning poet, photographer and filmmaker Raven Jackson is a haunting and richly layered portrait, a beautiful ode to the generations of people and places that shape us.