10 of The Best Netflix Films You Haven't Seen

Netflix is often changing their lineup (for better or worse), so hopefully all of these will stay up for a while.  I think the problem that most of us run into with Netflix is that it has some good movies on there, but we've all seem them... recently and too many times.  And then there is this surplus of low budget indie films that no one's heard of and aren't worth the painful two hours that it takes to watch it.  HERE are 10 movies that I can guarantee will be worth your time (in no particular order... but the genre is listed to best suit your mood):

Kon-Tiki
Adventure / Drama / Biography / Foreign

Based on the true story of a Norwegian explorer who attempts to cross the Pacific Ocean from South America to Polynesia in a raft made of primitive materials to prove that Polynesia had been settled by South Americans.  

This movie is really a fun adventure film full of excellent cinematography and visual effects. It was nominated for Best Foreign film in the 2012 Academy Awards.  A fun fact about the film is that every scene was shot twice, once in English and once in Norwegian to complete the film in both languages.

Trollhunter
Mockumentary / Thriller / Adventure / Foreign / Fantasy
A group of college students making a documentary for school follow a secretive man who is hired to hunt down trolls. Of course the students think trolls are a ridiculous fable, until they begin to come across signs that lead them to believe otherwise.
This is another fun and thrilling film in the vein of Cloverfield and other mockumentary style films. It is a beautiful spectacle of Norwegian landscapes that will make you want to visit there in a heartbeat, along with making you want to believe so badly that trolls are real.

Monsters
Drama / Sci-fi / Adventure
In modern day world that has been torn apart by war with aliens that landed on earth six years prior. A man is hired to retrieve his boss's daughter from one of the most dangerous areas on earth.
This is a great low budget thrilling sci-fi adventure. Because of his skilled work in making this film, director Gareth Edwards was hired to direct the recent Godzilla movie.

Safety Not Guaranteed
Drama / Comedy
A journalist team follows a recluse who believes that he can travel back in time. Intrigued by the man and his belief in his ability, they try to find the truth behind it.
Thanks to this film, Colin Trevorrow was picked up to direct next year's Jurassic World. This film is clever, fun, funny, and moving.

Mud
Drama
Two young boys befriend a mysterious man hiding out on a river in the middle of an island. As they learn more about him and begin helping him, they are pulled into a world of trouble.
So apparently now that Matthew McCoughnahey can act, we should watch all of his movies. But for real, he is great in this, as is Reese Witherspoon, and the lead, Tye Sheridan.  This movie is a little slow, but if you're willing to be patient, you'll really enjoy the journey.

The Art of Flight
Documentary / Sports
A documentary featuring some of the world's most talented, and riskiest snowboarders, who adventure to the ends of the earth to find some of the most extreme locations to conquer on their snowboards.
It may not be winter right now, but if you want to get inspired early for the snow season this year, check out this film. It features some stunning cinematography, and some incredibly radical people.



Hot Rod
Comedy / Sports
A misfit wannabe stunt rider decides to put together the craziest stunt he can to prove his manliness.
Okay, when I saw the trailer for Hot Rod, I literally thought it looked like the dumbest movie ever and vowed to never watch it. BUT after years of being told I would love it, I finally gave it a watch with some friends and we laughed the entire time.

Short Term 12
Drama
A counselor at a short term group home meets a new troubled teen who causing her to face the problems of her own past.
This is easily most of the well done films on Netflix right now. Incredibly real, emotional and moving. The writing, acting, and directing is fantastic. This was a big award winner at SXSW and the director went through the same film program I did (so naturally, I may be a bit biased).

The Conspiracy
Mockumentary / Thriller / Horror
A duo of filmmakers are making a documentary about a conspiracy theorist, until his unexplained disappearance. The two decide to dig deeper into the conspiracies to find out the truth behind his disappearance.
Being a bit of a conspiracy theorist myself, and an avid fan of mockumentary style filmmaking, I naturally gravitated towards this film. The concept is rooted so deeply in real life conspiracy theories that you will find yourself questioning how much of this stuff is real? And I think that is one of the most haunting things about this film. Really a fascinating low budget thriller.




The King's Speech
Drama / Period Piece / Biography
During a trying time of war, a man who becomes the King of England, must face his inadequacies and speech impediment in order to successfully lead his country.
Who am I kidding, you've all seen this one thanks to its fame (and success of winning Best Picture) at the Oscar's in 2011.  Seriously this movie is great though, so well acted, written, and produced. It's one of the few movies that's deserving of the award the Academy gave it.







BONUS:
2 TV SHOWS YOU'VE HEARD OF AND SHOULD WATCH -

Sherlock
Drama / Mystery
Modern day retelling of the fabled character and stories of Sherlock Holmes.
This is EASILY the best TV show I've ever seen. The first two episodes of season 1 can be a little slow at times, but this show is worth your time.

Prison Break
Drama / Crime
After his brother is wrongly convicted of murder and placed on death row in a maximum security penitentiary, a man commits a crime to put himself in the prison in an attempt to break his brother out.
A lot of similarities to The Shawshank Redemption and Escape from Alcatraz in here, but quite frankly the story and execution of Prison Break is much better. First 2 seasons are definitely the best, but the 3rd and 4th seasons aren't bad.



[UPDATE]
Check out this new search for Netflix films based on Rotten Tomatoes ratings!