50 Hidden Gems on Netflix You Should Watch Immediately

Who's in It: Donnie Yen, Lynn Hung, Dennis To

An impeccably-choreographed martial arts tetralogy that traces the legendary career of Bruce Lee’s master as he defeats Westerners and Japanese foes alike. Sure, the whole series is not-so-subtle Chinese propaganda, but it’s worth watching for the exciting action sequences.

Who's in It: Taron Egerton, Mark Hamill, Lena Headey, Nathalie Emmanuel, Sigourney Weaver, Anya Taylor-Joy

Forget Game of Thrones. Dark Crystal is the high fantasy series worth watching. The Jim Henson Company’s high-concept puppet show is a dazzling example of a dying medium. The content is more adult than you’d expect from literal muppets, and the Tolkienesque world’s lore is both dense and allegorical.

Who's in It: Madeleine Knight, Topher Grace, Emily O'Brien

Black Mirror became a viral hit with its prescient predictions about the panoptic power of social media. The short animated film collection Love, Death + Robots covers a lot of the same territory as Charlie Booker’s infamous sci-fi series, but with a bit more humor. Although it’s occasionally juvenile and sometimes overtly sexist, each episode takes on a different aspect of our nightmarish future with a totally different visual aesthetic.

Who's in It: Maria Bamford, Fred Melamed, Mary Kay Place, Ana Gasteyer

Comedian Maria Bamford uses surreal humor to explore a recent nervous breakdown in this honest, creative, and self-reflexive series about living with bipolar disorder. Your average comedy aficionado might find Bamford’s aesthetic too off-beat, but there are a lot of smart commentaries and earnest emotionality in this show.

Who's in It: Fathia Youssouf, Médina El Aidi-Azouni, Maïmouna Gueye

Cuties faced a bizarre media cycle after receiving backlash from American conservative critics who objected to the sexual content of the film, and then it faded into semi-obscurity. That being said, it’s easily one of the best films of 2020—dealing with the complex emotional lives of teenage girls navigating a deeply misogynistic world.

Who's in It: Hiyori Kon

A beautifully shot short documentary film about female Sumo wrestlers and their commitment to their sport. It’s only about 20 minutes long, but it’s impossible not to form an immediate attachment to the impossibly strong and impossibly adorable protagonist.

Who's in It: Zak Holman, Howard Raishbrook, Austin Raishbrook

Although the content is extremely disturbing, Shot in the Dark is a fascinating delve into the lives of stringers: videographers who capture footage of car crashes and violent crimes to sell to news stations at frighteningly high prices. The rogues gallery of people featured are patently deplorable, yet absurdly compelling.

Who's in It: Laverne Cox, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Jamie Clayton, Chaz Bono

Laverne Cox is a heavily featured talking head in this exhaustive and insightful exploration of the history of transgender people in Western cinema. The movie traces specific tropes of anti-trans violence and how they developed within a culture that is largely intolerant of sexual difference—but it also shows how there’s hope for the future as more trans people take to the big screen.

Who's in It: Iván Massagué, Zorion Eguileor, Antonia San Juan, Emilio Buale

This ultra-violent, dystopian thriller serves as a poignant metaphor for the inhumanity of capitalism. A student voluntarily enters a near-future disciplinary complex, but it seems likely he won’t survive the impossible cruelty of this system. It’s a frightening allegory and a warning about the power of unchecked greed.

Who's in It: Joan Didion, Griffin Dunne

Directed by her nephew, Griffin Dunne, Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold focuses on the eponymous journalist and author in her decades-long career in writing. It weaves together her early days in Sacramento with her ultimate breakthrough in journalism at Vogue, while also having Didion candidly speak about specific moments and read through passages of her work. The sheer act of getting to hear her thoughts about writing easily cements this documentary as one of the greatest hidden gems on Netflix.

Who's in It: Walter Mercado

The ebullient and colorful Walter Mercado was the most beloved astrologer in Latin America before disappearing from the public eye. This earnest documentary traces his career with deep love and respect, positioning the fortune-teller as a queer legend and a beacon of kindness.

Who's in It: Jeff Stryker, Larry Flynt

How, exactly, did a married heterosexual couple come to own one of the most infamous gay porn shops in the entire United States? Circus of Books tells the story of unlikely homosexual icons, Barry and Karen Mason, at the final moments of the eponymous adult shop’s closing. The story shows the conflicted morality of the Masons and is directed by the duo’s daughter as she explores the psychology of her parents who stunningly rejected their own gay child before seeing the error of their ways.

Who's in It: Katherine Gray, Nick Uhas

It would be easy to dismiss glass sculpture as a kind of decorative kitsch, but Blown Away, a competition reality show about glass blowing, showcases the artistry, talent, and intellectual thought put into this misunderstood art form. For how mesmerizing it is alone, Blown Away is by far one of the most underrated, best hidden gems on Netflix.

Who's in It: Keegan-Michael Key, Fred Savage, Cobie Smulders, Annie Parisse, Billy Eichner, Jae Suh Park, Nat Faxon

While it only ended up getting two seasons, Friends From College might be one of the most slept-on series to ever hit Netflix. The show tracks a friend group who reunites in New York City after having been apart for many years after graduating from Harvard.

Who's in It: David Lynch

David Lynch interviews a very creepy monkey in this 17-minute, black-and-white, non-narrative short. It’s exactly what you’d expect from the beloved auteur, whose noir-influenced surreal works have spawned a cult following amongst arthouse cinephiles. Don’t expect a coherent story, just spooky vibes.

For just how absurd and odd this film is, it's well-deserving of being among some of the best hidden gems on Netflix of all time.

Who's in It: Allison Williams, Logan Browning, Steven Weber, Alaina Huffman

A twist-filled horror-thriller, The Perfection is a very strange revenge story filled with deeply unexpected moments and extremely bizarre celebrations of bloodshed. It somehow feels like eight movies are packed tightly into this 90-minute nightmare, and the ending is sure to leave you both nauseated and satisfied.

Who's in It: Jake Gyllenhaal, Toni Collette, Natalia Dyer, Rene Russo

What begins as an extremely caustic critique of the high art world devolves into an unsettling supernatural thriller. Starring an inexplicably buff Jake Gyllenhaal as a bisexual art dealer haunted by murderous painting, Velvet Buzzsaw combines smart satire with campy thrills.

Who's in It: David Corenswet, Darren Criss, Dylan McDermott, Holland Taylor, Jeremy Pope, Jim Parsons, Laura Harrier, Rob Reiner, Maude Apatow

Tracking the nature of show business from quite a few different angles in the late 1940s, Hollywood is a limited series that ended up flying a bit under the radar when it first premiered in 2020. In one sense, we're following an aspiring actor, Jack Castello (Corenswet), an aspiring Black screenwriter, Archie Coleman (Pope), and a veteran studio executive, Ellen Kincaid (Taylor). On top of that, we see the more gritty side of things and how actors have to both support themselves and hide who they really are.

Given that this one flew a bit under the radar, it's definitely one of the most hidden gems on Netflix.

Who's in It: Monica Aldama, Morgan Simianer, Lexi Brumback, Gabi Butler

Cheer tracks Navarro College's cheerleading squad in the months leading up to the NCA National Championships competition, which pits them against some of the greatest cheerleading programs in the country. Helmed by the staunch and formidable Monica Aldama, we get an unvarnished look into both the personal and professional lives of Aldama and her team through the early days of training, the emotional final roster reveal, and their ultimate performance at the NCA National Championships in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Who's in It: Terry Donahue, Pat Henschel

Directed by Chris Bolan and produced by Ryan Murphy and Jason Blum, A Secret Love is an in-depth documentary about Terry Donahue, who was a player in the All-American Girls Professional League, and her relationship with Pat Henschel that she was forced to keep a secret from their families and friends.

Who's in It: Madeline Brewer, Melora Walters

A young sex worker’s life begins to unravel when she spots her doppelganger gaining popularity on cam shows. Is she losing or mind, or is someone trying to destroy her life? Both erotic and extremely frightening, Cam is intelligent feminist horror for the 21st century.

Who's in It: Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Louisa Harland, Nicola Coughlan, Jamie-Lee O'Donnell

Derry Girls has been a bit of a sleeper hit among fans, following a group teenage girls in Derry, Ireland during the Troubles in the mid-to-late 1990s. The show plays into the overall political conflict while mixing in absolutely hilarious dialogue and situations for the group of girls attending Catholic school.

If you haven't watched Derry Girls yet, you absolutely need to—it's one of the greatest hidden gems on Netflix by far.

Who's in It: Jade Olieberg, Tobias Kersloot, Lisa Smit and Robin Boissevain

When a struggling student accidentally finds herself accepted into a secret society, she begins unfurling a series of mysteries about the cult’s practices and her own lineage. This Dutch horror series is masterfully suspenseful and beautifully shot. You don’t need to pick up on the social criticism pertaining to the villainies of colonialism to be enthralled by the show’s dark story.

Who's in It: Jessica Lange, Ben Platt, Gwyneth Paltrow, Judith Light, Theo Germaine, Zoey Deutch, David Corenswet, Julia Schlaepfer, Rahne Jones

The Politician takes big stakes to the small stage of an affluent high school in California as Payton Hobart (Platt) is running for class president against the more popular favorite, River Barkley. However, the running mates they choose end up becoming major conflicts in the entire story.

Who's in It: Natasia Demetriou, Vic Reeves, Kristen Griffith-VanderYacht

It’s hard to imagine that the frivolous world of flower arranging could be even remotely exciting, but The Big Flower Fight uses the formula of The Great British Baking Show to display the immense skills and aesthetic power of landscaping and floristry. The diverse cast are imminently lovable and you’ll absolutely have a favorite by the finale—even if you don’t care about plants at all.

Who's in It: Carla Gugino, Chiara Aurelia, Bruce Greenwood, Carel Struycken

One of Stephen King’s lesser-known works was transformed into a deeply eerie horror movie by director Mike Flanagan in 2017. In it, a married couple’s experiments in BDSM are interrupted when the husband suddenly dies, leaving the wife handcuffed to her bed. As she struggles to escape, she is visited in the night by wolves and giants: Is she going insane or is she being stalked?

Who's in It: Paul Hollywood, Prue Leith, Matt Lucas, Noel Fielding

The Great British Baking Show became a viral sensation in the USA: the kind and gentle approach to reality competition was so starkly different from the bitchy, drama-filled spectacles we have on this side of the pond. Beloved contestants return for one-off Holiday-themed episodes in this spinoff showcase. Even viewers who vehemently oppose Christmas cheer can’t help but be charmed.

Who's in It: John and Patsy Ramsey, Burke Ramsey, John Mark Karr

The true crime genre is often mind-numbingly violent and thoughtlessly sensationalist, but Casting JonBenet provides a sensitive and intelligent, postmodern twist on the standard formula. This documentary about the actors who play victims and murderers in true crime reenactments hits on the human element of crime stories in ways few other movies really can manage.

Who's in It: Paul Reubens

We all remember the cultural shunning of Paul Reubens following a series of overblown non-scandals, but Pee-Wee gets the last laugh with this triumphant return. The wacky world of perpetual childhood remains heartwarmingly innocent even decades after the eponymous hero’s Big Adventure.

Who's in It: Sophia Lillis, Wyatt Oleff, Sofia Bryant, Richard Ellis

Blending supernatural themes, comedy, and coming-of-age, I Am Not Okay With This follows Sydney Novak (Lillis), who has started to notice something a little different about herself: she has telekinetic powers. Equally weighing on her brain is the confusing relationships she has with her neighbor, Stan (Oleff), and her best friend, Dina (Bryant).

Although the series didn't get a second season, it's still one of the most underrated hidden gems on Netflix to date.

Who's in It: Fran Lebowitz, Martin Scorsese

Basically, the entire premise of Pretend It's a City is just listening to Fran Lebowitz go off on anything and everything that she perceives is wrong with the world and New York City. We follow alongside her as she struts around the city, answers audience questions at live events, and is interviewed by people including Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee, and Olivia Wilde.

Given that Fran Lebowitz herself is a hidden gem, Pretend It's a City is one of the most hilarious hidden gems on Netflix.

Who's in It: Elliot Page, Allison Janney, Uzo Aduba, Tammy Blanchard

Starring Elliot Page in the namesake role of Tallulah, the film revolves around Tallulah as she finds herself as a slightly-accidental mother when she takes the child of a random woman, Carolyn, from a local hotel as she had irresponsibly passed out. The rest of the film follows Tallulah and the child as they head over to Margo, Tallulah's mother's, place.

Who's in It: Scott Lindgren

In Tibet's Mount Kailash, Scott Lindgren kayaks away in the hopes of becoming the first person to make it through the four major rivers that flow from the mountain. The River Runner is not only a profile of the man behind this massive mission, but always shines a spotlight on the trials and tribulations that come along with the sport.

Given how pure his mission is, The River Runner is well-deserving of being among the best hidden gems on Netflix.

Who's in It: Sandra Oh, Holland Taylor, Jay Duplass, Bob Balaban

In The Chair, Ji-Yoon Kim (Oh) portrays a younger professor who has just been promoted to chair of the English Department at a fairly prestigious fictionalized college, Pembroke University. While there, she faces a slew of ups and downs stemming from a publicized scandal involving one of the professors at the college.

If this isn't one of the greatest hidden gems on Netflix, then I don't know what is.

Who's in It: Samara Weaving, Judah Lewis, Hana Mae Lee, Robbie Amell, Bella Thorne

In this wild horror-comedy, a sexy babysitter is revealed as the leader of a Satan-worshipping crew of ghouls. The only hope for their defeat is a pre-teen boy who must outsmart the demonic gang—but can he overcome his crush on his governess to thwart the devil? Director McG’s penchant for eye-popping visuals and Tarantino-esque hyper-stylization help uplift the movie’s extremely silly story.

Who's in It: Becky, Mayuko Kawakita, Toshiaki Kasuga

Japanese reality dating shows are far quirkier than the endless slog of Western romantic travesties like The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. In Love Wagon, singles have their phones taken away during weeks of international travel. The socially awkward men and women navigate competing crushes while visiting tourist attractions, complete with over-the-top narration and absurd commentary.

Who's in It: Brie Larson, Andrew Weil, Giuliana Furci

This documentary is probably exactly what it sounds like in your head: it's about fantastic fungi. Zooming in close to various mushrooms and other types of fungi, Fantastic Fungi paints an extraordinary picture of a fairly overlooked eukaryotic organism.

While this is technically just a film about mushrooms, the simplistic beauty of the organisms makes this documentary one of the most underrated hidden gems on Netflix.

Who's in It: Marc-André Leclerc, Brette Harrington

We've all heard of climbers like Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell, but the more introverted Canadian climber and alpinist, Marc-André Leclerc, made incredible first ascents and solos without practically anyone realizing it. The Alpinist is the first (and last) time we get to see Leclerc up close, oftentimes not letting producers and directors know what he has planned until the climb is over, taking a more purist approach to the sport.

Not only is the one of the greatest hidden gems on Netflix, but it's one of the best hidden gems, period.

Who's in It: Wataru Takagi, Reina Kondou

Anime purists might balk at the 3D CG animation of this science fantasy series but the fight scenes and endearing characters make a few questionable stylistic decisions forgivable. It’d be impossible to explain the show’s absurd and whimsical story in this summary. Suffice it to say, the main plot point is a magical battle between high-class sorcerers and the slums.

Who's in It: Max Park, Feliks Zemdegs, Schwan Park, Philipp Weyer

These guys can beat a Rubik's Cube—and fast. The Speed Cubers documents the people behind the cube who make the sport what it is, from deep rivalries and complicated friendships to the championships in Australia.

Who's in It: Andrew Ackerman, Neal Cantin, Pim Bongaerts

Documenting the beauty and sadness that comes with coral reefs, Chasing Coral is raw look into the real dangers that our coral reefs face due to climate change. We track a large group of scientists, photographers, and divers whose goal is to both shed a light on what's happening and deliver a breathtaking snapshot of coral reefs.

Who's in It: Alison Brie, Betty Gilpin, Sydelle Noel, Britney Young

Having had a nice three-season run, GLOW is a dramedy that is a fictionalized take on women's professional wrestling in the 1980s. Specifically, we hone in on the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (GLOW), and the various tactics used to promote the wrestling circuit.

Who's in It: Oprah Winfrey, Viola Davis

In classic Oprah-sit-down-interview-fashion, Oprah Winfrey interviews Viola Davis about her memoir, Finding Me. Davis talks in depth about her childhood and growing up, the trauma she went through and the shame that has still stuck with her today.

Who's in It: Michael Douglas, Alan Arkin, Sarah Baker, Paul Reiser, Lisa Edelstein

With three seasons under its belt, The Kominsky Method pairs up Michael Douglas with Alan Arkin as two aging best friends; Douglas is Sandy Kominsky, a semi-successful actor who owns and teaches at his own acting school, and Arkin plays Norman Newlander, who serves as Kominsky's agent. The two get into various conflicts and antics both between one another and separately with their respective family and friends.

Who's in It: Keith Richards

Mick Jagger might be the frontman of The Rolling Stones, but Keith Richards is not to be forgotten. Getting into the psyche of Richards, Keith Richards: Under the Influence unveils a much-different man than the one we've heard about and seen on stage. Sure, he's got all the grittiness that we've seen, but there's a much softer side to him than he leads on.

Who's in It: Kiernan Shipka, Ross Lynch, Michelle Gomez, Mirando Otto, Lucy Davis, Chance Perdomo, Jaz Sinclair, Lachlan Watson, Tati Gabrielle, Richard Coyle, Gavin Leatherwood

Based on the comic book series of the same name published by Archie Comics, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina takes (most) everything that went down in the comics and gives it a completely new life, perfectly bending comedy, drama, and spooky vibes into one. The main focus of the series is the eponymous Sabrina Spellman (Kiernan Shipka), a half-human, half-witch who has to make a major decision about which side of the genealogy she'll be sticking to. Her thoughts on the subject: why can't she have both?

Who's in It: Natasha Lyonne, Greta Lee, Elizabeth Ashley, Charlie Barnett, Yul Vazquez, Chloë Sevigny

An instant hit, Russian Doll stars Natasha Lyonne as Nadia Vulvokov, a woman who inexplicably gets herself entangled in an infinite time loop after dying on the day of her 36th birthday. Melding sci-fi, drama, and comedy together, the series tracks Vulvokov as she attempts to piece together how she ended up in her current situation.

Who's in It: Sarah Paulson, Judy Davis, Finn Wittrock, Cynthia Nixon, Jon Jon Briones, Charlie Carver, Sharon Stone

Sarah Paulson takes on the infamous role of Nurse Mildred Ratched, a major character in both the novel and film iterations of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Ratched focuses on the namesake nurse herself, giving us a deeper look into her past and how she became the person she was depicted as in Ken Kesey's novel.

The sheer acting force that is Sarah Paulson and Judy Davis makes Ratched one of the greatest hidden gems on Netflix of all time.

Who's in It: Timothy Olyphant, Drew Barrymore, Liv Hewson, Skyler Gisondo

Mixing horror and comedy into one, Santa Clarita Diet is all about the real estate team of Joel (Timothy Olyphant) and Sheila Hammond (Drew Barrymore), who also happen to be married to each other. While things seem to be going swimmingly as usual for them and their family, everything takes a major turn when Sheila begins to transform into a zombie, changing both her diet and her usual disposition.

Who's in It: Bobby Cannavale, Naomi Watts, Jennifer Coolidge, Mia Farrow, Richard Kind, Margo Martindale

New to Netflix, The Watcher is actually based on the real story of a house in Westfield, New Jersey that was home to a steady stream of threatening letters, all sent from someone named "The Watcher." Bobby Cannavale and Naomi Watts star as the newly-married couple who move into the house and begin to receive these letters, which later opens up a wider investigation into who's behind it.