We all know that feeling: you hop onto Netflix looking for something great to watch and you’re hit with a wall. So much choice, almost TOO much choice. Woe is us, right? There’s the big obvious films, and the latest original Netflix production that they’re promoting heavily at the top of the homepage, but it can be a bit of task trolling through looking for something a bit different but still worth your precious time.

Fear not! Here’s a list of a dozen recommendations of lesser-known or underrated gems tucked away in the depths Netflix’s catalogue. Note: this list is going by the UK region, which I know is quite limiting compared to some of the stuff you could be watching on international versions with use of a VPN (here’s a handy guide to the best VPNs out there to get you started), but that’s why this list is here to help you seek out the diamonds in the rough!

I Am Not A Witch

The striking, enigmatic debut from writer-director Rungano Nyoni tells the Zambia-set story of shy nine-year-old Shula (Maggie Malubwa) who, after a banal incident, gets accused of being a witch by her small superstitious community in the country’s capital of Lusaka, eventually being exploited for fame and fortune. Anchored by Malubwa’s fascinating central performance, it’s a strangely alluring watch, made with a rare confidence and boldness, leaving many things – from the nature of mob mentality to primitive superstitions in modern society to the exploitation of children in all its forms – ripe for post-film discussion.

Hector

The one and only Peter Mullan stars in this bittersweet, empathetic little drama as the eponymous homeless man who makes his annual walking and hitchhiking pilgrimage from his native Glasgow to London to stay at his usual homeless shelter over the Christmas period. Mullan is predictably excellent, avoiding cliché to bring us a nuanced and thus affecting portrayal of a man doing his best to survive, as the film slowly reveals how he came to be in this situation in the first place via a glass half full journey, eventually arriving honestly at a quietly cathartic conclusion. It’s not a film to make a big fuss with big awardsy speeches and is all the better for it.

Psychokinesis

One of the lesser known Netflix original films, this super-fun South Korean superhero film (the country’s first ever) takes what we know about the ubiquitous genre and puts a quirky spin on it. It’s about a bank security guard who gains superhuman telekinetic powers after drinking some contaminated water from a spring that’s been affected by a mysterious meteor, eventually using his newfound powers to help take down an evil corporation ruining his neighbourhood. It comes from director Yeon Sang-ho, who made smash hit zombie horror Train to Busan, and while it’s not quite up to the same level he nevertheless brings a similar sort of energy and playfulness here, as well as a good dose of heart and emotion to balance out the impressively visualised superhero theatrics.

Bobby Sands: 66 Days

Fans of Widows director Steve McQueen will no doubt be familiar with his excellent dramatized film Hunger. But this part non-fiction account is well worth a watch, too. The harrowing, in-depth documentary chronicles the pointed struggle of Bobby Sands, the IRA volunteer who in March 1981 began a hunger strike that would last an astonishing 66 days and eventually take his life, all in the name of wanting to be officially recognised as a political prisoner. Veteran documentarian Brendan J. Byrne utilizes an effective, potent mix of archival footage and a wide variety of interviews alongside a stylised re-enactment of what Sands went through in his cell set to narration relaying his diary entries, painting a complex portrait of why he (and others who also believed in his cause) did what he did. Not one easily forgotten.

The Party

A cast of some of the best actors working today gather for this scathingly funny confrontation of personalities and world views from Orlando and Ginger & Rosa director Sally Potter. It’s not exactly plot-driven, simply focusing on a small house party to celebrate the political appointment of Kristen Scott Thomas’ Janet, wife to Timothy Spall’s put-upon husband Bill – the entire film takes place inside their house. But what it lacks in bountiful plot it more than makes up for with scabrous wit and verbal one-upmanship, smacking a multitude of subjects across the face and in the process unearthing, breaking down and deconstructs these characters’ (also played by the likes of Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer and Cillian Murphy) preconceived notions and entrenched conduct. Shot in handsome black and white, it’s a breezy 70-odd minutes long and cuts like a scalpel.

Notes On Blindness

One of the most unique documentaries in recent memory, this one follows the journey of teacher John M. Hull who eventually lost his sight completely after decades of his sight steadily deteriorating. What’s most unusual about the documentary (more of a docudrama, given it’s penchant for striking recreations of memories) is how it re-enacts things with actors lip-synching to Hull’s audio tape diaries, helping conjure a kind of ethereal, other-worldly atmosphere that, along with refreshingly eloquent and open subject, really draws you into this man’s experience that’s inconceivable to most people. There have been many films that deal with blindness in one way or another, from the famed Japanese Zatoichi action series to Fernando Meirelles thriller Blindness, but few films have done so with such poignancy, insight or empathy.

The Invitation

This slow-building, brooding gem from director Karyn Kusama invites us into a seemingly normal dinner party, albeit one where you can instantly feel some sort of undercurrent of tension from things unsaid (or, indeed, not yet done). When Logan Marshall Green’s pensive Will is invited to his former home where his ex and her new partner live, he begins to suspect they have sinister plans up their sleeve for them and the other guests. It’s best not to know much more about the plot that than (yes, it’s one of those) as the pleasure is in slowly working out what’s going on before the film delights in horrifying you with the answer, leaning heavily into classic horror roots to deliver an unsettling experience that marks itself out from that most crowded of crowds.

Human Flow

A pertinent and overwhelmingly powerful documentary about the worldwide migrant crisis from Ai Weiwei, one of China’s most acclaimed but controversial artists. Using a mix of on-the-ground interviews and ambitious drone-shot views that give us unforgettable imagery, Ai gives us an epic, all-encompassing yet strikingly intimate view of the on-going crisis, putting it in frightening worldwide context as he documents the issue in 23 countries, from Turkey and Germany to Afghanistan and Mexico. While it never shies away with dealing with the political aspects (highlighting the startling difference between how some countries are open to people coming in while others are quick to build walls, for example), more than anything it seeks to shine an empathetic, humanistic light on one of the world’s most important topics. It’s a tough watch, as it should be, but it’ll be 140 minutes you won’t regret spending.

Flawless

None other than Joel Schumacher directs Robert De Niro and the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman in this well-observed comedy-drama about a strict conservative former and highly-decorated NYPD officer (De Niro) who, after suffering a debilitating stroke, is assigned to a rehabilitation programme which includes a series of singing lessons from the drag queen (Hoffman) who lives next door. On the surface it seems like just another in a line of odd couple dramedies, but it’s so much more than that, not least Hoffman and De Niro avoiding the pitfalls of insensitivity when it comes to their difficult respective roles. While certainly working within the confines of narrative formula to a certain extent, it’s nevertheless a funny, moving film about empathy and understanding – two decades on it deserves to be seen more than ever.

Joint Security Area

South Korean maestro Park Chan-wook is most known for the likes of his Vengeance Trilogy, Thirst and most recently BBC’s stylish spy thiller The Little Drummer Girl. But I implore you, especially with recent real world events, to visit this early work from 2000 which places a tense mystery about the killing of two North Korean soldiers supposedly by a soldier from the South at the notorious guarded border between North and South Korea – the “Korean Demilitarized Zone” or DMZ. Featuring two of the subsequent biggest stars of Korean cinema in Byung-Hun Lee (I Saw the Devil) and Kang-ho Song (The Host) and under the guise of a compelling whodunit, it’s a complex look at the idea of where friendship and moral duty fits into nationalism and sense of loyalty for the place and people into which you were born.

Please do come back and let us know what you thought of any of these films! And remember, if you’re looking for a wider variety of stuff to watch, a VPN is a great way to get access to other Netflix regions.

Comment below or tweet us @TOF_UK or @rosstmiller.