We all know that Netflix usually streams the latest hit movies. From the 90s romantic comedy classic Pretty Woman to the latest Jurassic Park movie, chances are you’ll find a blockbuster or two to watch this week.
But Netflix also has an amazing selection of underrated movies to check out.
Watch With Us has curated a brief list of lesser-known films currently being released, including the Melissa McCarthy comedy The Boss and Megan Fox’s subversive horror thriller Jennifer’s Body.
“The Boss” (2016)
Michelle Darnell (Melissa McCarthy) is the boss’ bitch and focuses on the latter. When she was sent to prison for insider trading, she was humbled and realized she had to change her ways. After being released, it proves difficult when she learns that her ex-lover Renaud (Peter Dinklage) has betrayed her and taken over her business empire. The only way she can regain her wealth and fully redeem herself is by teaming up with her former assistant Claire Rawlings (Kristen Bell), who wants nothing to do with her.
Loud and brave, The Boss relies heavily on its lead stars to move its messy plot forward. Fortunately, McCarthy has an outsized role that plays to the comedian’s strengths. Although Michelle can be obnoxious at times, she has a good heart. She really wants to be a better person. But that doesn’t make her an angel, and it’s awful to see her clash with Belle’s furious Claire.
“Jennifer’s Body” (2009)
Everyone wants Jennifer Check (Megan Fox). And that includes her nagging best friend Needy Resnicki (Amanda Seyfried). However, popularity also has its downsides, such as being ritually sacrificed, left for dead, and returning as a super-powered succubus who preys on teenage boys. That’s exactly what’s happening to Jennifer, and Needy is the only one who can stop her. But will Needy be poor enough to kill the only friend she’s ever made?
Jennifer’s Body has the bones of a standard exploitation horror film, but with the brains and wit of a film that’s even more subversive and clever than it was given credit for when it was first released. It’s all thanks to writer/director Diablo Cody that makes Jennifer’s Body a hugely entertaining and incredibly gory girl-power revenge movie of righteous anger. Fox reigns as a diabolical villainess, and has every right to devour men who only care about her body and nothing else. Her Jennifer is always sympathetic, even when wiping a man’s spleen on her hungry lips.
“Mass” (2021)
How do you recover from tragedy? In the 2021 drama “Mass,” two couples deal with traumatic events that they can never forget, no matter how much they want to. Six years ago, Hayden, the teenage son of Richard (Reed Birney) and Linda (Ann Dowd), murdered his classmate Evan, the son of Jay (Jason Isaacs) and Gail (Martha Plimpton). Their parents meet in the basement of an Episcopal church to come to terms with their grief and find some closure.
It’s not that easy. The most appealing thing about Mass is that it doesn’t offer easy solutions to the problems the protagonists face. “Mass” is a difficult movie to accept. It deals head-on with the issues of gun violence and school shootings, fully displaying the anger of the parents of the victims and the helplessness of the parents of the murderers. But thanks to the excellent script and the sheer power of the performances of the four leads, this movie is worth seeing. Mass will be forgotten in 2026, but we don’t really know why. It’s one of the most shocking movies of the last decade, and once you’ve seen it, you’ll never forget it.
