Disney+ UK is about more than Marvel and Star Wars stuff. Here’s a bunch of underappreciated films on the service.
Many of us subscribed to Disney+ to always have a bunch of Disney productions at hand.. You know, in case I simply need to watch The Lion King at 2am and can’t find my DVD in the dark.
But the streaming service offers so much more than just the well known favourites. There’s a whole sea of incredible films to discover – but with such extensive libraries, they can be hard to find. We’ve done our best to highlight 24 underrated films that you should give a chance to. This’ll be updated over time, too.
Here they are:
Clock
Ella (Dianna Agron) doesn’t want kids. She never has, even though everyone around her seems to be pressuring her, insisting that she does. It’s a premise many women can relate to, but hopefully not many can relate to what happens next after Ella seeks somewhat unconventional treatment to “fix” her biological clock. Clock is a full-blown horror film about the expectations associated with being a woman. Agron has rarely been better, and writer-director Alexis Jacknow has an uncanny ability to make real fears into something physical on screen.
Ad Astra
Brad Pitt in space, dealing with daddy issues? James Gray’s Ad Astra is a visually magnificent, thoughtful exploration of one man’s relationship with his father. It’s a film that sneaks its way into your brain and plants itself there. If you’re after an action packed space adventure, we’d recommend something else, but if you’re up for a rumination on life and family, you could do a lot worse than Ad Astra.
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A Wrinkle In Time
Young Woman And The Sea
Daisy Ridley plays Gertrude Ederle, the first woman to swim across the English Channel, in Joachim Rønning’s drama. We were very impressed by the film, and despite a small cinema release, it’s a film that got somewhat lost under its flashier rivals. On the surface, it’s a simple biopic, but producer Jerry Bruckheimer, writer Jeff Natheson and Rønning have bigger ideas. Young Woman And The Sea is a story of resilience and a woman standing up against the expectations of society.
Bad Times At The El Royale
Drew Goddard is best known for his writing abilities with films like The Martian, Cloverfield and World War Z. In fact, the man has only directed two films, Cabin In The Woods and Bad Times At The El Royale. Both films are a hoot, but Bad Times At The El Royale is such a bold swing that it certainly deserves a look. With an impressive ensemble cast that includes Cynthia Erivo, Chris Hemsworth, Jeff Bridges and Jon Hamm, and hell of a lot of cheek, Bad Times At The El Royale is a marvelous little gem.
Rye Lane
We’ve spread the love about Rye Lane before, so we’d hope this isn’t much of a hidden gem anymore. But it’s a film so lovely we couldn’t help but include it here. David Jonsson and Vivian Oparah star as two strangers in South London who end up spending the day together while recovering from nasty break-ups. It’s almost impossible to put into words just how life-affirming, warm and funny Rye Lane is.
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Chevalier
Before he played a young version of Scar in Mufasa, Kelvin Harrison Jr. played Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges in this true story of the famed composer. We try to avoid using cliches like “tour de force performance”, but I’m having a hard time describing Harrison Jr.’s work here as anything but. Make no mistake, this is not some stuffy costume drama, but an exciting, tense retelling of a story few of us are familiar with.
Disobedience
The premise to Disobedience is a rather scandalous one; Rachel McAdams’ deeply religious Esti and Rachel Weisz’s Ronnie initiate an affair after the death of Ronnie’s father, which has drawn her back to the Orthodox Jew community in North London. In its execution, though, Disobedience is anything but scandalous. It’s tender, fearless and even romantic rumination on religion, friendship and sexuality.
Fire Of Love
Volcanoes and love stories rarely go hand in hand, but in Sara Dosa’s Fire Of Love, they’re inseparable. The documentary tells the story of volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft who loved their work as passionately as they loved each other. Dosa recounts their life and work through extensive footage filmed by the couple over the years. It’s a love story for the ages, as inspiring as it is beautiful. You might even say Fire Of Love is… volcanic. We’ll see ourselves out.
The Reason I Jump
The Reason I Jump aims to give us a deeper understanding of what the world is like through the eyes non-verbal autistic people. It’s based on a book by Naoki Higashida, who is largely non-verbal himself. The documentary doesn’t just try to explain what it’s like, but creates a sensory experience that pulls you in. Whether it’s actually accurate isn’t up to me to say, but it’s a miraculous cinematic experience nonetheless.
A Hidden Life
Terence Malick’s films have a certain magic, which asks you to trust in Malick’s ability to communicate emotions via his free-flowing stories of humanity and suffering. A Hidden Life, which tells the true story of a conscientious objector Franz Jägerstätter during World War II, has never felt more timely as the world continues to be devoured by forces looking to dominate and cause extinction. Malick pushes his camera close to his characters, soaking in their growing desperation as well as resilience. Beautiful film, this one.
Another Earth
Another Earth begins as your usual sci-fi film. As it promises, another Earth, an exact replica of ours, is found, and Brit Marling’s Rhoda is one of the first to be offered a flight there after winning a competition. Rhoda is carrying a horrible secret, but the other Earth could give her a new chance at life. Mike Cahill’s film will give you something to think about and comparisons with Melancholia are inevitable, but Another Earth explores something larger than life through a lens of humanity and forgiveness.
Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers
Films like Chip n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers – live action mixed with CGI animals – tend to get a bad rep, but this is an absolute hoot. Andy Samberg, John Mulaney, J.K. Simmons and Will Arnett are among the talent lending their voices to our favourite cartoon characters. Thankfully, Akiva Schaffer’s film has enough self-awareness, wit and smarts to be one of the better straight-to-streaming reboots we’ve seen in recent years.
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Frankenweenie
Tim Burton released two films in 2012: Dark Shadows and Frankenweenie. The latter was somewhat overshadowed by the former, thanks to an all-star cast, but Frankenweenie remains a heartfelt tribute to Frankenstein and an overall delightful little film, based on Burton’s 1984 short. Like the original, Frankenweenie is in all black and white and features Burton’s signature style we’ve come to love. At its heart though, Frankenweenie somehow manages to resurrect the inseparable bond between a dog and his owner.
Flee
Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Oscar-nominated animated documentary about his high school friend (going by the name Amin Nawabi) escaping his native Afghanistan to Denmark is a gentle affair. It’s a documentary that’s so much more than just recounting personal memories or telling facts about the war in Afghanistan. Nawabi’s story is told through arresting animation with archival footage sprinkled in, bringing the refugee experience to life in new, devastating ways. In the end, it’s Rasmussen’s empathy that shines brightest here.
Chronicle
Chronicle made Josh Trank into a director to watch, and while his Fantastic Four wasn’t exactly a hit and Capone left a bit to be desired, his debut feature remains an impressive take on the superhero genre. Released just as the Marvel machinery was approaching its peak, Chronicle dared to take superheroes and make them human (or teenagers, to be specific). Filmed in found-footage style, the film finds three teens gaining mysterious powers one night when one of them, struggling with bullying, finds it difficult to use them only for good.
Robots
Robots has a quality that most animated films lack these days. Its animated worlds and characters feel real, like you could really touch them. Rodney Copperbottom moves to Robot City to chase his dream of working for Bigweld Industries, but accidentally uncovers a plot to push expensive upgrades on robots and getting rid of those who can’t afford them. Featuring the voices of Ewan McGregor, Halle Berry and the late, great Robin Williams, Robots is a classic tale about chasing your dreams no matter what.
Ron’s Gone Wrong
A lot of films got swallowed up during COVID-19 thanks to endless delays and a general distrust of crowded public places. We wouldn’t blame you if you missed Ron’s Gone Wrong at the time, but it’s well worth catching up on. The film tackles our relationship with technology as well as the difficulty of making friends in a time where most of them only exist thanks to phones, computers and such. It’s also made by the UK-based animation company Locksmith, who was behind That Christmas in 2024.
Elemental
I’ve purposely tried to keep Disney and Pixar’s biggest films off this list, but Elemental feels like one to highlight. It was somewhat buried under the bigger Pixar hits and had a slightly disappointing opening in cinemas before proving to be a success in the long run. Much like Turning Red and Luca weren’t really about red pandas and sea creatures, Elemental proves to be a powerful metaphor for the immigrant experience. Hailed as Pixar’s first rom-com, it’s a beautifully told story of not just love – but family.
Not Okay
Zoey Deutch is magnetic in this black comedy about a young woman who finds social media fame after lying about being a survivor of a bombing. Directed by Quinn Shephard, Not Okay examines our relationship with fame in the era of social media and despite allowing us to understand Deutch’s Danni, always condemns her lies. Not Okay shares a lot with Shephard’s feature debut, Blame, and both films look at the effects of living a life full of lies and deception.
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Joy Ride
The early 2000s were an excellent time for horror. “Elevated horror” wasn’t a thing yet, it was just all about a solid, simple premise and tension, tension, tension. Joy Ride is an excellent example of that. It’s a little cheesy in today’s terms, but it certainly delivers on thrills. The film stars Paul Walker, Steve Zahn and Leelee Sobieski as three youngsters on a road trip. Their trip takes a sinister turn as they begin to talk to a trucker on their CB radio, only to discover he’s a bloodthirsty killer. Don’t you just hate when that happens? The movie benefits hugely from its likable cast with Zahn being the standout as the film’s mandatory goofball.
No One Will Save You
We couldn’t blame you if Brian Duffield’s No One Will Save You went completely under your radar around its release in 2023. Starring Kaitlyn Dever, this low-key alien invasion movie was released on Disney+ rather unceremoniously, but it’s a bloody great film. Dever’s Brynn lives on her own on the outskirts of town and mostly keeps to herself, so when she finds herself in the middle of an alien invasion, she can only rely on herself. As our very own Ryan Lambie noted, Duffield uses a lot of familiar imagery, but makes them its own with clever new ways. No One Will Save You packs a lot of punch in its 93-minute runtime and there are only a few lines of dialogue spoken throughout the film, but with a thriller this good, you won’t even notice.
Sea Fever
Sea Fever, Neasa Hardiman’s sea-set horror thriller, just hits different after the COVID-19 pandemic. The crew of a trawler finds themselves marooned in the middle of the sea with a giant sea creature, which would be scary enough on its own, but it seems to be able to infect the crew with a deadly infection, too. It’s not a full-blown scary movie, but Sea Fever is elevated by the solid acting and the well-executed horror elements. Constantly toeing the line between a monster movie and a science fiction thriller, Sea Fever uses its 95 minutes wisely.
Pete’s Dragon
Disney’s live-action remakes tend to be remembered for either being surprisingly good or so bad it hurts. Yet, Pete’s Dragon has somehow faded from our collective memory completely. Pete’s Dragon, based on a 1977 animated film of the same name about a young, feral boy befriending a dragon, was directed by David Lowery and includes an all-star cast of Bryce Dallas Howard – who is one of the cover stars of Film Stories Issue 55! – Karl Urban, Wes Bentley and Robert Redford. Critics found much to love about the film upon release and it’s certainly one of the better live-action remakes Disney so loves to produce, but no one seems to talk about it anymore. Shall we change that by reminding people how good the film actually is?
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