3 Underrated Movies Streaming on Max Right Now

Sometimes, it is possible to have too many options.

That is especially true of the current streaming age when there are multiple streaming services with impressive, immense film libraries and algorithms that are all pointing you in different directions but none making it particularly easy for you to actually pick something to watch. Buried in every streaming platform’s library are also underrated titles that are rarely promoted by them and, therefore, frustratingly difficult to find.

It’s for all of those reasons and more that TheWrap has picked out three underrated and forgotten films that are streaming right now on Max that you should consider watching this weekend.

“Unstoppable” (2010)

One of the most effective and entertaining blockbusters of the early 2010s, Tony Scott’s “Unstoppable” stars Chris Pine and Denzel Washington as two men who decide to face the wrath of industrial America head-on. Based on a real-life incident, the film follows a pair of railway men, one on his way out (Washington) and one reluctantly on his way in (Pine), who take it upon themselves to try to single-handedly stop a runaway freight train that has the potential to destroy an entire Pennsylvania town.

Directed with psychedelic, expressionistic style by Scott, the film is a classic man vs. nature story given a modern twist to exhilarating results. Featuring a supporting cast that includes reliable scene stealers like Rosario Dawson and Kevin Corrigan, “Unstoppable” is both a race-against-the-clock thriller and a story of heroic self-sacrifice. There is even a little bit of a let’s-put-a-team-together energy that just makes it all the more fun to watch. It was the last film Scott completed before his death in 2012, and it is hard to imagine any director pulling off “Unstoppable” with more style, heart and energy than he did.

“A Most Wanted Man” (2014)

If you want a film that you can only half-watch or tune out in the middle of, “A Most Wanted Man” is not the movie for you. Based on a 2008 John le Carré novel of the same name, the Anton Corbijn-directed film is a tightly wound espionage thriller about a Chechen Muslim who illegally immigrates Germany and becomes a person of interest for a governmental anti-terrorism unit headed by the intelligent, determined Günther Bachmann (Philip Seymour Hoffman).

Across the film’s 122 minutes, Bachmann is forced to navigate a web of conflicting forces, interests, lies and facts in order to pull off his ambitious plan of using one man to turn another into a powerful double-agent for his team. More understated than even le Carré fans may expect, “A Most Wanted Man” is propelled forward at all times by both its complex plot and Hoffman’s fierce, commanding lead performance. “A Most Wanted Man” was the last film completed before Hoffman’s death, and his work in it — particularly in the film’s subversive, gripping final moments — is a testament to his impressive range as an actor and imitable, magnetic screen presence.

“Kimi” (2022)

Released in early 2022 exclusively on Max, “Kimi” is one of the many supremely underrated, bare-bones thrillers that director Steven Soderbergh has made in recent years. Unlike most films from the past five years, “Kimi” does not ignore the COVID-19 pandemic, either. On the contrary, the refreshingly lean 89-minute thriller makes it a part of its plot. Written by David Koepp, the film follows Angela Childs (Zoë Kravitz), a work-from-home employee of a powerful tech corporation who suffers from anxiety and agoraphobia but is nonetheless forced out of her apartment when she discovers recordings of the assault and murder of a woman.

As she pushes past her own boundaries in the name of justice, Angela finds herself caught up alternately in a paranoia-inducing corporate conspiracy and, perhaps most thrillingly of all, a home invasion thriller. “Kimi” was well-received when it was initially released, but it has felt more or less forgotten to time ever since. That is a shame because it is better than most straight-to-streaming thrillers you’ll find nowadays, and if you have not seen it yet, this weekend is as good a time as any to finally check it off your watchlist.

The post 3 Underrated Movies Streaming on Max Right Now appeared first on TheWrap.