In most years, the film industry manages to stir up a fair amount of noise for its wares, buying billboards and Super Bowl spots, trotting out movie stars on talk shows and using glitzy red-carpet premieres to put the latest movies on audiencesโ radar. But 2020 wasnโt like other years for reasons youโre probably tired of reading about, and while smaller movies generally have a harder time breaking through under normal circumstances, pretty much anything that wasnโt spelled T-E-N-E-T forward and backward failed to make much of a blip on the public consciousness.
Thatโs why the Variety team put their heads together to identify the movies that might have escaped your notice in 2020. Itโs a wide-ranging list with recommendations that run the gamut from Netflix comfort food (โThe Half of Itโ) to a documentary that dares you to spend less time in front of your devices (โScreened Outโ). Given the state of distribution this year, most of these movies went straight to streaming โ and all can be found there now. So if youโre seeking something a bit more eclectic than the usual โbest of the yearโ lists, look no further than these under-the-radar gems.