Col Needham's Top 30 Hidden Gem Movies from the Last 30 Years
by Col Needham | created - 10 Oct 2020 | updated - 10 Oct 2020 | PublicI am the Founder and CEO of IMDb and in honour of our 30th anniversary here are my favourite hidden gem movies from 1990 to 2019. For the purposes of this list, a hidden gem is defined as one with less than 10,000 IMDb votes. One movie per year and in chronological order.
This is a companion list to my Top 30 Movies from the Last 30 Years list and my Top 30 International Movies from the Last 30 Years list.
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. Love at Large (1990)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
Vampish miss Dolan hires hardboiled P.I. Harry Dobbs to tail her shady boyfriend. Harry realizes that the man leads a double life but then his client disappears. Harry teams up with his own tail, P.I. Stella Wynkowski, to clear things up.
Director: Alan Rudolph | Stars: Tom Berenger, Elizabeth Perkins, Anne Archer, Kate Capshaw
Votes: 1,487 | Gross: $1.44M
2. Shattered (1991)
R | 98 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
After a horrific car wreck leaves him an amnesiac, a man slowly begins to unravel his shocking past.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Tom Berenger, Bob Hoskins, Greta Scacchi, Joanne Whalley
Votes: 11,410 | Gross: $11.51M
3. One False Move (1991)
R | 105 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A small town police chief awaits the arrival of a gang of killers.
Director: Carl Franklin | Stars: Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, Cynda Williams, Michael Beach
Votes: 13,993 | Gross: $1.54M
4. The Night We Never Met (1993)
R | 99 min | Comedy, Romance
Brian, painter Ellen and chef Sam timeshare an apartment on different days. A shift on Mon/Wednesdays causes mistaken identity as Ellen and Sam have never met but leave notes, food etc. behind for each other.
Director: Warren Leight | Stars: Matthew Broderick, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Annabella Sciorra, Kevin Anderson
Votes: 3,019 | Gross: $1.88M
5. Jason's Lyric (1994)
R | 119 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Two brothers, survivors of family tragedy, take different life paths: one falls for a high-spirited waitress and dreams of success, the other follows a life of petty crime. Their lives reconnect in shattering fashion.
Director: Doug McHenry | Stars: Allen Payne, Jada Pinkett Smith, Bokeem Woodbine, Anthony 'Treach' Criss
Votes: 4,689 | Gross: $20.85M
6. Restoration (1995)
R | 117 min | Biography, Drama, History
The exiled royal doctor to King Charles II devotes himself to helping Londoners suffering from the plague, and in the process falls in love with an equally poor woman.
Director: Michael Hoffman | Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Sam Neill, David Thewlis, Polly Walker
Votes: 9,924 | Gross: $4.10M
7. Blood and Wine (1996)
R | 101 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A man who has failed as a father and husband commits a heist to make money for his fledging business, but things become complicated when his wife interferes.
Director: Bob Rafelson | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Michael Caine, Stephen Dorff, Jennifer Lopez
Votes: 10,772 | Gross: $1.08M
8. Eve's Bayou (1997)
R | 108 min | Drama
What did little Eve see--and how will it haunt her? Husband, father and womanizer Louis Batiste is the head of an affluent family, but it's the women who rule this gothic world of secrets, lies and mystic forces.
Director: Kasi Lemmons | Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Jurnee Smollett, Meagan Good, Lynn Whitfield
Votes: 11,620 | Gross: $14.82M
9. Lulu on the Bridge (1998)
PG-13 | 103 min | Drama, Music, Mystery
A famous jazz saxophonist's life is forever changed after he is accidentally shot.
Director: Paul Auster | Stars: Harvey Keitel, Mira Sorvino, Richard Edson, Don Byron
Votes: 4,199
10. Limbo (I) (1999)
R | 126 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
In an economically devastated Alaskan town, a fisherman with a troublesome past dates a woman whose young daughter does not approve of him. When he witnesses the murder of his shady brother, he, the woman and the kid run to the wilderness.
Director: John Sayles | Stars: David Strathairn, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Vanessa Martinez, Michael Laskin
Votes: 6,392 | Gross: $2.00M
11. Whipped (2000)
R | 82 min | Comedy, Romance
Three egotistical swingers, who think they're God's gift to women, end up having their friendships tested when all three of them pick up and start dating the same woman.
Director: Peter M. Cohen | Stars: Amanda Peet, Brian Van Holt, Jonathan Abrahams, Zorie Barber
Votes: 4,386 | Gross: $4.14M
12. The Man from Elysian Fields (2001)
R | 106 min | Drama, Romance
A failed novelist's inability to pay the bills strains relations with his wife and leads him to work at an escort service where he becomes entwined with a wealthy woman whose husband is a successful writer.
Director: George Hickenlooper | Stars: Andy Garcia, Mick Jagger, Julianna Margulies, Olivia Williams
Votes: 4,477 | Gross: $1.43M
13. The Good Thief (2002)
R | 109 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An aging gambler on a losing streak attempts to rob a casino in Monte Carlo. But someone's already tipped off the cops before he even makes a move.
Director: Neil Jordan | Stars: Nick Nolte, Ralph Fiennes, Nutsa Kukhianidze, Ouassini Embarek
Votes: 10,908 | Gross: $3.52M
14. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (2003)
R | 103 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A former gangster reenters the criminal underworld after his brother suspiciously commits suicide.
Director: Mike Hodges | Stars: Clive Owen, Malcolm McDowell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Charlotte Rampling
Votes: 8,994 | Gross: $0.36M
15. Enduring Love (2004)
R | 100 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
Two strangers become connected by a tragedy, yet one dangerously feels that the connection goes much deeper than the other is willing to admit.
Director: Roger Michell | Stars: Rhys Ifans, Daniel Craig, Samantha Morton, Bill Weston
Votes: 11,011 | Gross: $0.36M
16. Police Beat (2005)
Not Rated | 80 min | Crime, Drama
An African-born bicycle cop encounters strange and mysterious situations on his police beat in urban Seattle.
Director: Robinson Devor | Stars: Pape Sidy Niang, Allan Armstrong, Eric Breedlove, Ingrid Sanai Buron
Votes: 388
17. Scenes of a Sexual Nature (2006)
R | 91 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Sex and love. Some seek it, some need it, some spurn it, and some pay for it, but we're all involved in it. Set on one afternoon on Hampstead Heath, London, this movie investigates the minutiae of seven couples. What makes us tick?
Director: Ed Blum | Stars: Holly Aird, Eileen Atkins, Hugh Bonneville, Tom Hardy
Votes: 6,122
18. Brick Lane (2007)
PG-13 | 102 min | Drama
In 1980s London, Nazneem, a young Bangladeshi woman, feels her soul is quietly dying in her arranged marriage, until the day hot-headed Karim comes knocking at her door.
Director: Sarah Gavron | Stars: Tannishtha Chatterjee, Satish Kaushik, Christopher Simpson, Naeema Begum
Votes: 3,273 | Gross: $1.09M
19. Good Dick (2008)
R | 86 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A look at the relationship between a lonely introverted girl and a young video store clerk vying for her attention.
Director: Marianna Palka | Stars: Marianna Palka, Jason Ritter, Eric Edelstein, Mark Webber
Votes: 8,257 | Gross: $0.02M
20. Glorious 39 (2009)
R | 129 min | Drama, History, Mystery
The adopted daughter of a privileged British politician uncovers a family secret in the weeks leading up to World War II.
Director: Stephen Poliakoff | Stars: Romola Garai, Eddie Redmayne, Juno Temple, Toby Regbo
Votes: 5,703
21. Waste Land (2010)
Not Rated | 99 min | Documentary
On the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro is Jardim Gramacho, the world's largest landfill, where men and women sift through garbage for a living. Artist Vik Muniz produces portraits of the workers and learns about their lives.
Directors: Lucy Walker, Karen Harley, João Jardim | Star: Vik Muniz
Votes: 9,362 | Gross: $0.19M
22. Albatross (2011)
Not Rated | 90 min | Drama
Beth, a bookish teenager, befriends Emilia, an aspiring novelist who has just arrived in town. Emilia soon begins an affair with Beth's father that threatens to have devastating consequences.
Director: Niall MacCormick | Stars: Felicity Jones, Jessica Brown Findlay, Sebastian Koch, Julia Ormond
Votes: 5,621
23. Spike Island (2012)
Not Rated | 105 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
Five teenage friends will stop at nothing to attend a concert by their favourite band, The Stone Roses.
Director: Mat Whitecross | Stars: Elliott Tittensor, Nico Mirallegro, Adam Long, Jordan Murphy
Votes: 4,264
24. The Invisible Woman (2013)
R | 111 min | Biography, Drama, History
At the height of his career, Charles Dickens meets a younger woman who becomes his secret lover until his death.
Director: Ralph Fiennes | Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Felicity Jones, Kristin Scott Thomas, Tom Hollander
Votes: 10,481 | Gross: $1.23M
25. Hyena (I) (2014)
Unrated | 112 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Good policing doesn't necessarily mean doing everything by the book. But as the business of crime in London turns to favour the Albanians and Turks, how does a "good" policeman survive?
Director: Gerard Johnson | Stars: Peter Ferdinando, Stephen Graham, Neil Maskell, Elisa Lasowski
Votes: 3,388
26. Miles Ahead (2015)
R | 100 min | Biography, Drama, Music
An exploration of the life and music of Miles Davis.
Director: Don Cheadle | Stars: Don Cheadle, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Ewan McGregor, Michael Stuhlbarg
Votes: 10,562 | Gross: $2.61M
27. Detour (I) (2016)
R | 97 min | Action, Thriller
A young law student blindly enters into a pact with a hoodlum who offers to kill his stepfather--a man he feels is responsible for the accident that put his mother in a coma.
Director: Christopher Smith | Stars: Tye Sheridan, Emory Cohen, Bel Powley, Stephen Moyer
Votes: 6,573 | Gross: $0.00M
28. The Sense of an Ending (2017)
PG-13 | 108 min | Drama, Mystery
A man becomes haunted by his past and is presented with a mysterious legacy that causes him to re-think his current situation in life.
Director: Ritesh Batra | Stars: Jim Broadbent, Charlotte Rampling, Harriet Walter, Michelle Dockery
Votes: 7,329 | Gross: $1.24M
29. Banana Split (2018)
R | 88 min | Comedy
Over the course of a summer, two teenage girls develop the perfect kindred spirit friendship, with one big problem: one of them is dating the other's ex.
Director: Benjamin Kasulke | Stars: Hannah Marks, Liana Liberato, Dylan Sprouse, Luke Spencer Roberts
Votes: 3,860
30. To the Stars (2019)
Not Rated | 109 min | Drama
Under small town scrutiny, a withdrawn farmer's daughter forges an intimate friendship with a worldly but reckless new girl in 1960s Oklahoma.
Director: Martha Stephens | Stars: Kara Hayward, Jordana Spiro, Tina Parker, Shea Whigham
Votes: 2,046
Tell Your Friends