Netflix kicked off May by bringing all of the Twilight flicks back to the streamer, and it seems to have paid off since two of those films are already in Netflix’s top 10 popular movies.
But there are a handful of less heralded movies that also deserve to get the same kind of attention from Netflix subscribers.
To help viewers find these films, the Watch With Us team has selected four underrated Netflix movies you need to watch in May.
All four movies are on loan to Netflix from other studios, and several established performers appear in our first three selections. The fourth movie has a lesser-known cast, but it’s also one of the best horror films in recent memory.
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Paul (2011)
Shaun of the Dead stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost reunite again in Paul, a sci-fi comedy that casts them as a pair of science fiction fanboys. It’s not enough for Graeme Willy (Pegg) and Clive Gollings (Frost) to visit Comic-Con, they have to go on a road trip to famous alien-related sites. Along the way, they stumble across Paul (Seth Rogen), a friendly grey alien who needs a ride to escape from the U.S. government.
Aside from his physical appearance, Paul isn’t like any alien that Graeme and Clive have seen in fiction. He’s kind of a laid-back slacker who adapted well during his decades of captivity. Now, Special Agent Lorenzo Zoil (Jason Bateman) is closing in on this unlikely trio, and Paul’s special abilities can change Graeme and Clive’s lives forever.
Paul is streaming on Netflix.
The Walk (2015)
Back to the Future and Who Framed Roger Rabbit director Robert Zemeckis had a different use for special effects in The Walk. Zemeckis’ challenge was to recreate the famous tight rope walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center that Philippe Petit pulled off in 1974. If you’re scared of heights, this might not be the movie for you.
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The Walk covers a short period in Petit’s life, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt portraying the tightrope artist. Petit couldn’t simply go to the Twin Towers and do this stunt himself — he had help from a ragtag group who shared his daredevil vision. While the story of how Petit and his lover, Annie Allix (Charlotte Le Bon), accomplished their mission to give him this chance is interesting, the film’s climactic tightrope scene is a truly gripping part of the film you won’t soon forget.
The Walk is streaming on Netflix.
Sisters (2015)
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were a great comedic duo during their Weekend Update stint on Saturday Night Live, and they got a chance to take things even further in Sisters. Like her lead character in Parks and Recreation, Poehler plays responsible nurse Maura Ellis, while Fey portrays Maura’s wild and irresponsible older sister, Kate. The siblings are reunited when they discover their parents have sold their childhood home, and they only have a weekend to move their things out of the house.
Kate soon convinces Maura that they need to have one last party at the home to make up for lost time. That party attracts the attention of their former friend, Brinda (Maya Rudolph), but it quickly spirals out of control into a bash that might make both sisters regret they ever thought of it.
Sisters is streaming on Netflix.
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Smile (2022)
Smile was originally headed straight to Paramount+ in 2022 before this horror flick became a breakout hit in theaters. Sosie Bacon leads the cast as Rose Cotter, a therapist who is traumatized after she meets a psychiatric patient, Laura Weaver (Caitlin Stasey). Laura claims to have been haunted by an invisible entity after witnessing one of her professors commit suicide. Before Laura meets the same fate, she flashes Rose the creepiest smile she’s ever seen.
Rose soon discovers that Laura’s curse has now been passed to her, and she is constantly surrounded by smiling apparitions that only she can see. The entity can appear to Rose as almost anyone and delights in wearing down her resolve and sanity. Unless Rose can find some way to break the entity’s hold on her, she’ll meet the same fate as Laura.
Smile is now streaming on Netflix.
