It happens all the time — sometimes, movies are just completely misunderstood by audiences.
Whether it’s a critical hit that still seems to ruffle some strange feathers or a polarizing flop that is actually an under-appreciated work of genius, it can be frustrating when a movie just seems to be willfully misread.
Six years into this decade, and there have already been plenty of movies that deserve a second look.
Watch With Us has compiled a list of what we believe are the most misunderstood movies of the 2020s.
Our picks include the wildly ambitious Megalopolis and the divisive Licorice Pizza.
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‘Red Rocket’ (2021)
Mikey Davies (Simon Rex) once decided to ditch Texas City to make it big as a pornstar in Los Angeles, but when things don’t turn out for him as he planned, he comes crawling back to his hometown — and to his estranged wife, Lexi (Bree Elrod). Eager to get back into the good graces of his friends and families, Mikey boasts big plans and bigger promises about how he’s gonna make things right and make amends with everyone he’s wronged. But it’s not long before it becomes clear Mikey is all talk, his promises are empty and the only thing he’s out to fix is the image of his own chaotic life.
While Sean Baker‘s Red Rocket fared well with critics upon release, the movie was nowhere near the awards darling that Baker’s follow-up film, Anora, would end up being just a few years later. Despite plenty of buzz for the performance of Scary Movie 3 actor Rex (who’s enjoyed a flourishing indie acting career since), Red Rocket had some viewers scratching their heads over the ambiguous depiction of an amoral protagonist. Ultimately, a movie shouldn’t have to hold your hand; it’s Mikey’s own horrific actions (and, in turn, Baker’s authentic-feeling screenplay) that do all the talking.
‘Babylon’ (2022)
The excess and depravity of 1920s Hollywood is put on full, indulgent display in Damien Chazelle‘s highly ambitious Babylon. Babylon tells the story of the rise and fall of a group of ambitious individuals looking to make it big at a time of massive change in the film industry — the transition from silent movies to “talkies.” When Mexican immigrant Manuel “Manny” Torres (Diego Calva) helps to deliver an elephant to a decadent Hollywood party, he becomes involved with the brash silent actress Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie). Manny ends up becoming the assistant to aging film star Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt), while Black jazz trumpeter Sidney Palmer (Jovan Adepo) attempts to assimilate by providing his orchestra for movie productions.
Perhaps the only thing that everyone could agree upon about Babylon is that Justin Hurwitz‘s score is divine, but otherwise, reactions to the film were all over the place. Many criticized it for its exhausting “muchness” and an excessive quality that doesn’t have enough clear artistic intent behind it, other than for the sake of it. For many, that quality is an asset, despite coming from clean-cut Harvard boy Chazelle — in fact, that’s part of what makes it so interesting. Even if you don’t know where to land on the screenplay, it’s undeniable that the production design, cinematography, music, performances and direction are a sublime exercise in utter gratuity.
‘The Empty Man’ (2020)
Part of The Empty Man’s growing status as a cult film is due to the fact that, upon release, it was essentially left to flounder by its studio, 20th Century Fox, after poor test screenings. But it was also caught in the midst of the Fox-Disney merger, and as a result, director David Prior was more or less left with no supervision. This manifested as a strange, polarizing and highly affecting work — a two-hour-and-twenty-minute philosophical-horror graphic novel adaptation about tulpas, mind manifestation and a malevolent entity known as the Empty Man. 20th Century will likely never allow something like this to get made again.
The Empty Man centers on retired detective James Lasombra (James Badge Dale), who is still grieving the tragic deaths of his wife and son. When the teenage daughter (Sasha Frolova) of a close friend (Marin Ireland) goes missing, James takes it upon himself to get involved in the investigation — especially when he discovers what she left behind, a cryptic message written in blood claiming “The Empty Man made me do it.” James’ search leads him down a dark, twisted path that will change the course of who he is forever.
‘Licorice Pizza’ (2021)
It’s 1973 in the San Fernando Valley, and two disparate spirits become intertwined at a crucial moment in their lives. Charismatic teenager Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman) has dreams that are bigger than he is, desperate to break into the adult world. Meanwhile, Alana (Alana Haim) is a directionless young adult working as a photographer’s assistant whom Gary meets at his high school’s picture day. After some hesitation, Alana indulges in Gary’s overt affections for her, forming a friendship that oscillates between platonic and something more intimate. While Alana still wishes to be a kid again and Gary is wise beyond his years, the two youths meet somewhere in the middle to see where it takes them.
Licorice Pizza marked riveting acting debuts for both one of the members of pop-rock trio Haim and the son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. Compared to Anderson’s next film, One Battle After Another, which earned the director long-deserved Best Picture and Best Director Oscars, Licorice Pizza was less accessible and awarded in spite of its praise. This could be due to the admittedly tricky nature of the film, which presents romantic inclinations between a young adult and a teenager and which bothered some viewers and critics. Ultimately, the movie is about more than that — it’s about lost people meant for each other, but who meet at the wrong time.
‘Megalopolis’ (2024)
Some might be inclined to call The Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola‘s grand return after thirteen years MegaFLOPolis due to its poor box office performance. The operatic science-fiction epic was a long-gestating passion project for Coppola, who self-funded the movie using the money he made from his wine company. Thus, he was unbound by studio meddling, free to do whatever he wanted in the director’s chair — and boy, did he. Megalopolis is bizarre to say the least, but it is utterly distinct, never boring and very intentionally hilarious. It’s everything you could want in a crazy, ambitious original film. We’ll take 100 more Megalopolis‘s, please.
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The deeply convoluted story follows genius architect Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver), who lives in an alternate United States known as New Rome, which is dominated by an elite group of families. Cesar finds his progressive ideals for building a utopian society called “Megalopolis” in conflict with Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito), a corrupt, conservative tyrant still living in the past. But Cesar’s love for the mayor’s daughter, Julia (Nathalie Emmanuel), throws the conflicted young woman into turmoil as she questions where her loyalties lie.
