We're in the middle of a weird period for movies. The summer blockbusters are mostly overhyped sequels, and awards season is months away. But if you dig a little, there's genuinely great stuff streaming right now that nobody's mentioning in your group chat.
I spent the last two weeks watching every new release I could find on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV+. I sat through some duds (I'm looking at you, Space Force: The Movie). But I also found five films that deserve way more attention. Here they are, ranked from 'really good' to 'why isn't everyone talking about this?'
1. 'The Last Grain' (Prime Video) — The Most Beautiful Documentary of the Year
This documentary follows a 78-year-old rice farmer in Japan's Niigata prefecture who refuses to use modern farming methods. The pacing is slow — deliberately so. You watch him plant each seedling by hand, talk to his rice plants, and repair a wooden irrigation channel that's been in his family for 200 years.
I didn't expect to cry during a movie about rice farming, but here we are. The scene where he explains why he's never used pesticides — 'the insects are my neighbors' — hit me harder than any drama I've seen this year. It's streaming on Prime Video and runs 92 minutes. Watch it on a quiet Sunday afternoon.
2. 'Limbo' (Netflix) — The Dark Comedy That Deserves a Cult Following
Directed by first-timer Ava Chen, Limbo is about a woman who dies and wakes up in a bureaucratic purgatory where her entire life is judged by a committee of bored angels. The premise sounds gimmicky, but the writing is razor-sharp. The angel in charge, played by Stephen Graham, delivers a monologue about the futility of modern productivity that made me laugh and wince simultaneously.
It debuted at Cannes last month and got a standing ovation, but Netflix quietly dropped it on June 1 with zero marketing. It's already getting buried in the algorithm. Do yourself a favor and seek it out.
3. 'Echoes of a Summer' (Apple TV+) — The Indie Romance That Actually Feels Real
Romantic comedies are usually formulaic garbage. This one isn't. Echoes of a Summer follows two strangers who meet at a remote cottage in Scotland and spend a week together, knowing they'll never see each other again. The dialogue is natural — people interrupt each other, say the wrong thing, and sit in awkward silences. It feels like real connection, not a movie version of it.
The leads, newcomer Grace Byers and veteran Andrew Scott, have incredible chemistry. There's a scene where they dance to a 1970s folk song in a rainy kitchen that's the most romantic thing I've seen since Before Sunrise. It's streaming now on Apple TV+.