Porgs, peaches and wonder women stole our hearts in 2017: a year that reintroduced us to Tonya Harding and Pennywise the Clown, and launched phrases like "the Sunken Place" and "That sink's not braced yet" into the pop culture lexicon.
But with so many great movies taking up real estate in theaters, there's bound to be a few that you missed these past 12 months. We rounded up some of our favorite overlooked gems that you can stream at home.
1. 'Brad's Status'
On the surface, this may seem like a fairly standard indie dramedy, following a neurotic dad (Ben Stiller) who struggles to let go of his son (Austin Abrams) as he heads off to college. But it winds up being a razor-sharp, cringe-worthy portrait of a narcissistic man consumed by his own shortcomings, featuring a career-best performance by Stiller that is disarmingly moving.
Where to watch: Amazon Video, iTunes, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube
2. 'Maudie'
Sally Hawkins is a best actress front-runner for her expressive turn in sci-fi romance The Shape of Water, playing a mute custodian who's enamored with a fish-man. But she also delivers an equally awards-worthy performance in this unsentimental biopic of fragile Canadian painter Maud Lewis, who suffered from debilitating arthritis.
Where to watch: Amazon Video, iTunes, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube
3. 'Raw'
Despite reports of moviegoers vomiting and passing out during festival screenings, this French cannibal thriller isn't actually all that gruesome. Instead, it's a darkly funny, sneakily affecting look at teenage insecurities and sisterhood, only with more severed fingers and brain-eating undergrads.
Where to watch: Netflix, Amazon Video, iTunes, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube
4. 'Brawl in Cell Block 99'
If John Wick was a deranged jailbird locked in a maximum security prison, his movie might look a little something like this brutal crime drama. Onetime funnyman Vince Vaughn ferociously transforms into a car-smashing, head-bashing former boxer-turned-drug runner, packing punches in some of the year's most squirm-inducing fight scenes.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime (starting Dec. 31), iTunes, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube
5. 'Columbus'
No 2017 film made us swoon more than this Indiana-set love letter to modernist architecture and human connection. Playing two broken intellectuals who find solace in each other, Haley Lu Richardson and John Cho have electric chemistry, while first-time writer/director Kogonada finds breathtaking beauty in small-town life.
Where to watch: Hulu, Amazon Video, iTunes, Google Play, YouTube, Hulu
6. 'Beach Rats'
A Brooklyn teen struggling with identity spends his days with his delinquent friends and prospective girlfriend, and nights cruising gay chatrooms for beachside hookups. It's a gritty coming-of-age drama with one of the most stirring final sequences of the year and a breakthrough performance from Harris Dickinson, an Indie Spirit acting nominee.
Where to watch: Amazon Video, iTunes, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube
7. 'The Book of Henry'
A bizarre, critically mauled revenge story that fully earns its so-bad-it's-good reputation. Naomi Watts stars as a mother whose dead son earnestly instructs her how to kill a child abuser from beyond the grave. With abysmal box office to boot, it's no wonder that director Colin Trevorrow was fired from Star Wars: Episode IX shortly after its bow this summer.
Where to watch: Amazon Video, iTunes, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube
8. 'Lady Macbeth'
Named for Shakespeare's classic antiheroine, this taut adaptation of Nikolai Leskov's 1865 novella is a deliciously twisted delight. Florence Pugh is a force of nature as a conniving young woman who violently rebels against her arranged marriage in 19th-century England. Learn her name now, before Pugh lights up the screen with Liam Neeson, Chris Pine and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in new movies next year.
Where to watch: Amazon Video, iTunes, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube
9. 'Graduation'
A father goes to felonious extremes to get his daughter into a prestigious British university and out of their impoverished Romanian village, after she is assaulted on the eve of crucial final exams. It's another modern-day masterpiece from filmmaker Cristian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days), who casts an unflinching eye on the devastating effects of corruption and social class.
Where to watch: Netflix
10. 'Dawson City: Frozen Time'
In 1978, some 500 film reels that were thought to be lost were discovered under a small-town hockey rink in Canada's Yukon Territory. Stitched together 40 years later by director Bill Morrison, the resulting documentary is an enchanting slice of silent movie history from the turn of the 20th century, soundtracked by Sigur Ros collaborator Alex Somers' melancholic score.
Where to watch: Amazon Video, iTunes, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube
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