That can make picking shows that are a good fit for you a nearly impossible challenge. That’s why we’ve pulled together this list of three excellent underrated shows that are worth your time this weekend, regardless of what your algorithm might say.
Few streamers can provide the variety of movies that Hulu can offer up on a weekly basis. Having access to the film libraries of both Disney and 20th Century Studios definitely helps Hulu keep its selections robust, but it’s also able to draw upon films from other studios as needed. However, all 6 of this week’s selections for the three great Hulu and Netflix movies that you need to stream this weekend were produced by either Disney or 20th Century Fox.
Our first choice is an outstanding thriller that recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, followed by a real-life adventure story and one of the best music biopics of the 21st century.
Gone Girl – 2014
Director David Fincher‘s adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl introduces one of the most terrifying villains in recent cinema history: Amy Elliott Dunne, in a star-making turn by Rosamund Pike.
![Gone Girl | Official Trailer [HD] | 20th Century FOX](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2-_-1nJf8Vg/hqdefault.jpg)
Amy is trapped in an increasingly loveless marriage with Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck), a man who is a habitual cheater. Amy’s revenge is anything but simple, yet it effectively frames Nick for her murder.
Almost everything Nick does makes him seem guilty, which calls Amy’s fate into question. Not even hot shot lawyer Tanner Bolt (Tyler Perry in one of his best performances) or Nick’s sister, Margo (Carrie Coon), can shield him from the glare of a media that’s eager to paint him as a murderer. Amy’s ex-boyfriend, Desi Collings (Neil Patrick Harris), knows more than he’s saying, but he doesn’t seem very inclined to help Nick escape the proverbial noose that his wife has placed around his neck.
Watch Gone Girl on Hulu.
No Good Deed – 2024
In an age of high-concept miniseries, there’s something refreshingly basic about the approach that No Good Deed takes to its central story. The series follows three different couples who are all vying for the same 1920s villa in Los Angeles, each of whom believes that the house is the answer to all of their problems.
At the same time, the couple selling the house is reckoning with their decision to move, and with the recent death of their son. No Good Deed is a sendup of California’s outrageous real estate market, and features the kind of ensemble cast, which has Friends star Lisa Kudrow, Everybody Loves Raymond‘s Ray Romano, and others, that make every scene work.
You can watch No Good Deed on Netflix.
Hidalgo – 2004
Following The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Viggo Mortensen moved over to a different kind of epic in Hidalgo. In this historical biopic, Hidalgo is the name of the horse used by Frank Hopkins, a long-distance rider who is haunted by his past.
In 1890, Hopkins is a performer for William “Buffalo Bill” Cody (J.K. Simmons) when he gets the opportunity to race Hidalgo in the Arabian desert.
Neither Hopkins nor Hidalgo is welcome among his Arabic competitors, including Prince Bin Al Reeh (Saïd Taghmaoui). They are viewed as interlopers and targeted for death during the long-distance race. One of Hopkins’ few allies is Jazira (Zuleikha Robinson), a woman whose own fate is tied to Hopkins’ chances for victory. If he can win, then Jazira may be able to avoid an arranged marriage with the Prince.
Watch Hidalgo on Hulu.
Hollywood – 2020
Ryan Murphy’s Netflix deal was not the slam dunk for the streamer that it could have been, and one of the creator’s biggest commercial failures was Hollywood.
The series, which ran for just a single season in 2020, follows a group of aspiring stars in the years after World War II as they try to make it big.
Featuring an ensemble made up of real historical figures like Anna May Wong and Hattie McDaniel and invented characters like Jeremy Pope’s Archie Coleman, the show features a number of young talents who would go on to be major stars like David Corenswet, who is the next Man of Steel in the upcoming Superman movie. While flawed, the show does shine an interesting and entertaining light on the ways in which racism and homophobia coursed through this era of filmmaking in ways that were rarely addressed then.
You can watch Hollywood on Netflix.
Walk the Line – 2005
This year marks the 20th anniversary of director James Mangold’s Walk the Line, his first music biopic before the recently released Bob Dylan movie, A Complete Unknown.
This film, however, is all about the Man in Black, Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix), and it chronicles his rise from obscurity to one of the most impactful singers of his generation. Cash’s story also has a personal tragedy that strains his relationship with his father, Ray (Robert Patrick).
Cash’s battles with sobriety are also explored, as well as his relationships with Vivian Liberto (Ginnifer Goodwin) and June Carter (Reese Witherspoon). But the real treat in this movie is that Phoenix and Witherspoon provide their own singing voices as Cash and Carter, and it lends an even greater authenticity to their performances as these music icons.
Watch Walk the Line on Hulu.
American Primeval – 2025
A new series that will hopefully find a big audience, American Primeval tells the story of a mother and son who find community in the brutality of the American West.
Starring Glow‘s Betty Gilpin, one of the great TV actresses of the past 10 years, American Primeval is definitely brutal at times, but it’s ultimately a show about the ways the West could allow people to start over and escape what had come before.
The ensemble cast also includes Taylor Kitsch, Shawnee Pourier, and Derek Hinkley, and crucially, the series incorporates a Native American perspective that many other shows of this kind lack. Fans looking for the next retro Yellowstone show like 1923 or 1883, albeit one filled with gruesome violence, should check out American Primeval.
You can watch American Primeval on Netflix.
