10 Underrated Movies Recommended by Denis Villeneuve

With a growing filmography as extensive as it is impressive, French-Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve is one of the defining directors of the modern generation of film-making. With his achievements spanning from sci-fi classics like Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 to harrowing psychological dramas like Incendies and Prisoners, and, of course, to blockbuster phenomenons such as the Dune movies, it stands to reason that Villeneuve has taken inspiration from a wide range of sources.

Over the years, he has shared his love for many of the films he most admires. While he has praised all-time classics like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Vertigo at length, it is almost more interesting to look at the underrated movies that Villeneuve holds dear. From satirical comedies to grueling thrillers, foreign language gems, and stylistic masterpieces, these 10 films have been overlooked by the masses, and Villeneuve quite rightly thinks that should change.

10 ‘The Square’ (2017)

Director: Ruben Östland

Swedish director Ruben Östland took home the coveted Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022 for his satirical black comedy Triangle of Sadness. However, many would argue that the director’s 2017 picture, The Square (which was also a Palme d’Or-winning satirical black comedy), is his greatest film thus far. Denis Villeneuve certainly thinks highly of it, placing it at 12 on a list of his all-time favorite films that he shared with Far Out Magazine in 2021.

The Square follows Christian (Claes Bang), an art museum curator in Stockholm who struggles to promote his new exhibit while also dealing with a personal crisis among several other catastrophes, including an ill-fated stunt at a gala dinner. A relentless skewering of the artistic world, contemporary Sweden, and the values of modern life in general, The Square boasts plenty of compelling ideas but allows the audience to come to their own conclusions.

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9 ‘The Beguiled’ (2017)

Director: Sofia Coppola

Another film that earned its prestige at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, The Beguiled saw director Sofia Coppola win Best Director (becoming only the second woman to do so), while it was nominated for the Palme d’Or as well. An intoxicating Southern Gothic drama, it is set at a girls’ school run out of an old plantation during the American Civil War. When one of the students finds a wounded Union soldier and brings him back to the school to recover, the man’s presence destabilizes the household in a number of ways.

Impressively, The Beguiled was an improvement on the 1971 film of the same name that was also based on Thomas P. Cullinan‘s novel. It earned widespread acclaim for Coppola’s poised direction, its refined narrative focus, and the strong performances of its all-star cast. In a list compiled for Indie Wire, Denis Villeneuve ranked it among his favorite films of 2017.

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8 ‘Amores Perros’ (2000)

Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu

With a title that loosely translates to “Love’s a B***h,” Amores Perros was an arresting picture that served as the major international breakthrough for Alejandro G. Iñárritu. The psychological drama follows three interconnected stories, tracking a teenager from the slums who becomes involved in Mexico City’s dogfighting scene, a model with a leg injury that threatens her career, and a mysterious hitman trying to get in touch with his daughter.

While the film was clearly inspired by Pulp Fiction, Iñárritu was able to make it distinct with its gritty realism and its compelling class commentary. The raw and intense film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars, while Villeneuve listed it among his favorite films of the 21st century when speaking with The New York Times.

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7 ‘Dogtooth’ (2010)

Director: Yargos Lanthimos

Dogtooth might just be the most bizarre movie from Yorgos Lanthimos, which is a lot to say considering the Greek director has since made The Lobster, The Favourite, and Poor Things. It revolves around a nameless family consisting of a mother, a father, and their three adult children living in a compound with the father being the only one who leaves. With the children effectively being held prisoner and receiving an inaccurate education, the eldest daughter starts to plan her escape.

The film is difficult to categorize and certainly won’t be to everyone’s taste, but Villeneuve, when writing for The New York Times, stated “the madness in Dogtooth is the most refreshing thing I’ve seen in a long time.” The film won the Prix Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009, and has remained relevant as Lanthimos’ career has flourished due to its arresting, enigmatic quality.

6 ‘A Prophet’ (2010)

Director: Jacques Audiard

An intensely violent yet gripping and insightful French crime drama, A Prophet follows the transformation of a young prisoner from a quiet loner to a hardened criminal. Tahar Rahim stars as Malik, a French youth of Algerian origin who is sentenced to six years behind bars for assaulting a police officer. When he is taken in by a powerful mobster, he begins to rise up the ranks of the prison’s hierarchy, gaining more power but making enemies along the way.

The film garnered widespread critical acclaim on account of A Prophet‘s striking immediacy, hard-edged grit, and engrossing story which unfolds seamlessly over its 155-minute runtime. Villeneuve spoke highly of the film in his 2017 piece for The New York Times, singling out one particular scene and describing it as “one of the most powerful cinematic shots of the last decade.”

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5 ‘Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves’ (2016)

Directors: Mathieu Denis & Simon Lavoie

A sleeper hit on the festival circuit of 2016, Mathieu Denis and Simon Lavoie‘s angry yet sympathetic story of political violence in the modern world was immensely powerful, with the three-hour film including documentary footage and news broadcasts to emphasize its narrative urgency. It follows four young activists who, having grown disillusioned by the failure of their past efforts to change the world, turn to more drastic means to inspire revolution and overthrow the government.

While Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves explored its main characters in great depth and striking specificity, it still aspired to contemplate universal questions linked to activism, such as whether political violence is ever justifiable and how much responsibility activists bear for the crimes of their comrades. It was an enthralling display of radicalism which bears significant relevance to the political angst and outrage of modern times. Villeneuve placed it among his favorite films of 2017 that he shared with Indie Wire.

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4 ‘Dogville’ (2003)

Director: Lars von Trier

An experimental drama by the ever-controversial and provocative auteur Lars von Trier, Dogville was a minimalistic masterpiece that made the most of its rigid, chapter-oriented narrative structure. Set in the Rocky Mountains during the Great Depression, it follows Grace (Nicole Kidman) as she arrives at Dogville while on the run from violent gangsters. The residents of the community agree to let her hide in town in exchange for her labor, but the arrangement soon turns horrifyingly twisted.

Dogville polarized audiences on release, with some critics even describing it as anti-American, but its stature has grown in the years since. Its unique staging and its all-star cast have secured it a staying power and a contemplative heft which has won many admirers. Including it among his favorite films of the 21st century for The New York Times, Villeneuve has sung its praises concerning its effective use of the stage-like set.

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3 ‘Downsizing’ (2017)

Director: Alexander Payne

While most, if not all, directors have a great love for cinematic classics and modern masterpieces, all of them tend to also have their own selection of overlooked or even critically derided films that they find something special in. An example of that for Denis Villeneuve is Downsizing, the 2017 satirical sci-fi comedy film co-written and directed by Alexander Payne, the director of the recent hit, The Holdovers.

Boasting a star-studded cast led by Matt Damon, it follows Paul, a mild-mannered therapist who comes to believe that life would be easier if he were to shrink himself and his wife, Audrey (Kristen Wiig), to be just five inches tall. Fitting in with a community of people who have had the same procedure done, Paul begins to realize he has made a terrible mistake. The film was met with negative reviews, but Villeneuve ranked it as his 15th favorite film of all time for Far Out Magazine.

2 ‘Rakka’ (2017)

Director: Neill Blompkamp

After making an attention-grabbing debut with 2009’s District 9, Neill Blomkamp has struggled to make another sci-fi stunner to appease the masses. However, while films like Elysium and Chappie were released with middling results, his series of short films produced by Oats Studios in 2020 provided some enticing stories, with Rakka being the most notable of them.

Running for just 22 minutes, it focuses on humanity’s struggle against an invading alien force known as the Klum, a reptilian species with advanced technology that has decimated the world to suit its own needs and killed or enslaved most of mankind in the process. The design of the Klum was spectacular, the story was rife with gore and mayhem, while it also featured Sigourney Weaver as the leader of the resistance. Working with Indie Wire, Villeneuve included the Oats Studios’ shorts among his favorite films of 2017.

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1 ‘Dead Ringers’ (1988)

Director: David Cronenberg

A psychological thriller from the master of body horror in David Cronenberg, Dead Ringers saw Jeremy Irons star as Elliot and Beverly Mantle, a pair of brilliant yet twisted identical twins who work as gynecologists. While the two share a horrifying relationship, a rift begins to form between them when Beverly, the weaker of the two, falls in love with one of their patients who deceives him.

Irons carries the film, succeeding in making each twin unique and playing them both with a distinct nuance and surprising depth. Villeneuve watched the film while making Enemy, which had its own psychological thrills linked to identical people, in order to ensure he was building upon the double-identity idea with something fresh and new. Speaking on Dead Ringers with Filmmaker Magazine, he described it as “one of the most traumatic movies I’ve seen in my life.”

NEXT: Every Denis Villeneuve Movie, Ranked by Box Office