Under-the-radar films with 85%+ approval from real audiences — across 15+ languages and 7 decades.
Published March 17, 2026
Everyone knows about The Shawshank Redemption (95%) and Spirited Away (95%). But what about the films that real audiences love just as much — films most people have never heard of?
After looking through thousands of audience ratings, I found 77 movies with an 85% approval score or higher that have fewer than 5,000 votes. These are the films that don't show up on mainstream "best of" lists, but everyday audiences rate them just as highly as the all-time greats.
Some of the best-loved films are the ones that never quite made it to a wide US theatrical release. Here are the top international finds:
Horror fans — these under-the-radar scary movies scored 87%+ with real audiences:
The magic of these hidden gems is that they're powered entirely by the opinions of regular moviegoers — not critics, not algorithms, and definitely not marketing budgets. A film like Macario (1960) from Mexico has a 92% approval score with only 202 votes. That's real people discovering and loving a 66-year-old film.
These are the films you won't find on Netflix's trending page or in IMDb's Top 250. But they're films that people who actually watch them overwhelmingly enjoy. That's the kind of recommendation you can trust.
Stop watching the same 5 movies. Find something new.
Browse More Audience Favorites →Discover More Top-Rated Films
Love hidden gems? See what else audiences are rating highly — sorted by real approval scores.
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