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60 Hidden Gem Movies On Netflix
We know people are burning through their Netflix queues at a cracking pace right now, bingeing the buzziest movies and series as they drop and finally getting to those things you’ve been putting on the backburner for months. To help out – and calm the stress that you could run out of things to watch (ah!) – the Rotten Tomatoes team trawled through the streaming service’s movie offerings with one mission: to find some not-so-obvious hidden gems to help keep your watchlist topped up.
How did we define “hidden gems”? A little broadly, we’ll admit. The collection below is made up of movies with impressive Tomatometer scores that have gone criminally under-seen (Slow West, I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore., Under the Shadow); movies that made a splash when they debuted but which you may have forgotten since (1922, My Life As A Zucchini, Obvious Child); under-appreciated gems – according to the RT staff (Can’t Hardly Wait, The Foreigner); and some bigger movies you may be surprised to see are available on Netflix. And we threw in a few surprise nostalgic favorites, too. Yes, even some Rotten ones.
We broke out the selections into five categories to help you find what you’re specifically looking for: Action and Adventure, Horror and Suspense, Drama, Comedy, and Kids and Family. If you’re after even more Netflix movie suggestions, check out our guides to the 250 Best Movies on Netflix, the Best Comedies on Netflix, the Best Romantic-Comedies on Netflix, and the Best Horror Movies on Netflix.
Found a hidden gem on Netflix that’s not on our list? Let your fellow fans know in the comments.
Action and Adventure
#70
Adjusted Score: 72308%
Critics Consensus: The Foreigner adheres strictly to action thriller formula, but benefits from committed -- and out of character -- performances from its talented veteran stars.
Synopsis: Quan is a humble London businessman whose long-buried past erupts in a revenge-fueled vendetta when the only person left for...
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#69
Adjusted Score: 87847%
Critics Consensus: MMA star and first-time actress Gina Carano displays ample action-movie chops in Haywire, a fast-paced thriller with a top-notch cast and outstanding direction from Steven Soderbergh.
Synopsis: Mallory Kane (Gina Carano) is a highly trained operative for a government security contractor. Her missions take her to the...
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#68
Adjusted Score: 83201%
Critics Consensus: Hostiles benefits from stunning visuals and a solid central performance from Christian Bale, both of which help elevate its uneven story.
Synopsis: In 1892, legendary Army Capt. Joseph Blocker reluctantly agrees to escort a dying Cheyenne war chief and his family back...
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#67
Adjusted Score: 86167%
Critics Consensus: A well-crafted retelling of an epic true story, Kon Tiki is a throwback to old-school adventure filmmaking that's exciting and entertaining in spite of its by-the-book plotting.
Synopsis: Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl (Pål Sverre Hagen) suspects that the South Sea Islands were originally colonized by South Americans. In...
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#66
Adjusted Score: 93118%
Critics Consensus: A bloody thrill ride designed to test the limits of more squeamish viewers, The Night Comes for Us wields a stylishly violent, action-packed punch.
Synopsis: Ito, a gangland enforcer, is caught amidst a treacherous and violent insurrection within his Triad crime family....
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#65
Adjusted Score: 99061%
Critics Consensus: Beautifully filmed and inventively choreographed, Shadow is a thrilling and visually sumptuous wuxia epic that finds director Zhang Yimou near peak form.
Synopsis: To finally achieve victory over a rival kingdom, a brilliant general devises an intricate plan involving his wife, a look-alike...
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#64
Adjusted Score: 98049%
Critics Consensus: Slow West serves as an impressive calling card for first-time writer-director John M. Maclean -- and offers an inventive treat for fans of the Western.
Synopsis: A bounty hunter (Michael Fassbender) keeps his true motive a secret from the naive Scottish teenager (Kodi Smit-McPhee) he's offered...
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HORROR AND SUSPENSE
#63
Adjusted Score: 93829%
Critics Consensus: Thanks to director Zak Hilditch's patient storytelling and strong work from lead Thomas Jane, 1922 ranks among the more satisfying Stephen King adaptations.
Synopsis: A rancher conspires to murder his wife for financial gain and convinces his teenage son to participate....
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#62
Adjusted Score: 90544%
Critics Consensus: The Autopsy of Jane Doe subverts the gruesome expectations triggered by its title to deliver a smart, suggestively creepy thriller that bolsters director André Ovredal's growing reputation.
Synopsis: When father and son coroners investigate the death of a beautiful "Jane Doe," they find increasingly bizarre clues....
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#61
Adjusted Score: 102218%
Critics Consensus: Smart, stripped-down, and thrillingly grim, Blue Ruin proves that a well-told revenge story can still leave its audience on the edge of their seat.
Synopsis: An ominous piece of news sends a drifter (Macon Blair) back to his hometown to exact brutal -- and inept...
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#60
Adjusted Score: 98002%
Critics Consensus: Smart and suspenseful, CAM is a techno-thriller that's far more than the sum of its salacious parts -- and an outstanding showcase for Madeline Brewer in the leading role.
Synopsis: A camgirl has her principles, until a mysterious woman who looks just like her takes over her channel....
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#59
Adjusted Score: 91361%
Critics Consensus: Cargo takes a refreshingly character-driven approach to the zombie genre that's further distinguished by its Australian setting and Martin Freeman's terrific lead performance.
Synopsis: Stranded in rural Australia in the aftermath of a violent pandemic, an infected father desperately seeks a new home for...
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#58
Adjusted Score: 52399%
Critics Consensus: Intermittently effective if not wholly successful, Eli offers horror fans a handful of jump scares in search of a truly terrifying story.
Synopsis: A boy becomes trapped in a haunted house while undergoing treatment for a rare disease....
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#56
Adjusted Score: 94774%
Critics Consensus: Carla Gugino carries Gerald's Game's small-scale suspense with a career-defining performance.
Synopsis: A woman accidentally kills her husband during a kinky game. Handcuffed to her bed with no hope of rescue, she...
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#63
Adjusted Score: 91776%
Critics Consensus: The Girl with All the Gifts grapples with thought-provoking questions without skimping on the scares -- and finds a few fresh wrinkles in the well-worn zombie horror genre along the way.
Synopsis: In the future, a strange fungus has changed nearly everyone into a thoughtless, flesh-eating monster. When a scientist and a...
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#55
Adjusted Score: 89648%
Critics Consensus: A chillingly effective horror story rooted in rich folklore, The Golem blends centuries-old stories with timely themes to powerful effect.
Synopsis: During an outbreak of a deadly plague, a mystical woman must save her tightknit Jewish community from foreign invaders --...
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#54
Adjusted Score: 101993%
Critics Consensus: Green Room delivers unapologetic genre thrills with uncommon intelligence and powerfully acted élan.
Synopsis: Members (Anton Yelchin, Alia Shawkat) of a punk-rock band and a tough young woman (Imogen Poots) battle murderous white supremacists...
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#53
Adjusted Score: 92310%
Critics Consensus: Hush navigates the bloody waters of home invasion thrillers and incisive slashers for a contemporary horror puree.
Synopsis: A deaf woman is stalked by a killer in her home....
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#52
Adjusted Score: 95050%
Critics Consensus: The Invitation makes brilliant use of its tension-rich premise to deliver a uniquely effective -- and surprisingly clever -- slow-building thriller.
Synopsis: While attending a dinner party at his former house, a man starts to believe that his ex-wife and her new...
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#51
Adjusted Score: 88945%
Critics Consensus: Uncommonly restrained for a movie about a flesh-eating menace, Ravenous offers a satisfyingly nuanced entry in the crowded zombie apocalypse subgenre.
Synopsis: A village in Quebec is terrorized by a flesh-eating plague....
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#50
Adjusted Score: 78540%
Critics Consensus: Director David Bruckner makes evocative use of the Scandinavian setting and a dedicated cast to deliver a handsome -- if familiar -- horror story.
Synopsis: Reuniting after the tragic death of their friend, four college pals set out to hike through the Scandinavian wilderness. A...
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#49
Adjusted Score: 96239%
Critics Consensus: Carried by Kiersey Clemons' performance, Sweetheart balances smart subtext and social commentary against effective genre thrills.
Synopsis: A shipwreck survivor on an uninhabited island must fend off a malevolent force that surfaces each night....
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#48
Adjusted Score: 102723%
Critics Consensus: Under the Shadow deftly blends seemingly disparate genres to deliver an effective chiller with timely themes and thought-provoking social subtext.
Synopsis: After Shideh's building is hit by a missile during the Iran-Iraq War, a superstitious neighbor suggests that the missile was...
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Drama, Mystery, and A Documentary or Two
#47
Adjusted Score: 88986%
Critics Consensus: American Honey offers a refreshingly unconventional take on the coming-of-age drama whose narrative risks add up to a rewarding experience even if they don't all pay off.
Synopsis: Star (Sasha Lane), an adolescent girl from a troubled home, runs away with a traveling sales crew that drives across...
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#46
Adjusted Score: 103842%
Critics Consensus: An unpredictable supernatural drama rooted in real-world social commentary, Atlantique suggests a thrillingly bright future for debuting filmmaker Mati Diop.
Synopsis: Arranged to marry a rich man, young Ada is crushed when her true love goes missing at sea during a...
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#45
Adjusted Score: 97959%
Critics Consensus: The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open uses an encounter between two strangers as the catalyst for a thoughtful drama as poetic as its title.
Synopsis: After a chance encounter on the street, a woman encourages a pregnant domestic abuse victim to seek help....
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#44
Adjusted Score: 88262%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: When a man's vengeful brother traps him in a mine shaft, his daughter embarks on a journey to rescue him....
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#43
Adjusted Score: 105590%
Critics Consensus: Burning patiently lures audiences into a slow-burning character study that ultimately rewards the viewer's patience -- and subverts many of their expectations.
Synopsis: Jong-soo runs into Hae-mi, a girl who once lived in his neighborhood, and she asks him to watch her cat...
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#41
Adjusted Score: 99417%
Critics Consensus: Brilliantly performed and smartly unconventional, The End of the Tour pays fitting tribute to a singular talent while offering profoundly poignant observations on the human condition.
Synopsis: Writer and journalist David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg) interviews author David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel) for Rolling Stone magazine....
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#40
Adjusted Score: 77049%
Critics Consensus: Thanks to a strong performance from Jake Gyllenhaal and smart direction from Denis Villeneuve, Enemy hits the mark as a tense, uncommonly adventurous thriller.
Synopsis: A mild-mannered college professor (Jake Gyllenhaal) discovers a look-alike actor and delves into the other man's private affairs....
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#40
Adjusted Score: 81264%
Critics Consensus: Frida is a passionate, visually striking biopic about the larger-than-life artist.
Synopsis: This is the true story of Frida Kahlo (Salma Hayek) and her husband Diego Rivera (Alfred Molina), the larger-than-life painters...
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#39
Adjusted Score: 80797%
Critics Consensus: The Fundamentals of Caring gets maximum mileage out of the chemistry between its well-matched leads as it follows a fairly well-worn coming-of-age road trip route.
Synopsis: A writer (Paul Rudd) retires after a personal tragedy and becomes a disabled teen's caregiver. When the two embark on...
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#37
Adjusted Score: 95413%
Critics Consensus: Happy as Lazzaro uses a friendship's ups and downs as a satisfyingly expansive canvas for a picture rich with thematic and cinematic depth.
Synopsis: Lazzaro, a good-hearted young peasant, and Tancredi, a young nobleman cursed by his imagination, form a life-altering bond when Tancredi...
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#36
Adjusted Score: 97725%
Critics Consensus: High Flying Bird takes a thoughtful and engrossing look at professional sports that sees Steven Soderbergh continuing to test the limits of new filmmaking technology.
Synopsis: A sports agent pitches a controversial business opportunity to a rookie basketball player during a lockout....
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#35
Adjusted Score: 85237%
Critics Consensus: Far more traditional and straightforward than its unwieldy title, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society offers delightful comfort food for fans of period drama.
Synopsis: In 1946 a London-based writer begins exchanging letters with residents on the island of Guernsey, which was German-occupied during WWII....
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#34
Adjusted Score: 91772%
Critics Consensus: I don't feel at home in this world anymore. transcends its unwieldy title to offer timely, intoxicatingly dark observations on gender dynamics and social norms in modern America.
Synopsis: After being burglarized, a depressed woman (Melanie Lynskey) and her obnoxious neighbor set out to find the thieves, but they...
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#33
Adjusted Score: 84413%
Critics Consensus: With typically sharp work from writer-director Nicole Holofcener and finely layered performances, The Land of Steady Habits is one mid-life crisis worth watching.
Synopsis: Feeling trapped in the stifling, wealthy enclave of Westport, Conn., a man retires from his job in finance and leaves...
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#32
Adjusted Score: 100980%
Critics Consensus: A one-man show set in a single confined location, Locke demands a powerful performance -- and gets it from a never-more-compelling Tom Hardy.
Synopsis: A man's (Tom Hardy) life unravels after he leaves a construction site at a critical time and drives to London...
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#30
Adjusted Score: 86921%
Critics Consensus: The One I Love doesn't take its intriguing premise quite as far as it could, but it still adds up to an ambitious, well-acted look at love and marriage.
Synopsis: A couple (Mark Duplass, Elisabeth Moss) whose marriage is crumbling have a surreal experience during a weekend getaway at a...
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#29
Adjusted Score: 86709%
Critics Consensus: A satisfying must-watch for diehard cineastes, The Other Side of the Wind offers the opportunity to witness a long-lost chapter in a brilliant filmmaker's career.
Synopsis: After years of exile in Europe, a maverick director returns to Hollywood to finish his comeback movie, "The Other Side...
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#27
Adjusted Score: 99943%
Critics Consensus: A fascinating portrait of a forgotten musical pioneer, Searching for Sugar Man is by turns informative and mysterious.
Synopsis: Though he faded into obscurity in the U.S., an early '70s musician known as Rodriguez became a huge hit in...
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#26
Adjusted Score: 90770%
Critics Consensus: Rich in atmosphere and period detail, Super Dark Times is an effective teen thriller whose true power lies in its approach to deeper themes.
Synopsis: Teenagers Zach and Josh have been best friends their whole lives, but when a gruesome accident leads to a cover-up,...
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#25
Adjusted Score: 97002%
Critics Consensus: Dreamlike and haunting, We the Animals approaches the coming-of-age odyssey with a uniquely documentarian eye.
Synopsis: Manny, Joel, and Jonah tear their way through childhood. Their mother and father have a volatile relationship that makes and...
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COMEDY
#24
Adjusted Score: 78489%
Critics Consensus: Beautifully filmed and unabashedly sincere, About Time finds director Richard Curtis at his most sentimental.
Synopsis: When Tim Lake (Domhnall Gleeson) is 21, his father (Bill Nighy) tells him a secret: The men in their family...
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#24
Adjusted Score: 45622%
Critics Consensus: Occasionally clever and moderately intelligent, Can't Hardly Wait also contains too many cheap laughs, recycled plotting, and flat characters.
Synopsis: School's out, and an entire graduating class -- from football stars and cool girls to complete nerds -- gathers at...
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#23
Adjusted Score: 88315%
Critics Consensus: Robert Altman's gift for diffuse storytelling is employed to breezily enjoyable effect in Cookie's Fortune, a mirthful caper that layers on a generous helping of Southern charm.
Synopsis: After learning that her aunt, an elderly Mississippi widow (Patricia Neal), has taken her own life, Camille (Glenn Close) hatches...
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#18
Adjusted Score: 93567%
Critics Consensus: Led by a committed performance from Julian Barratt, Mindhorn offers audiences a laugh-out-loud comedy whose sublime silliness is enhanced by its more thoughtful moments.
Synopsis: A has-been actor, known for playing British detective Mindhorn, works alongside the police to catch a serial killer who will...
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#17
Adjusted Score: 97598%
Critics Consensus: Tackling a sensitive subject with maturity, honesty, and wit, Obvious Child serves as a deeply promising debut for writer-director Gillian Robespierre.
Synopsis: An immature, newly unemployed comic (Jenny Slate) must navigate the murky waters of adulthood after her fling with a graduate...
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#16
Adjusted Score: 97188%
Critics Consensus: While it's plenty predictable and sentimental, The Sapphires also has an irresistible feel-good vibe, winning music and charming performances to spare.
Synopsis: A would-be music promoter (Chris O'Dowd) sees something special in a girl group of four Australian singers and takes them...
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#15
Adjusted Score: 85854%
Critics Consensus: What Someone Great lacks in originality it makes up for in relatability and charm, thanks in large part to the undeniable chemistry between its talented leads.
Synopsis: Dumped by her long-term boyfriend, a music journalist recruits her two best friends for one last outrageous adventure in New...
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#13
Adjusted Score: 82729%
Critics Consensus: Disarmingly odd and thoroughly well-acted, Swiss Army Man offers adventurous viewers an experience as rewarding as it is impossible to categorize.
Synopsis: Being stranded on a deserted island leaves young Hank (Paul Dano) bored, lonely and without hope. As a rope hangs...
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#12
Adjusted Score: 90156%
Critics Consensus: Like the best horror/comedies, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil mines its central crazy joke for some incredible scares, laughs, and -- believe it or not -- heart.
Synopsis: Two scruffy pals' (Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk) backwoods vacation takes a bloody turn when ignorant college students mistake them for...
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FAMILY AND KIDS
#10
Adjusted Score: 88695%
Critics Consensus: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind earns its predictably uplifting arc through strong performances and impressive work from debuting director Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Synopsis: A 13-year-old boy is thrown out of the school he loves when his family can no longer afford the fees....
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#9
Adjusted Score: 100247%
Critics Consensus: The Breadwinner's stunning visuals are matched by a story that dares to confront sobering real-life issues with uncommon -- and richly rewarding -- honesty.
Synopsis: Parvana is an 11-year-old girl who lives under Taliban rule in Afghanistan in 2001. After the wrongful arrest of her...
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#7
Adjusted Score: 96103%
Critics Consensus: Beautifully animated and faithful to the spirit of its classic source material, The Little Prince is a family-friendly treat that anchors thrilling visuals with a satisfying story.
Synopsis: The Aviator introduces a girl to a world where she rediscovers her childhood and learns that it's human connections that...
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#6
Adjusted Score: 79711%
Critics Consensus: Lu Over the Wall can be more fun to watch than to follow, but director Masaaki Yuasa's distinctive visual style offers colorful compensation for an occasionally scattered story.
Synopsis: Kai is a lonely teenage boy who lives in a small fishing village. One day, he meets and befriends Lu,...
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#5
Adjusted Score: 105033%
Critics Consensus: My Life as a Zucchini's silly title and adorable characters belie a sober story whose colorful visuals delight the senses even as it braves dark emotional depths.
Synopsis: A police officer (Nick Offerman) and some new friends help an orphan adjust to life at a foster home....
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#2
Adjusted Score: 92945%
Critics Consensus: The warmth of traditional Disney animation makes this occasionally lightweight fairy-tale update a lively and captivating confection for the holidays.
Synopsis: Hardworking and ambitious, Tiana dreams of one day opening the finest restaurant in New Orleans. Her dream takes a slight...
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#3
Adjusted Score: 61572%
Critics Consensus: Charming characters; loads of fun for kids and adults.
Synopsis: This animated comedy finds Tommy Pickles (E.G. Daily) trying to return his baby brother to the hospital after being warned...
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#2
Adjusted Score: 99589%
Critics Consensus: A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon retains the charm of its small-screen source material while engagingly expanding the title character's world.
Synopsis: When a UFO crash-lands near Mossy Bottom Farm, it's up to Shaun the sheep and his animal friends to help...
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Thumbnail image: © Well Go USA, © Gkids, © A24
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