The top 10 hidden entertainment gems of 2018

Alright, kiddos: it’s time to right some wrongs. 

This year was a lot. From tons of big moods to moments that made us say NOPE, 2018 was a twelve-month avalanche of super intense content. With so much excellence to choose from, it’s no wonder that a number of great projects failed to gain the audiences they deserved. So, let’s fix that.

Whether you’re looking for an adorable mobile game to play on that drive to Grandma’s or a fiery series about a body-positive terrorist group to binge with your bestie, we’ve got you covered.

Here are 10 hidden gems from 2018 you need to catch up on ASAP. (Then yes, by all means, keep on with that Game of Thrones rewatch.) 

10. When We First Met

Netflix had an absolute slam dunk of a year on the rom-com front. Unfortunately, When We First Met, a seemingly problematic but surprisingly lovely Adam DeVine comedy, was out-shined by its Valentine’s Day competitors. However, months later, it’s still available and remains an absolute treat.

Essentially a feature-length riff on one running gag from Groundhog’s Day, When We First Met chronicles the time travel adventures of Noah Ashby. Bummed to have been put in the friend zone by the presumed love of his life, Avery (played by Alexandra Daddario), Noah repeatedly uses a magical photo booth to travel back in time to the 2014 Halloween party where they first met. Each time, he tries a new tactic to win her over.

The comedic writing remains solid throughout, but the real selling point for this underrated delight of a film is its overarching message of acceptance. So, if you’re in need of a que sera sera palate cleanse before 2019 hits, look no further. When We First Met is worth a visit.

When We First Met is streaming on Netflix. 

9. Dead Cells

A good roguelike strikes a careful balance between making you feel a sense of progress even when the odds are always stacked against you. Dead Cells is a master class in how to perfectly nail that tricky balance.

You play as a reanimated corpse, fighting your way through a series of randomly generated environments. Along the way you come across a growing assortment of gear that you can choose to take with you or discard — and what you find is entirely random. So you’re constantly making choices about the kinds of weapons and abilities you want to use. Your luck with gear drops, and the decisions you land on, can make or break a run.

In the midst of all that, you’re also collecting a form of currency that you can spend to power up your abilities permanently, provided you survive long enough to reach the next checkpoint. Death means something in Dead Cells; when your character dies, you’re forced to start over once again with the most basic loadout and at the beginning of the game. The brilliance of Dead Cells isn’t in these features specifically; you feel it more in the way everything comes together. All of these systems working in tandem amount to one of the strongest, most difficult to put down games of 2018. – Adam Rosenberg, Senior Entertainment Reporter

Dead Cells is available on Windows, macOS, Linux, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

8. Dietland

Based on Sarai Walker’s book of the same name, Dietland is nothing if not a wild ride. A feminist battle cry that burned a little too bright (AMC canceled the show after just one season), Plum Kettle’s journey towards self-acceptance and then domestic terrorism is bizarre, bumpy, and more than worth 10 hours of your time.  

“Dietland is an uncomfortable watch that feels shaky but necessary in today’s media climate — it feels important but difficult, in the same way that discussing the societal indignities piled on plus-sized women is a hard conversation for a lot of people to have,” Mashable’s Alexis Nedd said of the series. “Luckily, Dietland’s intentionally off-putting clash of flashbacks, animation, and casually cruel dialogue comes together in a ‘what on earth am I watching and why can’t I stop’ kind of way.”

Dietland is streaming on Hulu.

7. The End of the F***ing World

With what is most certainly the most appropriate title for anything in 2018, The End of the F***ing World is chicken soup for the nihilist’s soul. A BBC expat, the British comedy is like the millennial version of Bonnie and Clyde. So instead of slick, criminal lovers, we’ve got two socially inept teens who feel too dead inside to care about the world.

Balancing comedy and sincerity, The End of the F***ing World speaks to the general sense that we’re all so fucked we might as well laugh about it. But don’t be fooled by its hardened, raunchy exterior. On the inside, this is a show with such a soft, vulnerable heart that you’re probably a psychopath if you don’t end up crying by the end. – Jess Joho, Entertainment Reporter

The End of the F***ing World is streaming on Netflix.

6. Thoroughbreds

Described by Mashable’s Proma Khosla as “expertly fucked-up,” Thoroughbreds is a divisive, dark indie practically begging you to love it or hate it. 

Starring Olivia Cooke, Anya Taylor-Joy, and the late Anton Yelchin, Thoroughbreds comes to life with its killer performances and unmistakable ambiance. 

“Finley originally conceived his idea as a play, so Thoroughbreds operates on a micro level. The majority of scenes are just Amanda and Lily talking in a room, communicating as much with silence and glances as they do with their words,” Khosla explains in her review of the film. “Everything else is by design: the sterility of Lily’s home, the space between them, Lyle Vincent’s striking cinematography, and the sound — not just an apoplectic score composed by Erik Friedlander intended less to shock than to rattle — but sound editing and mixing that make you feel like your senses have been turned up to 11.”

Thoroughbreds is available for purchase with Prime Video.

5. Lovesick

2018 kicked off with media outlets buzzing about Lovesick, a critical darling you shouldn’t sleep on if only because it’s charming as heck. Dylan starts contacting former partners after finding out he has chlamydia, but the show quickly gives you far more than its premise; it gives you emotional Dylan, broken Luke, fearful Evie – even misguided Angus – and creates a sweet, safe bubble. Lovesick belongs in the same conversations as New Girl, You’re The Worst, and the ancestral Friends as a world we want to return to with friends that feel like our own. – Proma Khosla, Entertainment Reporter

Lovesick is streaming on Netflix. 

4. Florence 

The struggles of young adulthood have been portrayed in many games, but none has conveyed the intricacies of maturing quite like Florence. 

Created by the brilliant minds behind 2014’s Monument Valley, this short animated mobile game introduces you to Florence Yeoh, a 25-year-old artist-turned-accountant. Players walk Florence through a series of chapters, each revealing more about her complicated feelings towards her adult life. She talks on the phone with her mother, she sketches in her notebook, and then she meets a handsome cellist named Krish.

Comprised of simple puzzles, Florence is an interactive story so beautiful and poetic that even non-gamers should consider giving it a download. Seriously, Florence is worth meeting. 

Florence is available on iOS and Android.

3. Kidding

Image: ERICA PARISE/SHOWTIME

“Kidding was an underrated gem in 2018 for reasons that aren’t entirely the show’s fault. It aired after Shameless, which has fewer viewers in its gasping later seasons, and it aired on Showtime — one of the less popular premium-type channels. The show is a masterwork of balancing tension with humor and has some of the flat out funniest lines of the year (shout out to Frank Langella for deadpanning “you are a bagpipe of insanity” at Jim Carrey in one of the mid-season episodes). Jim Carrey’s return to TV should have been big news, but hopefully Kidding’s collection of Golden Globe nominations will garner a bigger audience for its second season.” –Alexis Nedd, Senior Entertainment Reporter

Kidding is streaming on Hulu.

2. The Ritual 

Image: Vlad Cioplea / netflix

The past twelve months have been jam-packed with excellent horror flicks—so it’s no wonder a few treasures got lost along the way. Tragically, this included David Bruckner’s suspenseful masterpiece, The Ritual.

The Rafe Spall-starring nightmare received its UK theatrical release in late 2017, but didn’t hit the mainstream until February of this year when it began streaming on Netflix. This story of four friends hiking through Sarek National Park (in this case, also know as the gaping mouth of hell) is one that benefits from its lack of publicity. If you can go into this film blind, then do. 

Skip the trailer. Press play. Dive in. Thank us after. 

The Ritual is streaming on Netflix.

1. Return of the Obra Dinn

Described by Mashable’s Jess Joho as “more immediately gripping” than Red Dead 2, Lucas Pope’s Return of the Obra Dinn earned the title of Mashable’s 2018 Game of the Year for reasons you’ll have to play to believe.

Pope marketed the project as “an insurance adventure with minimal color” and that’s a pretty major misdirect. In reality, it’s the most intricately woven murder mystery in recent memory with an aesthetic style and gameplay mechanism you won’t soon forget. 

“The brilliance of Obra Dinn lies in its expert withholding of information, doling out droplets of a non-chronological narrative told only in moments of suspended panic,” Joho said of her experience with the game. “It’s the key to every well-told mystery, and this one never lets up on that tension.”

Return of the Obra Dinn is available on Windows and macOS. 

Honorable mention: Avengers: Infinity War 

Do you get it?! This is a list of hidden gems. Gems like… the infinity stones! Which were hidden!

Okay, I’ll snap see myself out.

Avengers: Infinity War begins streaming on Netflix Christmas Day.