10 Great Movies You Probably Missed (That You Can Now Catch On Netflix)

8. The Lady In The Van

The Lady In The Van Maggie Smith
Sony Picture Classics

A comedy loosely based on real-life events, The Lady In The Van details Alan Bennett's (Alex Jennings) interactions with a quirky old lady, Miss Shepherd (Maggie Smith), who decides to live in a run-down van in his driveway for fifteen solid years.

With a low budget and next-to-no marketing, The Lady In The Van was all-too easy to miss during its initial winter 2015 release frame; with a giant movie like Star Wars: The Force Awakens lurking around the corner, there really wasn't any way for this movie to compete.

But now that it's on Netflix, it's definitely worth your time. Smith turns in a greatly enjoyable performance as the eccentric Miss Shepherd, the actress revelling in the ludicrousness of the scenario and playing each scene with the joy and vigour of someone half her age.

It can feel a little silly and a bit too self-aware at times, but it's a feelgood movie that'll make you smile at how inherently weird and crazy - yet likeable - people can be.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!