10 Movies Nobody Wanted But Ended Up Loving

You know what precisely nobody was pining to watch on the big screen in the middle of a seemingly never-ending pandemic? A Rashomon-style historical thriller centered around the alleged rape of a woman, that's what.

And so, Ridley Scott's The Last Duel released late last year to a muted whimper of enthusiasm, failing to turn a profit against its $100 million budget despite critical reviews widely lauding its performances (especially Jodie Comer), socially conscious script, and strong production values.

Between the grim subject matter and releasing alongside more buzzy, less-bleak high-profile movies like No Time to Die, Halloween Kills, and Dune, The Last Duel just didn't seem like an appealing night out at the movies to most.

Yet Scott's film was ultimately vindicated when it hit streaming a short while later, knocking Venom: Let There Be Carnage off the top of the VOD charts, while social media chatter saw many express regret that they didn't catch it in cinemas upon initial release.

An epic action-drama about misogyny co-starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck as figures from real-world history had all the potential to be a total farce, and yet The Last Duel is one of the most muscular, richly mounted big-budget productions of the last year.