Some movies are critically acclaimed, loved by all and recommended often, but the ones you’ve got to watch out for are the hidden gems. They can be hard to spot. Whether it’s a bad trailer, a strange movie cover, or a plot line that seems pointless, some movies just slip through the cracks. The key is to be able to watch bad movies so that every once in awhile when you think you are spending the night watching a bad movie you catch a hidden gem instead. Here are a few that you can’t miss:

Short Term 12:

Starring the amazing Brie Larson, Short Term 12 is about a worker named Grace at a home for at risk teens. Along with the troubled teens, Grace has her own issues she works through during the course of the movie. It’s worth watching, not for the drama of the back stories of the teens, but for the heart in the connections between Grace and the kids that the movie depicts. It's not feel-good in the traditional sense, but when it reaches its end you are left taking a different perspective on your own issues.

Sleeping With Other People:

This one is just a downright happy movie. There’s truly nothing too special about it other than it will make you smile, but isn’t that the point of the movies? Not only are Jason Sudeikis and Alison Brie a dynamic duo, but the supporting characters are just as great. Now I won’t lie, it can be cheesy at times, but that shouldn’t take away from its status as a hidden gem because its humor and realness is thoroughly enjoyable.

We Are Your Friends:

I know, I know, it is hard to get on board with a movie starring Zac Efron as a struggling DJ. Who really thinks that is going to be emotional or have much depth? Well it does. The back drop of LA and the life of an aspiring DJ is simply the base line for a story about doing something worthwhile. It may not be Academy Award Winner or Oscar nominated, but it deserves a watch.

Kings of Summer:

Warning: if you aren’t much of a movie person, this one might be a tough watch. It's not an action packed movie that leaves your heart racing by any means, but it’s a movie that you want to watch with your family. Kings of Summer is about a few boys who spend their summer living in a house of sorts they built in the woods. Their lives aren’t horrible, but they are stressful all the same so they set out to be the kings of their summer (did you catch the reference to the title there?). It’s one of those movies that makes you want to sit around a camp fire with your friends and do absolutely nothing for a night except appreciate pointless times with important people.

The Way Way Back:

Like most coming of age stories The Way Way Back gives us an underdog that we can’t help but root for. Duncan, the movies main character is awkward, shy, and in a rut, and what gets him out of it but a crappy summer job at a water park. The Way Way Back is a hidden gem because it's honest. It’s a movie you can imagine actually happening in real life so its characters are instantly likable and understandable. Of course it is also a movie that somehow manages to make Steve Carell look like a jerk, so if nothing else, it is interesting to see a man usually loved so easily despised.

Drinking Buddies:

Drinking Buddies is about two friends who work at a brewery played by Olivia Wilde and Mark Jake Johnson. The two together seem like people you would want to be friends and share a beer with. Throughout the movie it seems that you will find a predictable end, but instead it stays true to real life and doesn’t pan out the way your average romantic buddy comedy would end.