Current Movies That'll Be Cult Classics In 20 Years

As easy as it can sometimes be to get sucked into arguments about box office returns and award nominations, the true worth of a movie isn't always appreciated upon release. Just look at genre legend John Carpenter's much-lauded The Thing, which was critically reviled when it premiered and completely bombed at the box office. Today, you'd have to actively search for any sci-fi or horror fan that wouldn't count the film among their all-time favorites.

Generally, a good cult classic film needs to have failed upon release in some way, either in box office or critically—there has to be a starting point for a "cult" to rise up around it after all. With that in mind, we've assembled a comprehensive list of easily-missed films from the past six years that will undoubtedly live on for decades. From an early work by a master of horror to an action sequel starring arguably the greatest living movie martial artist, these modern-day films are sure to be cult classics in 20 years.

The original xXx was more of a hallucination of a movie than an actual concept. The high concept of the film was basically that super spies were old news. The threat of new super criminals needed a new breed of hero, the kind of hero that guzzled Monster energy drinks instead of Martinis. But xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, released an entire fifteen years after the first film, managed to achieve a beautiful synthesis between trash and art, like Duchamp's Fountain.

Everything is raised to the ex(Xx)treme here as Xander Cage (Vin Diesel) finds out that he isn't the only radical dude to go by the xXx moniker. Joining the world of the film is an all-star cast including Tony Jaa, Ruby Rose, Toni Collette, and Donnie Yen, and the film features some of the best fight choreography of the last few years. Even while Yen and Jaa backflip and kick their way through legions of goons, the story itself rises to a fever dream of stacked climaxes and ridiculous action set pieces. It's an unforgettable, insane film that's tailor-made for late night viewing parties and MST3K-style watch-fests. 

If you've ever tried to read (and then quickly given up on reading) Gravity's Rainbow, then you know that author Thomas Pynchon isn't the kind of writer whose work lends itself easily to film adaptations. He writes strange, surrealistic tales full of conspiracies and events that just sort of end without the satisfying denouement that you'd expect from a blockbuster. Even Inherent Vice, easily his most approachable work, has long passages of drug-induced hallucinations and high-minded prose.

Still, if anyone had the skills to adapt Pynchon's work, it's Paul Thomas Anderson. With modern classics like Magnolia and There Will Be Blood, the director's made a career out of synthesizing crowd-pleasing epics with the kind of film techniques that film students study for decades. Anderson's adaptation of Inherent Vice isn't just excellent, it's a heady meeting of two of America's best artists, taking Pynchon's anxious, conspiratorial plotting and matching it with Anderson's reserved camerawork. It's the rare film that would just as easily belong in a film class as a stoner's basement television at three in the morning. Much the same way that the Coen brothers' The Big Lebowski has lived on for decades, you can guarantee that Inherent Vice will be watched for years to come.

Despite what you might think, getting nominated or even winning an Oscar award doesn't guarantee a movie's longevity. After all, who's still talking about The Reader (winner for Best Actress in 2008) or The Cider House Rules (Best Supporting Actor and Adapted Screenplay in 1999)? It's arguably even harder for the nominees and winners of Best Foreign Film to really make a long-lasting impact on the pop culture landscape.

However, even with all that said, we expect 2014's Wild Tales to foster a very healthy cult following as the years go on. The film is an anthology of stories about violence and vengeance, all written and directed by Damián Szifron. Each segment is short, snappy, and feels like The Twilight Zone mashed together with a classic Grindhouse vibe. Speeding motorists, vengeful brides, and homicidal cooks abound, and Wild Tales never lets any particular segment drag on too long. The performances and cinematography are absolutely stunning, particularly a segment that features long, beautiful shots of an Argentinian highway that looks straight out of a Fiat commercial—if a Fiat commercial also involved a fight to the death on the side of the road.

It's certainly been a bit odd watching Channing Tatum become Steven Soderbergh's muse. The actor and director came together on the set of Magic Mike and have worked together on a score of projects afterwards. Easily the most charming film to come out of their creative partnership was Logan Lucky, a tongue-in-cheek Ocean's Eleven-esque heist film about two brothers who decide to rob the Charlotte Motor Speedway. The winking nods to Ocean's Eleven might come off as distracting or even mocking in the hands of anyone other than Soderbergh himself (who directed the George Clooney-starring trilogy), but Logan Lucky manages to feel reminiscent of the classic heist film without ever feeling indebted to it.

Even more, it's a genuine joy to watch Soderbergh assemble such a talented cast and let them carry the movie with their charm. Tatum joins Adam Driver, Riley Keough, Dwight Yoakam, and Daniel Craig (whose scene-stealing role as Joe Bangs, an incarcerated explosives expert, is a particular highlight). Still, despite the star power and rave reviews, the film barely managed to make back its budget domestically. Even so, Logan Lucky is an inordinately fun movie, and it's just waiting for an audience to catch on to its zany vibe.

There are plenty of films that take place in Los Angeles and Hollywood, but those which portray the culture of the City of Angels in a clear and recognizable way is surprisingly rare. Ingrid Goes West joins the hallowed halls of accurate Los Angeles movies with characters so real you would swear you've met them (or followed them on Instagram, at least). The film follows Ingrid (Aubrey Plaza), a mentally disturbed woman left adrift after her mother's passing. After she starts following an Instagram influencer named Taylor (Elizabeth Olsen), Ingrid starts following Taylor offline too, moving all the way to Los Angeles in a twisted and manipulative bid to become her best friend.

Ingrid Goes West is a grim but funny look at celebrity culture, social media usage, and the performative nature of friendship, all buoyed by an unshakable performance from Plaza. She injects genuine emotion and realism into a character that, in lesser hands, could have come off as a Millenial straw man. Ingrid Goes West didn't quite connect with audiences, but it's one of the most quintessential Los Angeles movies ever made.