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100 Best Movies on Netflix Ranked by Tomatometer (March 2023)
In our world of massive entertainment options, who’s got time to waste on the below-average? You’ve got a subscription, you’re ready for a marathon, and you want only the best movies no Netflix to watch. With thousands of choices on the platform, both original and acquired, we’ve found the 100 top Netflix movies with the highest Tomatometer scores! Time to get comfy on the couch!
See everything that’s being added new to Netflix in March 2023 !
The most recent additions of best movies on Netflix include Rango (from Nickelodeon ).
His House (2020) 100%
The Forty-Year-Old Version (2020) 99%
Under the Shadow (2016) 99%
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) 98%
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020) 97%
The Hurt Locker (2008) 97%
Hell or High Water (2016) 97%
Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018) 97%
Dolemite Is My Name (2019) 97%
Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) 97%
Mudbound (2017) 97%
I Lost My Body (2019) 97%
Rocks (2019) 97%
Roma (2018) 96%
Atlantics (2019) 96%
To All the Boys I've Loved Before (2018) 96%
Life of Brian (1979) 96%
Outside In (2017) 96%
The Irishman (2019) 95%
Marriage Story (2019) 95%
It Follows (2014) 95%
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) 95%
Klaus (2019) 95%
Croupier (1998) 95%
Call Me by Your Name (2017) 94%
The Power of the Dog (2021) 94%
Moneyball (2011) 94%
The Lost Daughter (2021) 94%
The Sea Beast (2022) 94%
Private Life (2018) 94%
Enola Holmes 2 (2022) 94%
Captain Phillips (2013) 93%
Spider-Man 2 (2004) 93%
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) 93%
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) (2017) 93%
Hustle (2022) 93%
Cam (2018) 93%
Hush (2016) 93%
Sand Storm (2016) 93%
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022) 92%
Skyfall (2012) 92%
Da 5 Bloods (2020) 92%
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019) 92%
We the Animals (2018) 92%
The Little Prince (2015) 92%
Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical (2022) 92%
Set It Up (2018) 92%
Parenthood (1989) 92%
Mindhorn (2016) 92%
Uncorked (2020) 92%
La La Land (2016) 91%
Phantom Thread (2017) 91%
The Nice Guys (2016) 91%
Zero Dark Thirty (2012) 91%
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) 91%
Philomena (2013) 91%
The White Tiger (2021) 91%
Beasts of No Nation (2015) 91%
High Flying Bird (2019) 91%
Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood (2022) 91%
Happy as Lazzaro (2018) 91%
Full Metal Jacket (1987) 91%
Gerald's Game (2017) 91%
When Harry Met Sally... (1989) 91%
Rocky (1976) 92%
The Willoughbys (2020) 91%
National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) 91%
1922 (2017) 92%
Up in the Air (2009) 90%
The Imitation Game (2014) 90%
Minority Report (2002) 90%
Spider-Man (2002) 90%
The Two Popes (2019) 90%
All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) 89%
The Kindergarten Teacher (2018) 90%
Reservoir Dogs (1992) 90%
On Body and Soul (2017) 90%
The Bridges of Madison County (1995) 90%
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) 89%
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018) 89%
Always Be My Maybe (2019) 89%
I Am Mother (2019) 89%
I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017) 89%
Paddleton (2019) 89%
Brokeback Mountain (2005) 88%
Rango (2011) 88%
The Bad Guys (2022) 88%
Dope (2015) 88%
Oxygen (2021) 88%
Fear Street Part Three: 1666 (2021) 88%
Donnie Brasco (1997) 88%
American Beauty (1999) 87%
Kung Fu Panda (2008) 87%
Fear Street Part Two: 1978 (2021) 87%
My Father's Dragon (2022) 87%
Once Upon a Time in America (1984) 87%
The Breaker Upperers (2018) 87%
It (2017) 86%
The Conjuring (2013) 86%
The Aviator (2004) 86%
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The 50 Best Movies on Netflix (March 2023)
The best movies on Netflix can be hard to find, but we’re not likely to run out of great films any time soon. There’s plenty to choose from, whether you’re looking for the best action movies, the best horror films, the best comedies or the best classic movies on Netflix. We’ve updated the list for 2023 to remove great films that’ve left while highlighting underseen excellence.
Rather than spending your time scrolling through categories, trying to track down the perfect film to watch, we’ve done our best to make it easy for you at Paste by updating our Best Movies to watch on Netflix list each week with new additions and overlooked films alike.
Here are the 50 best movies streaming on Netflix right now:
1. If Beale Street Could Talk Year: 2018 Director: Barry Jenkins Stars: Kiki Layne, Stephan James, Regina King, Brian Tyree Henry, Colman Domingo, Michael Beach, Teyonah Pariss, Aunjanue Ellis Rating: R Runtime: 117 minutes
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Time for our characters elliptical, and the love story between Tish (Kiki Layne) and Fonny (Stephan James) the rhythm we’ll return to over and over. As our narrator, Tish speaks in both curt statements and koans, Barry Jenkins’ screenplay translating James Baldwin’s novel as an oneiric bit of voyeurism: When the two finally consummate their relationship after a lifetime (barely two decades) of friendship between them and their families, the mood is divine and revelatory. Do people actually have sex like that? God no, but maybe we wish we did? And sometimes we convince ourselves we have, with the right person, just two bodies alone, against the world, in a space—maybe the only space—of their own. The couple’s story is simple and not: A cop (Ed Skrein) with a petty score to settle against Fonny connives a Puerto Rican woman (Emily Rios) who was raped to pick Fonny out of a lineup, even though his alibi and all evidence suggests otherwise. In the film’s first scene, we watch Tish visit Fonny in jail to tell him that she’s pregnant. He’s ecstatic; we immediately recognize that unique alchemy of terror and joy that accompanies any new parent, but we also know that for a young black couple, the world is bent against their love thriving. “I hope that nobody has ever had to look at anybody they love through glass,” Tish says. Do they hope? James and Layne’s performances, so wondrously in sync, suggest they must, one flesh with no other choice. As Tish’s mother, Regina King perhaps best understands the wickedness of that hope, playing Sharon as a woman who can’t quite get what she wants, but who seems to intuit that such progress may be further than most in her situation. Beleaguered but undaunted, she’s the film’s matriarch, a force of such warmth that, even in our fear watching as Tish’s belly grows and her hope wanes, Sharon’s presence reassures us—not that everything will be alright, but that everything will be. The end of If Beale Street Could Talk is practically a given—unless your ignorance guides you throughout this idiotic world—but there is still love in those final moments, as much love as there was in the film’s symmetrical opening. There’s hope in that, however pathetically little. —Dom Sinacola
2. Monty Python and the Holy Grail Year: 1975 Directors: Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones Stars: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Connie Booth Rating: PG
It sucks that some of the shine has been taken off Holy Grail by its own overwhelming ubiquity. Nowadays, when we hear a “flesh wound,” a “ni!” or a “huge tracts of land,” our first thoughts are often of having full scenes repeated to us by clueless, obsessive nerds . Or, in my case, of repeating full scenes to people as a clueless, obsessive nerd. But, if you try and distance yourself from the over-saturation factor, and revisit the film after a few years, you’ll find new jokes that feel as fresh and hysterical as the ones we all know. Holy Grail is, indeed, the most densely packed comedy in the Python canon. There are so many jokes in this movie, and it’s surprising how easily we forget that, considering its reputation. If you’re truly and irreversibly burnt out from this movie, watch it again with commentary, and discover the second level of appreciation that comes from the inventiveness with which it was made. It certainly doesn’t look like a $400,000 movie, and it’s delightful to discover which of the gags (like the coconut halves) were born from a need for low-budget workarounds. The first-time co-direction from onscreen performer Terry Jones (who only sporadically directed after Python broke up) and lone American Terry Gilliam (who prolifically bent Python’s cinematic style into his own unique brand of nightmarish fantasy) moves with a surreal efficiency. —Graham Techler
3. The Irishman Year: 2019 Director: Martin Scorsese Stars: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Jesse Plemons, Anna Paquin Rating: R
Peggy Sheeran (Lucy Gallina) watches her father, Frank (Robert De Niro), through a door left ajar as he packs his suitcase for a work trip. In go trousers and shirts, each neatly tucked and folded against the luggage’s interior. In goes the snubnose revolver, the ruthless tool of Frank’s trade. He doesn’t know his daughter’s eyes are on him; she’s constitutionally quiet, and remains so throughout most of their interaction as adults. He shuts the case. She disappears behind the door. Her judgment lingers. The scene plays out one third of the way into Martin Scorsese’s new film, The Irishman , named for Frank’s mob world sobriquet, and replays in its final shot, as Frank, old, decrepit and utterly, hopelessly alone, abandoned by his family and bereft of his gangster friends through the passage of time, sits on his nursing home bed. Maybe he’s waiting for Death, but most likely he’s waiting for Peggy (played as an adult by Anna Paquin), who disowned him and has no intention of forgiving him his sins. Peggy serves as Scorsese’s moral arbiter. She’s a harsh judge: The film takes a dim view of machismo as couched in the realm of mafiosa and mugs. When Scorsese’s principal characters aren’t scheming or paying off schemes in acts of violence, they’re throwing temper tantrums, eating ice cream or in an extreme case slap-fighting in a desperately pathetic throwdown. This scene echoes similarly pitiful scenes in Akira Kurosawa’s Drunken Angel and Rashomon : brawls between wannabe roughs afraid of brawling, but forced into it by their own bravado. The Irishman spans the 1950s to the early 2000s, the years Frank worked for the Bufalino crime family, led by Russell (Joe Pesci, out of retirement and intimidating). “Working” means murdering some people, muscling others, even blowing up a car or a building when the occasion warrants. When disengaged from gangland terrorism, he’s at home reading the paper, watching the news, dragging Peggy to the local grocer to give him a beatdown for shoving her. “I only did what you should,” the poor doomed bastard says before Frank drags him out to the street and crushes his hand on the curb. The Irishman is historical nonfiction, chronicling Sheeran’s life, and through his life the lives of the Bufalinos and their associates, particularly those who died before their time (that being most of them). It’s also a portrait of childhood cast in the shadow of dispassionate brutality, and what a young girl must do to find safety in a world defined by bloodshed. —Andy Crump
4. I Am Not Your Negro Year: 2017 Director: Raoul Peck Rating: PG-13
Raoul Peck focuses on James Baldwin’s unfinished book Remember This House , a work that would have memorialized three of his friends, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Medgar Evers. All three black men were assassinated within five years of each other, and we learn in the film that Baldwin was not just concerned about these losses as terrible blows to the Civil Rights movement, but deeply cared for the wives and children of the men who were murdered. Baldwin’s overwhelming pain is as much the subject of the film as his intellect. And so I Am Not Your Negro is not just a portrait of an artist, but a portrait of mourning—what it looks, sounds and feels like to lose friends, and to do so with the whole world watching (and with so much of America refusing to understand how it happened, and why it will keep happening). Peck could have done little else besides give us this feeling, placing us squarely in the presence of Baldwin, and I Am Not Your Negro would have likely still been a success. His decision to steer away from the usual documentary format, where respected minds comment on a subject, creates a sense of intimacy difficult to inspire in films like this. The pleasure of sitting with Baldwin’s words, and his words alone, is exquisite. There’s no interpreter, no one to explain Baldwin but Baldwin—and this is how it should be. —Shannon M. Houston
5. Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio Year: 2022 Director: Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson Stars: Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Gregory Mann, Ron Perlman, Finn Wolfhard, Christoph Waltz, Tilda Swinton, Cate Blanchett Rating: PG Runtime: 114 minutes
Guillermo del Toro has never shied away from infusing the harsh realities of life and death into the journeys of his young protagonists. His fascination with the intersections of childhood innocence and macabre whimsy are what make him the ideal co-director of Netflix’s newest Pinocchio adaptation, a work that marvelously marries the filmmaker’s flair for dark fantasy with the equally strange fairy tale elements of Carlo Collodi’s 1883 The Adventures of Pinocchio . Like all successful marriages, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio brings out the very best of both parties. The stop-motion musical is an artistic triumph that colors Collodi’s cherished storybook characters with humanity and depth to craft a mature tale about rebellion, mortality and the love between a parent and child. This rendition marks the 22nd film adaptation of the Italian novel, and while it remains true to the grisly nature of Collodi’s original stories, it boldly departs from its dated moral lessons. In The Adventures of Pinocchio (and notable renditions thereafter), Pinnochio’s many escapades are structured as cause-and-effect narratives that serve to caution children against defiant behavior. In Disney’s 1940 animated feature, an evening of fun and relaxation on “Pleasure Island’’ nearly turns the wooden boy into a salt-mining donkey. In the original serial La Storia di un Burattino , delinquent behavior leads him to a gruesome death. These values of compliance and servility are reversed by del Toro’s fascist setting. In his Pinocchio , disobedience is a virtue—not a crime. These moral examinations are given a sense of urgency in death—a theme that informs so much of the film’s mind and soul. Where previous adaptations are preoccupied with life—with the puppet’s extraordinary consciousness and the hope that he may someday become a “real boy”— del Toro’s Pinocchio is interested in what our mortality can teach us about being human. In the film, death is never too far away from the protagonist or his loved ones. Death touches Carlo, then remains close to Pinocchio throughout his epic journey. The beauty of del Toro’s Pinocchio is that death isn’t treated with the usual dread and cynicism we typically see in the Western world. Here, death is mysterious, ethereal, soaked in gorgeous blue light. Death is not something to be feared, but respected and accepted when the time comes, because the notion that we will someday—maybe unexpectedly—leave this earth is what makes our time here so beautiful. I don’t typically advise listening to crickets, but believe Sebastian J., because the story of Pinocchio has never been told quite like this.— Kathy Michelle Chacón
6. Uncut Gems Year: 2019 Directors: Josh Safdie, Benny Safdie Stars: Adam Sandler, Julia Fox, Eric Bogosian Rating: R
The proprietor of an exclusive shop in New York’s diamond district, Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler) does well for himself and his family, though he can’t help but gamble compulsively, owing his brother-in-law Aron (Eric Bogosian, malevolently slimy) a substantial amount. Still, Howard has other risks to balance—his payroll’s comprised of Demany (Lakeith Stanfield), a finder of both clients and product, and Julia (Julia Fox, an unexpected beacon amidst the storm in her first feature role), a clerk with whom Howard’s carrying on an affair, “keeping” her comfortable in his New York apartment. Except his wife’s (Idina Menzel, pristinely jaded) obviously sick of his shit, and meanwhile he’s got a special delivery coming from Africa: a black opal, the stone we got to know intimately in the film’s first scene, which Howard estimates is worth millions. Then Demany happens to bring Kevin Garnett (as himself, keyed so completely into the Safdie brothers’ tone) into the shop on the same day the opal arrives, inspiring a once-in-a-lifetime bet for Howard—the kind that’ll square him with Aron and then some—as well as a host of new crap to get straight. It’s all undoubtedly stressful—really relentlessly, achingly stressful—but the Safdies, on their sixth film, seem to thrive in anxiety, capturing the inertia of Howard’s life, and of the innumerable lives colliding with his, in all of its full-bodied beauty. Just before a game, Howard reveals to Garnett his grand plan for a big payday, explaining that Garnett gets it, right? That guys like them are keyed into something greater, working on a higher wavelength than most—that this is how they win. He may be onto something, or he may be pulling everything out of his ass—regardless, we’ve always known Sandler’s had it in him. This may be exactly what we had in mind. —Dom Sinacola
7. She’s Gotta Have It Year: 1986 Director: Spike Lee Stars: Tracy Camila Johns, Spike Lee, John Canada Terrell, Tommy Redmond Hicks Rating: R
An explosively frank feature debut that immediately announced Lee’s brave, fresh new voice in American cinema, She’s Gotta Have It , shot like a documentary, is a levelheaded exploration of a young black woman named Nola (Tracy Camilla Johns) trying to decide between her three male lovers, while also flirting with her apparent bisexuality, in order to, first and foremost, figure out what makes her happy. What’s refreshing about the film is that Lee always brings up the possibility that “none of the above” is a perfectly viable answer for both Nola and for single women—a game changer in 1986. The DIY indie grainy black-and-white cinematography boosts the film’s in-your-face realism. —Oktay Ege Kozak
8. The Last Forest Year: 2022 Director: Luiz Bolognesi Rating: NR
A 76-minute documentary from director Luiz Bolognesi and co-writer/subject/Yanomami leader Davi Kopenawa, The Last Forest blends gripping mythological reenactments with slice-of-life footage to craft an incisive and insightful look at an Indigenous culture resisting the corrupting—of mind and body, thanks to chemicals and COVID-19—influence of capitalistic greed. In the rainforests of Brazil, the lure of gold still brings out the worst in outsiders. Through arresting shots drenched in green and yellow, then submerged in smoke and sound, Bolognesi sets the scene while Kopenawa tells their stories. Their methods combine to make The Last Forest a rhythmic and liminal protest that’ll easily entrance you with its skillful sensations. But Bolognesi’s technical abilities at capturing motion and process shouldn’t be ignored, despite the film’s sometimes gossamer beauty: Watching a bow draw and loose an arrow, or a kid nestle into a hammocked parent, is artful and satisfying through his lens. In that blend of practicality and abstraction, it truly feels like Bolognesi and Kopenawa let you into their lives—and there’s no better way to build empathy and respect than that.— Jacob Oller
9. The Nice Guys Year: 2016 Directors: Shane Black Stars: Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Angourie Rice, Margaret Qualley, Keith David Rating: R Runtime: 116 minutes
Good performances can polish average movies with just enough elbow grease they end up looking like gems. Think Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook , or Alan Rickman in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves . Every advance that Shane Black’s The Nice Guys takes toward quality is made on the strengths of Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling. Black is as quick with action scenes as with punchlines. The Nice Guys is funny. It’s exciting. If you find yourself growing tired of wordplay, Black will turn things around and slide in some Three Stooges slapstick. If you get tired of that , he’ll set off a gun or throw a few punches, though it is impossible to imagine anybody finding the clownish sight of Gosling tumbling off of balconies or crashing through plate glass tiresome. Gosling and Crowe are a great pair, so great that their team-up should justify funding for a buddy picture series where Holland and Jackson undertake jobs that spiral out of hand and above their pay grades. Crowe plays it straight and grumpy, and you half expect him to declare that he’s too old for this shit at any given moment. Gosling, on the other hand, shapes Holland through boozy tomfoolery and pratfalls. They’re a standout odd couple, but Black’s films are defined by great odd couples as much as they are by great scripting. In The Nice Guys , he leaves it up to Gosling and Crowe to use the former to fill in the gaps left behind by the lack of the latter.— Andy Crump
10. It Follows Year: 2015 Director: David Robert Mitchell Stars: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Daniel Zovatto, Jake Weary, Olivia Luccardi, Lili Sepe Rating: R
The specter of Old Detroit haunts It Follows . In a dilapidating ice cream stand on 12 Mile, in the ’60s-style ranch homes of Ferndale or Berkley, in a game of Parcheesi played by pale teenagers with nasally, nothing accents—if you’ve never been, you’d never recognize the stale, gray nostalgia creeping into every corner of David Robert Mitchell’s terrifying film. But it’s there, and it feels like SE Michigan. The music, the muted but strangely sumptuous color palette, the incessant anachronism: In style alone, Mitchell is an auteur seemingly emerged fully formed from the unhealthy womb of Metro Detroit. Cycles and circles concentrically fill out It Follows , from the particularly insular rules of the film’s horror plot, to the youthful, fleshy roundness of the faces and bodies of this small group of main characters, never letting the audience forget that, in so many ways, these people are still children. In other words, Mitchell is clear about his story: This has happened before, and it will happen again. All of which wouldn’t work were Mitchell less concerned with creating a genuinely unnerving film, but every aesthetic flourish, every fully circular pan is in thrall to breathing morbid life into a single image: someone, anyone slowly separating from the background, from one’s nightmares, and walking toward you, as if Death itself were to appear unannounced next to you in public, ready to steal your breath with little to no aplomb. Initially, Mitchell’s whole conceit—passing on a haunting through intercourse—seems to bury conservative sexual politics under typical horror movie tropes, proclaiming to be a progressive genre pic when it functionally does nothing to further our ideas of slasher fare. You fornicate, you find punishment for your flagrant, loveless sinning, right? (The film has more in common with a Judd Apatow joint than you’d expect.) Instead, Mitchell never once judges his characters for doing what practically every teenager wants to do; he simply lays bare, through a complex allegory, the realities of teenage sex. There is no principled implication behind Mitchell’s intent; the cold conclusion of sexual intercourse is that, in some manner, you are sharing a certain degree of your physicality with everyone with whom your partner has shared the same. That he accompanies this admission with genuine respect and empathy for the kinds of characters who, in any other horror movie, would be little more than visceral fodder for a sadistic spirit, elevates It Follows from the realm of disguised moral play into a sickly scary coming-of-age tale. Likewise, Mitchell inherently understands that there is practically nothing more eerie than the slightly off-kilter ordinary, trusting the film’s true horror to the tricks our minds play when we forget to check our periphery. It Follows is a film that thrives in the borders, not so much about the horror that leaps out in front of you, but the deeper anxiety that waits at the verge of consciousness—until, one day soon, it’s there, reminding you that your time is limited, and that you will never be safe. Forget the risks of teenage sex, It Follows is a penetrating metaphor for growing up. —Dom Sinacola
11. Bonnie and Clyde Year: 1967 Director: Arthur Penn Stars: Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard, Gene Hackman Rating: R Runtime: 111 minutes
There was a short period in American film history just after the general public got sick of the mundane, cloying dramas and comedies the ‘60s, but before the studios discovered the lucrative benefits of franchises like Jaws and Star Wars that could pile sequel upon sequel, rake in merchandise proceeds, and guarantee a steady stream of big money regardless of artistic merit. In that odd little interval, studio executives had no better idea than simply throwing money at talented directors and hoping to get lucky. Movies like Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde possess a gritty kind of realism that is every bit as clever and wise as the French New Wave, but infused with the freewheeling American spirit that hadn’t yet been stifled by a corporate agenda. —Shane Ryan
12. A Cop Movie Year: 2021 Director: Alonso Ruizpalacios Rating: R Runtime: 107 minutes
Out of the many striking shots captured in the docu-fiction hybrid A Cop Movie , one conveys the essence of director Alonso Ruizpalacios’ examination of Mexico’s police force unlike any other. After tying her wrist to a long, flimsy piece of rope, police academy trainee Teresa prepares to jump off of a 30-foot diving platform and into a swimming pool. It is the last challenge she must overcome in order to graduate—that of “decisiveness”—but poses an enormous threat to her life as she cannot swim, her likely fate of drowning callously counteracted by keeping her wrist tethered to land. Interestingly, Teresa turns out to be less of a documentary subject and more of an avatar for Ruizpalacios to survey the civilian perspective of the country’s police force. Presented as the honest central subject for nearly half of the film, Teresa (who is based on a real person) turns out to be played by actress Monica del Carmen, who has expertly molded herself in the real-life officer’s image, reenacting memories from her days as an academy student to her most recent workplace woes patrolling the streets of Mexico City. At her side is fellow actor Raúl Briones, who portrays Montoya (also a real guy), the second half of the duo dubbed “the love patrol” by other cops due to their flirtatious relationship as partners. Though initially presenting themselves as two officers simply doing their best within a crumbling system, the second half of the film makes it clear that these sentiments are only the biased projections of their real-life counterparts. Through carefully crafting this illusion and then stealthily unveiling the hypocrisy behind it, A Cop Movie is subtle yet audacious in its indictment of police corruption and the individual officers who buy into it—their good intentions be damned. — Natalia Keogan
13. The Disciple Year: 2021 Director: Chaitanya Tamhane Stars: Aditya Modak, Arun Dravid, Sumitra Bhave Rating: TV-MA Runtime: 128 minutes
Devoting your life to something—art, passion, religion—is sold to us as admirable, but often only if it fulfills our romantic ideals of what that life looks like. Is success, no matter how late or even posthumous, the justification for striving? Writer/director/editor Chaitanya Tamhane explores this idea through the life of classical Indian singer Sharad Nerulkar (Aditya Modak), an earnest hardliner raised by his music-loving father and recordings of legendary singer/guru Maai (Sumitra Bhave). Will he be recognized for greatness, stepping out of the shadows? Or will he follow his father into tangential obscurity? Fascinating long takes resonating with the same kind of richness found in its myriad array of singers’ undulating taan allow us plenty of space to take in the music and the devotion on display; sharp, dark humor punctuates the contemplative film with jabs at pigheadedness. Modok’s excellent performance contains similar depth, all hidden behind a yearning tension and unwavering gaze. He embodies the unfulfilled artist, one who sees success all around him from fools and rubes—though he can’t consider what could possibly be holding him back. It’s a heartbreaking, endearing, prickly performance, and one that creates a truly winning portrait. Even when it rolls along as steadily and dispassionately as Sharad’s motorcycle, The Disciple contains warmth for its central sadsack artist and his dedication to never selling out.— Jacob Oller
14. The Master Year: 2012 Director: Paul Thomas Anderson Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Laura Dern Rating: R
The Master studies its characters with such mystique, tragedy and humor that there’s not a moment that isn’t enthralling. Writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson continues some of the stylistic tendencies from his last film, There Will Be Blood , but he also finds ways to constantly take risks and make bold choices that are thoroughly unpredictable. Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and his religion, The Cause, are obviously inspired by L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology, and that link was the focal point of the film’s pre-release press coverage. The parallels between the two ideologies are inescapable, yet they’re not the point. Anderson never adopts the viewpoint of religion/cult as freak show. Even in a brilliant montage depicting a series of grueling exercises that Freddie (Joaquin Phoenix) can’t or won’t let enlighten him, the personal struggle is in the forefront. The bizarreness of the rituals is almost incidental. Phoenix gives the performance of his career as a booze-soaked World War II veteran with mental and physical scars. Having gleaned little benefit from a psychiatric crash-course for returning soldiers with post-traumatic issues, he stumbles around one place until he must flee to another, obsessing over sex and making experimental hooch. Anderson has always been a visual virtuoso, and he uses the added detail to superb effect. Dodd first appears during a tracking shot of Freddie, seen in the distance as a tiny but exuberant figure on a cruise ship, small yet still the center of attention. Freddie has not yet met Dodd, but the boat is calling to him. That could be because Dodd knew Freddie in a past life, or it could be because Freddie is a desperate drunk looking for a place to hide. Freddie’s great tragedy is that the less appealing explanation gives him no answer, while the other gives him the wrong answer. — Jeremy Mathews
15. Raw Year: 2016 Director: Julia Ducournou Stars: Garance Marillier, Ella Rumpf, Laurent Lucas Rating: R Runtime: 99 minutes
If you’re the proud owner of a twisted sense of humor, you might tell your friends that Julia Ducournau’s Raw is a “coming of age movie” in a bid to trick them into seeing it. Yes, the film’s protagonist, naive incoming college student Justine (Garance Marillier), comes of age over the course of its running time; she parties, she breaks out of her shell, and she learns about who she really is as a person on the verge of adulthood. But most kids who come of age in the movies don’t realize that they’ve spent their lives unwittingly suppressing an innate, nigh-insatiable need to consume raw meat. “Hey,” you’re thinking, “that’s the name of the movie!” You’re right! It is! Allow Ducournau her cheekiness. More than a wink and nod to the picture’s visceral particulars, Raw is an open concession to the harrowing quality of Justine’s grim blossoming. Nasty as the film gets, and it does indeed get nasty, the harshest sensations Ducournau articulates here tend to be the ones we can’t detect by merely looking: Fear of feminine sexuality, family legacies, popularity politics, and uncertainty of self govern Raw ’s horrors as much as exposed and bloody flesh. It’s a gorefest that offers no apologies and plenty more to chew on than its effects. —Andy Crump
16. Da 5 Bloods Year: 2020 Director: Spike Lee Stars: Clarke Peters, Delroy Lindo, Norman Lewis, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Chadwick Boseman, Jonathan Majors Rating: R
The hunt for buried gold neither ends well nor goes off without a hitch. The long road to reconciliation, whether with one’s trauma, family or national identity, is never without bumps. Glue these truths together with the weathering effects of institutional racism, add myriad references to history—American history, music history, film history—and you get Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods , a classically styled Vietnam action picture made in his cinematic vision. As in 2018’s BlacKkKlansman , Lee connects the dots between past and present, linking the struggle for civil rights couched in conscientious objection and protest to contemporary America’s own struggle against state-sanctioned fascism. After opening with a montage of events comprising and figures speaking out against the Vietnam War, referred to predominantly as the American War throughout the rest of the movie, Lee introduces four of the five bloods: Otis (Clarke Peters), Paul (Delroy Lindo), Eddie (Norm Lewis) and Melvin (Isiah Whitlock Jr.), bonded Vietnam vets returned to Ho Chi Minh City ostensibly to find and recover the bones of their fallen squad leader, Norman (Chadwick Boseman). There’s more, of course, “more” being around $17 million in gold bars planted in Vietnamese soil, property of the CIA but reappropriated by the Bloods as reparations for their personal suffering as men fighting a war for a country governed by people who don’t care about their rights. Lee’s at the height of his powers when bluntly making the case that for as much time as has passed since the Vietnam War’s conclusion, America’s still stubbornly waging the same wars on its own people and, for that matter, the rest of the world. And Lee is still angry at and discontent with the status quo, being the continued oppression of Black Americans through police brutality, voter suppression and medical neglect. In this context, Da 5 Bloods ’ breadth is almost necessary. As Paul would say: Right on. — Andy Crump
17. Creep Year: 2014 Director: Patrick Brice Stars: Mark Duplass, Patrick Brice Rating: R
Creep is a somewhat predictable but cheerfully demented little indie horror film, the directorial debut by Brice, who also released this year’s The Overnight . Starring the ever-prolific Mark Duplass, it’s a character study of two men—naive videographer and not-so-secretly psychotic recluse, the latter of which hires the former to come document his life out in a cabin in the woods. It leans entirely on its performances, which are excellent. Duplass, who can be charming and kooky in something like Safety Not Guaranteed , shines here as the deranged lunatic who forces himself into the protagonist’s life and haunts his every waking moment. The early moments of back-and-forth between the pair crackle with a sort of awkward intensity. Anyone genre-savvy will no doubt see where it’s going, but it’s a well-crafted ride that succeeds on the strength of chemistry between its two principal leads in a way that reminds me of the scenes between Domhnall Gleeson and Oscar Isaac in Ex Machina . —Jim Vorel
18. Rango Year: 2011 Director: Gore Verbinski Stars: Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin, Ned Beatty, Alfred Molina, Bill Nighy Rating: PG
The most surprising thing about Rango is how much Johnny Depp disappears into the character of a nameless pet chameleon who creates his identity when his terrarium falls out of the back of a car into the desert frontier. Unlike a certain cartoon panda, who was basically an animated version of every Jack Black character ever, Rango is no Keith Richards with an eye-patch or crazy barber/milliner/chocolatier. He’s a cipher who becomes a fraud who becomes a hero. —Josh Jackson
19. Ip Man Year: 2008 Director: Wilson Yip Stars: Donnie Yen, Lynn Hung, Dennis To, Syun-Wong Fen, Simon Yam, Gordon Lam Rating: R
2008’s Ip Man marked, finally, the moment when the truly excellent but never fairly regarded Donnie Yen came into his own, playing a loosely biographical version of the legendary grandmaster of Wing Chung and teacher of a number of future martial arts masters (one of whom was Bruce Lee). In Foshan (a city famous for martial arts in southern/central China), an unassuming practitioner of Wing Chung tries to weather the 1937 Japanese invasion and occupation of China peacefully, but is eventually forced into action. Limb-breaking, face-pulverizing action fills this semi-historical film, which succeeds gloriously both as compelling drama and martial arts fan-bait. — K. Alexander Smith
20. The Lost Daughter Year: 2021 Director: Maggie Gyllenhaal Stars: Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Dagmara Dominczyk, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Peter Sarsgaard, Ed Harris Rating: R Runtime: 124 minutes
On the beach that comparative literature scholar Leda (Olivia Colman) lounges on throughout The Lost Daughter , the skies are a crystal blue, the beaches a shimmering white, the water warm and translucent. But the shore is also infested with crass, noisy people; Leda’s fruit infected by a malignant rot; her bedroom contaminated with screeching bugs; a little girl’s doll corrupted by noxious black liquid and writhing insects. This tonal tension is symptomatic of the film’s spirit: It’s a glossy apple, rapidly decaying from the inside out. The film takes place over a couple of days as Leda settles into a lavish working vacation. Her relaxation is interrupted, however, when she first lays eyes on Nina (Dakota Johnson), a beautiful, inscrutable young mother. Leda becomes obsessed with Nina, as the latter inadvertently resurfaces troubling memories of Leda’s own distressing experiences as a mother. From that moment onward, Leda’s haunting memories permeate The Lost Daughter until the apple is completely black. While the narrative itself, adapted from Elena Ferrante’s 2006 novel of the same name, is relatively straightforward, debut director Maggie Gyllenhaal, who also wrote the screenplay, tackles themes of internalized and externalized sexism with agility and complexity. Leda’s subtle, complex mental state would not have been possible to convey were it not for Gyllenhaal’s outstanding visual sensibilities. Leda’s struggles are largely internal, but I’m confident that Gyllenhaal’s uniquely tactile storytelling says a great deal more than words ever could. When Leda caresses Elena’s grimy doll, her touch is gentle and somehow filled with regret. When she slides a pin into Nina’s hat, it sounds sinister like a sword being unsheathed, but her careful placement is almost sensual. And when a younger Leda slices the flesh of an orange, her smooth, tactful carving almost feels ominous. Gyllenhaal’s extraordinary direction, paired with exceptional performances from The Lost Daughter ’s lead actresses, culminate in a perfect storm that yields an astute portrait of the painful expectations of womanhood.— Aurora Amidon
21. I Lost My Body Year: 2019 Director: Jérémy Clapin Stars: Hakim Faris Hamza, Victoire Du Bois, Patrick d’Assumçao Rating: TV-MA Runtime: 81 minutes
While we’re on board, at least passively, for however many sequels Pixar wants to give Toy Story , patient for however long another one takes, I Lost My Body is a singular animated film, increasingly of the kind that, frankly, don’t get made anymore. Partly because hand-drawn features made by small studios are rarer than ever, but mostly because it’s a defiantly adult animated film, wreathed in oblique storytelling and steeped in grief. Ostensibly about an anthropomorphic hand climbing and skittering its way across the city to find the person to whom it was once attached—the story of its severing slowly coming to light—the beauty of director Jérémy Clapin’s images, often limned in filth and decay, is in how revelatory they can be when tied so irrevocably to the perspective of a small hand navigating both its nascent life in the treacherous urban underground and the traumatic memories of its host body’s past. I Lost My Body is an unassuming, quietly heartbreaking achievement, one the Academy needs to prioritize now more than ever over expectedly competent big studio fare. —Dom Sinacola
22. Christine Year: 2016 Director: Antonio Campos Stars: Rebecca Hall, Michael C. Hall, Tracy Letts, Maria Dizzia, J. Smith-Cameron, John Cullum, Timothy Simons Rating: R
Why did TV journalist Christine Chubbuck take her life on camera in 1974? The brilliance of this Antonio Campos drama is that it tries to answer that question while still respecting the enormity and unknowability of such a violent, tragic act. Rebecca Hall is momentous as Christine, a deeply unhappy woman whose ambition has never matched her talent, and the actress is incredibly sympathetic in the part. As we move closer to Christine’s inevitable demise, we come to understand that Christine isn’t a morbid whodunit but, rather, a compassionate look at gender inequality and loneliness. — Tim Grierson
23. Blame! Year: 2017 Director: Hiroyuki Seshita Stars: Sora Amamiya, Kana Hanazawa, Takahiro Sakurai Rating: TV-14
When it comes to dark industrial sci-fi, Tsutomu Nihei is a visionary. Trained as an architect before pursuing a career as a manga author, Nihei’s art is simultaneously sparse and labyrinthine, his body of work defined by a unifying obsession with invented spaces. Byzantine factories with gothic accents spanning across impossible chasms, populated by bow-legged synthoids and ghoulish predators touting serrated bone-swords and pulsating gristle-guns. His first and most famous series, Blame! , is considered the key text in Nihei’s aesthetic legacy, going so far as to inspire everything from videogames, to music, and even art and fashion. Past attempts have been made to adapt the series into an anime, though none have been able to materialize successfully. That is, until now. With the support of Netflix, Hiroyuki Seshita of Polygon Pictures has delivered that long-awaited Blame! film. Set on a far-future Earth consumed by a massive, self-replicating superstructure known as ‘The City’, Blame! follows Killy, a taciturn loner, wandering the layers of the planet in search of a human possessing the ‘net terminal gene,’ an elusive trait thought to be the only means of halting the city’s perpetual hostile expansion. Boasting a screenplay penned by Sadayuki Murai, famed for his writing on such series as Cowboy Bebop and Satoshi Kon’s Perfect Blue , and supervised by Nihei himself, Seshita’s film abbreviates much of the manga’s early chapters and streamlines the story into an altogether more narrative and action-driven affair. Art director Hiroshi Takiguchi deftly replicates Nihei’s distinctive aesthetic, achieving in color what was before only monochromatic, while Yuki Moriyama capably improves on the uniform character designs of the original, imparting its casts with distinct, easily identifiable traits and silhouettes that greatly improve the story’s parsability. Blame! is as faithful an adaptation as is possible and as fitting an introduction to the series as the manga itself. Blame! builds a strong case for being not only one of the most conceptually entertaining anime films of late, but also for being one of, if not the best original anime film to grace Netflix in a long time. — Toussaint Egan
24. American Gangster Year: 2007 Director: Ridley Scott Stars: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Cuba Gooding Jr., Josh Brolin Rating: R Runtime: 156 minutes
With American Gangster , Ridley Scott harkens back to the more measured style of filmmaking evidenced in his defining sci-fi document Blade Runner . The director’s world-building skills, never in doubt, are on full display as he recreates mid-’70s Harlem. But his storytelling once again prioritizes character over fast action. Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, with the help of a talented supporting cast, light up this actor’s piece, turning in one audience delight after another. Washington is Frank Lucas, once right-hand man to a Harlem crime lord and eventually the most powerful and independent heroin dealer in New York City. Criminal or not, Lucas defines the American dream. Crowe is Ritchie Roberts, a too-honest cop given license to create an independent anti-drug unit, and he submerges into Roberts, displaying his considerable abilities in every frame. Meanwhile, Josh Brolin, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ted Levine and Armand Assante all contribute a unique strength nd credibility. Scott even makes T.I. and RZA look like actors. But the movie belongs to Washington and Crowe; the former cool and menacing, the latter slumped and disheveled. When they finally collide, the film sparks into overdrive. From beginning to end, American Gangster crackles with just performances that make genre filmmaking look like art.— Russ Fischer
25. Athena Release Date: September 23, 2022 Director: Romain Gavras Stars: Dali Benssalah, Sami Slimane, Anthony Bajon, Ouassini Embarek, Alexis Manenti Rating: R Runtime: 97 minutes
It’s been more than a decade since Romain Gavras filled his raw music video for “No Church in the Wild” with Molotovs, stolen police horses and dropkicked riot shields—visual motifs of protest heroics—and the only thing that’s changed is our familiarity with the aftermath. The rage behind these images still burns, but we know the cold comfort left behind when the embers are finally stomped out. Yet, the only thing to do is light the blaze again, which Gavras does in the riveting, vital Athena . A war epic between the people and the state, it sprints through a grassroots resistance movement like a brushfire: Blinding, dangerous, all-consuming. The warzone is Athena, a French housing project, where tragedy has assembled a community, grown from a family. Idir, 13 and the youngest of four brothers—Karim (Sami Slimane), Abdel (Dali Benssalah) and Moktar (Ouassini Embarek)—has been beaten to death by police. Someone recorded it on their phone. But we find this out in sprinkled bits of exposition, blown to confetti and wafting through the smoke-filled air. Our immediate attention is on Karim, leading a tracksuited pack of neighbors and like-minded young people, raiding a police station. The opening scene, the first of many incredible feats of planning, camerawork and drone operation, will make you vibrate through your seat. Gavras shoots long tracking shots like caffeine straight into your eyes: Painfully energizing. Athena ’s opening is one of the year’s best, a piece of relentless, fist-pumping, jaw-clenching, goosebumping action that doesn’t stop until you’re fully radicalized. It’s then that you start peering through the style, seeing how it mirrors the personalities of its perspective characters. There’s a reason Athena feels like a heart attack in motion. There’s pain and panic. Your heart rate isn’t spiking just from the rush. But until we realize that, Karim and his crew star in a sweeping, large-scale epic—a modern 1917 where the horrifying euphoria of war has come home. Athena isn’t here for subtlety. It’s here to blow the drums out of your ears, the lids off your eyes, the lead from your shoes. With shots that start at “un-fucking-believable” and rocket towards “im-fucking-possible,” its grandiose vision aims to define an international symbol of modernity: Protest As War. Benssalah and Slimane, more political gradients than people, guide us along the mythmaking until we’ve fully grasped the absurdity of Athena being both the God of wisdom and war. But, as Frank Ocean sings in “No Church in the Wild,” what’s a God to a nonbeliever? Athena burns bright and fast, searing its unforgettable battle cry into the screen over just 99 minutes. Its idealistic action will stay with you for far longer.— Jacob Oller
26. Dick Johnson Is Dead Year: 2020 Director: Kirsten Johnson Stars: Kirsten Johnson, Dick Johnson Rating: PG-13
If every great documentary is about the responsibility of observation, then Kirsten Johnson’s Cameraperson is also about the fragility of that observation. With her follow-up, Dick Johnson Is Dead , Johnson continues to interrogate that fragility, crafting a deeply personal ode to that over which she has no control: her father’s death. It helps that Dick Johnson is a mellifluous soul, an incessantly warm and beaming man surrounded by friends and colleagues and acquaintances who all uniformly, genuinely love him, but from its opening shots, Johnson makes it clear that her father’s wonderful nature will only make saying goodbye to him that much more difficult. And the time when she must do so looms closer and closer. Her impetus, she reluctantly acknowledges, is partly selfish as she decides to help acquaint her father with the end of his life, reenacting in lavish cinematic vignettes the many ways in which he could go out, from falling air conditioner unit, to nail-festooned 2×4 to the face, to your run-of-the-mill tumble down the stairs, replete with broken neck. The more Johnson loses herself in the project, spending more effort consulting stunt people and art directors and assorted crew members than her own dad (sitting peacefully on set, usually napping, never being much of a bother), the more she realizes she may be exploiting someone she loves—someone who is beginning to show the alarming signs of dementia and can no longer fully grasp the high concept to which he once agreed—to assuage her own anxiety. As her dad’s memory dissipates along with his ability to take care of himself, Dick Johnson Is Dead caters less to Dick’s need to preserve some sense of immortality than to his daughter’s need, all of our need, to let go. —Dom Sinacola
27. Tangerine Year: 2015 Director: Sean Baker Stars: Alla Tumanian, Mya Taylor, Karren Karagulian Rating: R Runtime: 87 minutes
One of filmmaker Sean Baker’s best, Tangerine ’s fable of Christmastime sex workers navigating love and loss in Hollywood is everything the indie great is known for: intimate, warm, silly, heartfelt and just scuzzy enough. Shot entirely on iPhones, this subversive holiday film celebrates found family in donut shops and laundromats and bar bathrooms. It reminds us that sometimes, the best gift of all is a friend who’ll lend you their wig while yours is in the wash. Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor carry the film in all its emotional and tonal complexity, while Baker’s compassionate interest in folks just outside the margins make the filmmaking’s guerilla-esque stylings seem more loving than exploitative. Approaching his subjects with empathy, and giving them so much space to suck us into their world, is utterly within the holiday spirit—even if a car wash sexual encounter might not be as wholesome as something from Jimmy Stewart. But for a certain kind of person, and for Tangerine ’s very certain kind of friendship, “Merry Christmas Eve, bitch” is all that needs to be said. —Jacob Oller
28. Call Me by Your Name Year: 2017 Director: Luca Guadagnini Stars: Timothee Chalamet, Armie Hammer, Michael Stuhlbarg Rating: R Runtime: 130 minutes
In Kyle Turner’s Paste review of Call Me By Your Name , he muses that in the film’s opening credits “there’s enough of a hint to suggest that, as Michael Stuhlbarg’s professorial patriarch Mr. Perlman mentions, the statues are ‘daring you to desire.’ The film, while occasionally inching towards it, never takes that dare.” Much has been made about whether the film flinches at the physical love it champions, or embraces with grace and decorum the same love, finding eroticism in other (maybe juicier, stickier) images. Regardless, the allure of Call Me By Your Name , the story of a 17-year-old rich white kid (Timothee Chalamet) and his Italian summer tryst with a hunky grad student (Armie Hammer), is in all of that anticipation and lazy anxiety, of never being quite sure what’s right for you because you’re not yet quite sure what “you” means. Perhaps Guadagnino never “takes that dare” because the film is less about the consummation of the two characters’ desires, and more about the dissolution of that consummation, the need to let it go for all its fantasy and excitement and confusion, and then to live with the quiet, needling regret that more could have been done, that somehow the desire, the sumptuousness of the flesh, should have been better grasped. It’s in Michael Stuhlbarg’s final, bittersweet monologue, as well as in Chalamet’s credits-long fireplace cry: Call Me By Your Name is an exquisitely shot movie, alive with the privilege and luxury of what it means to spend one’s formative sexual years in the Italian countryside, but more importantly, it’s a movie that aches far harder for the lives and relationships that could have been. —Dom Sinacola
29. RRR Year: 2022 Director: S. S. Rajamouli Stars: N. T. Rama Rao Jr., Ram Charan, Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt, Shriya Saran, Samuthirakani, Ray Stevenson, Alison Doody, Olivia Morris Rating: NR Runtime: 187 minutes
A Telugu epic rivalling even the over-the-top antics of writer/director S. S. Rajamouli’s previous massive blockbusters (the two Baahubali films), RRR ’s endearingly repetitive and simple title reflects a three-hour romp through Indian colonial history filled with the primal pleasures of brotherhood and balls. Almost cartoonishly political, its story of star-crossed besties Alluri Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan) and Komaram Bheem (N. T. Rama Rao Jr.) is one focused on shallow contrasts masking bone-deep similarities. Based on two superheroicized revolutionaries—ones that never, but should have, saved a child by simultaneously bungeeing a tethered motorcycle and horse over opposite sides of a bridge—the at-odds heroes represent the rural and urban poles opposing the British colonizers. Caricatures of the urbane heartthrob and the noble backwoods beast, the two embodiments of cultural pride battle CG beasts, ridiculous Brits and each other—though you can’t help but hope they end up holding each other tight. (They do squats while riding each other piggyback. C’mon.) Their back-and-forth, glisteningly homoerotic friendship walks a taut narrative tightrope, but with the movie’s maximalist filmmaking as its balancing rod. A phenomenally thrumming and amusingly worded soundtrack accompanies some of the year’s most bombastic action sequences and charming dance scenes without mussing a single mustache hair. The two beefy and hyper-masculine leads span silent comedy, musical song-and-dance prowess and elegant fight choreography as the kind of do-it-all stars we just don’t get in the U.S. anymore. As their morally turbulent path rages against the pure evil of the cruel white oppressors, any doubt that RRR is a modern myth fades deep into the shadows of the jungle. Overflowing with symbols, political shorthand and stereotypes of all kinds, RRR rises, roars and revolts with raw cinematic power—and enough fascinating density to warrant watching and discussing over and over again.— Jacob Oller
30. Not Another Teen Movie Year: 2001 Director: Joel Gallen Stars: Chris Evans, Jaime Pressly, Randy Quaid Rating: R
Chris Evans may have gone on to bigger and better things, but his blisteringly self-effacing performance as a deluded jock in subgenre parody Not Another Teen Movie was an early peak for Captain America. Bolstered by plenty of quotable lines and an expertly sliced cookie-cutter aesthetic from director and Comedy Central staple Joel Gallen, Not Another Teen Movie is a hilarious, barbed response to the wave of convoluted teen sex comedies that ran from the ‘80s to its 2001 release. Basically, this film did to teen rom-coms what Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story did to music biopics: the parody is so good that, after watching it, it’s hard to take earnest entries seriously. Raunchy yet sharp, the movie straddles low and high-brow with plenty of success—with a pissed-off Molly Ringwald capping it all in a perfect cameo.— Jacob Oller
31. Mirai Year: 2018 Director: Mamoru Hosoda Stars: Haru Kuroki, Moka Kamishiraishi, Gen Hoshino Rating: PG
Most, if not all, of Mamoru Hosoda’s original films produced in the past decade function, to some degree or another, as exercises in autobiography. Summer War , apart from a premise more or less recycled from Hosoda’s 2000 directorial debut Digimon Adventure: Our War Game! , was the many-times-removed story of Hosoda meeting his wife’s family for the first time. 2012’s Wolf Children was inspired by the passing of Hosoda’s mother, animated in part by the anxieties and aspirations at the prospect of his own impending parenthood. 2015’s The Boy and the Beast was completed just after the birth of Hosoda’s first child, the product of his own questions as to what role a father should play in the life of his son. Mirai , the director’s seventh film, is not from Hosoda’s own experience, but filtered through the experiences of his first-born son meeting his baby sibling for the first time. Told care of the perspective of Kun (Moka Kamishiraishi), a toddler who feels displaced and insecure in the wake of his sister Mirai’s birth, Mirai is a beautiful adventure fantasy drama that whisks the viewer on a dazzling odyssey across Kun’s entire family tree, culminating in a poignant conclusion that emphasizes the beauty of what it means to love and to be loved. Mirai is Hosoda’s most accomplished film, the recipient of the first Academy Award nomination for an anime film not produced by Studio Ghibli, and an experience as edifying as it is a joy to behold. —Toussaint Egan
32. Shirkers Year: 2018 Director: Sandi Tan Rating: NR Runtime: 96 minutes
Making sense of one’s past can be both a lifelong undertaking and a thorny proposition. In Shirkers , novelist Sandi Tan accomplishes that trickiest of endeavors, directing a documentary about herself that isn’t cloying or cringe-worthy. Quite the contrary, her movie is refreshingly candid and self-critical: She may be the star of the show, but she has a story to tell and the right perspective to frame it properly. Tan narrates the documentary as a memory piece, recounting her childhood in Singapore with her best friend Jasmine, where they were the two cool kids in their pretty square school, dreaming of being filmmakers and leaving their mark. To further that ambition, they collaborated with another friend, Sophia, on a surreal road movie called Shirkers , which would be directed by Tan’s mentor, an older teacher named Georges who carried himself as someone who knew his way around a movie camera. In her late teens and perhaps smitten with this man who showed her such attention—the documentary is cagey on the subject—Tan was intoxicated by the rush of making a film that she wrote and would be the star of. So how come we’ve never seen it? The documentary traces the strange, mysterious journey of the project, which was waylaid by Georges sneaking off with the reels of film with a vague promise of finishing the work. That never happened, and 20 years later Tan decides to open those old wounds, connecting with her old friends and trying to determine what became of Georges. Scenes from the unfinished film appear in Shirkers , tipping the audience off to the fact that there will be a happy-ish resolution to Tan’s quest. But the documentary ends up being less about tracking down the film canisters than being an exploration of nostalgia, friendship and the allure of mentors. Tan is lively, self-effacing company throughout—her voice has just the right sardonic tinge—but her visits with Jasmine and Sophia are particularly lovely and illuminating, suggesting how lifelong pals can see us in ways that we cannot. — Tim Grierson
33. His House Year: 2020 Director: Remi Weekes Stars: Wunmi Mosaku, Sope Dirisu, Matt Smith Rating: NR
Nothing sucks the energy out of horror than movies that withhold on horror. Movies can scare audiences in a variety of ways, of course, but the very least a horror movie can be is scary instead of screwing around. Remi Weekes’ His House doesn’t screw around. The film begins with a tragedy, and within 10 minutes of that opening handily out-grudges The Grudge by leaving ghosts strewn on the floor and across the stairs where his protagonists can trip over them. Ultimately, this is a movie about the inescapable innate grief of immigrant stories, a companion piece to contemporary independent cinema like Jonas Carpignano’s Mediterranea , which captures the dangers facing immigrants on the road and at their destinations with brutal neorealist clarity. Weekes is deeply invested in Bol and Rial as people, in where they come from, what led them to leave, and most of all what they did to leave. But Weeks is equally invested in making his viewers leap out of their skins. — Andy Crump
34. The Sparks Brothers Year: 2021 Director: Edgar Wright Rating: R Runtime: 135 minutes
The Sparks Brothers is a thorough and charming assessment and appreciation of an idiosyncratic band, and the highest praise you could give it is that it shares a sensibility with its inimitable musicians. Not an easy task when it comes to Ron and Russell Mael. The Californian brothers have been running Sparks since the late ‘60s (yeah, the ‘60s), blistering through genres as quickly as their lyrics make and discard jokes. Glam rock, disco, electronic pioneering—and even when they dip into the most experimental and orchestral corners of their musical interests, they maintain a steady power-pop genius bolstered by Russell’s fluty pipes and Ron’s catchy keys. It’s here, in Sparks’ incredible range yet solidified personality, that you quickly start to understand that The Sparks Brothers is the marriage of two perfect subjects that share a mission. Experts in one art form that are interested in each others’, Ron and Russell bond with director Edgar Wright over a wry desire to have their fun-poking and make it art too. One made a trilogy of parodies that stands atop its individual genres (zombie, cop, sci-fi movies). The others made subversive songs like “Music That You Can Dance To” that manage to match (and often overtake) the very bops they razz. Their powers combined, The Sparks Brothers becomes a music doc that’s self-aware and deeply earnest. Slapstick, with a wide range of old film clips delivering the punches and pratfalls, and visual gags take the piss out of its impressive talking heads whenever they drop a groaner music doc cliché. “Pushing the envelope?” Expect to see a postal tug-of-war between the Maels. This sense of humor, appreciating the dumbest low-hanging fruit and the highest brow reference, comes from the brothers’ admiration of seriously unserious French filmmakers like Jacques Tati (with whom Sparks almost made a film; remember, they love movies) and of a particularly formative affinity for British music. It doesn’t entirely tear down facades, as even Wright’s most personal works still emote through a protective shell of physical comedy and references, but you get a sense of the Maels as workers, brothers, artists and humans on terms that they’re comfortable with. The nearly two-and-a-half-hour film is an epic, there’s no denying that. You won’t need another Sparks film after this one. Yet it’s less an end-all-be-all biography than an invitation, beckoning newcomers and longtime listeners alike through its complete understanding of and adoration for its subjects.— Jacob Oller
35. Apostle Year: 2018 Director: Gareth Evans Stars: Dan Stevens, Lucy Boynton, Michael Sheen Rating: NR
After the first two entries of The Raid made him a monolithic figure among action movie junkies, Apostle functions as the wider world’s introduction to the visceral filmmaking stylings of Welsh director Gareth Evans. Where his first films almost had the aesthetic of a videogame come to life—they’re about as close to a big screen adaptation of Streets of Rage as you’re ever going to find— Apostle might as well represent Evans’ desire to be taken seriously as a visual director and auteur. To do so, he’s explored some well-trodden ground in the form of the rural “cult infiltration movie,” making comparisons to the likes of The Wicker Man (or even Ti West’s The Sacrament ) inevitable. However, Apostle forces its way into the year-end conversation of 2018’s best horror cinema through sheer style and verve. Every frame is beautifully composed, from the foreboding arrival of Dan Stevens’ smoldering character at the island cult compound, to the fantastically icky Grand Guignol of the third act, in which viscera flows with hedonistic abandon. Evans knows exactly how long to needle the audience with a slow-burning mystery before letting the blood dams burst; his conclusion both embraces supernatural craziness and uncomfortably realistic human violence. Gone is the precision of combat of The Raid , replaced by a clumsier brand of wanton savagery that is empowered not by honor but by desperate faith. Evans correctly concludes that this form of violence is far more frightening. —Jim Vorel
36. The Other Side of the Wind Year: 2018 Director: Orson Welles Stars: John Huston, Peter Bogdanovich, Robert Random, Susan Strasberg, Oja Kodar Rating: R
As gaudy and inexplicable as its title, The Other Side of the Wind nonetheless sings with the force of its movement whistling past its constraints. The wind blows: Orson Welles channels it through his studio-inflicted/self-inflicted torpor, in that process finding an organic melody—or rather, jazz. The making-of documentary They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead , released by Netflix to go with this film—the streaming giant’s finest moment—shows Welles, enormous and half-baked, describing what he calls “divine accidents.” These accidents were responsible for some of his oeuvre’s best details (wherein God resides), like the breaking of the egg in Touch of Evil ; they were something he aimed to chase after (like chasing the wind) with this, his final project, released several decades after its shooting as Netflix opened their coffers to open the coffin in which the raw footage was locked. His former partners on the shoot, Peter Bogdanovich and Frank Marshall, make good on their old oath to their master to complete the film for him, and in finding the spirit of the thing, deliver us a masterpiece we barely deserve. A divine accident. John Huston plays John Huston as Jake Hannaford who is also Orson Welles, trying to finish The Other Side of the Wind much like Welles tried to finish The Other Side of the Wind , over the course of years with no real budget and by the seats-of-everyone’s-pants. In contrast, the film’s scenario is set up over the course of one evening and night, Hannaford surrounded by “disciples” and peers who are invited to a party to screen some of the footage of what the director hopes will be his greatest masterpiece, in what Welles hoped would be his. The film within the film is a riff on art film, with perhaps the strongest winks at Michelangelo Antonioni and Zabriskie Point . Life imitates art: Hannaford’s house is just around the rock corner from the one Zabriskie blew to bits. Aptly, that house is the setting for most of the film about Hannaford, in theory constructed from found footage from the cineaste paparazzi. The density is dizzying, the intellect fierce. In terms of Welles’ filmography, it’s like the last act of Citizen Kane felt up by Touch of Evil , then stripped and gutted by the meta-punk of F for Fake . No art exists in a vacuum, but The Other Side of the Wind , more than most, bleeds its own context. It is about Orson Welles, showing himself. Killing himself. —Chad Betz
37. A Silent Voice Year: 2016 Director: Naoko Yamada Stars: Miyu Irino, Saori Hayami, Megumi Han Rating: NR
In a medium that too often feels at times constricted by the primacy of masculine aesthetic sensibilities and saturated with hyper-sexualized portrayals of women colloquially coded as “fan service,” Naoko Yamada’s presence is a welcome breath of fresh air, to say nothing of the inimitable quality of her films themselves. Inspired by the likes of Yasujiro Ozu, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Sergei Parajanov, Sofia Coppola, and Lucile Hadžihalilovic, Yamada is a director par excellence, capable of arresting attention and evoking melancholy and bittersweet catharsis through delicate compositions of deft sound, swift editing, ephemeral color palettes, and characters with rich inner lives rife with knotty, relatable struggles. A Silent Voice , adapted from Yoshitoki Oima’s manga of the same name, is a prime example of all these sensibilities at play. When Shoya Ishida meets Shoko Nishimiya, a deaf transfer student, in elementary school, he bullies her relentlessly to the amusement of his classmates. One day when Shoya goes too far, forcing Shoko to transfer again for fear of her own safety, he is branded a pariah by his peers and retreats into a state of self-imposed isolation and self-hatred. Years later, Shoya meets Shoko once again, now as teenagers, and attempts to make amends for the harm he inflicted on her, all while wrestling to understand his own motivations for doing so. A Silent Voice is a film of tremendous emotional depth—an affecting portrait of adolescent abuse, reconciliation and forgiveness for the harm perpetrated by others and ourselves. — Toussaint Egan
38. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World Year: 2010 Director: Edgar Wright Stars: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Brie Larson, Chris Evans, Alison Pill, Aubrey Plaza, Jason Schwartzman, Kieran Culkin Rating: PG-13 Runtime: 113 minutes
The films of Edgar Wright’s “Cornetto trilogy” may get more emphasis as the core of the director’s oeuvre, but allow one to submit that Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is the “most Edgar Wright” film we’ve witnessed yet in the still-young filmmaker’s career. A brilliant adaptation of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s comic book series of the same name, the film is a perfectly cast wonder of an action comedy that translates with preternatural ability the comic tension between banality and bombast present on the page. Scott’s (Michael Cera) existence as a slacker musician in a crappy Toronto indie rock band isn’t exciting or glamorous, which makes it all the funnier when his day-to-day romantic life is a series of climactic, overly dramatic videogame boss battles. Each Wright presents with a hyperkinetic style that revels in its joyful disconnect from reality or consequences. Freed from such trivial matters, Wright can present dynamic action sequences that still have time for clever asides and banal workplace humor, simultaneously getting the absolute best out of every person he has on hand. Really: When has Brandon Routh, as an actor, been put to better use than as an egomaniacal vegan with psychic powers? An early-career Brie Larson as rock singer Envy Adams is a bonus as well. —Jim Vorel
39. I’m Thinking of Ending Things Year: 2020 Director: Charlie Kaufman Stars: Jessie Buckley, Jesse Plemons, Toni Collette, David Thewlis Rating: R
Many viewers will think of ending I’m Thinking of Ending Things not long after it’s started. A cross-dissolve cascade of crude shots details the interior of a farmhouse or an apartment, or the interior of an interior. A woman we have not yet seen is practically mid-narration, telling us something for which we have no context. It feels wrong, off-putting. Something is not right. This is not how movies are supposed to work. Finally we see the woman, played brilliantly by Jessie Buckley. She is standing on the street as puffy snowflakes start to fall, like we’re within a 3-D snow globe with her. She looks up at a window a couple stories up. We see an old man looking down out of a window. We see Jesse Plemons looking down out of a window. We see Jesse Plemmons in the next shot picking up Jessie Buckley in his worn car. The movie music twinkles and swirls. Jessie Buckley’s Lucy or Lucia or Amy is thinking of ending things with Jesse’s Jake. Things aren’t going to go anywhere good, seems to be the reasoning. Jake drives the car and sometimes talks; his behaviors seem fairly consistent until they’re not, until some gesture boils up like a foreign object from another self. Louisa or Lucy is forthcoming, a fountain of personality and knowledge and interests. But sometimes she slows to a trickle, or is quiet, and suddenly she is someone else who is the same person but perhaps with different memories, different interests. Sometimes she is a painter, sometimes a physicist, sometimes neither. Jessie and Jesse are great. Their performances and their characters are hard to describe. The best movie of 2020 is terrible at being a “movie.” It does not subscribe to common patterns, rhythms, or tropes. It doesn’t even try to be a great movie, really, it simply tries to dissect the life of the mind of the other, and to do that by any cinematic means possible. The self-awareness of the film could have been unbearable, except awareness (and our fragmentary experience of it) is so entirely the point of everything that the film is wrapped up within and that is wrapped up within it. To say the film accepts both the beauty and ugliness of life would be a platitude that the film itself rejects. To say that “love conquers all,” even moreso. But these false truths flit in and about the film’s peripheral vision: illusions or ghosts, but welcome ones. — Chad Betz
40. Phantom Thread Year: 2017 Director: Paul Thomas Anderson Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lesley Manville, Vicky Krieps Rating: R
Phantom Thread is a movie that is so wonderfully made, so meticulous in its construction, so deeply felt in execution, that you can almost overlook how prickly and scabrous it is. This has to be the most luscious-to-watch film, ever, that is in large part about how self-centered and inflexible the world of relationships can be, how we can only give up so much of ourselves and it’s up to our partner to figure out how to deal with that, if they want to at all. This is an uncompromising movie about two uncompromising people who try to live with one another without losing too large a part of themselves, and the sometimes extreme lengths they will go to get their way. Daniel Day-Lewis plays Reynolds Woodcock, a world-famous dressmaker who clothes celebrities, royalty and, sometimes to his chagrin, déclassé wealthy vulgarians. Almost everything that doesn’t meet his exacting standards is vulgarian, until one day while in the English countryside, Reynolds comes across a waitress named Alma (Vicky Krieps) who both meets Reynolds’ physical requirements (specifically so he can make dresses for her) and has a certain pluck that he instantly finds fascinating. Both of the principals of Phantom Thread are absurd and insane in their own ways, and one of the many thrills of the film is watching them bounce off each other, and then collide again. It’s the oddest little love story, so odd that I’m not even sure it’s about love at all. My colleague Tim Grierson said this first , but it’s too good an observation to ignore: This movie is in large part about the absolute unknowability of other people’s relationships. From the outside, it makes no sense that Reynolds and Alma would have this sort of connection with each other; it’s difficult to tell what either person is getting out of it. But what’s unfathomable about it is also what makes it so powerful. —Will Leitch
41. Roma Year: 2014 Director: Alfonso Cuarón Stars: Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Diego Cortina Autrey, Carlos Peralta Rating: R
Alfonso Cuarón’s most intimate film is also his most distancing. The camera sits back, black-and-white, focused not on the bourgeois children that represent the cinematographer-writer-director and his siblings growing up in Mexico City several decades ago, but moreso on the indigenous woman (Yalitza Aparicio) that cares for them and the household. Not even entirely focused on her, perhaps more focused on its classicist compositions of a place that no longer exists in the way Cuarón remembers it. The camera gazes and moves in trans-plane sequencing, giving us foreground, mid-ground and background elements in stark digital clarity. The sound mix is Dolby Atmos and enveloping. But the base aesthetic and narrative is Fellini, or long-lost Mexican neorealism, or Tati’s Playtime but with sight gags replaced by social concern and personal reverie. Reserved and immersive, introspective and outward-looking, old and new—some have accused Roma of being too calculated in what it tries to do, the balancing act it tries to pull off. Perhaps they’re not wrong, but it is to Cuarón’s immense credit as a thoughtful technician and storyteller that he does, in fact, pull it off. The result is a singular film experience, one that recreates something that was lost and then navigates it in such a way as to find the emergent story, then from that to find the emotional impact. So that when we come to that point late in Roma , we don’t even realize the slow, organic process by which we’ve been invested fully into the film; we’re not ready to be hit as hard as we are when the wallops come and the waves crash. It’s almost unbearable, but we bear it because we care about these people we’ve become involved with. And such is life. —Chad Betz
42. The Power of the Dog Year: 2021 Director: Jane Campion Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Thomasin McKenzie, Genevieve Lemon, Keith Carradine, Frances Conroy Rating: R
Based on the 1967 novel of the same name by Thomas Savage, Jane Campion’s long-awaited return to the medium of film—following 2009’s Bright Star and her subsequent years spent working in television—feels apt for a director who has demonstrated prowess at crafting an atmosphere of acute disquiet. And so it goes for The Power of the Dog , a film with a perpetual twitching vein, carried by the ubiquitous feeling that someone could snap at any moment—until they do. In 1925 Montana, brothers Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch) and George Burbank (Jesse Plemons) are prosperous cattle ranchers but incompatible siblings. Phil is the ultimate image of machismo, brooding around the ranch ever adorned in his cowboy outfit and a thick layer of grime on his face, a rolled cigarette hanging against his lower lip; a character that acts in defiance of Cumberbatch’s past work. Phil is so opposed to anything even adjacent to what could be considered “feminine” that things like bathing, playing an instrument that isn’t a banjo and just being nice to women are the kinds of activities which might lead Phil to inquire “Fellas, is it gay if…?” on Twitter. From the castration of the bulls on the Burbank ranch, to Phil’s status as the black sheep of his respectable family, to the nature of the western landscape tied to Phil’s performance of masculinity, the subtext is so visually hamfisted that it remains subtextual only by virtue of it not being directly spoken out loud. But the clumsiness in the film’s approach to its subject matter is propped up by the compelling performances across the board—notably from Cumberbatch, whose embodiment of a gruff and grubby rancher is at first sort of laughably unbelievable in relation to the performances that have defined the Englishman’s career. But it is, perhaps, because of this very contrast to his past roles that Cumberbatch manages to fit into the character of Phil so acutely, carrying with him an inherent awkwardness and unrest in his own skin despite the terror that he strikes in the heart of someone like Rose. He’s matched by the chilling score, composed by the inimitable Johnny Greenwood ( The Master , Phantom Thread ), and impeccable cinematography from Ari Wegner ( Zola , The True History of the Kelly Gang ), which form a perfect union of tension, intimacy and isolation in a film where the sound of every slice, snip and click evokes the same distressing sensation regardless of the source. What does it mean to be a man? The Power of the Dog considers the question but never answers it. Instead, it is preoccupied with a timeless phenomenon: The suffering endured for the very sake of manhood itself. — Brianna Zigler
43. Procession Year: 2021 Director: Robert Greene Rating: R Runtime: 116 minutes
In his films, Robert Greene has tried to bring the alienated past into the present. Kate Plays Christine , from 2016, uses Kate Lyn Sheil’s preparation to play Christine Chubbuck—the newscaster who died by suicide on air 42 years earlier—in part to navigate an actor’s responsibilities when trying to resurrect a real person relegated to folklore. 2018’s Bisbee ’17 chronicled the reenactment, on the event’s 100th anniversary, of the forced removal and abandonment of more than 1,200 striking miners from their homes into the Arizona desert. As Bisbee community members take on the roles of both deputized corporate thugs and workers demanding better lives, in many cases inhabiting the personas of their own ancestors, they come to better understand the sway such history still holds over today. Even in Actress , Greene’s 2014 portrait of Brandy Burre returning to acting as she reinvents her personal life, re-evaluating the past is an act of taking control. When Burre slowly goes back on stage, engaging with old friends and with the visceral excitement of being in front of an audience, she begins to steer her life away from a toxic marriage and define herself anew. She realizes she’s no longer obligated to hold on to her old self. Procession , Greene’s latest film and his first for Netflix, is again about acquitting the present from the past. It begins with a 2018 press conference in Kansas City, Missouri. Lawyer Rebecca Randles stands with three of the survivors stating that they can call out more than 230 known Catholic clergy members in the Kansas City area part of a far-reaching network of sexual abuse. Seeing this, Greene reached out to Randles with the idea to use drama therapy, closely guided by registered drama therapist Monica Phinney, to give a small group of survivors the chance to transform their nightmares into something dramatic, to potentially transform their trauma into something survivable. Procession presents this approach: Six men scripting, storyboarding, location scouting and finally shooting their worst memories, however they want to interpret them, interspersed with the completed results. The young actor who stars in each of the segments, Terrick Trobough, spends much of the film in the company of the six survivors, hearing their stories and quietly, professionally doing his job. He witnesses them weep and punch things and disassociate, not because they’re fragile, but because they’re broken. Terrick responds that he believes their stories. Later, with Dan (one of the survivors) following an emotional moment, Terrick asks him, “How are you?” Maybe he’s just being polite, but Terrick’s small gestures of empathy glow brightly. As does Procession , when the beauty of Greene’s filmmaking satisfies the intelligence and clarity of his methods. “I hope the strength you showed is rewarded with peace and contentment,” another survivor tells himself near the end of the film, reaching decades into the past. A close-up of his face lets the audience know if that hope has been resolved. It’s very good kino. —Dom Sinacola
44. The Mitchells vs. the Machines Year: 2021 Director: Mike Rianda, Jeff Rowe (co-director) Stars: Abbi Jacobson, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Eric Andre, Fred Armisen, Beck Bennett, Olivia Colman Rating: PG
Animated generational divides have never been more like a sci-fi carnival than in The Mitchells vs. the Machines . Writer/director Mike Rianda’s feature debut (he and co-writer/director Jeff Rowe made their bones on the excellently spooky, silly show Gravity Falls ) is equal parts absurd, endearing and terrifying. It’s easy to feel as lost or overwhelmed by the flashing lights and exhilarating sights as the central family fighting on one side of the title’s grudge match, but it’s equally easy to come away with the exhausted glee of a long, weary theme park outing’s aftermath. Its genre-embedded family bursts through every messy, jam-packed frame like they’re trying to escape (they often are), and in the process create the most energetic, endearing animated comedy so far this year. And its premise begins so humbly. Filmmaker and animator Katie (Abbi Jacobson) is leaving home for college and, to get there, has to go on a road trip with her family: Rick (Danny McBride), her Luddite outdoorsy dad; Linda (Maya Rudolph), her peacemaking mom; and Aaron (Rianda), her dino-freak little brother. You might be able to guess that Katie and her dad don’t always see eye-to-eye, even when Katie’s eyes aren’t glued to her phone or laptop. That technocriticism, where “screen time” is a dirty phrase and the stick-shifting, cabin-building father figure wants his family to experience the real world, could be as hacky as the twelfth season of a Tim Allen sitcom. The Mitchells vs. the Machines escapes that danger not only through some intentional nuance in its writing, but also some big ol’ anti-nuance: Partway through the trip, the evil tech companies screw up and phone-grown robots decide to shoot all the humans into space. This movie needed something this narratively large to support its gloriously kitchen-sink visuals. The Sony film uses some of the same tech that made Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse look so crisp and unique, adding comicky shading to its expressive CG. In fact, once some of the more freaky setpieces take off, you wouldn’t be surprised to see Miles Morales swing in to save the day. The Mitchells vs. the Machines ’ spin on the Spidey aesthetic comes from meme and movie-obsessed Katie, whose imagination often breaks through into the real world and whose bizarre, neon and filter-ridden sketchbook doodles ornament the film’s already exciting palette with explosive oddity. This unique and savvy style meshes well with The Mitchells vs. the Machines ’ wonderfully timed slapstick, crashing and smashing with an unexpected violence, balanced out with one truly dorky pug and plenty of visual asides poking fun at whatever happens to be going on.— Jacob Oller
45. The Sea Beast Year: 2022 Director: Chris Williams Stars: Karl Urban, Zaris-Angel Hator, Jared Harris, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Dan Stevens, Kathy Burke Rating: PG
When cartographers allowed their senses of imagination and self-preservation to fill the unexplored regions of their maps, they used to warn of creatures like lions, elephants and walruses. Creatures beyond understanding, with teeth and trunks and tusks easy to caricature into danger. But we mostly remember that when you sail to the faded edge of knowledge, there be dragons. The Sea Beast deftly hones this ancient human fear into a sharpened spear tip, striking at ignorance. Its swashbuckling adventure navigates a sea filled with massive critters sure to whet kids’ appetites for piracy, Godzilla films and exciting animation. The first movie from longtime Disney story staple Chris Williams after leaving the House of Mouse for Netflix, The Sea Beast is, to paraphrase Jared Harris’ Ahab-like Captain Crow, all piss and vinegar. That the film even alludes to the phrase, and drops a few other lightly-salted lines you might expect from some seasoned sea dogs, is indicative of its separation from the sanitized juggernaut. It looks violence in the eye; it isn’t afraid to make its threats real. All rightfully so. Telling a tall tale of hunters—mercenary crews funded by a colonialist crown to take out the kaijus populating the ocean—wouldn’t be right without at least a little edge. Our way into the world, the young Maisie (Zaris-Angel Hator), has experienced its dangerous realities firsthand: Her parents went down with a ship, leaving her as one of dozens of hunter orphans. But that hasn’t stopped her from lionizing her martyred family (something explicitly encouraged by the monarchy) and seeking her own glory. Stowing away on Crow’s ship, the Inevitable, she and the capable Jacob (Karl Urban) find themselves confronting the legendary ambitions they’ve built up in their own heads. Williams and co-writer Nell Benjamin immediately drop us into the Inevitable’s quest to take out Crow’s toothy and horned Red Whale, dubbed the Red Bluster, with total confidence that there’s no time like maritime. As our eyes roll and pitch across the impressively realistic waves and our ears try to follow the meticulously detailed helmsmanship, the hunting scenes ensnare us like the catch of the day. We understand the hierarchy of the diverse crew, the honor code among hunters, the tactics needed to take down imposing creatures that look like Toho turned their greatest hits into Pokémon. It’s savvy and respectful writing, put into legible action by Williams’ skilled hand, that trusts in its setting and subject matter to be inherently cool, and in its audience to greedily follow along. By the time the lances are flying, the cannons are firing and the creatures are dying—or are they?—you’re as deeply hooked as any dad watching Master and Commander . A delightful new-school deconstruction of old-school Romantic adventure that never compromises on the lushness of setting, color and emotion inherent in the latter, The Sea Beast rises to the front of Netflix’s animated offerings like a high tide.— Jacob Oller
46. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Year: 2020 Director: George C. Wolfe Stars: Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Glynn Turman, Colman Domingo, Michael Potts Rating: R
Fittingly, Chadwick Boseman’s final role is all about the blues. The late actor’s appearance in Netflix’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom , the August Wilson adaptation from director George C. Wolfe and writer Ruben Santiago-Hudson, is equal parts actorly showcase, angry eulogy and comprehensive lament—boiled together in the sweaty kitchen of a ‘20s Chicago recording session. A story of ambition’s multiple facets and eventual endpoints, Ma Rainey revolves around those orbiting its title character (Viola Davis). She’s a blues legend at the top of her game, finally appreciated (at least in some parts of the country) and ripe for exploitation by white men in suits. As if she’d let them. She’s comfortably late to record an album, leaving everyone else to kick up their heels and shoot the shit in true Wilson style—with Santiago-Hudson finding the essence of Wilson’s work. Davis’ brutal performance, made all the more potent by her avalanche of makeup and glistening sweat, perfectly sets the scene. She, alongside loosened neckties and whirring fans, gives the film its intended temperature and gravity so that Boseman and the rest of her band members can zip around like fireflies ambling in the summer heat. With tragic serendipity, Boseman leaves us a gift: he is on fire. Lean, with the camera placements and props emphasizing his gangly limbs (there’s a reason he wields a squashed and squat flugelhorn, a jazz staple that happens to work better visually), Levee is a highly physical role despite the chatty source material: It’s all about capturing attention, sometimes literally tap-dancing for it, with any ounce of shame overrun by an anxious energy. High-strung, twitchy and tense during a nearly five-minute monologue, Levee seems to sense the window to his dream is closing: Time is running out. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is more than Boseman’s performance, sure, with Davis and Colman Domingo going on some delicious tears of their own and Wilson’s words continuing to sear and soar in equal measure. But Boseman’s ownership of the film, an Oscar-worthy snapshot of potential and desire, gives an otherwise lovely and broad tragedy something specific to sing about. —Jacob Oller
47. The Hand of God Year: 2021 Director: Paolo Sorrentino Stars: Filippo Scotti, Toni Servillo, Teresa Saponangelo, Marlon Joubert, Luisa Ranieri, Renato Carpentieri, Massimiliano Gallo, Betti Pedrazzi, Biagio Manna, Ciro Capano Rating: R Runtime: 130 minutes
Paolo Sorrentino bookends his new coming-of-age opus, The Hand of God , with divine representation, and spends every moment in between grousing over life’s endless parade of disappointment. Humanity is dreadful. Everything is a failure. Reality is lousy. “What a shitty world this is,” one woman opines around 45 minutes into the movie. “You go buy dessert and when you get back, your husband’s in jail.” The details are irrelevant. It’s the sentiment that lands. The dialogue reads like Sorrentino soliloquizing via his characters, airing grievance after grievance about the grounding effect of The Hand of God ’s story on its plot: Set in 1980s Naples, attending to the rich, boring routine comprising the comings and going of the tight-knit family Schisa—father Saverio (Toni Servillo) and mother Maria (Teresa Saponangelo), and their sons, eldest Marchino (Marlon Joubert) and youngest Fabietto (Filippo Scotti)—Sorrentino constructs the film with fewer surrealist flourishes than in his latter-day works, a la 2018’s Loro , 2015’s Youth and 2013’s The Great Beauty , where a man makes a giraffe disappear into thin air in the middle of a Roman colosseum. Placed next to these pictures, The Hand of God is downright normal. Normalcy may not satisfy Sorrentino’s characters, whether principle or supporting, but The Hand of God finds abundance in quotidian Italian conventions: Abundance of meaning, abundance of beauty, abundance of comedy, and so as to avoid burying the lede, The Hand of God is consistently hilarious for the first hour or so (an opening scene of domestic violence notwithstanding). The Hand of God isn’t escapism, contradicting Fabietto’s late-stage career goals. It is an entertaining hoot and a poignant drama that mellows into an exercise in bereavement in its second half, where Fabietto takes his mind off of a world-shattering tragedy by fanboying out over Capuano and getting into trouble with Armando (Biagio Manna), Sorrentino’s secret weapon: A gregarious cigarette smuggler whose wild streak belies abiding loyalty to whomever he calls “friend.” It’s impossible to keep up. The Hand of God doesn’t try to. Instead, guided by Fabietto, the movie takes its time. It watches. It breathes. It captures life with a clarity even Sorrentino’s best efforts haven’t quite—which makes it his best effort to date.— Andy Crump
48. The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open Year: 2019 Directors: Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Kathleen Hepburn Stars: Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Violet Nelson, Barbara Eve Harris Rating: NR
Nothing pays off in The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open . Every narrative detail, demanding resolution, goes mostly unnoticed: When Rosie (Violet Nelson) takes money from Áila’s (co-director Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers) purse, for example, we expect that the ensuing time they spend together, the 90 minutes or so, will teach Rosie a lesson, will encourage her to return the bills. That doesn’t happen. Instead, The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open tells of a chance meeting between two First Nations women, divided by socioeconomic stability but united in having both just experienced violations—Rosie’s is the latest in a string of domestic abuse incidents, while Áila’s had an IUD inserted amidst a cold, impersonal procedure, shot by cinematographer Norm Li on 16mm with a commitment to capturing Áila’s every near-traumatized grimace and wince. Li follows Áila from the office, into the street, where she spots Rosie barefoot in the rain, maybe in shock, and from there the two escape Rosie’s infuriated boyfriend to Áila’s dry, airy loft apartment. Li is always just behind, the rest of the film edited together into one, continuous shot as Áila tries to figure out what to do to help Rosie, and Rosie tries to figure out how to keep from being victimized by virtue signalling outsiders. That Áila is also a FIrst Nations woman hardly matters to Rosie; she barely even looks the part. Of course, when they do part, Rosie swallows whatever guilt she may have developed over stealing from Áila, and the caretakers at the safe house remind Áila when Rosie doesn’t want to stay that it sometimes takes people seven or eight times to relent and leave their abusive situation. We wait for resolution, for a sign that things will get better. When they don’t, we look for other signs, and we wait, left only with patience—to watch, and to never stop watching, and to sit with the weight of that, to afford the cost of empathy. —Dom Sinacola
49. Marriage Story Year: 2019 Director: Noah Baumbach Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver, Azhy Robertson, Laura Dern, Alan Alda, Ray Liotta, Julie Hagerty, Merritt Wever Rating: R
The way that Adam Driver ends “Being Alive,” which his character in Marriage Story has just sung in full (including dialogue asides from Company ’s lead’s friends), is like watching him drain what’s left of his spirit out onto the floor, in front of his small audience (which includes us). The performance starts off kind of goofy, the uninvited theater kid taking the reins to sing one of Broadway’s greatest showstoppers, but then, in another aside, he says, “ Want something… want some thing…” He begins to get it. He begins to understand the weight of life, the dissatisfaction of squandered intimacy and what it might mean to finally become an adult: to embrace all those contradictions, all that alienation and loneliness. He takes a deep exhalation after the final notes, after the final belt; he finally realizes he’s got to grow up, take down his old life, make something new. It’s a lot like living on the Internet these days; the impossibility of crafting an “authentic self,” negligible the term may be, is compounded by a cultural landscape that refuses to admit that “authenticity” is as inauthentic a performance as anything else. Working through identities is painful and ugly. Arguably, we’re all working through how to be ourselves in relation to those around us. And that’s what Bobby, the 35-year-old at the center of Stephen Sondheim’s 1970 musical Company , is doing. The scene forces the viewer to make connections about their humanity, the art they’re experiencing, and the ever deadening world in which it all exists. Charlie grabs the microphone, drained, realizing that he has to figure out what he has to do next, to re-put his life together again. All of us, we’re putting it together too. Or trying, at least. That counts for some thing. —Kyle Turner
50. Okja Year: 2017 Director: Bong Joon-ho Stars: Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, An Seo Hyun, Byun Heebong, Steven Yeun, Lily Collins, Yoon Je Moon, Woo Shik Choi Rating: NR
Okja takes more creative risks in its first five minutes than most films take over their entire span, and it doesn’t let up from there. What appears to be a sticking point for some critics and audiences, particularly Western ones, is the seemingly erratic tone, from sentiment to suspense to giddy action to whimsy to horror to whatever it is Jake Gyllenhaal is doing. But this is part and parcel with what makes Bong Joon-ho movies, well, Bong Joon-ho movies: They’re nuanced and complex, but they aren’t exactly subtle or restrained. They have attention to detail, but they are not delicate in their handling. They have multiple intentions, and they bring those intentions together to jam . They are imaginative works that craft momentum through part-counterpart alternations, and Okja is perhaps the finest example yet of the wild pendulum swing of a Bong film’s rhythmic tonality. Okja is also not a film about veganism, but it is a film that asks how we can find integrity and, above all, how we can act humanely towards other creatures, humans included. The answers Okja reaches are simple and vital, and without really speaking them it helps you hear those answers for yourself because it has asked all the right questions, and it has asked them in a way that is intensely engaging. —Chad Betz
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The 22 best Netflix movies to stream right now
These are the best movies to stream on netflix.
Although it’s now only one big player in an even bigger streaming market, Netflix still manages to crank out plenty of stuff to keep its users subscribing. That glut of content is great if all you want is to never get bored, but it can make it difficult to figure out which things are actually worth your time, and which aren’t. If that’s your goal, we’ve got you covered. This list is a combination of great Netflix original movies, and great movies that Netflix is currently housing on its service. What unites these movies, though, is that they are the very best that Netflix currently has to offer.
If you’re looking for films to watch on some of Netflix’s competitors, we’ve also found the best Amazon Prime movies , the best Hulu movies , and the best Disney+ movies .
Netflix took a fairly big swing on this German-language remake of All Quiet on the Western Front , and it paid off in a major way. The movie tells the story of a group of young soldiers who enlist to fight on behalf of Germany and ultimately discover the real toll that war takes on those who have to live their lives in the trenches. It’s stunningly filmed, and one of the best entries in the long line of immersive war movies from recent years. The Oscars agreed, and nominated it for nine total awards, including Best Picture. All Quiet on the Western Front is one of the most enduring war novels ever written, and this 2022 version reminds us how horrific war is, no matter what side you’re on.
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s first directorial effort was one of the best films of 2021, and it didn’t hurt that she had Olivia Colman by her side. Telling the story of a 40-something Harvard professor ( Colman ) who goes on vacation and remembers her time raising two daughters, The Lost Daughter is about the difficulty of trying to be a person and a mother, and it’s remarkably prickly about how taxing motherhood can be. Colman is a standout in the central role, but she’s surrounded by excellent performances from the likes of Jessie Buckley and Dakota Johnson as well.
Adapting a musical of the same name, t ick, tick…BOOM! tells the story of Jonathan Larson ( Andrew Garfield ) in the years before he wrote Rent . With sharp direction from Lin-Manuel Miranda and an incredible soundtrack of Larson originals, the movie has more than enough frenetic energy to tell its story of a struggling artist with winsome verve. Andrew Garfield’s incredible central performance is the icing on the cake of this vibrant musical.
One of many late-period Martin Scorsese masterpieces, The Irishman tells the story of a mid-level gangster ( Robert De Niro ) who befriends Jimmy Hoffa ( Al Pacino ) and ultimately plays a role in his death. In Scorsese’s hands, though, this becomes an examination of the way one man alienates everyone around him, and ultimately finds himself old, friendless, and totally alone, stuck in a nursing home trying to convince everyone that his life as a gangster is worth remembering.
The kind of horror movie that only comes around every couple of years, It Follows has a remarkably simple premise that it executes on beautifully. The film follows a young girl ( Maika Monroe ) who discovers she is haunted by a spectral presence that is transferred through sex. As she recruits her friends to take on the force following her, we get to watch along as she tries to find a way to defeat the ghostly presence without simply giving it to someone else.
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With such a large variety of streaming options for TV viewers in 2023, each service needs to find its niche to ensure its success against the competition. Apple TV+ wasn't always one of the first options fans looked to for new shows and movies, but that has certainly changed in the last few years. The main reason for this mostly has to do with Apple's newfound dedication to the mystery/thriller/science fiction genres. In a word? Suspense. Between workplace thrillers like Severance and historical fiction such as Shantaram, there's no shortage of options for people seeking something that will increase their blood pressure.
Apple announced their newest addition to this lineup of thrillers earlier this week with a press release for Silo. This dystopian fiction is based on novels by Hugh Howey that follow a group of survivors living under the planet in a silo. Nobody who lives underground knows details about the silo's purpose, its inception, or whether there is a world to come back to above the ground. Elements of family drama and science fiction will be involved in the plot points of the series. (This show also follows AppleTV+'s Extrapolations, a show that takes a look at a future affected by climate change — clearly, AppleTV+ is trying to tell us something about the future.)
Bob Odenkirk is one of the most recognizable names in the TV industry after a decade-plus portraying one of the biggest icons of all time, Saul Goodman. Even though he hasn't won an Emmy for the role yet (he'll have one more shot at the 2023 ceremony), Odenkirk has been praised as one of the most versatile and likable actors in Hollywood. While starring in Better Call Saul, he appeared in several movies, such as the animated hit The Incredibles 2 and the action flick Nobody. Odenkirk will return to his comedic TV roots later this month in yet another AMC vehicle, Lucky Hank.
Lucky Hank Teaser Trailer | Premieres on March 19 on AMC+
There are very few characters in entertainment more recognizable than Mario. The jolly plumber with the red cap and blue overalls has been Nintendo's most iconic figure for nearly four decades, meaning several generations of children have grown up playing his games. But for those of us who grew up with the plumber and his cohorts, the last and final trailer for The Super Mario Bros. Movie has revealed one plot change you probably weren't expecting.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie | Final Trailer
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The 30 Best Movies on Netflix Right Now
This post is updated regularly as movies leave and enter Netflix. *New additions are indicated with an asterisk.
With hundreds of films from around the world on the streaming giant that changed the game, how does one even know where to start when they’re looking for something to watch? Start here! We have gone through the massive catalog of films available on Netflix and pared down the selection to an essential 30 titles, including action films , comedies , horror flicks , and even stuff for the whole family , with Netflix Originals peppered in throughout, alongside its licensed films. These are films that came from outside the Netflix pipeline to subscribers, and it will be regularly updated as flicks come and go from the Netflix catalog, starting with our pick of the week.
This Week’s Editor’s Pick
*world war z.
Year: 2013 Runtime: 1h 56m Director: Marc Forster
The people behind this massive blockbuster took the relatively simple book of the same name by Max Brooks and made it into a globe-hopping epic about the end of the world on a massive scale. Brad Pitt stars as Gerry Lane, a United Nations investigator who tries to stop a zombie pandemic while it’s actually happening. It’s an imperfect adaptation but some of its imagery is unforgettable. And every list like this needs a few zombie movies.
The Aviator
Year: 2004 Runtime: 2h 50m Director: Martin Scorsese
Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Howard Hughes in Martin Scorsese’s incredibly detailed and lavish period piece about one of the most infamous eccentric millionaires of all time. It feels like every other month produces a bit of social outrage about Scorsese’s place in movie history, or his comments on Marvel movies. Ignore that noise and just watch one of his works that doesn’t get nearly enough praise, anchored by one of DiCaprio’s best performances and some of the most impressive aerial cinematography of all time.
Brokeback Mountain
Year: 2005 Runtime: 2h 14m Director: Ang Lee
Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal star in this romantic drama, one of the best films of the ‘00s. Adapted from the short story by Annie Proulx, Ang Lee’s film is tender and heartbreaking, the story of unaccepted love between two men in the American West. It features some of the career-best work from Ledger, Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, and Michelle Williams.
Call Me by Your Name
Year: 2017 Runtime: 2h 6m Director: Luca Guadagnino
One of the best films of the 2010s, this drama stars Timothée Chalamet as a boy who discovers his own sexuality when he’s wooed by an older man, played by Armie Hammer. Delicate and moving, this is a remarkable drama because of how true it feels, anchored by great performances throughout, not just from the two leads but the amazing Michael Stuhlbarg too.
Emily the Criminal
Year: 2022 Runtime: 1h 36m Director: John Patton Ford
This excellent indie thriller has really built an audience since it was added to Netflix. Get on the bandwagon before somebody recommends it to you. Aubrey Plaza does career-best film work as Emily, an L.A. woman who is struggling to pay off student loans when she’s presented with a low-level criminal opportunity. It gets worse from there. A riveting commentary on the gig economy, it’s a must-see.
If Beale Street Could Talk
Year: 2018 Runtime: 1h 59m Director: Barry Jenkins
Following up on a Best Picture win can be tough for any filmmaker but Barry Jenkins delivered with this lyrical and moving adaptation of the 1974 novel of the same name by James Baldwin. It stars KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Brian Tyree Henry, Colman Domingo, and the Oscar-winning Regina King in the story of a young couple struck down when he’s wrongly charged with a crime. It’s a masterful drama from one of the best American filmmakers.
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Year: 2022 Runtime: 1h 56m Director: Guillermo del Toro
The Oscar-winning director took his visionary skills to stop-motion animation with this instant classic, a retelling of the beloved fairy tale about the wooden boy who longed to be real. With spectacular voice work, this version reimagines Pinocchio during the period before World War II, allowing del Toro to explore his themes of innocence and violence again. It’s a deeply personal, beautiful film.
The Power of the Dog
Year: 2021 Runtime: 2h 6m Director: Jane Campion
The film that finally won an Oscar for Jane Campion for directing is one of the most acclaimed in the history of the streaming giant. Campion helmed this adaptation of the novel of the same name by Thomas Savage, the story of a vicious landowner (Benedict Cumberbatch) who torments the new wife (Kirsten Dunst) of his brother (Jesse Plemons). A drama that plays like a thriller, this gorgeously rendered period piece unpacks themes of toxic masculinity and manipulation in a way that makes it impossible to turn away. It’s not just one of the best Netflix Original films, it’s one of the best, period, of the 2020s so far.
Road to Perdition
Year: 2002 Runtime: 1h 57m Director: Sam Mendes
See, Tom Hanks doesn’t always play the nice guy. In Sam Mendes’ adaptation of the Max Allan Collins graphic novel, America’s dad plays a mob enforcer seeking revenge. What’s most memorable about this 2002 film is Mendes’ remarkable attention to period detail. It’s a gorgeous film just to live in for a couple hours. Don’t do this one on your phone.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy
Year: 2001-3 Runtime: 2h 58m Director: Peter Jackson
The Oscar-winning franchise by Peter Jackson bounces around the streaming services with alarming regularity, now finding its way to Netflix for an indeterminate amount of time. Watch the entire saga of Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gange, and the rest of the Fellowship while you can.
The Mask of Zorro
Year: 1998 Runtime: 2h 17m Director: Martin Campbell
Every now and then, an actor and a blockbuster role just make a perfect fit. That was certainly the case when Antonio Bandera’s was cast in Martin Campbell’s reboot of the legendary character of Zorro. Banderas is so charming here that the movie made enough money to produce a sequel in 2005, which is also on Netflix.
Minority Report
Year: 2002 Runtime: 2h 25m Director: Steven Spielberg
One of Steven Spielberg’s best modern movies is this adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story about a future in which crime can be predicted before it happens. Tom Cruise stars as a man who is convicted of a crime he has no intent of committing in a fantastic vision of a future in which the systems designed to stop crime have been corrupted. It’s timely and probably always will be.
The Quick and the Dead
Year: 1995 Runtime: 1h 45m Director: Sam Raimi
Before he made superhero movies but after he made horror ones, the amazing Sam Raimi was given his biggest budget to date for this 1995 Western with style to spare. Sharon Stone plays a gunfighter who ends up in a town called Redemption, ruled with iron fist by a tyrant played by Gene Hackman. Russell Crowe and a young Leonardo DiCaprio star in a film that’s become increasingly appreciated in the years since its release.
Year: 2014 Runtime: 2h 30m Director: Gareth Evans
Gareth Edwards wrote, edited, and directed the insane follow-up to his breakthrough hit that takes everything he did with The Raid and turns it up to 11! Like incredible action choreography? Unbroken takes? Stunts that defy the laws of physics? The Raid 2 is quite simply one of the best action movies of the last decade, a thrill ride from beginning to end.
Reservoir Dogs
Year: 1992 Runtime: 1h 39m Director: Quentin Tarantino
One of the only Quentin Tarantino flicks on Netflix right now is his first effort, a movie that announced a major new talent as much as any debut of the ‘90s. Remarkably, unlike a lot of ‘80s and ‘90s debuts, Reservoir Dogs works just as well today. It would arguably be an even bigger hit if it came out in 2023. That’s how much QT influenced the form for three decades and counting after its release.
Year: 1989 Runtime: 1h 54m Director: Rowdy Herrington
As production on a remake of this cult classic (with Jake Gyllenhaal!) gets underway, why not go back and check out the original again? Patrick Swayze plays the bouncer at a totally average Missouri bar who ends up getting sucked into a violent world when he crosses paths with the wrong bad guy. Sam Elliott and Kelly Lynch star in a movie that feels like a perfect distillation of the many charms of Mr. Swayze.
Year: 1976 Runtime: 1h 59m Director: John Avildsen
The one that started it all is on Netflix, waiting for you to do a catch-up before seeing Creed III in a few months. Go back almost five decades now to see the start of the Rocky Balboa saga in a film that truly took the world by storm, becoming the highest grossing film of 1976 on its way to winning Best Picture and making Sylvester Stallone a household name.
Year: 2022 Runtime: 3h 5m Director: S.S. Rajamouli
One of the biggest films in the world in 2022, this crazy action flick really took off in the United States when it dropped on Netflix. It’s hard to put into words just how much movie you get with RRR . It’s kind of all the movies — musical, romance, comedy, action, drama. Whatever you’re looking for, it’s in here. You’ll want to watch it twice.
Year: 1986 Runtime: 1h 49m Director: Tony Scott
Tom Cruise reminded everyone that he is really the last true movie star with the amazing success of this film’s sequel in 2022, a movie that’s likely to be a major player at the Oscars soon. Why not go back to the original and see how the story of Maverick and Iceman rocked the world over 35 years ago? A lot of this is pretty dated now, but in a way that makes the nostalgic ride even more fun (and will make you appreciate Maverick even more).
The Woman King
Year: 2022 Runtime: 2h 14m Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood
Living legend Viola Davis stars in this retelling of the all-female warriors of the kingdom of Dahomey in the 19th century. She plays General Nansica, who trains young women to follow in her footsteps, and leads a rock star ensemble of future stars that includes Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, and Sheila Atim. You’ll know all their names soon enough.
National Lampoon’s Animal House
Year: 1978 Runtime: 1h 48m Director: John Landis
One of the most influential comedies of all time, Animal House is also a great example of a flick in which the fun everyone was clearly having on set translated to the big screen. People forget how cheaply made this movie was and how most of the major players weren’t stars at the time. They were just a bunch of friends getting together to do something funny. And they made movie history.
Year: 1985 Runtime: 1h 38m Director: Michael Ritchie
One of Chevy Chase’s best screen performances came in the 1985 comedy based on the hit novels by Gregory McDonald. The character of a reporter nicknamed Fletch who gets drawn into an investigation after being asked to kill a millionaire is perfect for Chase, blending his physical comedy ability with that oversized ego.
Glass Onion
Year: 2022 Runtime: 2h 19m Director: Rian Johnson
The writer/director of Knives Out returned in late 2022 with a sequel to that smash hit, exclusively on Netflix. Daniel Craig returns as Benoit Blanc, the casual crime solver who finds himself on a billionaire’s island in Rian Johnson’s latest comedy/mystery. Once again, Johnson assembles a murderer’s row of talent, including Kate Hudson, Janelle Monae, Ed Norton, Dave Bautista, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., and more. It’s smart, funny, and thoroughly entertaining.
Year: 1978 Runtime: 1h 51m Director: Randal Kleiser
John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John changed the course of the movie musical with the wildly beloved flick about the kids at Rydell High. Based on the 1971 stage musical of the same name, Grease was a massive hit, and still draws audiences to theaters and on cable over four decades after its release.
Julie and Julia
Year: 2009 Runtime: 2h 3m Director: Nora Ephron
The writer of so many rom-com classics profiled two women in this critical and commercial hit, Nora Ephron’s last before her death. It tells the dual stories of the world-famous chef Julia Child (Meryl Streep) and a NYC writer (Amy Adams) who sets out to cook every recipe in Child’s cookbook in a year, chronicling her journey on a popular blog.
Magic Mike XXL
Year: 2015 Runtime: 1h 55m Director: Gregory Jacobs
A massive hit at the theaters back when people went to the theaters, this middle chapter of what is now a trilogy with 2023’s Magic Mike’s Last Dance is a raucous, joyous time at the movies, but it’s also a bit underrated given its subject matter. It’s a smart movie that understood things about the gig economy and making it in any business before other films. It also features another great turn from Channing Tatum, a true movie star.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Year: 1975 Runtime: 1h 29m Director: Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones
During a hiatus between the third and fourth seasons of Monty Python’s Family Circus , the gang of mega-talented comedians decided to make movie history. Inspired by the King Arthur legend, Holy Grail is a timeless comedy, the rare kind of film that will still be making people laugh hundreds of years from now. And while the Monty Python boys were already famous, this film took them to another level, cementing their place in movie history.
Gerald’s Game
Year: 2017 Runtime: 1h 43m Director: Mike Flanagan
Before he helmed The Haunting of Hill House , Mike Flanagan co-wrote and directed one of the best Netflix Original horror films in this adaptation of Stephen King’s 1992 novel of the same name. Carla Gugino is phenomenal as a woman who gets handcuffed to her bed by her toxic husband…and then he has a heart attack. As she tries to figure out how she will survive, she accesses the trauma of her past.
Year: 2018 Runtime: 1h 38m Director: Mamoru Hosoda
One of the best Japanese filmmakers alive, Hosoda has earned fans with films like Wolf Children, The Boy and the Beast , and Belle . One of his best is this 2018 fantasy movie, which actually became the first non-Ghibli anime film to ever get nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. It can be a little hard to follow, but it’s one of the most visually striking films on Netflix, or any streaming service.
Wendell & Wild
Year: 2022 Runtime: 1h 46m Director: Henry Selick
The director of A Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline finally returned this year with this clever and twisted tale co-written by Oscar winner Jordan Peele. The comedian also co-stars as one of the title characters, the literal demons for a girl who blames herself for the death of her parents. Selick is a master of stop-motion animation and this project allows him to stretch his visual prowess in new, gross ways. It’s a new Halloween classic (that can be watched any time, of course!)
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The 37 Best Movies on Netflix This Week
Netflix has plenty of movies to watch, but it's a real mixed bag. Sometimes finding the right film at the right time can seem like an impossible task. Fret not, we’re here to help. Below is a list of some of our favorite films currently on the streaming service—from dramas to comedies to thrillers.
If you decide you're in more of a TV mood, head over to our collection of the best TV series on Netflix . Want more? Check out our lists of the best sci-fi movies , best movies on Amazon Prime , and the best flicks on Disney+ .
Anders Hill (Ben Mendelsohn) thought he wanted a change from his stifling life in a wealthy suburb of Connecticut. Now rashly divorced from Helene (Edie Falco), the woman he still loves, regretting his decision to retire early, and struggling with his adult son Preston’s (Thomas Mann) battles with drug addiction, Anders is spiraling. The Land of Steady Habits could be another typically maudlin look at a rich man’s midlife crisis, but writer and director Nicole Holofcener—adapting Ted Thompson’s novel of the same name—refuses to let its lead off the hook for his own culpability in his downfall, while also infusing Anders’ journey with both dark humor and a strange warmth.
In Bigbug , Jean-Pierre Jeunet—the director of Amélie, Delicatessen, and City of Lost Children —presents a near future where AI and robots are omnipresent, making life smoother and simpler for their organic masters. Unfortunately, humans remain just as messy and complicated as ever. A locked-room drama that would be as comfortable on stage as it is in Jeunet’s heightened unreality, Bigbug follows a group of splintered family members and interfering neighbors, their fractious relationships coming to a boil while trapped in a household security lockdown initiated by domestic helper robots. Meanwhile, the military-industrial Yonyx androids are taking over the outside world—an AI apocalypse drowned out by human neuroses. Any movie from Jeunet is worth a look, and with its satirical flair, exquisite set design, and sharp performances from French cinema royalty, the latest addition to his filmography is no exception.
An idyllic slice-of-life movie with a twist, Call Me Chihiro follows a former sex worker—the eponymous Chihiro, played by Kasumi Arimura—after she moves to a seaside town to work in a bento restaurant. This isn’t a tale of a woman on the run, trying to move on from her past. Chihiro is refreshingly forthright and unapologetic, and her warmth and openness soon begin to change the lives of her neighbors. Directed by Rikiya Imaizumi, this is an intimate, heartfelt character drama that alternates between moments of aching loneliness and sheer joy, packed with emotional beats that remind viewers of the importance of even the smallest connections.
It's easy to imagine that the elevator pitch for The Sea Beast was “ Moby Dick meets How to Train Your Dragon ”—and who wouldn’t be compelled by that? Set in a fantasy world where oceanic leviathans terrorize humanity, those who hunt down the giant monsters are lauded as heroes. Jacob Holland (voiced by Karl Urban) is one such hero, adopted son of the legendary Captain Crowe and well on the way to building his own legacy as a monster hunter—a journey disrupted by stowaway Maisie Brumble (Zaris-Angel Hator), who has her own ambitions to take on the sea beasts. However, after an attempt to destroy the colossal Red Bluster goes disastrously wrong, Jacob and Maisie are stranded on an island filled with the creatures, and they find that the monsters may not be quite so monstrous after all. A rollicking sea-bound adventure directed by Chris Williams—of Big Hero 6 and Moana fame—it has secured its standing as one of Netflix’s finest movies with a nomination for Best Animated Feature at the upcoming Oscars.
The classic British comedy troupe’s finest movie (deal with it, Life of Brian fans) is once again available on Netflix, and it remains as delightful and hilarious a fantasy farce as it was on release back in 1975. A spoof of Arthurian legend, Holy Grail loosely follows King Arthur’s (Graham Chapman) quest to gather the Knights of the Round Table before being ordered by God (also Chapman) to find the eponymous chalice. It’s a journey packed with endlessly quotable scenes and memorable characters, from the Knights Who Say “Ni!” to the not-so-terrifying Black Knight, and even the occasional earworm of a musical number. While its production values were low even for its time—something the Pythons regularly poke fun at during the film’s sprightly 92 minutes—it still earns its standing as one of the most enduringly popular comedies ever committed to film.
Kat went off the rails following the deaths of her parents five years ago. Now she’s got one last chance to steer her life back on track at a new school and finally conquer her personal demons. Unfortunately, she’s marked as a Hell Maiden on her first day, attracting the attention of actual demon brothers Wendell and Wild (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, respectively). Tempted by the scheming siblings’ promise to resurrect her parents if she summons them to the living world—where they plan to out-do their infernal father at his own game—Kat (Lyric Ross) is drawn into a macabre plot that threatens the living and dead alike. Directed by Henry Selick ( The Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline ) and produced by Jordan Peele ( Nope, Get Out ), this is another fantastic entry in Selick’s canon of mesmerizingly dark stop-motion masterpieces.
This gleefully entertaining giant-monster movie eschews tearing up the likes of New York or Tokyo in favor of director Roar Uthaug’s ( Tomb Raider 2018 ) native Norway, with a titanic troll stomping its way toward Oslo after being roused by a drilling operation. The plot and characters will be familiar to any fan of kaiju cinema—Ine Marie Wilmann heads up the cast as Nora Tidemann, the academic with a curiously specific skill set called in to advise on the crisis, while Kim Falck fits neatly into the role of Andreas Isaksan, the government adviser paired with her, and Gard B. Eidsvold serves as Tobias Tidemann, the former professor chased out of academia for his crazy theories about trolls. But the striking Nordic visuals and the titular menace’s ability to blend in with the landscape allows for some impressively original twists along the way. Although Troll could have easily descended into parody, Uthaug steers clear of smug self-awareness and instead delivers one of the freshest takes on the genre in years.
The latest from director Noah Baumbach sees him reteaming with his Marriage Story lead Adam Driver for another quirky look at disintegrating families and interpersonal angst—albeit this time with an apocalyptic twist. Driver stars as Jack Gladney, a college professor faking his way through a subject he’s unable to teach and struggling to work out family life with his fourth wife, Babette (Greta Gerwig), and their four kids from previous relationships. Neurotic familial squabbles prove the least of their worries, though, when an “airborne toxic event” hits their town, sending everyone scrambling for cover with exponentially disastrous results. While the contemporary Covid-19 parallels are none too subtle, keeping the 1980s setting of Don DeLillo’s original novel proves an inspired choice on Baumbach’s part, one that accentuates the film’s darkly absurd comedy. By contrasting big hair and materialist excess against a rush for survival, White Noise serves up some authentic moments of humanity amid its chaos.
Daniel Craig reprises his role as detective Benoit Blanc in this brilliant follow-up to 2019’s phenomenal whodunnit, Knives Out . Writer-director Rian Johnson crafts a fiendishly sharp new case for “the Last of the Gentlemen Sleuths,” taking Blanc to a Greek island getaway for a reclusive tech billionaire and his collection of friends and hangers-on, where a planned murder mystery weekend takes a deadly literal turn. While totally accessible for newcomers, fans of the first film will also be rewarded with some deeper character development for Blanc, a role that’s shaping up to be as iconic for Craig as 007. As cleverly written and meticulously constructed as its predecessor, and featuring the kind of all-star cast—Edward Norton! Janelle Monáe! Kathryn Hahn! Leslie Odom Jr.! Jessica Henwick! Madelyn Cline! Kate Hudson! Dave Bautista!—that cinema dreams are made of, Glass Onion might be the best thing Netflix has dropped all year.
The modern master of the macabre brings the famous wooden would-be boy to life like never before in this exquisitely animated take on Pinocchio . While this stop-motion masterpiece hews closer to the original 1880s tale by Carlo Collodi than the sanitized Disney version, del Toro adds his own signature touch and compelling twists to the classic story that make it darkly enchanting. Expect a Blue Fairy closer to a biblically accurate many-eyed angel, a Terrible Dogfish more like a kaiju, and complex themes of mortality that will leave audiences old and young thinking about it for days after the credits roll. Perfect for fans of The Nightmare Before Christmas or Coraline , and likely to be discussed in the same breath as them for years to come.
Florence Pugh dazzles in this not-quite-horror film from Oscar-winning director Sebastián Lelio. Set in 1862, English nurse Lib Wright (Pugh) is sent to Ireland to observe Anna O’Donnell, a girl who claims to have not eaten in four months, subsisting instead on “manna from heaven.” Still grieving the loss of her own child, Lib is torn between investigating the medical impossibility and growing concern for Anna herself. Facing obstacles in the form of Anna’s deeply religious family and a local community that distrusts her, Lib’s watch descends into a tense, terrifying experience. Based on the book of the same name by Emma Donoghue, The Wonder is a beautiful yet bleakly shot period piece that explores the all-too-mortal horrors that unquestioning religious fervor and family secrets can wreak.
Kosuke and Natsume are childhood friends whose relationship is strained as they approach their teenage years. When the apartment complex where they first met is scheduled for demolition, they sneak in one last time, looking for some emotional closure. Instead, they and the friends who joined them find themselves trapped by torrential rain. After the mysterious storm passes, the world is changed, with the entire building floating on an ethereal sea, and a new child in their midst.
Adolescent feelings and magical realism collide in this sumptuously animated movie from the makers of A Whisker Away (also available on Netflix and well worth your time). Director Hiroyasa Ishida ( Penguin Highway ) may not be up there with the likes of Hayao Miyazaki in terms of name recognition in the West, but Drifting Home should put him on your radar.
Hopped up on nationalism and dreams of battlefield glory, Paul Bäumer (Felix Kammerer) is an eager young recruit for the German army during the last year of the First World War. His romantic view of the conflict is shattered on his first night in the cold trenches, surrounded by death and disaster, and dealt a tragic blow with the easy, meaningless loss of a dear friend. It's all downhill from there in this magnificently crafted adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque's groundbreaking novel, one of the most important pieces of anti-war literature of the 20th century. Paul's journey is one of a loss of innocence, of naivete crushed by the relentless machine of war and state, and how soldiers on the ground are chewed up in the name of politicians and generals. Director Edward Berger's take on the material is the first to be filmed in German, adding a layer of authenticity and making for a blistering, heart-rending cinematic effort that drives home the horror and inhumanity of war. Often bleak, but an undeniably brilliant piece of filmmaking.
2020's original Enola Holmes proved to be a surprisingly enjoyable twist on the world's most famous detective, focusing instead on his overlooked sister, Enola. No surprise, then, that this follow-up is just as exciting a romp through Victorian London. Despite proving her skills in the first film, Enola struggles to establish her own detective credentials until a missing-person report leads her to a case that's stumped even Sherlock, and it sees her crossing paths with his archnemesis, Moriarty. Snappy action, clever twists, and bristling sibling rivalry from Stranger Things ' Millie Bobby Brown and The Witcher 's Henry Cavill as the Holmes siblings make for fun, family-friendly viewing. It even crams in a touch of vague historical accuracy by making the 1888 matchgirls' strike a key part of Enola's latest adventure.
Goreng (Iván Massagué) awakes in a cell in a vertical prison, where food is provided only by a platform that descends level by level, pausing only long enough for inmates to eat before traveling ever lower. While there’s food enough for all, prisoners on higher levels gorge themselves, leaving those below to starve. It’s the perfect recipe for violence, betrayal, and rebellion in director Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s tense Spanish thriller. Equal parts horror, dystopian sci-fi, and social commentary, The Platform works as a none-too-subtle commentary on consumption culture, but also a stark examination of the depths to which desperate people can sink. It’s absolutely not for everyone—scenes involving cannibalism and suicide make it a particularly troubling watch in places—but thanks to its claustrophobic, brutalist setting and stellar performances from its cast, The Platform is one of the most visually striking and narratively provocative films on Netflix.
Spread over three time periods—1994, 1978, and 1666—the Fear Street trilogy is one of the cleverest horror releases in Netflix’s catalog. The first installment introduces viewers to the cursed town of Shadyside, where a string of bloody killings has labeled it the murder capital of America. Soon, a group of genre-typical teens are drawn into a horrific legacy dating back to the 17th century, dodging serial killers, summer camp slayings, and vengeful witches along the way. The trilogy was originally released over the course of three weeks, emphasizing its connected nature, and it transcends its origins as a series of teen-lit novels by R. L. Stine, with lashings of gore and a tone drawing on '80s slasher flicks that delivers some genuine scares over the three films. Director Leigh Janiak masterfully walks a tightrope between lampooning and paying homage to horror classics—it's impossible to miss contrasts to the likes of Scream , Halloween , and even Stranger Things —but it’s all done with such love for the form that Fear Street has established itself as a Halloween staple. It’s a bit too self-aware in places, but definitely one for the shouldn’t-be-as-good-as-it-is pile.
When Hannah’s (Jurnee Smollett) daughter Vee is kidnapped, she turns to the only person who can help—her neighbor Lou (Allison Janney), whose normally standoffish nature hides a dark and violent past. Janney is phenomenal as the grizzled, broken, dangerous Lou, delivering action scenes that stand alongside some of Hollywood’s greatest. While it would be easy to reduce Lou to a gender-flipped Taken , with Lou painted as a similarly unstoppable force in hunting down the lost child, there’s much more going on in director Anna Foerster’s gritty thriller. This is ultimately a film centered on failed families and generational abuse, and how sometimes blood isn’t enough to bind people together. A dark, gripping action epic.
At a glance, Do Revenge seems cut from the same cloth as Heathers and Mean Girls , simply bringing the high school retribution flick into the 2020s. However, writer-director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (cowriter of Thor: Love and Thunder ) adds a heavy layer of Strangers on a Train to her deliciously petty tale of grievance and teenage angst. When queen bee Drea ( Riverdale's Camila Mendes) has a sex tape leaked by her boyfriend, she teams up with school outcast Eleanor ( Stranger Things' Maya Hawke), victim of a rumor that she forced herself on another girl, to swap vendettas and socially destroy the other's bully. Of course, matters descend into chaos. But with a cast of brilliantly detestable characters making satisfyingly awful choices, a smart script that knows exactly how to play with (and poke fun at) the genre's tropes, and an incredible soundtrack, you'll be too hooked to look away.
Written, directed, and produced by Richard Linklater and using a style of rotoscope animation similar to that used in his films A Scanner Darkly and Waking Life, Apollo 10 1/2 is a mix of lazy summers, Saturday morning cartoons, and idealized memoir. Loosely based on Linklater’s own childhood growing up in Houston in the midst of the space race, the coming-of-age story follows a young boy named Stanley as he’s recruited to pilot the lunar lander—which NASA accidentally built too small for full-grown astronauts. Blending period social tensions (“Yeah, that’s a hippy”) with childhood imagination and excitement for the future, this is a distinctive piece of filmmaking dripping with an almost innocent sense of nostalgia.
Nickelodeon never quite knew how to handle Invader Zim . Back in 2001, Jhonen Vasquez’s sci-fi comedy about an inept alien attempting to take over the Earth was a massive underground hit, but it skewed a bit too dark for the kids’ network. Fast-forward two decades, and Zim—along with deranged robot companion GIR—is back to continue his invasion, with Vasquez let loose to create an animated movie without restraint. Channeling the classic series’ ludicrous sense of humor but with an even darker edge, this update sees Zim become a serious threat for once, and the Earth’s only hope is his arch enemy Dib—a paranoid schoolboy who’s spent the years since the show obsessively waiting for Zim’s resurgence. Packed with laugh-out-loud moments, big sci-fi ideas worthy of blockbuster franchises, and even some oddly touching—if appropriately nihilistic—moments exploring Dib’s family, Enter the Florpus is a very welcome return for a cult classic. Hopefully we won’t be waiting another two decades for Zim’s next invasion.
One of India’s biggest films of all time, RRR (or Rise, Roar, Revolt ) redefines the notion of cinematic spectacle. Set in 1920, the historical epic follows real-life Indian revolutionaries Alluri Sitrama Raju (Ram Charan) and Komaram Bheem (N. T. Rama Rao Jr.), but fictionalizes their lives and actions. Although drawn from very different walks of life, both men prove to be opposing the colonialist forces of the British Raj in their own way, their similarities drawing them together as they ultimately face down sadistic governor Scott Buxton (Ray Stevenson) and his cruel wife Catherine (Alison Doody). No mere period piece, RRR is a bold, exciting, and often explosive piece of filmmaking that elevates its heroes to near-mythological status, with director S. S. Rajamouli deploying ever-escalating, brilliantly-shot action scenes—and an exquisitely choreographed dance number—that grab viewers’ attention and refuse to let go. Whether you’re a longtime fan of Indian cinema or just looking for an action flick beyond the Hollywood norm, RRR is not to be missed.
A stop-motion animated anthology film, The House is a dark, strange, borderline-experimental piece where the eponymous domicile is the main character. The first chapter follows a young girl called Mabel, whose impoverished parents are offered free residence in the impressive home but never seem to notice the shifting layout or their own increasing resemblance to the furniture. Things only get weirder as the house next appears in a world populated by anthropomorphic rats, where a property developer is trying to renovate it for sale but is plagued by very peculiar buyers, before shifting to a seemingly flooded world where its new inhabitants struggle to leave even as the waters around them continue to rise. A deliciously eerie triptych of tales, all centered on themes of loss and obsession, The House will delight fans of Coraline or The Corpse Bride .
You either “get” the Eurovision Song Contest or you don't—and chances are, if you're outside of Europe, you don't. But whether you can recite every winner back to 1956 or have only maybe-sorta heard of ABBA, this Will Ferrell passion project (his Swedish wife, actress Viveca Paulin, hooked him on the contest) will entertain both crowds. Following Icelandic singer-songwriter duo Fire Saga—Ferrell as Lars Erickssong and Rachel McAdams as his besotted bandmate Sigrit Ericksdóttir—as they aim for superstardom, for the Eurovision faithful it's a loving nod to the long-running music competition, packed with gleefully camp in-jokes and scene-stealing cameos from Eurovision royalty. To the uninitiated, it's a wild, weird comedy with plenty of hilariously farcical turns and enough catchy tunes to convert newcomers into Eurovision acolytes. Bonus: You'll finally understand the “shut up and play Ja Ja Ding Dong!” meme.
An award winner at Cannes in 2019, this tale of burgeoning young love, obsession, and autonomous body parts is every bit as weird as you might expect for a French adult animated film. Director Jérémy Clapin charts the life of Naoufel, a Moroccan immigrant in modern-day France, falling for the distant Gabrielle, and Naoufel’s severed hand, making its way across the city to try and reconnect. With intersecting timelines and complex discussions about fate, I Lost My Body is often mind-bending yet always captivating, with brilliantly detailed animation and a phenomenal use of color throughout. Worth watching in both the original French and the solid English dub featuring Dev Patel and Alia Shawkat, just to try to make the most sense of it.
Aspiring filmmaker Katie Mitchell (voiced by Abbi Jacobson) has a strained relationship with her technophobic father Rick (Danny McBride)—not helped by his accidentally destroying her laptop right as she’s about to begin film school in California. In an effort to salvage their relationship, Rick decides to take the entire Mitchell family on a cross-country road trip to see Katie off. Unfortunately, said road trip coincides with a robot uprising that the Mitchells escape only by chance, leaving the fate of the world in their hands. Beautifully animated and brilliantly written, The Mitchells vs. the Machines takes a slightly more mature approach to family dynamics than many of its genre-mates, with the college-age Katie searching for her own identity and having genuine grievances with her father, but it effortlessly balances the more serious elements with exquisite action and genuinely funny comedy. Robbed of a full cinematic release by Covid-19, it now shines as one of Netflix’s best films.
Frustrated by the world’s collective inaction on existential threats like climate change? Maybe don’t watch Don’t Look Up , director Adam McKay’s satirical black comedy. When two low-level astronomers discover a planet-killing comet on a collision course with Earth, they try to warn the authorities—only to be met with a collective “meh.” Matters only get worse when they try to leak the news themselves and have to navigate vapid TV news hosts, celebrities looking for a signature cause, and an indifferent public. A bleakly funny indictment of our times, bolstered by a star-studded cast fronted by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence, Don’t Look Up is, somewhat depressingly, one of the best examinations of humanity since Idiocracy .
In 2022, Netflix made its biggest play yet to win a Best Picture Oscar with The Power of the Dog . It lost to Apple TV+’s CODA , making it seem as though the streaming giant had lost to a much newer, younger player. It had, of course, but that shouldn’t take away from the fact that Jane Campion’s film is a wildly evocative tale about a brash rancher (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) in 1920s Montana who horribly mistreats his brother’s new wife and son. A critique of masculinity, Dog is beautifully shot and masterfully tense. While it didn’t win Best Picture, it’s still a great one—and nabbed Campion an Oscar for Best Director.
Based on the life of alleged mob hitman Frank Sheeran, captured in Charles Brandt’s book I Heard You Paint Houses , The Irishman essentially functions as a Martin Scorsese greatest-hits album. Featuring digitally de-aged Robert De Niro (as Sheeran) and Al Pacino (Jimmy Hoffa), the movie was trapped in development hell for years before Netflix arrived with the willingness to give Scorsese the creative license (and money) to make the movie his way. It's perhaps too long, at three and a half hours, and that de-aging technology still needs a little improvement, but the 10 Oscar nominations speak for themselves.
A woman wakes up in a cryonics cell after a few weeks in suspended animation. She doesn’t remember her name, age, or past except for a few disturbing flashbacks. But one thing she knows—courtesy of an annoying talking AI—is that she has just over an hour before she runs out of oxygen. Can she get out of the coffin-shaped chamber quickly enough? This thriller is as claustrophobic as it gets, and it manages to find that rare sweet spot of being static and unnerving at once. The actors’ strong performances help the film win the day, despite a ludicrously far-fetched ending.
An intricate study of a cinematic masterpiece? Or two hours and 11 minutes of Gary Oldman lying around and getting tanked in bed? Mank is both. After Roma , David Fincher gets his turn at a monochrome, prestige Netflick with this look at screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, otherwise known as the guy who wrote Citizen Kane with Orson Welles. Or, more accurately, as the film demonstrates, for Orson Welles. All that old Hollywood fancy and snappy dialog is here, but Fincher is also interested in movie moguls, fake news, the women behind the men, and creative credit. Bonus points for Amanda Seyfried’s wonderful turn as actress Marion Davies.
A colossal hit in its native China, The Wandering Earth earned more than $700 million (£550 million) at the country's box office, prompting Netflix to snap up the rights to stream the sci-fi sensation internationally. The film follows a group of astronauts, sometime far into the future, attempting to guide the Earth away from the sun, which is expanding into a red giant. The problem? Jupiter is also in the way. While the Earth is being steered by 10,000 fire-blowing engines that have been strapped to the surface, the humans still living on the planet must find a way to survive the ever changing environmental conditions.
Chadwick Boseman’s final film before his untimely death is one set almost entirely in a sweaty recording studio in 1920s Chicago. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom centers on the mother of the blues, played by Viola Davis, as she clashes with bandmates and white producers while trying to record an album. Davis delivers a stellar performance, perfectly reflecting the tensions of the time, but it’s Boseman who is completely electrifying onscreen, stealing every scene he’s in. The actor truly couldn’t have done any better for his final outing as trumpeter Levee.
Much as with his previous films Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind , director Charlie Kaufman created quite the head-spinner with this Netflix drama. In I’m Thinking of Ending Things , Lucy (Jessie Buckley) travels with boyfriend Jake (Jesse Plemons) to meet his parents for the first time at their secluded farmhouse. But all the while Lucy narrates her desire to end things with Jake, and questions why she’s going on this trip in the first place. Cue an incredibly uncomfortable dinner with parents Toni Collette and David Thewlis (both excellent) and a confusing journey that flits through time. It should be noted that you simply won’t understand all (or frankly, any) of the elements of this mind-bending film. However, once you get all the answers, it’s hard not to admire and appreciate the complexities of loss and loneliness Kaufman has imbued in this drama.
Netflix’s The Old Guard broke records on release and remains one of the streaming service’s most watched original films ever, reaching a whopping 72 million households in its first four weeks. But just how good of a watch is it? Charlize Theron leads a group of immortal mercenaries who use their self-healing powers to help those in need. When a new immortal joins their crew, they find themselves being chased down by scientists who want to experiment on them. The Old Guard ’s action scenes are its strongest, with Theron and new recruit KiKi Layne having some serious fun dishing out and taking their fair share of hits. It may not be especially original in its plot, but The Old Guard delivers exactly what it promises.
After finding Oscar success with BlacKkKlansman , Spike Lee returned with an even more powerful, violent, anguished take on another aspect of America’s history of racial injustice. This time it’s in Vietnam, where four Black military veterans have returned to find the remains of their fallen squad leader and a gold fortune they left behind. The film is a multilayered analysis of the racism suffered by the Black soldiers who were defending a country that simply did not value their lives, and the brutality the Vietnamese people were subjected to in the long, painful, and—as it’s known in the film—American War. As you would expect, a film that focuses so closely on these difficult themes is no easy watch, and there are moments of intense brutality. But at the heart of Da 5 Bloods is an incredibly human story of friendship, humanity, and the inherited trauma our main characters experience.
A Senegalese romance, a story of construction workers turned migrants, and a paranormal revenge tale—Mati Diop's genre-busting Atlantics won the Grand Prix at Cannes in 2019, and Netflix showed its impeccable taste in international films by picking it up. The first-time feature director takes her time as she follows 17-year-old Ada, who is in love with Soulemaine—one of the workers at sea—but is obliged to marry another man, and Issa, a police officer who gets mixed up in the lives of Ada and other women left behind in Dakar. Diop uses genre tropes and traditional folklore to get under the skin of families, corruption, and class in urban Senegal.
After the credits roll on Dolemite Is My Name , we guarantee you'll be 10,000 times more likely to go out and stage a horndog nude photo shoot for your next cult comedy record. The only person having anywhere near as much fun as Eddie Murphy, playing real-life club comedian/singer Rudy Ray Moore, is Wesley Snipes, goofing around as the actor-director D'Urvill Martin. Together with a madcap crew, they make a truly terrible 1975 Blaxploitation kung fu movie based on Moore's pimp alter ego, Dolemite. A brash showbiz movie with a heart of gold, there's shades of The Disaster Artist and music legend biopics all over this film. Yet with the cast flexing in Ruth Carter's glorious costumes—the suits!—and a couple of triumphant sex and shoot-out scenes, it's a wild ride, whether you know the original story or not.
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The 50 best movies on Netflix right now (March 2023)
The beauty of Netflix is that it has so much to offer to so many people. This week, for example, action and sci-fi fans are well-served by the return of the Riddick films, while children and families can enjoy the new animated feature, The Magician’s Elephant .
And that’s just the beginning, because there’s something new on Netflix . If you want to stay on top of the constantly changing selection, just check out our updated list of the best movies on Netflix right now.
Looking for something else? We’ve also rounded up the best shows on Netflix , the best movies on Hulu , the best movies on Amazon Prime , and the best movies on Disney+ . Watching from abroad? Use a Netflix VPN to access your country’s catalog from anywhere in the world. Want to watch on the go? We can show you how to download movies on Netflix .
All three Riddick films are now back on Netflix, but Pitch Black remains the best of the trilogy. That’s because it plays out like a sci-fi thriller rather than a standard Vin Diesel action flick. This was Diesel’s first turn as Richard B. Riddick, a killer whose eyes can see in the dark. In a distant part of space, Riddick is captured by bounty hunter William J. Johns (Cole Hauser), and both men have the misfortune of being on a starship that crashes on a remote planet.
After Riddick escapes, the survivors, including Carolyn Fry (Radha Mitchell), Jack (Rhiana Griffith), and Abu al-Walid (Keith David) realize that the planet is overrun by fearsome creatures whenever it gets dark. In order to survive this planet of monsters, they have to rely on their own monster: Riddick.
Netflix just took home the Oscar for Best Animated feature for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio , and it’s already got another strong animated flick out this week. The Magician’s Elephant adapts Kate DiCamillo’s novel of the same name, and it tells the story of a young orphan named Peter (Noah Jupe). Peter’s only wish in life is to find his missing sister, Adele (Pixie Davies), Through a fortune teller, Peter is told that he has to find a Magician (Benedict Wong) who will summon an elephant.
Incredibly, the prophecy comes true. But before the elephant can lead Peter to his sister, he is forced to perform three impossible tasks. And the attempt will change Peter’s life forever.
Idris Elba’s John Luther returns in the Netflix original film Luther: The Fallen Sun . And right off the bat, Luther is tossed in jail for everything illegal he did in the Luther TV series. Luther’s incarceration was engineered by his current adversary, David Robey (Andy Serkis), and it demonstrates just how much Robey fears the disgraced detective.
However, Luther eventually escapes from prison to go after Robey and bring him down for good. Unfortunately for Luther, his former colleagues on the police force are also hunting for him.
This sci-fi film from the writer and director of Train to Busan is part explosive action spectacle, part exploration of big business and technology run amok. The film follows a scientist working on the next generation of lethal, combat-oriented artificial intelligence, developed from the brain patterns of one of the world’s most celebrated mercenaries, who was left comatose after a failed mission. The catch here is that the mercenary is actually the mother of the scientist, who has spent decades grappling with both her mother’s legacy and the company’s ownership of what remains of her mother.
Andrew Garfield stars as Rent playwright Jonathon Larson in this semi-autobiographical film directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda. The musical drama chronicles Larson’s struggles to bring the rock musical he’s been working on for years to the stage while navigating love, friendships, and both personal and professional pressure in New York City.
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Deciding what to watch given such a wealth of content can be difficult. Should you immerse yourself in a hilarious comedy or check out a thrilling drama? Whatever your mood, we have rounded up the best shows on Amazon Prime right now across every genre. All of these shows can be accessed without an add-on subscription, so you're free to stream to your heart's content.
In the old days of TV, you needed cable and network television if you wanted to keep up with the best shows. Now you just need a handful of streaming services, depending upon which ones you really want. But for the truly adventurous TV lovers who subscribe to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, HBO Max, Apple TV+, Disney+, Paramount+, and Peacock, it can be really hard to narrow your selections down to something that you really want to watch above all others.
That’s where we come in. We keep an eye on everything coming and going to make sure you know what shows you can watch at a moment’s notice. These are the best new shows to stream. Now, go make time to watch them. When you're done here, check out the best new movies to stream this week, as well as the best shows on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+.
Although the number of Prime Video exclusive original movies pales in comparison to other streaming services, Amazon has a not-so-secret weapon. Subscribers not only get free shipping on Amazon orders, but they also get an impressive lineup of films on loan from other studios to add some additional star power to the Prime Video flicks.
And Prime Video is constantly adding new and classic titles to entice subscribers. If you want to stay up to the minute on the films you can watch with your subscription, then you should consult our list of the best movies on Amazon Prime Video right now.
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By Jason Bailey
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The sheer volume of films on Netflix — and the site’s less than ideal interface — can make finding a genuinely great movie there a difficult task. To help, we’ve plucked out the 50 best films currently streaming on the service in the United States, updated regularly as titles come and go. And as a bonus, we link to more great movies on Netflix within many of our write-ups below. (Note: Streaming services sometimes remove titles or change starting dates without giving notice.)
Here are our lists of the best TV shows on Netflix , the best movies on Amazon Prime Video and the best of everything on Hulu and Disney Plus .
‘Glass Onion’ (2022)
The writer and director Rian Johnson follows up his Agatha Christie-style whodunit hit “Knives Out” with this delightfully clever comedy-mystery, featuring the further adventures of the world’s greatest detective, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig, still outfitted with neckerchiefs and a deliciously Southern-fried accent). Johnson constructs a “classic detective story with equal measures of breeziness and rigor ,” again focusing on the haves and have-nots, as a gang of rich pals (including Kate Hudson, Leslie Odom Jr., Dave Bautista and Kathryn Hahn) meet up on the isolated island of a Silicon Valley millionaire (Edward Norton). Janelle Monáe, not unlike Ana de Armas in the original, steals the show as the interloper who’s not what she seems. (If you like your mysteries a bit more serious, stream “ Side Effects .”) Watch on Netflix
‘White Noise’ (2022)
The writer and director Noah Baumbach expands his typical small scale into something resembling spectacle — without sacrificing his customary attentiveness to the details of character and dialogue. His protagonists are Jack (Adam Driver) and Babette (Greta Gerwig), two intellectuals doing their best in the middle of the Reagan era to cling to their progressive principles — and later, their very lives, after their surrounding area is driven into panic and paranoia by an “airborne toxic event.” Don DeLillo’s acclaimed novel of the same name was published in 1985, but you don’t have to read too closely between the lines to see its parallels with current events, particularly as DeLillo’s and Baumbach’s characters stumble into something resembling normal life. Our critic called it “ a frequently funny movie that is also utterly in earnest.” (Baumbach’s “ Marriage Story ” and “ The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) ” are also on Netflix.) Watch on Netflix
‘Jerry Maguire’ (1996)
The writer and director Cameron Crowe nabbed five Oscar nominations for this charming romantic comedy, notable for its “disarming acting, colorful writing and true generosity of spirit .” One of those nominations was for Tom Cruise, at his very best as Jerry, a slick sports agent whose crisis of conscience changes the way he conducts his work — and by extension, his life. Cuba Gooding Jr. picked up the trophy for best supporting actor for his top-notch turn as Rod, Jerry’s star client, and Regina King is magnificent as Marcee, Rod’s no-nonsense wife. Renée Zellweger’s heart-on-her-sleeve performance as Dorothy, Jerry’s unlikely romantic interest, turned her into a major star. (The similarly funny and truthful “ This Is 40 ” and “ Parenthood ” are also streaming.) Watch on Netflix
‘Seabiscuit’ (2003)
Laura Hillenbrand’s “Seabiscuit: An American Legend” was a publishing sensation in 1999, telling the true story of how an undersize racehorse became an unexpected rallying point for Americans during the Great Depression. The film version, adapted and directed by Gary Ross (“Pleasantville”), touches on many of the same emotional pressure points: It’s an underdog story through and through, from its title thoroughbred to its hotheaded jockey (Tobey Maguire) to the challenges faced by America more broadly. Ross convincingly recreates the period with a sterling cast that includes Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Banks and William H. Macy. (For more drama, queue up “ The Swimmers ” and “ Phantom Thread .”)
Watch on Netflix
‘Emily the Criminal’ (2022)
The thumbnail summary — “Aubrey Plaza becomes a thief” — conjures up a bone-dry comedy in which her deadpan persona creates ironic friction with the criminal underworld. But “Emily the Criminal” isn’t that movie at all; it’s a “ chilly, assured thriller ,” a Michael Mann-ish procedural with nary a wink in sight, and it absolutely (albeit surprisingly) works. The writer and director John Patton Ford creates moments of real tension while also giving what feels like an insider’s view of this world of thieves and hustlers. And if Plaza’s turn as a deep-in-debt temp worker trying her hand at life on the margins sounds like novelty casting, think again — she’s spectacular. (For more indie drama, try “ Leave No Trace ” or “ We the Animals .”) Watch on Netflix
‘National Lampoon’s Animal House’ (1978)
This wild 1978 blockbuster launched the film career of John Belushi, the “slobs vs. snobs” comedy subgenre and the mainstream aspirations of the subversive humor magazine National Lampoon. With a randy screenplay by Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney and Chris Miller, the movie follows a pair of misfit fraternity pledges (Tom Hulce and Stephen Furst) through their first semester at Faber College in 1962, complete with a deliriously funny rampage of food fights, toga parties, horse abductions and wrecked parades. The director John Landis engagingly orchestrates the chaos, with Belushi stealing every possible scene as the frat’s resident party animal. Watch on Netflix
‘Rango’ (2011)
Plenty of filmmakers have livened up family movies by sliding in winking gags and pop culture references for the grown-ups. But few have done it as unapologetically (and successfully) as the “Pirates of the Caribbean” director Gore Verbinski, who livens up this story of a desert lizard’s adventure in several surprising ways. First, he constructs it as a kiddie “Chinatown,” with our hero stumbling into a Western town where the battle over water rights is getting ugly. And he apparently instructed his leading man, Johnny Depp, to voice the role as a riff on his turn as Hunter S. Thompson in “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” even throwing in visual and verbal nods to that very R-rated adaptation. But Verbinski also doesn’t alienate the target audience: Children will likewise delight in this visually inventive and frequently funny treat. “This rambling, anarchic tale is gratifyingly fresh and eccentric ,” our critic raved. (Bigger-kid viewers, and their parents, will also enjoy “ A Little Princess .”) Watch on Netflix
‘Sleepless in Seattle’ (1993)
Tom Hanks is a sensitive widower who pours out his heart in a searching monologue on a radio call-in show; Meg Ryan, listening in, is so smitten that she travels across the country to track him down. That’s the premise of this “ feather-light romantic comedy ” from the writer and director Nora Ephron, who infuses her tale of love lost and found with plentiful homages to the classic tear-jerker “An Affair to Remember,” including a climactic meet-up atop the Empire State Building. This was Hanks and Ryan’s second onscreen collaboration (after “Joe Versus the Volcano”), though they spend most of it apart — amusingly so, as their near-misses prove both funny and poignant. Watch on Netflix
‘Julie & Julia’ (2009)
This “ breezy, busy ” comedy-drama from Nora Ephron is an adaptation of two books: one by Julie Powell , a blogger who attempted to work her way through all the recipes in Julia Child’s influential “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”; the other by Child, a memoir she wrote with Alex Prud’homme that details the development of those recipes. The juxtaposition is ingenious, giving the viewer two funny — and mouthwatering — movies for the price of one, and the performances (particularly by Meryl Streep as Child, Amy Adams as Powell and Stanley Tucci as Child’s devoted husband, Paul) are first-rate. Watch on Netflix
‘It’ (2017)
The 1986 novel by Stephen King (and, to a lesser extent, its 1990 TV mini-series version) became so entrenched in popular culture that this film adaptation could have just coasted on callbacks and fan service. But the director Andy Muschietti (“Mama”) cranks up the visceral you-are-there intensity of the tale, with a considerable assist from a charismatic, mostly unknown cast. The thrills are real, but “It” is wisely anchored in character, relationships and camaraderie, particularly among the children — it’s more “Stand by Me” than “Children of the Corn” — lending the suspense scenes genuine weight. And Bill Skarsgard manages to spin Pennywise, killer-clown clichés or no, into a freshly chilling screen villain. (For more horror, queue up “ It Follows .”) Watch on Netflix
‘Begin Again’ (2014)
Seven years after his microbudget smash “Once,” the director John Carney took a big step up in size and scope for “Begin Again,” which features slick production value and marquee stars (specifically, Keira Knightley and Mark Ruffalo). Still, Carney maintains the indie spirit and storytelling style of his earlier film, spinning a tale of a romance that cannot be — instead manifesting itself in its protagonists’ shared love of music and the charge they get from creating it. It’s a feel-good, pick-me-up kind of a movie, one that lifts the spirit while avoiding conventional (and simplistic) happy endings. Watch on Netflix
‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ (2010)
Edgar Wright (“Baby Driver”) helms this unique action/comedy with a zippy graphic-novel aesthetic. Though it’s based on a comic book series and filled with video game-inspired sequences, viewers need not be familiar with either; Wright merely borrows the high-energy visual language of those genres to tell his sweet story more exuberantly and playfully. “Pilgrim” snaps and crackles. A.O. Scott praised its “speedy, funny, happy-sad spirit .” And it’s a “before they were stars” extravaganza, presciently filled with talented young actors (Brie Larson, Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Alison Pill, and many more) who were just about to pop. (For more action and comedy, queue up “ The Mask of Zorro ” and “ The Quick and the Dead .”) Watch on Netflix
‘Closer’ (2004)
Early in his career, the director Mike Nichols scored one of his greatest critical and commercial successes with “Carnal Knowledge,” a savagely funny and brutally candid account of the war between the sexes, as seen through the broken relationships of two men and two women. Near the end of his career, Nichols revisited the subject matter with a similar cast makeup, adapting the play “Closer” by Patrick Marber into a tough four-hander of sexual desire and emotional betrayal. Jude Law, Clive Owen, Natalie Portman and Julia Roberts play a full range of ruthlessness, cruelty, sensitivity and brokenness. It’s a challenging movie, but a great one. Watch on Netflix
‘Minority Report’ (2002)
Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise joined forces for the first time for this adaptation of the Philip K. Dick short story, envisioning a future in which elite police officers use psychic predictions to stop crimes before they happen — which is all well and good until the chief of the unit (Cruise) is accused of a “pre-crime” himself. The premise is clever, mixing action-infused, post-“Matrix” sci-fi with a classic Hitchcockian “wrong man” conflict. It is, per our critic, “ a muscular and dense exercise of skill and verve ,” but Spielberg also poses thoughtful questions about surveillance and profiling that have grown only more relevant since. Watch on Netflix
‘Rocky’ (1976)
A struggling young actor named Sylvester Stallone became a worldwide superstar when he wrote himself the plum role of a C-list boxer who gets a shot at the championship. And it’s a star-making performance, with a vulnerability that the actor shed far too quickly. (This work is closer to Brando than Rambo.) John G. Avildsen directs in a modest, unaffected style that underlines the palooka’s solitude. The supporting cast is stunning, particularly Burgess Meredith’s turn as Rocky’s tough trainer, Mickey, and Talia Shire’s heartbreaking work as Adrian, the painfully shy object of Rocky’s affection. (The first and best of its sequels, “ Rocky II ,” is also on Netflix.) Watch on Netflix
‘Reservoir Dogs’ (1992)
Assembling an enviable ensemble cast of hard-boiled character actor types, a movie-savvy young writer and director named Quentin Tarantino shook up the clichés of the heist movie with this blood-soaked cult hit . Telling the story of a jewelry store robbery gone sideways, Tarantino’s clever script skipped over the robbery itself entirely, focusing instead on the assembly of the crew and their frayed nerves at a meet-up afterward. He further kept viewers off-balance with a scrambled chronology that reveals new complexities of plot and character with each scene, resulting in one of the most electrifying debut features of the ’90s indie scene. Our critic praised its “dazzling cinematic pyrotechnics and over-the-top dramatic energy .” Watch on Netflix
‘Grease’ (1978)
The ’70s Broadway smash harked back to the poodle skirts and leather jackets of the 1950s, and this big screen treatment doesn’t fix what isn’t broken. John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John create sparks aplenty as a would-be couple whose summer fling grows a bit more complicated once the school year starts anew. But the plot is not the selling point here. It’s the songs — catchy and energetic numbers like “Greased Lightnin’,” “You’re the One That I Want,” and “We Go Together” — and the charismatic cast, which also includes Stockard Channing, Jeff Conaway, Lorenzo Lamas and Frankie Avalon. Watch on Netflix
‘The Sting’ (1973)
Few onscreen pairings have conveyed affection and camaraderie as effortlessly as that of Paul Newman and Robert Redford, and they easily recaptured the magic of “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” in their second onscreen collaboration (again under the guidance of “Cassidy” director George Roy Hill). Set in the 1930s, this sparkling, comedic con caper finds our handsome heroes mounting a giant operation to swindle a corrupt banker (Robert Shaw), all to the ragtime sounds of Scott Joplin’s piano. There are turns and reversals aplenty, along with endless charm. (For more buddy comedy, stream “ The Nice Guys ” and “ 21 Jump Street .”) Watch on Netflix
‘Road to Perdition’ (2002)
Tom Hanks found a rare opportunity to explore his darker side in this moody adaptation of the graphic novel by Max Allan Collins (itself inspired by the classic manga “Lone Wolf and Cub”). Hanks stars as Michael Sullivan Sr., a Depression-era enforcer for the Irish Mob who must flee his Illinois home with his 12-year-old son when he crosses the erratic son (Daniel Craig) of his longtime boss and father figure (an Oscar-nominated Paul Newman, in one of his final roles). The director Sam Mendes joins his “American Beauty” cinematographer Conrad L. Hall to create a picture that’s both gorgeous and melancholy, pushing past the surface pleasures of its period genre setting with timeless themes of family, morality and mortality. (Hanks’s “ Forrest Gump ” and “ The ‘Burbs ” are also on Netflix.) Watch on Netflix
‘Easy A’ (2010)
This winking update to “The Scarlet Letter” has much to recommend it, including the witty and quotable screenplay, the sly indictments of bullying and rumor-mongering and the deep bench of supporting players. But “Easy A” is mostly memorable as the breakthrough of Emma Stone, an “ irresistible presence ” whose turn as a high-school cause célèbre quickly transformed her from a memorable supporting player to a soaring leading lady — and with good reason. She’s wise and wisecracking, quick with a quip but never less than convincing as a tortured teen. Watch on Netflix
‘Disobedience’ (2018)
Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams star as members of a strict Orthodox Jewish community whose shared past forcefully returns in this powerful drama from the director Sebastián Lelio (adapting Naomi Alderman’s novel). Ronit (Weisz), estranged from the community, returns following the death of her father and resumes her romance with Esti (McAdams), who has repressed her desires and entered a loveless marriage. Lelio approaches the material matter-of-factly, refusing to either sensationalize or desexualize the relationship; it’s a rare mainstream portrayal of same-sex attraction that considers both emotional and physical attraction on equal footing. (“ Call Me By Your Name ” is a similarly intense romantic drama.) Watch on Netflix
‘My Girl’ (1991)
Those who know Anna Chlumsky only from her wickedly funny (and deliciously foul-mouthed) work on “Veep” may be surprised by this, her debut film, a sweet coming-of-age drama set in the summer of 1972 and released when she was only 11 years old. She stars as Vada, a hypochondriac whose father (Dan Aykroyd) runs the local funeral parlor. Jamie Lee Curtis co-stars as a potential romantic interest for Vada’s dad, while Macaulay Culkin is heartbreaking as Vada’s summer pal, and first kiss. Watch on Netflix
‘Residue’ (2020)
“Turn the music down,” the neighbor barks. “Don’t make me have to call the cops.” Jay (Obinna Nwachukwu) hasn’t even made it to the door of his home in Washington, D.C., but the warning from his new (white) neighbor makes it clear that the old block has changed. But urban gentrification isn’t the only subject of Merawi Gerima’s “ challenging, engrossing ” debut feature; as Jay reconnects with his neighborhood and its people, stories, sins and childhood traumas bubble back up to the surface, making “Residue” less a conventional narrative than a stream-of-consciousness exploration of the ongoing conversations between past and present. Watch on Netflix
‘Descendant’ (2022)
When the remains of the Clotilda, the last known ship to bring enslaved Africans to the United States, were discovered off the shore of Mobile, Ala., in 2019, it was physical evidence of a long-told piece of local lore — an illegal operation, long after such ships were outlawed, five years before emancipation. So this amounted to the excavation of a crime scene, prompting a giant question for the descendants of those victims: What does justice look like? Margaret Brown’s spellbinding documentary asks that question, which opens up many more thornier conversations about history, complicity and legacy. Our critic called it “ deeply attentive ” and “moving.” (Documentary lovers will also enjoy “ What Happened, Miss Simone? ” and “ Sr. ” ) Watch on Netflix
‘Colette’ (2018)
It’s understandable to look upon a period literary biopic starring Keira Knightley and presume an object of arid stuffiness. But the director Wash Westmoreland gives us anything but — this is a rowdy, ribald picture, about a woman who wrote rowdy, ribald stories. She went from a shy innocent to a proud hedonist, and Westmoreland eagerly takes that journey alongside her. But he also dramatizes her intellectual awakening, and her insistence on being regarded as both a real writer and a full person. Manohla Dargis praised its “ light, enjoyably fizzy approach to its subject .” Watch on Netflix
‘Labyrinth’ (1986)
The phrase “ahead of their time” is bandied about with abandon, but it certainly applies to the 1980s output of Jim Henson, who expanded his reach with non-Muppet, dark fantasy entertainments that were met with critical and commercial indifference but have gained considerable cult followings with the passing years. “The Dark Crystal” was one example; “Labyrinth” is another, a 1986 musical fantasy, made in collaboration with George Lucas, which Henson directed from a screenplay by the Monty Python member Terry Jones. Jennifer Connelly stars as a slightly spoiled teenager who takes a journey into a dark world to rescue her baby brother; David Bowie is unforgettable, scary and seductive as the Goblin King who stands in her way. Our critic deemed it “a remarkable achievement.” Watch on Netflix
‘Christine’ (2016)
This forceful biopic from the director Antonio Campos dramatizes the life and death of Christine Chubbuck, the Florida news personality who killed herself on live television in 1974. What was, for years, a grisly footnote in television history is here rendered as a wrenching snapshot of mental illness, thanks to Craig Shilowich’s sensitive screenplay and Rebecca Hall’s stunning work as Chubbuck, a deeply felt turn in which every harsh word and casual slight lands like a body blow. Watch on Netflix
‘Richard Pryor: Live in Concert’ (1979)
In December of 1978, Richard Pryor took the stage of the Terrace Theater in Long Beach, Calif., and delivered what may still be the greatest recorded stand-up comedy performance in history. It captures the comic at his zenith; his insights are razor-sharp, his physical gifts are peerless, and his powers of personification are remarkable as he gives thought and voice to household pets, woodland creatures, deflating tires and uncooperative parts of his own body. But as with the best of Pryor’s stage work, what’s most striking is his vulnerability. In sharing his own struggles with health, relationships, sex and masculinity, Pryor was forging a path to the kind of unapologetic candor that defines so much of contemporary comedy. (For more classic comedy, stream “ The Nutty Professor ” and “ Fletch .”) Watch on Netflix
‘The Ballad of Buster Scruggs’ (2018)
Joel and Ethan Coen’s Old West anthology film is a series of tales of varying length and style, some as brief and simple as jokes, others with the richness and depth of a great short story. Our critic wrote, “It swerves from goofy to ghastly so deftly and so often that you can’t always tell which is which,” and what seems at first like a filmed notebook of ideas and orphans instead becomes something of a workshop; it’s a place for the Coens to try things, experimenting with new styles and moods, while also delivering the kind of dark humor and deliciously ornate dialogue that we’ve come to expect. (The Coens’ “ Hail, Caesar! ” is also streaming.) Watch on Netflix
‘Zathura: A Space Adventure’ (2005)
The director Jon Favreau started his career making chatty indies like “Swingers” and is now the go-to guy for Marvel (“Iron Man”) and Disney (“The Lion King”). This family adventure was the bridge he built between those worlds. Based on a 2002 novel by the “Jumanji” author Chris Van Allsburg, it tells a similar story in which children are drawn into the world of a board game that is perhaps too immersive. The special effects are jaw-dropping, and the adventure elements are enthralling (particularly for young audiences), but Favreau’s background in small-scale, character-driven narratives shines through in the sweet and surprisingly moving conclusion. (For more family viewing, try “ Paddington ” or “ Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio .”) Watch on Netflix
‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ (2018)
Barry Jenkins followed up the triumph of his Oscar-winning “Moonlight” with this “ anguished and mournful ” adaptation of James Baldwin’s 1974 novel. It is, first and foremost, a love story, and the warmth and electricity Jenkins captures and conveys between stars KiKi Layne and Stephan James is overwhelming. But it’s also a love story between two African Americans in 1960s Harlem, and the delicacy with which the filmmaker threads in the troubles of that time, and the injustice that ultimately tears his main characters apart, is heart-wrenching. Masterly performances abound — particularly from Regina King, who won an Oscar for her complex, layered portrayal of a mother on a mission. (Other Oscar winners on Netflix include “ Darkest Hour .”) Watch on Netflix
‘Men in Black’ (1997)
This “ dryly clever ” sci-fi/comedy hybrid plays, in many ways, like a sly satire of its star Will Smith’s “Independence Day” from the previous summer, treating an alien invasion not as a doomsday event, but an everyday fact of life — burdened mostly by the inconveniences of bureaucracy. Tommy Lee Jones stars as “Kay,” a longtime member of the agency in charge of tracking and regulating extraterrestrial visitors, while Smith stars as “Jay,” the new recruit who must learn the ropes. The screenplay (by Ed Solomon, a co-writer for “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure”) knows that the old-pro-meets-young-hotshot setup is a chestnut and treats it with the proper irreverence. And Barry Sonnenfeld’s inventive direction gracefully amplifies the absurdity in every scenario. The result is a rarity: a big-budget tent pole that displays both jaw-dropping effects and a sense of humor. (For more buddy comedy, stream “ The Nice Guys ” and “ 21 Jump Street . ”) Watch on Netflix
‘Philomena’ (2013)
The British comic actor Steve Coogan — best known for his long-running turns as Alan Partridge and as a fictionalized version of himself in the “Trip” movies and BBC series — made a surprising shift to the serious when he co-wrote and co-starred in Stephen Frears’s adaptation of the nonfiction book “The Lost Child of Philomena Lee.” Judi Dench received a best actress Oscar nomination for her performance (“so quietly moving that it feels lit from within ,” per our critic) as the title character, an Irishwoman who is seeking out the son she was forced to give up for adoption a half-century earlier. Coogan (nominated for best screenplay) is the journalist who assists her and uncovers a horrifying story of religious hypocrisy. (For more fact-based drama, queue up “ Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom .”) Watch on Netflix
‘Straight Up’ (2020)
When Todd (James Sweeney) and Rory (Katie Findlay) first meet, they bond over a shared love of “Gilmore Girls.” That show’s rat-tat-tat dialogue, pop culture savvy and unabashed sentimentality are all over this unconventional romantic comedy. Sweeney also wrote and directed, augmenting the normally drab rom-com template with a cornucopia of quirky and unexpected visual flourishes, and his screenplay is painfully astute, displaying an enviable ear for how, with the right partner, the affectations and witticisms of dating give way to confession and vulnerability. ((For more romantic comedy, stream “ Notting Hill .”) Watch on Netflix
‘The Lost Daughter’ (2021)
The actor-turned-filmmaker Maggie Gyllenhaal writes and directs this adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s novel, starring Olivia Colman as a professor on vacation whose strained interactions with a large, unruly American family — particularly a young, stressed mother (Dakota Johnson) — send her down a rabbit hole of her memories, a switch-flip intermingling of past and present. There is a bit of back story to untangle, which turns the film into something like a mystery. But “The Lost Daughter” is mostly noteworthy for its willingness to explore the darkest moments of parenthood, the horrible feeling of giving up and longing for escape. Colman brings humanity and even warmth to a difficult character, while Jessie Buckley beautifully connects the dots as her younger iteration. Our critic calls it “a sophisticated, elusively plotted psychological thriller.” (The Gyllenhaal vehicle “ The Kindergarten Teacher ” is similarly unnerving.) Watch on Netflix
‘The Power of the Dog’ (2021)
“I wonder what little lady made these?” Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch) asks about the paper flowers created by Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee) — the first indication of the initial theme of Jane Campion’s new film, an adaptation of the novel by Thomas Savage. Phil is a real piece of work, and when his brother and ranching partner George (Jesse Plemons) marries Peter’s mother, Rose (Kirsten Dunst), it brings all of Phil’s resentment and nastiness to the surface as he tries, in multiple, hostile ways, to exert his dominance and display his dissatisfaction. That tension and conflict would be enough for a lesser filmmaker, but Campion burrows deeper, taking a carefully executed turn to explore his complicated motives — and desires in this film of welcome complexity and unexpected tenderness; Manohla Dargis called it “ a great American story and a dazzling evisceration of one of the country’s foundational myths.” Watch on Netflix
‘Procession’ (2021)
The films of the director Robert Greene (including “Bisbee ’17” and “Kate Plays Christine”) live at the intersection of documentary, drama and process, intermingling fact, fictionalization and the difficulties of pursuing that most elusive of goals, truth. That mixture is particularly effective here, as the filmmaker spent three years collaborating with a professional drama therapist and six survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests in the Midwest to create a series of scenes inspired by their experiences — and the considerable emotional fallout that ensued. It’s a deeply moving and blisteringly powerful account of survival and support. (Documentary aficionados may also enjoy “ Misha and the Wolves .”) Watch on Netflix
‘Passing’ (2021)
“She’s a girl from Chicago I used to know,” Irene (Tessa Thompson) says of Clare (Ruth Negga) — a statement that is accurate on the surface but that contains volumes of history, tension and secrets. Irene and Clare are both light-skinned Black women who have made different choices about how to live their lives, but when they reconnect, they are both prompted to reckon with who, exactly, they are. The screenplay and direction by Rebecca Hall (adapting Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel) delicately yet precisely plumbs their psychological depths and wounds, and the sumptuous costumes and immaculate black and white cinematography serve as dazzling counterpoints to what Manohla Dargis called “ an anguished story of identity and belonging .” Watch on Netflix
‘Mudbound’ (2017)
In this powerful adaptation by the director Dee Rees of the novel by Hillary Jordan, two families — one white and one Black — are connected by a plot of land in the Jim Crow South. Rees gracefully tells both stories (and the larger tale of postwar America) without veering into didacticism, and her ensemble cast brings every moment of text and subtext into sharp focus. Our critic called it a work of “ disquieting, illuminating force .” (For more period drama, queue up “ The Beguiled ” and “ Crimson Peak .”) Watch on Netflix
‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ (2020)
The acclaimed stage director George C. Wolfe brings August Wilson ’s Pulitzer Prize winner to the screen, quite faithfully — which is just fine, as a play this good requires little in the way of “opening up,” so rich are the characters and so loaded is the dialogue. The setting is a Chicago music studio in 1927, where the “Mother of the Blues” Ma Rainey (Viola Davis) and her band are meeting to record several of her hits, though that business is frequently disrupted by the tensions within the group over matters both personal and artistic. Davis is superb as Rainey, chewing up her lines and spitting them out with contempt at anyone who crosses her, and Chadwick Boseman, who died in 2020 and won a posthumous Golden Globe best actor award for his performance, is electrifying as the showy sideman, Levee, a boiling pot of charisma, flash and barely concealed rage. A.O. Scott calls the film “ a powerful and pungent reminder of the necessity of art .” (For more character-driven drama, check out “ The Two Popes ” and “ High Flying Bird .”) Watch on Netflix
‘His House’ (2020)
Genre filmmakers have spent the past three years trying (and mostly failing) to recreate the magic elixir of horror thrills and social commentary that made “Get Out” so special, but few have come as close as the British director Remi Weekes’s terrifying and thought-provoking Netflix thriller. He tells the story of two South Sudanese refugees seeking asylum in London, who are placed in public housing — a residence they are forbidden from leaving, which becomes a problem when things start going bump in the night. In a masterly fashion Weekes expands this simple haunted-house premise into a devastating examination of grief and desperation, but sacrifices no scares along the way, making “His House” a rare movie that prompts both tears and goose bumps. (Thriller fans will also want to check out Clint Eastwood’s “ Play Misty for Me .”) Watch on Netflix
‘Dick Johnson Is Dead’ (2020)
“I’ve always wanted to be in the movies,” Dick Johnson tells his daughter Kirsten, and he’s in luck — she makes them, documentaries mostly, dealing with the biggest questions of life and death. So they turn his struggle with Alzheimer’s and looming mortality into a movie, a “ resonant and, in moments, profound ” one (per Manohla Dargis), combining staged fake deaths and heavenly reunions with difficult familial interactions. He’s an affable fellow, warm and constantly chuckling, and a good sport, cheerfully playing along with these intricate, macabre (and darkly funny) scenarios. But it’s really a film about a father and daughter, and their lifelong closeness gives the picture an intimacy and openness uncommon even in the best documentaries. It’s joyful, and melancholy and moving, all at once. Watch on Netflix
‘The Old Guard’ (2020)
Gina Prince-Blythewood ’s adaptation of Greg Rucka’s comic book series delivers the expected goods: The action beats are crisply executed, the mythology is clearly defined and the pieces are carefully placed for future installments. But that’s not what makes it special. Prince-Blythewood’s background is in character-driven drama (her credits include “Love and Basketball” and “Beyond the Lights”), and the film is driven by its relationships rather than its effects — and by a thoughtful attentiveness to the morality of its conflicts. A.O. Scott deemed it a “ fresh take on the superhero genre ,” and he’s right; though based on a comic book, it’s far from cartoonish. (Prince-Blythwood’s “ Beyond the Lights ” is also on Netflix.) Watch on Netflix
‘Da 5 Bloods’ (2020)
Spike Lee’s latest is a genre-hopping combination of war movie, protest film, political thriller, character drama and graduate-level history course in which four African American Vietnam vets go back to the jungle to dig up the remains of a fallen compatriot — and, while they’re at it, a forgotten cache of stolen war gold. In other hands, it could’ve been a conventional back-to-Nam picture or “Rambo”-style action/adventure (and those elements, to be clear, are thrilling). But Lee goes deeper, packing the film with historical references and subtext, explicitly drawing lines from the civil rights struggle of the period to the protests of our moment. A.O. Scott called it a “ long, anguished, funny, violent excursion into a hidden chamber of the nation’s heart of darkness.” (For more genre-infused drama, check out “ Sleight .”) Watch on Netflix
‘13TH’ (2016)
Ava DuVernay (“Selma”) directs this wide-ranging deep dive into mass incarceration, tracing the advent of America’s modern prison system — overcrowded and disproportionately populated by Black inmates — back to the 13th Amendment. It’s a giant topic to take on in 100 minutes, and DuVernay understandably has to do some skimming and slicing. But that necessity engenders its style: “13TH” tears through history with a palpable urgency that pairs nicely with its righteous fury. Our critic called it “ powerful, infuriating and at times overwhelming .” Watch on Netflix
‘Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution’ (2020)
“This camp changed the world,” we’re told, in the early moments of James LeBrecht and Nicole Newnham’s documentary, “and nobody knew about it.” The most refreshing and surprising element of this moving chronicle is that, title notwithstanding, the subject is not Camp Jened, the Catskills getaway that offered disabled kids and teens a “normal” summer camp experience. It’s about how that camp was the epicenter of a movement — a place where they could be themselves and live their lives didn’t have to be a utopian ideal, but a notion that they could carry out into the world , and use as a baseline for change. (Documentary fans should also seek out “ F.T.A .”) Watch on Netflix
‘American Factory’ (2019)
Documentary filmmakers have long been fascinated by the logistics and complexities of manual labor, but Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert’s recent Oscar winner for best documentary feature views these issues through a decidedly 21st-century lens. Focusing on a closed GM plant in Dayton, Ohio, that’s taken over by a Chinese auto glass company, Bognar and Reichert thoughtfully, sensitively (and often humorously) explore how cultures — both corporate and general — clash. Manohla Dargis calls it “ complex, stirring, timely and beautifully shaped, spanning continents as it surveys the past, present and possible future of American labor.” (Netflix’s documentaries “ Icarus ” and “ The Life and Death of Marsha P. Johnson ” are also well worth your time.) Watch on Netflix
‘The Irishman’ (2019)
Martin Scorsese reteams with Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci for the first time since “ Casino ” (1995), itself a return to the organized crime territory of their earlier 1990 collaboration “Goodfellas” — and then adds Al Pacino as Jimmy Hoffa. A lazier filmmaker might merely have put them back together to play their greatest hits. Scorsese does something far trickier, and more poignant: He takes all the elements we expect in a Scorsese gangster movie with this cast, and then he strips it all down, turning this story of turf wars, union battles and power struggles into a chamber piece of quiet conversations and moral contemplation. A.O. Scott called it “ long and dark : long like a novel by Dostoyevsky or Dreiser, dark like a painting by Rembrandt.” (Scorsese’s “ The Aviator ” is also on Netflix.) Watch on Netflix
‘Roma’ (2018)
This vivid, evocative memory play from Alfonso Cuarón is a story of two Mexican women in the early 1970s: Sofía (Marina de Tavira), a mother of four whose husband (and provider) is on his way out the door, and Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), the family’s nanny, maid and support system. The scenes are occasionally stressful, often heart-wrenching, and they unfailingly burst with life and emotion. Our critic called it “ an expansive, emotional portrait of life buffeted by violent forces, and a masterpiece .” (For more critically acclaimed international drama, try “ Happy as Lazzaro ,” “ Everybody Knows ” or “ On Body and Soul .”) Watch on Netflix
‘Private Life’ (2018)
Kathryn Hahn and Paul Giamatti shine as two New York creative types whose attempts to start a family — by adoption, by fertilization, by whatever it takes — test the mettle of their relationships and sanity. The wise script by the director Tamara Jenkins is not only funny and truthful but also sharply tuned to their specific world: Few films have better captured the very public nature of marital trouble in New York, when every meltdown is interrupted by passers-by and lookie-loos. “Private Life,” which our critic called “ piquant and perfect ,” is a marvelous balancing act of sympathy and cynicism, both caring for its subjects and knowing them and their flaws well enough to wink and chuckle. (For more character-driven comedy/drama, add “ Friends With Money ” and “ The Four Seasons ” to your list.) Watch on Netflix
‘Atlantics’ (2019)
Mati Diop’s Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix winner is set in Senegal, where a young woman named Ava (Mama Sané) loses the boy she loves to the sea, just days before her arranged marriage to another man. What begins as a story of love lost moves, with the ease and imagination of a particularly satisfying dream, into something far stranger, as Diop savvily works elements of genre cinema into the fabric of a story that wouldn’t seem to accommodate them. A.O. Scott called it “a suspenseful, sensual, exciting movie , and therefore a deeply haunting one as well.” (For similarly out-of-this-world vibes, try Bong Joon Ho’s “ Okja .”) Watch on Netflix
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The Best Movies on Netflix Right Now (March 2023)
Likes TV, movies, and a nice sweater. Follow him on Twitter @benbraddocks
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With so many streaming services out there (and more popping up by the day), it can be hard to know which one you can turn to in your time of streaming need. But really, all you need is the one that started it all: Netflix. Yes, Netflix still has plenty of streaming movies (both original and acquired) that rival the ones that you can catch in theaters. The only problem is that it’s tough to keep up with what’s being added to the service every month. Luckily you have us to sift through their extensive library and find the very best of the best. You’re welcome, by the way.
The reason that Netflix remains so successful and popular to this day is that there really is something for everyone. The past year saw the release of Oscar nominated dramas The Power of the Dog and Don’t Look Up , stylish war drama Operation Mincemeat and to the basketball comedy/drama Hustle . Their repertory library also stays stacked with favorites like Mission Impossible and Menace II Society that rank consistently high on the Netflix top ten most watched list.
So when you’ve had enough Peaky Blinders and before you find out what the Lincoln Lawyer is all about, why not dive into a movie? Here are the best movies on Netflix right now.
For a more in-depth look into our favorite titles available to stream by genre, check out The Best TV Shows on Netflix , The Best Movies on Hulu , The Best HBO Series , The Best Shows on Amazon Prime , and The Best Movies to See Before You Die .
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10 Highest-Rated Movies on Netflix By Users
A while ago Netflix removed its ratings and replaced them with match percentages. The concept might be interesting but it goes against a very simple principle. Say you watched two good cop movies and liked them, your next viewing should not be a third crappy movie, but a good anything movie. Users will almost always choose a 4 star movie over a 1 star movie, even if the latter matches their preferences by 100%. agoodmovietowatch is a movie suggestion website mainly for Netflix. Here are the 10 highest movies on Netflix, to find all movies and their ratings, please visit agoodmovietowatch.com/netflix .
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10. I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020)
Toni Collette, Jessie Buckley, and Jesse Plemons star in this mind-bending drama from Charlie Kaufman, the writer of Being John Malkovich.
The Young Woman, as she is known in the movie, takes a day trip with her boyfriend to his family’s secluded farm in Oklahoma. On the way, she thinks about breaking up with him.
But once there, she meets her boyfriend’s unusual mom (Colette) and everything gets progressively weirder for The Young Woman. The dialogue of the movie is complex and so reference-heavy that it begs either a second viewing or a handful of explanation articles online.
Watch Now On Netflix
9. Tune in for Love (2019)
This slow romance is set in a Seoul bakery during the 1990s. A boy fresh out of juvenile detention and a part-time employee fall for each other while working there. For a while, their existence is joyful and quiet as they sell bread and bond.
However, the Asian financial crisis of 1997 forces the bakery to close. This makes them seek different jobs away from each other.
As a romance, Tune in for Love is not original but it doesn’t need to. It’s just easy and enjoyable.
8. The Platform (2019)
The Platform is the closest thing to Parasite released so far. This interesting Spanish movie is about 90% a science-fiction drama and 10% a horror movie. It’s an allegory set in a future where prisoners live in vertical cells, and each cell has to wait for the cell above it to eat to get food. Depending on the floor where prisoners wake up, they might not get any food at all. This creates for disturbing situations that are hard to see as not representative of our modern societies.
7. Classmates Minus (2021)
It’s slower and stranger than most comedies you may be used to, but there’s still lots of heart to be found in the way Classmates Minus follows the lapsed hopes and wishes of its core characters. Beneath all its stereotypically male yearnings for control and romantic wish fulfillment, there are potent ideas here about how a tired economy and jaded political culture can turn those in their middle age into completely different people. Writer/director Huang Hsin-yao provides narration for his own film, but rather than being distracting or conceited, his words add a level of needed sympathy to everything we see on screen.
6. The Half of It (2020)
This lovely romance is about Ellie, a straight-A student who takes money from a classmate, Paul, to write love letters for him. Ellie does this to help with the household bills but there is one big problem: the girl Paul is in love with is also the girl Ellie has a crush on.
This might seem like the set-up for a standard Netflix comedy (and if you’re thinking Bergerac, you’re right, it is based on the famous play) but as the introduction of the film reads: “This is not a love story … not one where anyone gets what they want.”
It is in fact, personal work from a brilliant and quality-focused director, Alice Wu. Her last movie, Saving Face, a pioneering lesbian romance set in an Asian American context, was released a long 15 years ago.
5. Dick Johnson Is Dead (2020)
Dick Johnson Is Dead is a heartfelt and unconventional portrait of how one can live life to the fullest even in their darkest days. Kristen Johnson’s follow-up to the highly acclaimed documentary Cameraperson , Johnson shows that her skills are no fluke as she crafts a witty film where she masterfully balances surreal tonal shifts to create a compelling experience. While it does have a repetitive nature, the final thirty minutes are heartbreakingly comedic, and make this one worth a watch!
4. The Social Dilemma (2020)
This new documentary is about the exact scale to which social media is harming us, as testified to by people from the industry: ex-executives at Google, Instagram, Facebook, and even the ex-President of Pinterest. All have left their companies for (incredibly valid) ethical concerns that they share here.
It’s a blend of interview footage and a fiction film that follows a family who feels more distant because of social media. This allows to see the implications of what the interviewees are saying in real life but quite frankly it also serves as a welcome break from the intensity of their words. How intense? One of them predicts civil war within 20 years.
3. The Forty-Year-Old Version (2020)
This fun comedy-drama is about a New York playwright called Radha who never hit big. When she turns 40, she decides to reinvent herself as RadhaMUSPrime, a rapper.
And it’s all a personal affair: Radha Blank plays the main character (named after herself) and is also the writer, director, and producer.
The story is about rap and theater, but being so connected to reality, it feels like it’s about Blank making the movie itself. Its very existence feels like a triumph against the pressure of age, the misunderstanding of others, and the weight of unreached goals.
2. Athlete A (2020)
This groundbreaking documentary follows the USA Olympics sexual abuse case that made headlines in 2015. Through interviews with Olympians, their families, and investigative reporters, it’s also a documentary on the overall culture of abuse in gymnastics: sexual, physical, and emotional.
In one scene from the 1996 Olympics, gold medalist Kerri Strug has to run, vault, and land – all with a severe foot injury that was covered up by her coaches. She does this twice, limping between attempts and crawling off the mat on the second, crying. Meanwhile, her family, her coaches, the spectators – the World – is celebrating.
When she’s carried off, it’s Larry Nassar, the pedophile at the center of the documentary, who carries her.
Athlete A is groundbreaking exactly because it illustrates that the problem is not only with one doctor, or the 54 coaches who were also found guilty of sexual abuse, or the morally bankrupt leadership of USA Gymastics; it’s also about what went so wrong with society to see the abuse of young girls as cause for celebration.
1. The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)
From Aaron Sorkin, the creator of every liberal’s favorite 2000s political drama, The West Wing, The Social Network, and the master of the “walk and talk”, comes the dramatization of a sadly true American story from the mid-last century. In 1968, different groups from all over the country travelled to Chicago to protest the Vietnam War at the Democratic National Convention. The Chicago police greeted them in full riot gear, purposely attacking the peaceful protesters. Five months later, eight of them (charges against Black Panther leader Bobby Seale were dismissed) were arrested for inciting riot. As the title suggests, the film details the trials that followed, which highlight the still ongoing battles within American society and politics: racism, ineptness, corruption, complacency, you name it. On a lighter note, while you wouldn’t necessarily call this an ensemble cast, the number of unlikely familiar faces in this film is off the charts: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Sascha Baron Cohen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Eddie Redmayne. It also features some of the greatest supporting actors in American TV history like John Carrol Lynch, Frank Langella, and the amazing John Doman aka Bill Rawls from The Wire.
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The 50 Best Movies on Netflix Right Now
Our handy, extensive guide is updated weekly with all-new picks.
Trying to find the best movie to watch on Netflix can be a daunting challenge. We’ve all been there. You've decided you’re going to watch something . You have the entirety of Netflix at your disposal, including even a pared-down list of films you’ve already bookmarked to watch at a future date. But then there’s the choosing. You’ve gotta find something that fits your mood, or something you and your friend/significant other/couch companion can agree on. You spend hours browsing, and by the time you stumble on something you think maybe is the one, it’s too late, you’re too tired, and indecision has won out.
Never fear, though, because we here at Collider have a guide to help you find the perfect Netflix movies available in the U.S. We’ve thumbed through the library and assembled a list of some of the best films currently available for streaming, from classics to hidden gems to new releases and beyond. This list of the best movies on Netflix is updated weekly with all-new choices, so be sure to return the next time you're looking for something great to watch.
For more recommendations, check out our list of the best shows on Netflix , best comedies on Netflix , and best dramas on Netflix .
Editor's note: This post was last updated on March 17th to include The Magician's Elephant.
RELATED: The 7 Best New Movies on Netflix in December 2022
The Strays (2023)
Run Time : 1 hr 40 min | Genre : Horror Thriller Mystery | Director : Nathaniel Martello-White
Cast : Ashley Madekwe, Jorden Myrie, Bukky Bakray, Michael Warburton, Caroline Martin
Watch on Netflix
The Magician’s Elephant (2023)
Run Time : 1 hr 39 min | Genre : Animation, Comedy, Family | Director : Wendy Rogers
Cast : Brian Tyree Henry, Natasia Demetriou, Mandy Patinkin, Benedict Wong
Based on the fantastic novel of the same name written by Kate DiCamillo, The Magician’s Elephant is a whimsical and inspirational story of bravery in the face of the impossible. When a fortune teller convinces Peter ( Noah Jupe ), a young orphan, that he must follow a magical elephant to be reunited with his sister, he agrees to perform Herculean tasks to win the prized pachyderm. In his attempts to perform these gargantuan feats, he is aided and supported by a wonderful cast of characters with equally amazing voice talents, including Brian Tyree Henry ( The Eternals ), Mandy Patinkin ( The Princess Bride ), and Benedict Wong ( Doctor Strange ). – Tauri Miller
Luther: The Fallen Sun (2023)
Run Time : 2 hr 9 min | Genre : Crime Drama, Mystery, Thriller | Director : Jamie Payne
Cast : Idris Elba, Cynthia Erivo, Andy Serkis
We Have a Ghost (2023)
Run Time : 2 hrs 6 min | Genre : Comedy Adventure | Director : Christopher Landon
Cast : Jennifer Coolidge, David Harbour, Tig Notaro, Anthony Mackie
We Have a Ghost is a silly horror comedy about a family who moves to a new town and meets the ghost haunting their home. Writer/director Christopher Landon captures David Harbour ’s innate playfulness, who thrives in humor with his inhibited nature, dazzling as the ghost Ernest. Melting genres, We Have a Ghost crosses from humor and horror to action and mystery as the story follows how Ernest’s exposure makes them an overnight sensation, ultimately inviting media, fanatics, and the government to hunt him. Supported by an all-star cast including Anthony Mackie and Jennifer Coolidge , We Have a Ghost is entertainment for the entire family. – Yael Tygiel
Your Place or Mine (2023)
Run Time : 1 hr 51 min | Genre : Romance Comedy | Director : Aline Brosh McKenna
Cast : Reese Witherspoon, Ashton Kutcher, Zoe Chao, Jesse Williams
Written and directed by Aline Brosh McKenna ( Crazy Ex-Girlfriend ), Your Place or Mine is a traditional rom-com in every sense of the word. Your Place or Mine has two undeniably stunning leads in Reese Witherspoon ( The Morning Show ) and Ashton Kutcher ( Two and a Half Men ), takes place in major cities on both coasts, and falls into a slew of expected narrative traps. Although there are quite a few outdated ideals in Your Place or Mine, it does enjoy a fantastic supporting cast and a cute romance at its core, leaving most of the flaws worth ignoring. – Yael Tygiel
Pamela: A Love Story (2023)
Run Time : 1 hr 52 min | Genre : Documentary | Director : Ryan White
Cast : Pamela Anderson, Gregory Butler, Rob Bowman
Jung_E (2023)
Run Time : 1 hr 39 min | Genre : Sci-Fi Action | Director : Yeon Sang-ho
Cast : Kang Soo-youn, Kim Hyun-joo, Ryu Kyung-soo
You People (2023)
Run Time : 1 hr 57 min | Genre : Comedy Romance | Director : Kenya Barris
Cast : Jonah Hill, Lauren London, Eddie Murphy, Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Dog Gone (2023)
Run Time : 1 hr 35 min | Genre : Biography Drama | Director : Stephen Herek
Cast : Rob Lowe, Johnny Berchtold, Kimberly Williams-Paisley
The Pale Blue Eye (2022)
Run Time : 2 hrs 8 min | Genre : Thriller Horror Mystery | Director : Scott Cooper
Cast : Christian Bale, Harry Melling, Lucy Boynton, Gillian Anderson
Directed by Scott Cooper ( Crazy Heart ), who adapted The Pale Blue Eye from Louis Bayard ’s novel, this gruesome thriller reunites the director with star Christian Bale ( Thor: Love and Thunder ). In The Pale Blue Eye , Bale plays a retired detective reluctantly investigating the odd murder of a cadet attending West Point Academy in 1830. Blending elements often associated with horror into a criminal investigation and murder mystery, The Pale Blue Eye is a unique feature about an even stranger crime. Cooper’s clever use of color and shadows presents an impressive allure as his characters put together the pieces of the puzzle. – Yael Tygiel
White Noise (2022)
Run Time : 2 hrs 16 min | Genre : Absurdist Comedy Drama | Director : Noah Baumbach
Cast : Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, Don Cheadle
Written for the screen and directed by Noah Baumbach, White Noise is based on the book by Don DeLillo. An interesting balancing act by Baumbach, White Noise has been described as both a dark comedy and a horrific mystery, which could easily be a reflection on the philosophical questions broached by the absurdist film, such as the existence of joy in a precarious society. Starring skillfully adaptable actors including Adam Driver ( House of Gucci ) and Greta Gerwig ( Barbie ) as a fascinatingly mundane American couple attempting to grapple with existential dread blossoming from universal realities, White Noise provides these versatile performers a solid foundation from which to thrive. – Yael Tygiel
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
Run Time : 2 hrs 19 min | Genre : Mystery | Director : Rian Johnson
Cast : Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Kate Hudson, Kathryn Hahn, Janelle Monáe
Rian Johnson ’s follow-up to his hit mystery movie Knives Out , Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery allows Daniel Craig ( No Time to Die ) to reprise his role as investigator Benoit Blanc. With an intriguing new puzzle, the famed southern detective heads to Greece, where he finds a new group of suspects. The deliberate casting of incomparable talent deserves an award of its own. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery features stars like Edward Norton , Kate Hudson , and Kathryn Hahn ( WandaVision ), to name a few. Star power aside, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery continues to captivate with twists, enigmas, and even some clever laughs. – Yael Tygiel
The Power of the Dog (2021)
Director : Jane Campion | Genre : Western Drama | Run Time : 2 hr 6 min
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee
The Power of the Dog is a slow, sly movie that reveals itself to you in subtle, measured glimpses at tenderness that are otherwise caked in grit, cruelty and crudity. Set in 1920s Montana, Jane Campion 's awards contender stars Benedict Cumberbatch , giving one of his best performances yet as Phil Burbank; a gruff and bitter cowboy who takes an immediate disliking to his brother's ( Jesse Plemmons ) new wife, Rose ( Kirsten Dunst ). In turn, her son Peter ( Kodi Smit-McPhee ) takes a disliking to him, determined to protect his mother, setting the stage for fascinating, subtle power plays and dynamic shifts as the contentious new family attempts to settle in together. As with all Campion films, you can expect exquisite shots and stunning glimpses into small moments of human vulnerability, but The Power of the Dog is also a challenging, often caustic film about tracing the ripples of toxicity. It certainly isn't your average Neo-western, so don't go in expecting standoffs our shootouts, but even without those flashy calling cards, The Power of the Dog makes a striking impact that seems to land all in one final blow . - Haleigh Foutch
Prisoners (2013)
Run Time : 2 hr 33 min | Genre : Thriller Crime | Director : Dennis Villeneuve
Cast : Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Melissa Leo, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard
For his first English language picture, Dennis Villeneuve delivered an instant classic in the vein of Seven or Zodiac . Prisoners may be Dennis Villeneuve’s most underrated film. It’s heavy, like a waterlogged coat, and driven forward by the dramatic reactions of the characters lost in the haze of mystery in this missing child thriller. Superb performances, melancholic music, and a rainy atmosphere reinforce the weighted tone of the film. Jake Gyllenhaal plays the fastidious detective Loki, trying to connect the dots between old cold cases, missing children, and a dead body. Hugh Jackman and Terrence Howard metamorphose into two men on the edge of desperation as they abduct the man ( Paul Dano ) they believe to be responsible for their missing daughters. It’s a dark story about faith, resolve, and morality that sees a community pushed to its emotional limit. There's little respite from the darkness in the world of prisoners, as each scene compounds the mystery and pain in the wake of two missing children.
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022)
Run Time : 1 hr 57 min | Genre : Fantasy Musical | Director : Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson
Cast : Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Gregory Mann
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is one of the most beautiful adaptations of the classic fairytale. Highlighted by the monster maestro’s love of creatures, Guillermo del Toro ( The Shape of Water ) crafts an enchanting version of the story, working in tandem with co-director Mark Gustafson ( The PJs ) to bring this stop-motion masterpiece to life. Like most del Toro projects, Pinocchio may not be suitable for younger audiences as the director enjoys his darker themes and images, even in his most whimsical projects. Expressed through claymation, this rendition of Pinocchio follows the grieving Italian woodcarver Geppetto, voiced by Game of Thrones alum David Bradley , as his wish magically brings to life his wooden marionette. – Yael Tygiel
Do Revenge (2022)
Director : Jennifer Kaytin Robinson | Genre : Teen Comedy | Run Time : 1 hr 58 min
Cast : Camila Mendes, Maya Hawke
This is what teen comedy dreams are made of. Starring Riverdale ’s Camila Mendes and Stranger Things scenestealer Maya Hawke , Do Revenge revolves around an unlikely friendship between fallen popular girl Drea (Mendes) and new student Eleanor (Hawke). After being wronged by friends and exes, the two of them hatch the perfect plan: to help each other get revenge. With plot twists you won’t see coming, sharp comedy, and a killer soundtrack (not to mention epic cameos by Sarah Michelle Gellar and Sophie Turner ), this is a truly generation-defining film among the ranks of Heathers and Mean Girls . – Taylor Gates
If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)
Director : Barry Jenkins | Genre : Romance Drama | Run Time : 1 hr 59 min
Cast: KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Regina King, Teyonah Parris
If there was ever a film that deserves more love and admiration, it is Barry Jenkins ’ magnificent If Beale Street Could Talk . Adapted from the novel of the same name by one of history’s greatest writers, the great James Baldwin , and could not be a more graceful honoring of his legacy. In addition to being a gorgeous cinematic experience, every single frame is overflowing with compassion for characters trying to find a way to live a life together. Set in 1970s Harlem, it centers on Tish ( KiKi Layne ) who is about to have a child with her artist fiancé Alonzo Hunt ( Stephan James ). As they dream of a future together, the couple's hopes are dashed when Alonzo is arrested for a crime he did not commit. A moving look at the tragedy found in the everyday, both Layne and James are outstanding in every single moment. When your film also has a supporting cast of Regina King, who won an Oscar for her role as Tish's mother, and Coleman Domingo as Tish’s father, it becomes a masterclass in acting from start to finish. – Chase Hutchinson
When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
Director : Rob Reiner I Genre : Romance Comedy I Run Time : 1 hr 35 mins
Cast: Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, Bruno Kirby
Autumn is upon us, and you know what that means? Following two people who could not be more different from each other go from hate, to like, to hate again, and finally, to love. When Harry Met Sally.. stars Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan in one of the most famous romcoms of all time. Harry and Sally bump into each other unexpectedly throughout their 20s and into their 30s, hating each time until heartbreak brings them together as best friends. They bond over their failed romances, even get their respective best friends together, and spend most of the movie oblivious to or purposefully ignoring the fact that they are perfect for each other. Oh - and there’s an orgasm in Kats Deli, we couldn't forget that! Nora Ephron gave us a love story for the ages that still feels fresh and nuanced watching it thirty years later. Add in a sublime supporting cast of Carrie Fisher and Bruno Kirby - and you have yourself a timeless classic. Set against the red and yellow leaves of New York City, When Harry Met Sally.. Is essential Autumnal viewing. - Emma Kiely
The Nice Guys (2016)
Director : Shane Black | Genre : Action Comedy | Run Time : 1 hr 56 min
Cast: Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Angourie Rice, Matt Bomer
Between Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang and The Nice Guys , writer/director Shane Black has proven himself to the be the king of crackling neo-noir. In The Nice Guys , you have private eye Holland March ( Ryan Gosling ) and fixer Jackson Healy ( Russell Crowe ) teaming up to investigate the disappearance of a young woman ( Margaret Qualley ), but it's all about how Black plays with genre conventions and film tropes to constantly upend expectations. Gosling has never been funnier, and in an alternate, better universe, The Nice Guys would have been a massive hit and we'd have an amazing comic franchise. As it stands, we only have this movie, so at least we can treasure this outing of March and Healy. – Matt Goldberg
Tick, Tick... Boom! (2012)
Director : Lin-Manuel Miranda | Genre : Drama Musical Biography | Run Time : 1 hr 55 min
Cast: Andrew Garfield, Alexandra Shipp, Robin de Jesús
Hamilton and In the Heights creator Lin-Manuel Miranda directs the long-awaited film adaptation of RENT creator Johnathan Larson 's Tick, Tick... Boom! The result is an excellent movie musical that's every bit a love letter to theater itself as much as it is to Larson and his tragic tale of short-lived genius. Which is perhaps what makes Miranda such an exceptional fit for the material in his filmmaking debut, and not just because his every-damned-award-winning musical Hamilton is all about capturing the beauty and tragedy of short-lived genius: the Broadway polymath has also been vocal about how Tick, Tick... Boom! influenced and inspired him as a creator, and he even starred in a production of the show several years ago. Equally at home is Andrew Garfield as Larson himself, showcasing a hell of a singing voice and yet another outstanding performance that will lift you up, rake you through the anxiety of excellence, before absolutely breaking your heart. It's a beautiful film based on a beautiful piece of writing, and whether you're a fan of Garfield's, Miranda's, Larson's, or just the theater dahling , it's a moving testament to those who openly embrace ambition, earnestly love performance, and believe that both give them the power to change lives. - Haleigh Foutch
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