netflix movie reviews

Best Netflix movies: the 42 best films worth watching in April 2024

What are the best Netflix movies to stream today? TechRadar reveals all

Tom Power, senior entertainment reporter

This month's update sees a hatful of films leave the service, including Blonde , Call Me By Your Name , Dune , Don't Worry Darling , and La La Land . In their place, we've added Everything Everywhere All at Once , Elvis , Puss in Boots: The Last Wish , Jurassic Park , and Enola Holmes . We've also updated every other entry in this guide with the most important information about them, as well as adding in their official trailers.

Welcome to TechRadar's best Netflix movies guide. Below, we've compiled a list of the 42 best films to stream on Netflix , with all entries categorized by the primary genre they fall under. That way, you can simply use the navigation bar on the left side of this page to jump to the type of flick you enjoy the most. You're welcome.

There are tons of movies to watch on the world's best streaming service , though, so how have our entertainment experts picked out the 40-plus films to include in this article? It's simple: we selected them based on two big criteria: their Rotten Tomatoes (RT) score and/or how popular they've been with Netflix's worldwide audience. Armed with that data, we're confident that you'll agree with our choices below.

Want even more recommendations? Our new Netflix movies is home to all of the new movies that have joined the streaming giant in recent weeks. Bookmark that page for later, however, and continue reading on to see what the best Netflix movies are today.

Best action movies on Netflix

Army of the dead.

Age rating: R Runtime: 148 minutes Main cast: Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Ana de la Reguera, and Matthias Schweighofer Director: Zack Snyder RT score: 67%

Army of the Dead was Zack Snyder’s first feature following his increasingly acrimonious split with Warner Bros, and it’s everything that his DC Extended Universe ( DCEU ) superhero movies weren’t: bright, colorful, action-packed, funny, and topical, even if its 45-minute introduction is a little self-indulgent.

Dave Bautista leads a strong cast as Scott Ward, a former zombie-stomping war hero who’s approached with an intriguing proposal by casino owner Bly Tanaka (Hiroyuki Sanada). The assignment? Enter a zombie infested Las Vegas, break into Tanaka’s casino vault, escape with his $200 million assets, and Ward and his group will receive $50 million to split between them as a reward.

Yes, the movie is as chaotic as that plot makes it sound. And, with a sequel film and TV spin-off on the way, Army of the Dead is a must-watch for fans of gratuitous blood and gore.

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Extraction 1 and 2

Age rating: R Runtime: 118 minutes (Extraction 1); 123 minutes (Extraction 2) Main cast: Chris Hemsworth and Golshifteh Farahani Director: Sam Hargrave RT score: 67% (Extraction 1); 79% (Extraction 2)

Looking for an unrelenting thrill ride that's stuffed with some of the best action sequences we've seen in a long time? Netflix Original film series  Extraction is the one for you.

Marvel  star Chris Hemsworth stars as Tyler Rake, a black ops merc-for-hire with a complex backstory. In each movie, Rake is hired to rescue someone (or numerous individuals) from a seemingly impossible situation. Once he's acquired the package, he tries to lead them to safety as numerous thugs, gang members, and other characters attempt to kill Rake and those he's liberated.

Extraction 1  was a pretty good watch and its sequel is, in our opinion, even better thanks to its  21-minute-long, heart-pounding, intricately assembled, and dangerous one-shot sequence . Make sure you check out our  Extraction 2  review  for more on why it's one of the best Netflix movies around, and then read our exclusive chats with director Sam Hargrave about  why the film's one shot sequence took four grueling months to shoot  and  how he had Marvel to thank for that unexpected cameo .

John Wick 1, 2, and 3

Age rating: R Runtimes: 101 minutes ( John Wick 1 ); 122 minutes ( John Wick 2 ); 130 minutes ( John Wick 3 ) Main cast: Keanu Reeves, Lance Reddick, Ian McShane, and Laurence Fishburne Director: Chad Stahelski RT score: 86% ( John Wick 1 ); 89% ( John Wick 2 ); 89% ( John Wick 3 )

Few action film franchises have been as successful as this Keanu Reeves-starring movie series.

A story that begins with Reeves’ titular assassin tracking down those responsible for killing his dog (a gift from his deceased wife) and his beloved Mustang, John Wick soon evolves into an engrossing, expansive universe full of intriguing hitman-based mythos, betrayals, tragedy, underappreciated humor, and some of the most spectacular fight scenes we’ve seen in a long time.

The first three films – find out how to watch the John Wick movies in order – are now on Netflix. A prequel TV spin-off titled The Continental is also available on Peacock , while the Ana de Armas-fronted Ballerina , the franchise’s first movie spin-off, is one of 18 epic movies we can’t wait for in 2024 . 

Best animated movies on Netflix

Apollo 10 1/2: a space age childhood.

Age rating: PG-13 Runtime: 98 minutes Main cast: Jack Black, Bill Wise, Lee Eddy, Milo Coy, Zachary Levi, and Glen Powell Director: Richard Linklater RT score: 91%

If you’re keen to mix up your movie-watching diet, films don't come much more unconventional than Netflix’s Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood . Boyhood director Richard Linklater returns to filmmaking duties with this animated feature, which tells the story of the 1969 moon landing from multiple perspectives. 

The movie shares the visual style of Linklater’s previous animation, 2006's A Scanner Darkly , and features the voice talents of The Super Mario Bros. Movie 's Jack Black, Shazam! Fury of the Gods ' Zachary Levi, and Top Gun: Maverick star Glen Powell. Despite its needlessly lengthy title, Apollo 10 1/2 is a genuinely unique take on one of history’s most iconic moments, and serves as yet more proof of Netflix's willingness to invest in boundary-pushing storytelling. 

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

Age rating: PG Runtime: 121 minutes Main cast: Gregory Mann, Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Tilda Swinton, Cate Blanchett, and Finn Holfhard Directors: Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson RT score: 96%

Who says Netflix has lost its taste for originality? With  Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio , the streamer breathes new life into Carlo Collodi's beloved 1883 fairytale about a wooden puppet who longs to become a real boy. 

Shot entirely using stop-motion (in a manner akin to Netflix series  The House ), del Toro’s darker adaptation is set in 1930s Italy during Mussolini’s fascist regime and features a star-studded voice cast that includes Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Tilda Swinton, Christoph Waltz and Cate Blanchett. Indisputably one of the best Netflix movies in years.

The Mitchells vs The Machines

Age rating: PG Runtime: 114 minutes Main cast: Abbi Jacobson, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Michael Rianda, and Olivia Colman Director: Michael Rianda RT score: 97%

Originally intended for a theatrical release, Netflix bought this animated movie from Sony and producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller – best known as the minds behind The Lego Movie and 21 Jump Street , and also part of the team behind the Spider-Verse movies. It's exactly as charming and funny as those movies, too. 

Katie Mitchell (Abbi Jacobson) is an aspiring filmmaker who's about to head to college – until her dad, conscious that they've been drifting apart, cancels her plane ticket and insists on a family road trip. Halfway through this fraught journey, an AI takes revenge on its billionaire creator and the world is suddenly under duress from smart robots. 

A lot of Spider-Verse 's visual touches cross over into this film, with 2D annotations and drawings on the already-pretty 3D visuals. Most of all, it's nice to see Netflix backing a family movie that's not just full of talking dogs and other hackneyed nonsense so often seen in CG kids' fare. 

Age rating: PG Runtime: 102 minutes Main cast: Chloe Grace Moretz, Riz Ahmed, Eugene Lee Yang, and Frances Conroy Directors: Nick Bruno and Troy Quane RT score: 92%

Based on ND Stevenson's 2015 graphic novel of the same name, Nimona is a delightfully fun, action-packed, funny, and heartfelt flick that's also unapologetically queer.

Star Wars alumnus Riz Ahmed voices Ballister Blackheart, a futuristic knight who's framed for a crime he didn't commit. The only witness who can save him from a lengthy jail term is Nimona ( The Peipheral 's Chloe Grace Moretz), a shapeshifter who Blackheart is sworn to seek out and destroy. Cue a wild buddy cop-style adventure that teaches kids to have an open mind about people who are different to them in more ways than one.

Nimona has been lauded for its LGBTQ+ representation, subversive storytelling, and gorgeous visuals among many other positives. A truly worth entry in our best Netflix movies guide.

Age rating: PG Runtime: 95 minutes Main cast: Ben Whishaw, Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Madeleine Harris, and Samuel Joslin Director: Paul King RT score: 97%

We're just going to say it: Paddington is one of the best family movies of all time.

Don't argue with us. At first glance, everyone's favorite, marmalade sandwich-eating Peruvian bear didn't seem like he'd be the star of a truly terrific family-friendly film. As it turns out, though, Paddington (voiced with a deftness, warmth, and stacks of humor by Ben Whishaw) is a bonafide movie star – and his first CGI-cum-live-action movie proves it.

You'll laugh yourself silly at its slapstick moments, you'll cry at its heart-wrenching (and heart-warming!) scenes, and shout "I didn't know they were in it!" at every big-name actor who appears. In short: go and watch it immediately.

Puss In Boots: The Last Wish

Age rating: PG Runtime: 102 minutes Main cast: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Harvey Guillen, Florence Pugh, Olivia Colman, Samson Kayo, Wagner Moura, and John Mulaney Director: Joel Crawford RT score: 95%

The second of Puss In Boots ' spin-off movies is, frankly, an absolute delight. Indeed, The Last Wish is a gorgeous-looking film, whose painterly visuals belie an existential tale with meaningful subject matter and making the most of the life (or lives, in Puss' case) that you have.

Banderas, who voiced the titular sword-wielding tabby cat in the Shrek films, returns to play Puss again once more. This time around, however, due to the life-threatening escapades he's gotten himself into, Puss is on his final life. To reinstate all nine lives, he'll need to find and then wish on a fallen star, all the while being pursued by a terrifying wolf (Moura) who's the personification of Death itself. A funny, moving, beautiful, and occasionally ominous movie.

The Sea Beast

Age rating: PG Runtime: 119 minutes Main cast: Karl Urban, Zaris Angel-Hator, Jared Harris, and Dan Stevens Director: Chris Williams RT score: 94%

The Sea Beast proved Disney doesn’t have a monopoly on layered, child-friendly storytelling upon its arrival in July 2022.

Directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Chris Williams ( Moana , Big Hero Six ), the movie follows Jacob Holland (voiced by  The Boys ’ Karl Urban), a celebrated sea monster hunter whose life is upended when a young girl, Maisie Brumble (newcomer Zaris-Angel Hator), stows away on his ship. 

Charming, action-packed, and beautifully-rendered, The Sea Beast was praised by audiences and critics alike upon release, and serves as further proof that Netflix should think twice about scaling back its animation department . If it still is, that is. 

The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Age rating: PG Runtime: 92 minutes Main cast: Chris Pratt, Anya-Taylor Joy, Jack Black, Charlie Day, Seth Rogen, and Keegan-Michael Key Directors: Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic RT score: 59%

2023’s second-highest grossing movie, The Super Mario Bros. Movie ’s success was fueled by nostalgia for Nintendo’s legendary video game series and its money-spinning ticket sales, rather than its overall quality.

But there’s more to the animated movie’s unprecedented box office performance than that. In our view, it’s funnier than some suggest, it's wonderful to look at, is packed with Easter eggs and other Mario references, and it gave us one of last year’s best earworms with Bowser’s humor-laced ‘Peaches’ love ballad.

Sure, its narrative is oft-times generic, its runtime is a little on the light side, and Chris Pratt’s Italian accent needed more refining. As a kid-friendly film that hits all the right notes where Nintendo’s passionate fanbase is concerned, though, this is one Mario movie we’ll enjoy for years to come. Read our review of The Super Mario Bros. Movie to learn more. 

Best comedy movies on Netflix

Age rating: 15 Runtime: 118 minutes Main cast: Adam Sandler, Juancho Hernangomez, Queen Latifah, and Robert Duvall Director: Jeremiah Zagar RT score: 93%

If you were a fan of 2019's Uncut Gems , listen up: Hustle , a surprisingly entertaining basketball drama, delivers more Adam Sandler-sized surprises. 

After discovering a once-in-a-lifetime player with a rocky past abroad, Stanley Sugerman (Sandler), a down-on-his-luck Philadelphia 76ers scout, takes it upon himself to bring the young phenom to the States without his team's approval. Against the odds, the pair must work to prove that they both deserve to make it big in the NBA. 

That synopsis might sound like standard sports drama fare, but Hustle earned unexpectedly glowing reviews ahead of its muted release. Trust us: this is no Jack and Jill .

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Age rating: PG Runtime: 92 minutes Main cast: John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, and Michael Palin Directors: Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam RT score: 96%

Monty Python and the Holy Grail did more for the satire and parody subgenres than many other comedies have done in the last 50 years.

A witty and biting take on the legend of King Arthur, Monty Python and the Holy Grail stars the titular and legendary British comedy outfit as King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable, who embark on a hilarity-infested quest to seek the Holy Grail.

If you're a fan of Monty Python , you'll likely have seen this one countless times over. First-time viewers, though, will cackle and guffaw their way through the film's rivetingly silly scenarios. The Black Knight scene, Knights of the Roundtable dance number, deadly Rabbit of Caerbannog sequence, and Knights Who Say "Ni!" moment are just four instantaneously classic moments waiting to be viewed. Just don't blame us if you end up endlessly quoting this flick long after the credits have rolled.

( NB: Monty Python's Life of Brian and Monty Python's Flying Circus are also available to stream).

The Nice Guys

Age rating: R Runtime: 115 minutes Main cast: Ryan Gosling, Russell Crowe, Angourie Rice, and Margaret Qualley Director: Shane Black RT score: 91%

Buddy comedies don't come much better than The Nice Guys . Director Shane Black's underappreciated action comedy stars Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe as a private eye and a tough enforcer, who team up to determine the whereabouts of a girl-in-hiding (Margaret Qualley) in 1970s Los Angeles. 

Reminiscent of Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights in both its setting and black humor, the movie is fast-paced, suitably adult, and a perfect example of how to elicit chemistry between two big-time leads. Gosling, in particular, is hilarious. 

Best crime movies on Netflix

Bullet train.

Age rating: R Runtime: 126 minutes Main cast: Brad Pitt, Sandra Bullock, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Joey King, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Bryan Tyree Henry Director: David Leitch RT score: 54%

An action-comedy crime caper that certainly drew inspiration from John Wick (more on this film series shortly), Bullet Train is a fast-paced, thrills-a-minute joyride that makes full use of its claustrophobic setting.

Brad Pitt plays Ladybug, an anxious assassin who’s tasked with retrieving a suitcase filled with cash for a shady organization from the titular high-speed passenger vehicle. In order to do so, however, he’ll have to fend off the advances of similarly skilled agents, with the likes of Aaron-Taylor Jonhson, Brian Tyree Henry, Joey King, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Michael Shannon playing some of those extremely well-trained foes.

Bullet Train wasn’t a big hit with critics upon initial release, but it’s found a new lease of life on Netflix. If you prefer your movies to be action-packed, occasionally gory, and humorous affairs, look no further. 

The Irishman

Age rating: R Runtime: 209 minutes Main cast: Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Al Pacino, and Anna Paquin Director: Martin Scorsese RT score: 95%

This threateningly long Martin Scorsese pic attracted attention for the extensive effects work used to de-age its old stars, and it's a creative decision that's sometimes distracting. But there's no denying the appeal of seeing Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino in the same movie together for likely the last time, and this life-spanning, mostly rewarding crime epic is a suitable tribute to their collective talents. 

The Irishman follows Frank Sheeran (De Niro) as he recounts his long association with the Bufalino crime family and infamous union leader Jimmy Hoffa (Pacino). It's a languid film – and not a patch on Goodfellas – but absolutely among the best Netflix movies the streaming service has financed to date. Find out where we ranked it in our best Martin Scorsese movies piece.

Best drama movies on Netflix

The hand of god.

Age rating: R Runtime: 130 minutes Main cast: Filippo Scotti, Tony Servillo, Teresa Sapoangelo, and Marlon Joubert Director: Paolo Sorrentino RT score: 83%

The Hand of God marks the movie-making return of beloved Italian director Paolo Sorrentino, and tells the semi-autobiographical tale of a young man (Filippo Scotti, standing in for a teenage Sorrentino) grappling with the pressures of growing up in 1980s Naples. 

As well as referring to the infamous goal scored by Argentine footballer (and Napoli legend) Diego Maradona at the 1986 World Cup, the film's title alludes to a tragic and life-affirming event that forces its protagonist to grow up quicker than he'd otherwise like. To say more risks spoiling The Hand of God 's most tender moments, though the movie's beautiful locations, hypnotic camerawork, and larger-than-life characters ensure it ranks among Sorrentino's best work. If you're a fan of Call Me by Your Name , add this one to your watchlist. 

Phantom Thread

Age rating: R Runtime: 130 minutes Main cast: Daniel Day Lewis, Vicky Krieps, Lesley Manville, and Camilla Rutherford Director: Paul Thomas Anderson RT score: 91%

Shortly after Licorice Pizza – director Paul Thomas Anderson's most recent flick – hit 2023's awards circuit, Netflix added his previous film Phantom Thread to its library. This one tells the story of a dressmaker (Daniel Day-Lewis) in 1950s London who falls for a young waitress (Vicky Krieps). 

That might sound like a potentially boring narrative, but Phantom Thread is actually masterfully-shot. It's also a poignant exploration of what it means to be an artist, combining Oscar-winning costume design with a stunning soundtrack (from Radiohead and frequent Anderson collaborator Johnny Greenwood) to rank among its director's finest work. One of the best Netflix movies, this certainly is.

Age rating: R Runtime: 134 minutes Main cast: Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Marco Graf, Fernando Grediaga, and Daniela Demesa Director: Alfonso Cuaron RT score: 96%

An astonishing ode to motherhood in all forms, Roma is the most personal film to date from visionary director Alfonso Cuarón ( Children of Men , Gravity ).

On paper, it's is not the easiest sell – a subtitled black and white film about a live-in housekeeper spoken almost entirely in Spanish and the indigenous Mixtec language. But Cuarón's 2018 critical hit is nonetheless riveting from a cinematic standpoint. More a series of vignettes than a traditional three-act story, it examines the life of a Mexico City family in the early 1970s during a time of great social upheaval.

Age rating: R Runtime: 122 minutes Main cast: Chris Hemsworth, Daniel Bruhl, and Olivia Wilde Director: Ron Howard RT score: 88%

Rush is a biographical sports movie about the heated rivalry between Formula 1 drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda. The pair are played here brilliantly by Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl respectively in one of Ron Howard's best movies in recent memory. 

The film portrays their rivalry as lucky playboy vs hotheaded strategist, and while it might exaggerate real-life events somewhat, it's a riveting movie. Along with documentary Senna and dad-friendly flick Ford Vs Ferrari , Rush is one of the best Netflix movies about racing. 

Society of the Snow

Age rating: R Runtime: 145 minutes Main cast: Enzo Vogrincic, Augustin Padella, Esteban Bigliardi, and Simon Hempe Director: J.A. Bayona RT score: 90%

J.A. Bayona’s latest flick – based on real-life events – is a harrowing portrayal of human endurance and how our primal survival instincts assume dominance over our humanity.

Society of the Snow tells the tragic story of the 1972 Andes Air Disaster, which saw a Uruguayan rugby team crash-land in the freezing South American mountain range en route to a Chile-based tournament. Trapped in one of the most inhospitable places on Earth, the 16 survivors are forced to take extreme measures in order to stay alive.

Netflix’s first movie hit of 2024 is a heart-breaking and grim tale of human morality, but one that equally shines an earnest, powerful light on surviving against all odds. One of the best Netflix movies, from a foreign language perspective, you’ll see all year. 

Age rating: R Runtime: 109 minutes Main cast: Florence Pugh, Tom Burke, Niamh Algar, and Elaine Cassidy Director: Sebastien Lelio RT score: 89%

Florence Pugh ( Black Widow , A Good Person ) proved her generational talent yet again in Netflix's unsettling drama-cum-horror The Wonder .  

Set in the Irish Midlands in 1862, the movie stars Pugh as an English nurse called to observe a young girl (Kíla Lord Cassidy) who remains miraculously alive and well despite not having eaten for four months. Ciarán Hinds, Niamh Algar, and Toby Jones also star in Sebastián Lelio’s period mystery.

As period dramas go, The Wonder is an absorbing and fantastic flick that confirms Pugh's ability to embody every role she plays.

Best fantasy movies on Netflix

Everything everywhere all at once.

Age rating: R Runtime: 132 minutes Main cast: Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Stephanie Hsu Directors: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert RT score: 94%

Thanks largely to Marvel 's cinematic juggernaut, multiverse films have exploded in popularity (among studios, not necessarily audiences) in recent years. This absurdist multi-genre flick, which garnered universal acclaim and a seemingly infinite number of trophies on the 2023 awards circuit, though, is one of the best we've ever seen.

Everything Everywhere All at Once ( EEAAO ) stars Yeoh ( The Witcher: Blood Origin , The Brothers Sun ) as Evelyn Wang, a Chinese-American immigrant who learns that she must connect with alternate reality versions of herself in order to stop a supremely powerful being from destroying the multiverse. Quan ( Loki season 2 , The Goonies ) plays Evelyn's husband Waymond and Hsu ( Joy Ride ) is Evelyn's daughter Joy.

An epic assault on the senses with tons of heart, spectacular visuals, and an mind-boggling appreciation for philosophical themes like existentialism, nihilism, generational trauma, and racial identity, EEAAO is a masterpiece that deserves every gong in its stuffed awards cabinet.

Age rating: TV-MA Runtime: 121 minutes Main cast: Ahn Seo -hyun, Tilda Swinton, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Giancarlo Espostio Director: Bong Joon-ho RT score: 86%

If you've enjoyed Bong Joon Ho's Oscar Best Picture winner Parasite , you might want to check out his previous movie, Okja , which is still one of the best Netflix movies on the platform.

It tells the bizarre tale of a young girl Mija and her best pal, an enormous creature called Okja, whose friendship comes under threat when a nasty CEO (Tilda Swinton) has evil plans for the titular animal. It's a refreshing movie with a nice angle of animal activism – a very different proposition to Parasite , for sure, but one that also demonstrates the director's ability to blend genres. 

Best history movies on Netflix

Age rating: R Runtime: 140 minutes Main cast: Timothee Chalamet, Robert Pattinson, Joel Edgerton, and Sean Harris Director: David Michod RT score: 71%

Another Netflix Original, The King stars Timothée Chalamet as Henry V, a young man forced to navigate the worlds of politics, war and treachery after unexpectedly becoming king of England in the 15th century. 

This one contains all the fanfare you'd expect from a modern medieval movie, and boasts an excellent cast including Robert Pattinson, Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris. For a reported budget of just $20 million (although you wouldn't know it), director David Michôd managed to produce one of the most engaging and visually stunning historical dramas around. Stick it on your watch list.

The Woman King

Age rating: PG-13 Runtime: 135 minutes Main cast: Viola Davis, Lashana Lynch, Thuso Mbedu, Sheila Atim, and John Boyega Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood RT score: 94%

Set in the 1820s, this Viola Davis-fronted historical epic tells the tale of General Nanisca (Davis) and the wider Adojie tribe, the all-female warrior unit that protected the West African kingdom of Dahomey across a 200-year period.

Starring a number of other terrific Black actors including Lashana Lynch, John Boyega, Thuso Mbedu, and Sheila Stim, The Woman King is a weighty, crowd-pleasing spectacle that many have likened to Braveheart in its action, tonality, and themes surrounding defiance in the face of invading forces. A splashy popcorn flick, sure, but one filled with substance, as well as deeper societal and historical subject matter.

Best horror movies on Netflix

The fear street movie trilogy.

Age rating: R Runtimes: 107 minutes ( Fear Street 1 ); 110 minutes ( Fear Street 2 ); 114 minutes ( Fear Street 3 ) Main cast: Kiana Madeira, Olivia Welch, Gillian Jacobs, Sadie Sink, Benjamin Flores Jr, Emily Rudd, and Ryan Simpkins Director: Leigh Janiak RT score: 84% ( Fear Street 1 ); 87% ( Fear Street 2 ); 88% ( Fear Street 3 )

Launched in July 2021 as part of a new Netflix horror movie binge watch experiment , the Fear Street movie trilogy looked to recapture the bold and innovative multi-film storytelling formula that other popular horror franchises had seemingly perfected.

And, in short, it did. Set across three flicks, the Fear Street series – itself based on R.L. Stine's books of the same name – told the story of a group of 90s-era teens as they attempt to break a curse that's loomed over their town for over 300 years. With lashings of the supernatural and witchcraft, R-rated slasher violence, an intriguing narrative, and more than a few notable faces – Stranger Things ' Sadie Sink and Maya Hawke are among its cast – the Fear Street movies are well worth watching.

Age rating: TV-14 Runtime: 93 minutes Main cast: Wunmi Mosaku and Sope Dirisu Director: Remi Weekes RT score: 100%

This Weekes-directed movie stars Mosaku ( Loki ) and Dirisu ( Gangs of London ) as Rial and Bol, a refugee couple from South Sudan who struggle to adjust to their new life in the UK. The overriding issue? The duo believe there's an evil supernatural force haunting their council home and the surrounding area.

His House might not sound all that thrilling, but you'll want to give it a chance, trust us. Mosaku and Dirisu deliver powerhouse performances in this occasionally terrifying movie that, like Get Out , has plenty of important things to say about cultural and sociopolitical divides. There's a reason why it holds a perfect 100% critical score on Rotten Tomatoes – and, overall, it's because it's a darn good film.

Age rating: R Runtime: 100 minutes Main cast: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Daniel Zovatto, Jake Weary, and Olivia Luccardi Director: David Robert Mitchell RT score: 95%

This Mitchell-directed film shouldn't be slept on – which, in some ways, is ironic, given the lengths its lead character Jay goes to in order to stay awake.

Why? Because, in It Follows , the titular character is pursued by a supernatural entity after it's passed onto her through a sexual encounter with her at-the-time boyfriend Hugh. The entity in question will constantly (albeit) slowly track the currently infected individual until it catches them, upon which time it'll kill them – and then work its way back up the chain to murder every other person who was infected.

It's a bit on the nose with its thematic exploration of sexually transmitted diseases, but It Follows is an otherwise terrifically terrifying and seriously underrated film that deserves more acclaim. A long overdue sequel is in the works, too, so best catch this one while you can.

Best musical movies on Netflix

Age rating: PG-13 Runtime: 159 minutes Main cast: Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, Olivia DeJonge, and Helen Thomson Director: Bahz Luhrmann RT score: 77%

Austin Butler's breakout role came in this 2022 biopic about the world-famous rock 'n' roll star whose life was as eventful as they come.

Seen through the eyes of Hanks' slimy agent Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis charts the rise and fall of the Mississippi-born singer-actor who went on to become one of the most recognizable musicians of all-time. Packed with dazzling energy and animated style, and led by a stunning performance from its leading man in Butler, Elvis shook up the biographical film genre with its heady mix of melodrama and swashbuckling score.

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Age rating: R Runtime: 94 minutes Main cast: Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Glynn Turman, and Colman Domingo Director: George C. Wolfe RT score: 97%

Based on the play by August Wilson – and despite the gorgeous period set dressing and costume design, it definitely feels very stage-y – Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is a fantastic watch.

Viola Davis stars as legendary 'Mother of Blues' Ma Rainey, with the film focusing on one fraught recording session with Ma and her band, and the tension between the musician and her white producers and management. 

The late Chadwick Boseman ( Black Panther ) stars as Levee, an innovative trumpet player who struggles to find his place in the music scene, amid bandmates who don't always take him seriously. It's a sad but insightful movie that explores how culture is worth protecting and valuing, in a world where it's easily taken and monetized, and the film truly comes to life in its amazing musical sequences.

Best mystery movies on Netflix

Enola holmes.

Age rating: PG-13 Runtime: 124 minutes Main cast: Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, Sam Claflin, and Helen Bonham Carter Director: Harry Bradbeer RT score: 91%

Stranger Things ' Millie Bobby Brown started to expand her acting career with this period-set comedy-mystery flick that's both an adaptation of Nancy Springer's Enola Holmes Mysteries book series and a spin-off of the Sherlock Holmes legend.

Brown plays the titular character (and younger sister of Cavill's Sherlock), who travels to London to locate her missing mother. Unsurprisingly, she gets side-tracked, and finds herself teaming up with a runaway lord to get to the bottom of a particularly thrilling case that threatens the UK.

A breezy but fun-filled adventure flick, Enola Holmes bubbles away nicely with its more than entertaining narrative, which is ably led by Brown's effervescent Holmes. Its sequel is also available to stream on Netflix.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Age rating: PG-13 Runtime: 141 minutes Main cast: Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Janelle Monae, Kathryn Hahn, Dave Bautista, Kate Hudson, and Leslie Odom Jr Director: Rian Johnson RT score: 92%

Knives Out wowed fans and critics alike in 2019, so sequels were inevitable. 

The first of those – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery – is another elaborate and highly entertaining whodunnit from director Rian Johnson. Buoyed by its excellent ensemble cast and a confidence carried over from its predecessor’s success, Glass Onion is even showier and bolder than Knives Out – though the film proved exceptionally divisive among fans of Benoit Blanc's debut outing upon release.

Best sci-fi movies on Netflix

Jurassic park.

Age rating: PG-13 Runtime: 126 minutes Main cast: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Samuel L Jackson, Ariana Richards, and Joe Mazzello Director: Steven Spielberg RT score: 92%

Spielberg's iconic take on Michael Crichton's novel about an idyllic dinosaur park that goes awry is the kind of classic sci-fi movie that Hollywood simply doesn't make anymore.

Set on the fictional Isla Nublar, Neill, Dern, and Goldblum play scientists Alan Grant, Ellie Satler, and Ian Malcolm, who are invited to tour industrialist John Hammond's new dinosaur research and genetics HQ, which is well on its way to bringing back the ancient beasts from the dead. When slimy computer programmer Dennis Nedry throws a spanner in the works, though, the quartet – along with Hammond's grandchildren and the park's employees – are forced to fight for their lives amid attacks from a T-Rex and velociraptors to name just two.

One of the best Netflix movies (licensed ones, anyway) and a legendary, highly entertaining film overall, Jurassic Park is cinema at its absolute best. See if you can work out where it ranks in our best Jurassic movies list before seeing if you guessed correctly.

( NB: Jurassic Park: The Lost World and Jurassic Park III are also available to stream on Netflix).

They Cloned Tyrone

Age rating: R Runtime: 119 minutes Main cast: John Boyega, Jamie Foxx, and Teyonah Parris Director: Juel Taylor RT score: 95%

This genre-bending sci-fi flick launched on the same day as the cultural phenomenon known as Barbenheimer, so its viewing figures weren't all that impressive in the first couple of weeks post-release.

However, given time, people have realized  They Cloned Tyrone  is an absolutely brilliant movie. To discuss its plot at length is to spoil its biggest surprises, but here's a brief synopsis to give you a flavor of what to expect: "A series of eerie events thrusts an unlikely trio (Jamie Foxx, John Boyega, and Teyonah Parris) onto the trail of a nefarious government conspiracy in this pulpy mystery caper." 

We thoroughly enjoyed what it has to offer on multiple levels and our  exclusive chat with John Boyega is well worth reading  for a peak behind the curtain on its production. Once you're watched it, be sure to read our  ending explainer on  They Cloned Tyrone  for Boyega's thoughts on its surprising ending .

Best superhero movies on Netflix

Age rating: PG-13 Runtime: 176 minutes Main cast: Robert Pattinson, Jeffrey Wright, Zoe Kravitz, Paul Dano, and Colin Farrell Director: Matt Reeves RT score: 85%

The Christopher Nolan-directed Batman trilogy isn't available on Netflix anymore, but there is another top-tier Dark Knight film that's made its way onto the service in the form of The Batman .

Robert Pattinson stuns in his first turn as the Caped Crusader, with the Matt Reeves-helmed Bat-Flick proving to be even more dingy and gritty than many of its forebears. That it leans more heavily into the superhero's detective-based skills than what's come before – walking that fine line of being gruesome but not gratuitously violent – too, makes it an even more fascinating, crime-based Batman film than we've been used to.

With a stupendous supporting vast including Paul Dano, Zoe Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright, Colin Farrell, Andy Serkis, and John Tuturro, The Batman needs to be seen to be fully appreciated. See where it placed in our best Batman movies guide.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Age rating: PG Runtime: 140 minutes Main cast: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Oscar Isaac, Jake Johnson, Luna Lauren Velez, Bryan Tyree Henry, Issa Rae, Daniel Kaluuya, Mahershala Ali, and Jason Schwartzman Directors: Kemp Powers, Joaquin Dos Santos, and Justin K. Thompson RT score: 95%

We were delighted to see Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Vers e make its unexpected Netflix debut in October 2023. As a spectacularly assembled animated superhero film, there are few better than it in the genre space right now – both from animation and storytelling perspectives.

Set 14 months after Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse , viewers are reunited with Miles Morales, Gwen Stacey, and Peter B Parker as they embark on a new multiverse-spanning journey that, unlike its forebear, won't be such an easy one to navigate.

In our Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse review , we said it "fulfils its ambitious promise to deliver an amazing follow-up to its 2018 predecessor". Once you've watched it, read our Across the Spider-Verse ending explained article to see how it sets up its Beyond the Spider-Verse sequel. Then, see where it ranks in our best Spider-Man movies guide, or find out how to watch the Spider-Man movies in order .

Best thriller movies on Netflix

The good nurse.

Age rating: R Runtime: 123 minutes Main cast: Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne Director: Tobias Lindholm RT score: 74%

Netflix puts its penchant for true-crime storytelling to good use with The Good Nurse , which follows the murderous exploits of real-life serial killer Charlie Cullen (Eddie Redmayne). Jessica Chastain plays Cullen's co-worker, Amy Loughren, who would ultimately go on to expose the sadistic behaviour that led to the deaths of dozens of patients over a period of sixteen years. 

On the broad spectrum of Netflix movies, The Good Nurse is a lower-key affair than, say, Don't Look Up . However, its shocking story of gross criminal negligence is far more impactful than the big-budget drama of the streamer's recent blockbusters. Sure, it's far from an easy watch – but it'll stay with you long after its credits roll.

Best war movies on Netflix

All quiet on the western front.

Age rating: R Runtime: 148 minutes Main cast: Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch, Aaron Hilmer, and Moritz Klaus Director: Edward Berger RT score: 90%

It’s been a good few years since Dunkirk and 1917 reminded audiences of the horrors of war, but Netflix assumed that responsibility with shocking but beautifully-made WWI epic, All Quiet on the Western Front . 

Based on Erich Maria Remarque’s landmark novel of the same name (which was first adapted into a feature film in 1930), this award-winning German-language movie tells the story of a young German soldier (Felix Kammerer) whose naive expectations of fighting for his country are shattered by war’s harrowing reality. As you'd expect, All Quiet on the Western Front is brutal, vivid and poignant – just don’t expect to reach its credits feeling particularly joyous.

Beasts of No Nation

Age rating: TV-MA Runtime: 137 minutes Main cast: Idris Elba, Abraham Atta, and Kurt Egyiawan Director: Cary Fukunaga RT score : 91%

We won't beat about the bush – Beasts of No Nation is a tough watch. No Time to Die 's Cary Fukunaga directs this harrowing feature, which follows the journey of a young orphan (Abraham Attah) forced into becoming a child soldier by a fierce warlord (Idris Elba) during an unnamed African civil war. 

An adaptation of Uzodinma Iweala's novel of the same name, Beasts of No Nation is a masterfully-shot story documenting the human cost of conflict, and places the uncomfortable realities of war front and centre. This isn't one to watch with the kids, but sitting through its two-hour narrative is an enlightening, dare-we-say necessary movie experience.  

Best western movies on Netflix

The harder they fall.

Age rating: R Runtime: 139 minutes Main cast: Idris Elba, Jonathan Majors, Zazie Beetz, Delroy Lindo, and LaKeith Stanfield Director: Jeymes Samuel RT score: 88% 

Jeymes Samuel's feature film directorial debut wasn't expected to be this good. But The Harder They Fall , which stars the likes of Idris Elba, Zazie Beetz, and Regina King, is a superb Western that deserves your attention.

Jonathan Majors, who was recently found guilty of domestic abuse and whose career is effectively over as a result, plays Nat Love, an outlaw who discover his mortal enemy Rufus Black (Elba) is being released from prison. Unsurprisingly, Love takes the law into his own hands and assembles his crack team of gunslingers to stop that from happening. 

A stylized, gun-toting action flick that's somewhat predictable in its makeup, The Harder They Fall will have you whooping and hollering at the screen regularly.

The Power of the Dog

Age rating: R Runtime: 128 minutes Main cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kristen Dunst, Jesse Plemons, and Kodi Smit-McPhee Director: Jane Campion RT score: 94%

It’s safe to say that Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog was the critical hit – and one of the best Netflix movies – of 2021. Widely praised for its slow-burning psychological drama, it follows the story of a menacing rancher (Benedict Cumberbatch) who doesn’t take kindly to the arrival of his brother’s new wife (Kirsten Dunst) and her son (Kodi Smit-McPhee).

Cumberbatch arguably gives a career-best performance as the volatile Phil Burbank here, which undoubtedly made interesting prep for Doctor Strange 2 . It's a slow-burner, but The Power of the Dog is a masterful piece of filmmaking.

For more Netflix coverage, read our best Netflix documentaries guide. Yet to subscribe to the streaming giant? Read our guide on how to sign up to Netflix , too, or whether you should cancel Netflix .

As TechRadar's senior entertainment reporter, Tom covers all of the latest movies, TV shows, and streaming service news that you need to know about. You'll regularly find him writing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, and many other topics of interest.

An NCTJ-accredited journalist, Tom also writes reviews, analytical articles, opinion pieces, and interview-led features on the biggest franchises, actors, directors and other industry leaders. You may see his quotes pop up in the odd official Marvel Studios video, too, such as this Moon Knight TV spot .

Away from work, Tom can be found checking out the latest video games, immersing himself in his favorite sporting pastime of football, reading the many unread books on his shelf, staying fit at the gym, and petting every dog he comes across. Got a scoop, interesting story, or an intriguing angle on the latest news in entertainment? Feel free to drop him a line.

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The 30 Best Movies on Netflix Right Now

Netflix Movies by Category

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 what to watch when they fire up their Netflix? Start here! We’ve gone through the many films available on the platform and pared down the selection to 30 must-see titles, including acclaimed dramas , action films , comedies , horror flicks , and even stuff for the whole family , with Netflix Originals peppered in throughout, alongside its licensed films. No algorithm nonsense here: Our picks represent the personal favorites of seasoned movie critics, and they’re updated every week and month to include or remove films that join or depart from the streaming service. This list represents the best of Netflix’s movie offerings, and it starts with a new rotating critic’s pick of the week.

This Week’s Critic’s Pick

*sleepless in seattle.

Year: 1993 Runtime: 1h 45m Director: Nora Ephron

We could all use a little romance every now and then and movies don’t get much sweeter than this 1993 blockbuster that made Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan one of the most beloved movie couples of all time. Nora Ephron directs this story of a widower who moves to Seattle and tries to raise his 8-year-old son, and the Baltimore woman who hears his tragic tale and falls in love. Hopelessly romantic, it’s the kind of movie they don’t make that much anymore.

How We Pick Our Films

Critic Brian Tallerico watches and writes about movies and TV every day. To curate this list, he dives into Netflix’s catalogue to surface acclaimed, surprising, or otherwise noteworthy titles — using his taste and a lifetime of cinema study as his guide, instead of whatever the algorithm happens to be pushing. After triple-checking to make sure they’re still available, he watches each, organizes them by category, then writes his recommendation. We highlight more than just Oscar winners or popcorn flicks: These films present interesting ideas, made an impact on cinema, and changed our culture. Read on to find something to watch.

*Born on the Fourth of July

Year: 1989 Runtime: 2h 24m Director: Oliver Stone

In 1986, Oliver Stone tackled what it was like to be in country in his personal Platoon , and only three years later he followed up with a story about what it was like to come home from Vietnam in the story of Ron Kovacs. Tom Cruise does arguably the best work of his career in this powerful deconstruction of patriotism and examination of the human cost of war. It’s even better than you remember.

Devil in a Blue Dress

Year: 1995 Runtime: 1h 41m Director: Carl Franklin

Carl Franklin wrote and directed one of the most underrated Denzel Washington performances of all time in this 1995 adaptation of the novel of the same name by Walter Mosley. Washington plays Easy Rawlins, a World War II vet in 1948 who gets drawn into a mystery that classic noir filmmakers would have adored. Charming and riveting, the only crime here is that there wasn’t a whole franchise of films with Washington playing Easy.

Glengarry Glen Ross

Year: 1992 Runtime: 1h 40m Director: James Foley

For a long time, it felt like David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1984 masterpiece was unfilmable, but Foley, working with the playwright as screenwriter, figured it out, assembling one of the best ensembles of the ‘90s to do so. Alec Baldwin notoriously steals his one scene, but the entire cast here is a stunner, especially Al Pacino (who was Oscar-nominated), Alan Arkin, and Jack Lemmon.

*Inside Man

Year: 2006 Runtime: 2h 8m Director: Spike Lee

Yes, Spike Lee once made a great action movie. The director of Do the Right Thing and Da 5 Bloods put his spin on the heist film with this great 2006 Denzel Washington vehicle. The regular collaborator plays an NYPD hostage negotiator, called in when a bank heist goes down on Wall Street. Tight and effective, this is just further evidence that Spike Lee can nail any kind of movie he chooses to make. This might be Lee’s most underrated movie. It hums.

L.A. Confidential

Year: 1997 Runtime: 2h 17m Director: Curtis Hanson

Curtis Hanson directed this adaptation of James Ellroy’s epic crime novel of 1950s Los Angeles. Starring Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe, Kevin Spacey, and Kim Basinger, it’s a perfect thriller and one of the best movies of the ‘90s. So many films since this one have tried to mimic the tough-talking thrills of it and fallen completely flat. It’s harder than it looks to be this cool.

Year:  2011 Runtime:  2h 13m Director:  Bennett Miller

One of the best baseball movies ever made was adapted from the 2003 book by Michael Lewis, which recounts the management of the 2002 season of the Oakland Athletics, and how they changed the way the game is run by bringing analytics into the mix. Brad Pitt gives one of his best performances as general manager Billy Beane, a man who knew he would have to find a new way to evaluate talent if the A’s were going to compete. This is a rich, smart, riveting movie that’s extra-interesting given what the Oakland franchise is going through in 2024.

May December

Year: 2023 Runtime: 1h 57m Director: Todd Haynes

Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman star in the latest from Carol and Far from Heaven director Todd Haynes, a stunning character study of an actress who discovers that some people are impossible to figure out. Portman plays a star who tries to get under the skin of Moore’s character, a woman who raped a child when she was a teacher, and later married that young man. Charles Melton is phenomenal as the now-grown victim, stuck in perpetual adolescence.

Year: 2020 Runtime: 1h 47m Director: Sean Durkin

A victim of the pandemic, this was one of the best films of 2020. Carrie Coon and Jude Law star as a married couple with two kids who move from New York City to London in the 1980s and watch as the divides in their union start to widen. A great character study amplified by Durkin’s sharp visual language, this is a fantastic domestic drama, and the best movie on this list that you probably haven’t seen.

Year:  2021 Runtime:  1h 36m Director:  Lauren Hadaway

Isabelle Fuhrman is stunning in this drama about a young woman who becomes obsessed with her performance on the university rowing team. Sort of a variation on the committed intensity seen in  Whiplash , it’s a drama that plays almost like a thriller, and it earned five Independent Spirit nominations, including Best Film and Best Director. Don’t miss this one.

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.

Year: 2014 Runtime: 1h 46m Director: Damien Chazelle

Chazelle may still be startled by the divisive response to last year’s Babylon, but he can go back to the near-universal praise for the film that really broke him, earning one of its stars an Oscar and getting a nomination for Best Picture. Damien Chazelle’s drama about a perfectionist drummer and his militaristic teacher thrilled viewers from the minute it premiered at Sundance. It was a major piece of pop culture, a film that feels like it’s being referenced more every year.

*Wild Things

Year: 1998 Runtime: 1h 48m Director: John McNaughton

A classic of the B-movie sleazy thriller era, this is actually a deeply underrated movie, a flick that works from old-fashioned noir and even Greek tragedy to tell the tale of two teenagers (Neve Campbell, Denise Richard) who get caught up in a scheme with a slimy teacher played perfectly by Matt Dillon. It’s remembered most for its sex factor, but this is a clever flick, a movie that plays with class and privilege in fascinating ways.

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Year: 2022 Runtime: 2h 19m Directors: The Daniels

After a brief stint on Amazon Prime, this is the first Netflix drop for the 2023 Best Picture winner, a movie that defies categorization as it tells a story of alternate realities and butt plugs. A film that debuted at SXSW, this daring piece of work built an audience through 2022 until it won multiple Oscars, including Best Picture and Director. It’s like nothing else. Anywhere.

*Baby Driver

Year: 2017 Runtime: 1h 53m Director: Edgar Wright

It’s a little harder to watch this movie now given the allegations against some of its cast members , but it’s still a remarkably well-made piece of action filmmaking, the kinetically unforgettable story of a getaway driver who knows all the best tunes. Ansel Elgort, Jamie Foxx, and Lily James may be the stars of this movie, but it’s Wright’s showmanship that really steals the spotlight.

Year: 2003 Runtime: 1h 50m Director: Quentin Tarantino

We will still have to wait for the long-promised full cut of the two Kill Bill films into one epic movie (and the long-rumored third volume of this tale), but that shouldn’t stop you from revisiting two of Quentin Tarantino’s best films — both volumes are on Netflix now. In a catalog that includes a lot of great performances (and a few Oscar winners), one of QT’s best is Uma Thurman as The Bride, a legendary action character seeking vengeance on the man who betrayed her.

Jurassic Park

Year: 1993 Runtime: 2h 6m Director: Steven Spielberg

An instant classic when it was released in 1993, Steven Spielberg’s dinosaur blockbuster spawned a franchise that’s still humming almost three decades later with the 2022 release of the wildly successful Dominion . The first three films in the series, including Spielberg’s sequel The Lost World , are on Netflix right now, alongside the pretty fun Camp Cretaceous.

*The Matrix

Year: 1999 Runtime: 2h 16m Director: The Wachowskis

Neo and the gang returned to HBO Max in late 2021 with The Matrix Resurrections , and the response was predictably divisive. You know what’s not divisive? The fact that the first movie still absolutely rules. The story of an average guy who learns that nothing is what it seems has influenced so much pop culture in the over-two decades since this movie was released. You can see Neo everywhere. (And you can watch the entire original trilogy on Netflix now.)

Year: 2003 Runtime: 2h Director: Park Chan-wook

It’s hard to explain to people how this movie moved through the film-loving world before Film Twitter was a thing. Recently restored for its 20th anniversary, Oldboy has now been dropped on Netflix again, and it’s lost none of its searing power. It’s the tale of a man who is kidnapped, and its genius is that it’s not a whodunit as much as a whydunit, forcing viewers and protagonists to wonder about a truly grisly motive until the final unforgettable act.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Year:  2023 Runtime:  2h 20m Director:  Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson

What a gift to Netflix subscribers for this to already be on the service, mere weeks after playing in theaters and landing on Blu-ray. This is how you do a big-budget blockbuster sequel, developing the themes of the first movie and setting up the stake for what now appears will be one of the best trilogies in superhero history. Packed with so much detail and creativity, it’s a film Netflix subscribers will want to watch over and over again. Do so while you still can.

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.

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.

Pineapple Express

Year: 2008 Runtime: 1h 52m Director: David Gordon Green

Seth Rogen gives one of his best performances as Dale Denton, an average guy who just wants to get high. He visits his dealer (played perfectly by James Franco) on the wrong night as the pair cross paths with hitmen and a police officer on the wrong side of the law. This is an incredibly funny movie, and you don’t need to be high to love it.

School of Rock

Year: 2003 Runtime: 1h 49m Director: Richard Linklater

Richard Linklater directed Jack Black to the best comedy of his career in this movie about a guitarist who becomes a substitute teacher at a prep school and teaches the stuck-up kids there how to rock. It’s a smart, funny family comedy with a huge heart and one of Black’s most truly wonderful performances.

Step Brothers

Year: 2008 Runtime: 1h 37m Director: Adam McKay

The pinnacle of Will Ferrell and Adam McKay’s comedy career remains this modern classic, a movie that’s as rewatchable as anything you could possibly find on any streaming service. One of the reasons for that is the fearless joy with which Ferrell and John C. Reilly literally throw themselves into the roles of stepbrothers who start as enemies and end as family.

The Babadook

Year:  2014 Runtime:  1h 33m Director:  Jennifer Kent

One of the best horror films of the 2010s has not been widely available for streaming subscribers so take the chance to watch it again while it’s on Netflix. Jennifer Kent’s directorial debut centers on a mother (Essie Davis) who struggles to raise her problem child alone after the death of her husband. Oh, and there’s also a real monster in the boy’s room.

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: 2016 Runtime: 1h 57m Director: M. Night Shyamalan

James McAvoy gives the best performance of his career in what’s widely considered M. Night Shyamalan’s comeback film. He plays a kidnapper who happens to have many personalities, and the most dangerous one of all is on its way. The script kind of falls apart, but this is an impressive performance platform for McAvoy, who gives it his all, and then some.

For Kids & Family

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

Year: 2022 Runtime: 1h 56m Director: Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson

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.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Year: 2023 Runtime: 1h 42m Director: Joel Crawford

No one would have predicted that the presumed-dead Shrek franchise had another spin-off sequel of this caliber yet to be released, but December 2022 saw the critical and commercial success of arguably the best film in the entire series. Using a style more reminiscent of Into the Spider-verse than typical DreamWorks, The Last Wish is a gorgeous and surprisingly moving story of the title character dealing with something he never expected to face: mortality. It’s funny, clever, and memorable.

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 50 best movies on Netflix right now (April 2024)

Sometimes, the most popular movies on Netflix are not the best movies on the streamer. Case in point: M. Night Shyamalan’s Glass is currently at No. 3, and that film somehow pulled off the unique feat of retroactively making Shyamalan’s previous movies in his superhero franchise, Unbreakable and Split , a lot less fun.

That’s why we’re specifically putting the spotlight on a terrific movie, Amadeus , as it celebrates its 40th anniversary this year by streaming on Netflix. We’re also featuring The Bricklayer , an action thriller that will probably be on top of Netflix’s movie charts by the end of the weekend. This film barely registered at the box office, but that’s never stopped the Netflix effect before.

Keep reading our complete list of the best movies on Netflix right now. If you’re looking for something for everyone, then you’ll find it here.

• The best shows on Disney+ right now (April 2024)
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• The best LGBTQ movies on Amazon Prime Video 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+ . For Netflix fans, check out the 10 most popular movies on Netflix right now .

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 .

Editor’s Pick

The bricklayer (2023) new.

You may be surprised to see Aaron Eckhart in the leading role in The Bricklayer , since the character is the kind of guy who is usually played by action movie star Jason Statham . Vail (Eckart) is just your standard jazz-loving bricklayer — who was formerly a top assassin and operative for the CIA. In the world of action thrillers, that’s a perfectly acceptable career path.

Vail’s retirement comes to an abrupt end when his former friend and asset, Victor Radek (Clifton Collins Jr.), resurfaces as the No. 1 suspect in a case where the CIA’s harshest detractors are being murdered. Because the CIA believes that Radek is attempting to frame the organization for his crimes, Vail and a junior agent named Kate (Nina Dobrev) are sent to find him. However, Vail does his best work alone and he’s got to uncover Radek’s secrets for himself.

Amadeus (1984) new

Did the real Antonio Salieri plot to kill Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the 18th century? Probably not, but it makes for a great story in Amadeus , 1984’s Oscar winner for Best Picture. F. Murray Abraham and Tom Hulce were both nominated for Best Actor for their respective roles as Salieri and Mozart, but it was Abraham who took home the Academy Award for his portrayal.

Most of the movie takes place from Salieri’s perspective, as he idolizes Mozart right up until he meets Amadeus and discovers that he’s young and brash with an over-the-top personality that Salieri immediately despises. Salieri recognizes that Mozart’s talent far exceeds his own, so he embarks on a plot to kill his unsuspecting rival and steal Amadeus’ glory for himself.

Other Netflix Movies

The little things (2021) new.

Obsession is the name of the game in The Little Things , which casts Denzel Washington as Joe “Deke” Deacon, a former detective with the Los Angeles police department. Deacon lost everything he had, including his marriage and his career, to his relentless pursuit of a serial killer whom he was never able to catch. When the killer seemingly reemerges, Deacon reinserts himself into the case alongside Detective Jim Baxter (Rami Malek).

Albert Sparma (former Joker Jared Leto) quickly emerges as the top suspect in the case, but he proves to be extremely slippery while taunting Deacon and Baxter. This forces the duo to question how far they’re willing to go to bring Sparma down, and what it will cost them if they step over the line.

Baby Driver (2017) new

Don’t let the name Baby Driver fool you into thinking that this is some kid’s flick. Edgar Wright’s action comedy can be downright brutal at times, but it never loses its sense of humor. Ansel Elgort plays the title character, whose real name is Miles. But he’s known professionally as Baby, and he’s an incredible getaway driver who is forced to work for Doc (Kevin Spacey).

After Baby seemingly escapes his servitude to Doc, he simply wants to start a new life with his girlfriend, Debora (Lily James). However, Doc won’t let Baby go that easily, and he forces him to take part in one last heist alongside Buddy (Jon Hamm), Darling (Eiza González), and Bats (Jamie Foxx). This crew is far more dangerous than Baby realizes, and he’ll have to think fast if he wants to get out alive.

The Wages of Fear (2024) new

In 1953, Georges Arnaud’s The Wages of Fear  was brought to the big screen by director Henri-Georges Clouzot who turned it into arguably one of the greatest action thrillers ever made. Director Julien Leclercq has a lot to live up to with the modern remake, which is a Netflix exclusive.

The names and faces may be different, but the story remains largely unchanged from the original. An oil fire is out of control, and the only way to put it out and save lives is with controlled explosions using nitroglycerin. Franck Gastambide, Alban Lenoir, Ana Girardot, and Sofiane Zermani play a group of disparate and desperate individuals who agree to transport the nitroglycerin across hundreds of miles of dangerous terrain. At the end of their journey is a payday that could change their lives forever, assuming they live long enough to get paid.

The Accountant (2016) new

Ben Affleck stars as Christian Wolff in The Accountant , but he’s not the kind of guy who can advertise his true services on the side of a bus. Christian may be autistic and a trained killer, but his true value to the criminal underworld is his ability to uncook the books and discover when someone is embezzling money from an employer who can’t call the cops.

After Dana Cummings (Anna Kendrick) uncovers some suspicious activities in the accounts of her employer, Living Robotics, she finds herself working alongside Christian to discover how much money is missing and who took it. Christian doesn’t take long to pinpoint the amount that’s gone missing, but someone is willing to kill both him and Dana to keep the truth from coming out. What they don’t realize is that Christian is more than capable of answering those threats with lethal force.

Irish Wish (2024)

Maddie Kelly (Lindsay Lohan) makes a wish out of loneliness and heartbreak, she just didn’t expect it to come true. Irish Wish begins just as Maddie hopes to start a relationship with her crush, Paul Kennedy (Alexander Vlahos). But much to Maddie’s disappointment, Paul only has eyes for her best friend, Emma Taylor (Elizabeth Tan).

As Paul and Emma prepare to get married in Ireland, Maddie’s wish suddenly places her in Emma’s shoes as the new bride-to-be. And Maddie’s in for a rude awakening when she realizes how little she actually knows about Paul. Maddie also discovers that she may have more in common with the wedding photographer, James Thomas (Ed Speleers), than she does with her new fiancé.

Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)

The Acolyte ’s Amandla Stenberg co-headlines Bodies Bodies Bodies as Sophie, the girlfriend of Bee (Maria Bakalova). The couple attends a “hurricane party” at a mansion during a massive storm, where the group indulges in drugs and alcohol while playing games in the dark. The titular game is about finding a fake killer during a murder mystery.

Unfortunately for Bee, someone has actually killed David (Pete Davidson), and suspicion immediately falls on her since she isn’t part of this circle of rich friends. One dead body soon leads to a lot more, as even Bee and Sophie have reasons to doubt each other’s motives. By the time this storm is over, there may not be anybody left to go home.

Your Lucky Day (2023)

Winning the lottery should be one the best days in anyone’s life. But in Your Lucky Day , Sterling (Angus Cloud) didn’t actually win. He killed someone to get his hands on the winning ticket, and he left witnesses: Amir (Mousa Hussein Kraish), Abraham (Elliot Knight), and his girlfriend, Ana-Marlene (Jessica Garza).

Not even Sterling can kill that many people in cold blood, which is why he tries to bargain with them. He’ll share some of the money from the ticket if they help him hide his crime. This plan has multiple problems, but Sterling’s hostages and would-be accomplices simply can’t deter him from this course of action. He’s going to get this lottery money if it’s the last thing he does — and it might be.

Damsel (2024)

In Damsel , life’s a fairytale for Princess Elodie (Millie Bobby Brown), a young woman who lives with her father, Lord Bayford (Ray Winstone), and her stepmother, Lady Bayford (Angela Bassett). Elodie doesn’t know much about the way of the world, but she’s smitten with Prince Henry (Nick Robinson), and quickly agrees to marry him.

Elodie doesn’t realize that Henry’s mother, Queen Isabelle (Robin Wright), only agreed to the union because her family can sacrifice Elodie’s life to an actual dragon to satisfy a debt. Now, Elodie can’t count on some handsome prince to save her. So she’ll just have to save herself.

Spaceman (2024)

Adam Sandler has a rare dramatic turn in Spaceman , a sci-fi drama that casts him as a Czech astronaut named Jakub Procházka. Jakub is on a very long mission in the solar system and suffers from extreme loneliness. Back on Earth, Jakub’s wife, Lenka Procházka (Carey Mulligan), wants to leave him, but the mission controllers refuse to let her break up with him via transmission over fears that it could affect his mental state.

Perhaps it’s too late to save Jakub’s sanity, because he’s already conversing with an alien spider that he calls Hanuš (Paul Dano). It seems like Hanuš has a greater grasp on Jakub’s problem than he does, and Hanuš isn’t above emotionally torturing Jakub with some painful memories to get what he wants. And there may not be a happy ending on this mission for either Jakub or Hanuš.

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

Until this year’s Oscar ceremony crowns a new winner, Everything Everywhere All At Once  is the reigning Best Picture from the Academy Awards. Outside of some Marvel and DC movies, no other film has so effectively used the multiverse as a storytelling device as this one did.

Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, and Jamie Lee Curtis all won Oscars for their performances in this movie, but it’s Yeoh’s Evelyn Quan Wang who serves as the film’s main character. Evelyn is about as far from heroic as it gets, and her relationship with her husband, Waymond Wang (Quan), and their daughter, Joy Wang (Stephanie Hsu), is incredibly strained. Regardless, poor and ordinary Evelyn is the only hope that the multiverse has to prevent a disaster. And she’ll have to step up or else the entire multiverse will collapse.

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (2023)

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken was a huge bomb in theaters, but it has found more popularity on Netflix than anyone could have predicted. Lana Condor provides the voice of Ruby Gillman, a 16-year old girl who has no idea that she’s secretly heir to the kraken throne held by her grandmother, Grandmamah (Jane Fonda).

Ruby’s mother, Agatha Gillman ( A24 horror movie queen Toni Collette), tried to keep the truth from her, but once Ruby went into the ocean to save her would-be love interest, Connor (Jaboukie Young-White), she began to physically change. The one upside of Ruby’s new normal is that she’s befriended a mermaid, Chelsea Van Der Zee (Annie Murphy), despite mermaids and krakens being mortal enemies. However, Chelsea has a secret of her own that may rock Ruby to her core.

Thanksgiving (2023)

Sixteen years after creating a fake Thanksgiving  trailer for Grindhouse , Eli Roth turned it into a real movie with all the elements of the holiday. It might be the best Thanksgiving horror film ever made, largely by default, since the rest are pretty bad. The story begins with a Black Friday rampage that goes horribly wrong and leaves several people dead.

One year later, someone is going around town dressed as one of the original Pilgrims, John Carver, and carving up people who were there on that fateful Black Friday. Whoever is under that mask is apparently out to kill as many people as possible, and even the cops seem powerless to stop the murders.

Ready Player One (2018)

We live in the age of nostalgia, but Ready Player One takes that to the next level. In Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Ernest Cline’s hit novel, the middle of the 21st century is such a hellhole that nearly everyone has retreated to the virtual world known as OASIS, where they can enjoy every bit of pop culture from the last century or more.

Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) is one of the best OASIS players in the world, and so is his new ally and crush, Art3mis (Olivia Cooke). But they aren’t the only ones vying for the ultimate prize that OASIS creator James Halliday (Mark Rylance) left behind. Whoever solves Halliday’s puzzle wins the OASIS itself, and IOI executive Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn) is willing to kill to ensure that his company walks away with everything.

Orion and the Dark (2024)

Almost everyone is afraid of the dark when they’re a kid. The problem with Orion (Jacob Tremblay) is that he’s scared of everything, not just the dark. The animated adventure, Orion and the Dark , gives Orion a chance to conquer his fears alongside an unexpected companion: The living embodiment of Dark (Paul Walter Hauser).

Rather than let this kid lose years of his life to a laundry list of fears, Dark takes Orion out for a wild night to prove that he doesn’t have to be defined by the things that he’s afraid about. It’s a gesture of friendship from Dark, but can Orion finally let go of his phobias and embrace life?

X was one of 2022’s most acclaimed horror films , and it had a star-making turn by Mia Goth in the dual role of a young woman named Maxine and an elderly woman named Pearl. In the film, Maxine and boyfriend, Wayne Gilroy (Martin Henderson), attempt to make an adult film alongside their friends Lorraine Day (Jenna Ortega), Bobby-Lynne Parker (Brittany Snow), Jackson Hole (Scott Mescudi), and RJ Nichols (Owen Campbell).

However, the group didn’t clear their X-rated intentions with Howard (Stephen Ure) and his wife, Pearl. And they certainly didn’t expect Pearl to become amorous over their activities. But when the group rejects Pearl’s propositions, she makes sure that the young men and women suffer the consequences during her bloody rampage.

Dumb Money (2023)

The infamous GameStop short squeeze was dramatized for the big screen in Dumb Money . Paul Dano headlines the cast as Keith Gill, an armchair investor who notices that hedge funds and other big market players are betting that the video game retailer GameStop will go under. Instead of letting that happen, Gill and others like him drive up GameStop’s stock to unsustainable highs and cause the professional investors to lose millions.

There’s no shortage of stars in this cast, which includes Pete Davidson, Vincent D’Onofrio, America Ferrera, Myha’la Herrold, Nick Offerman, Anthony Ramos, Seth Rogen, Talia Ryder, Sebastian Stan, and Shailene Woodley. There are also plenty of shattered dreams, as many of the amateur investors lose everything they put into the GameStop stocks.

Society of the Snow (2023)

Netflix’s Society of the Snow is a Spanish thriller by Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom director J. A. Bayona. This film is not the first to tell the story of the survivors of 1972 Uruguayan plane crash, which was most notably the subject of the American film Alive in 1993.

However, Bayona’s movie goes to far greater lengths to be authentic than the previous adaptations, including bringing production to the actual site of the crash and utilizing the real accounts of the survivors. Most of the cast members are also newcomers, which works in the film’s favor because it keeps the audience in suspense about who will live, and how far they will go to survive.

The Equalizer 3 (2023)

Denzel Washington spends so much time sitting down and sipping lattes in The Equalizer 3  that you may start to wonder if the actor himself is injured, and not just his character, Robert McCall. After nearly getting himself killed while recovering stolen funds, McCall slowly recovers in a small town on the coast of Italy. McCall also becomes close to the doctor who saved him, Enzo Arisio (Remo Girone), as well as the police officer who brought him to safety, Gio Bonucci (Eugenio Mastrandrea).

As McCall grows to love the town and its people, he realizes that the Italian mafia is terrorizing his new friends. And if anyone’s going to be terrorizing bad guys in this franchise, it’s Robert McCall. If you’re evil, don’t make McCall stand up. His stuntman will kill you.

Gran Turismo (2023)

On the surface, the premise for Gran Turismo  sounds like pure wish fulfillment. It’s about a video game player who uses his Gran Turismo skills to become a pro racer. And yet it’s the mostly true story of Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe), a young man who successfully applied what he learned in the Gran Turismo video game to race tracks in reality.

Stranger Things ’ David Harbour co-stars as Jack Slater, the head trainer for GT Academy. Jack’s got his hands full trying to take gamers and make them into racers. And despite some initial setbacks, Jack becomes convinced that Jann has what it takes to make it on the pro circuit. From there, the real test of Jann’s talent begins.

Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire (2023)

Viewers may find that a lot of things in Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire are very familiar. It has laser swords like Star Wars, a galactic empire like Star Wars, rebel freedom fighters like Star Wars, and a plot straight out of Battle Beyond the Stars , The Magnificent Seven , and Seven Samurai .

None of those similarities will matter if you just want to watch a big-budget sci-fi movie from the comfort of your own home. On that front, director Zack Snyder has delivered exactly what he was supposed to. The story follows a group of warriors led by Kora (Sofia Boutella) as they make their stand against Motherworld and the Imperium on the remote world of Veldt. These rebels may be outgunned and outnumbered, but they’re eager to fight for their freedom.

Maestro (2023)

Composer Leonard Bernstein has been dead for 33 years, but he may prove to be an important figure in next year’s Oscar race. Netflix’s Maestro was written and directed by Bradley Cooper, who cast himself as Bernstein opposite Carey Mulligan as his wife, Felicia Montealegre.

Before falling in love with Felicia, Bernstein was in an affair with David Oppenheim (Matt Bomer). However, Bernstein’s marriage with Felicia doesn’t mean that he plans to give up sleeping with other men. This places an incredible strain on their union, even though the love between Bernstein and Felicia is never in doubt.

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (2023)

Back in 2000, Chicken Run became a surprise hit with fans of all ages. So what if there was a mere twenty-three-year gap between films? It’s not like chickens can tell time! Although the extended period did leave some major roles to be recast, including Zachary Levi and Thandiwe Newton taking over as Rocky and Ginger from Mel Gibson and Julia Sawalha from the original.

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget takes place not too long after the first film, but long enough for Rocky and Ginger to have a daughter named Molly (as voiced by The Last of Us ’ Bella Ramsey). The chickens may have escaped from Mrs. Tweedy (Miranda Richardson), but she’s far from through with them. If Ginger wants to keep her family safe, she will have to lead a team to break into Tweedy’s compound and discover what she has in store for them.

May December (2023)

Decades ago, Gracie Atherton-Yoo (Julianne Moore) was sentenced to prison for seducing Joe Yoo (Charles Melton) when he was a child, before marrying him when she was released. In May December , Gracie and Joe believe they can repair the damage to their reputations because a movie is being made about their lives.

Elizabeth Berry (Natalie Portman), the actress hired to portray Gracie, has other ideas. She’s less interested in redeeming the Yoos than in completely immersing herself in their lives to get a better performance. And Elizabeth is way too close to the subjects of this story.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

The Super Mario Bros. Movie  pulled off the Herculean feat of making audiences forget all about that live-action Super Mario Bros. film. Instead, Nintendo’s iconic characters, Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day), are right at home in this lavishly animated flick that updates their origin story and sets them on a path of adventure.

In the realm of the Mushroom Kingdom, Princess Peach ( Furiosa ‘s Anya Taylor-Joy) is preparing to defend her kingdom against Bowser (Jack Black), the king of the Koopas, who is weirdly infatuated with her. Peach doesn’t need Mario to rescue her, at least not a first. But Luigi could definitely use some help as he tries to survive as Bowser’s prisoner. And along the way, Mario can prove to himself that he has the heart of a hero.

For 74 years, the titular lizard of Leo has shared an enclosure with a turtle named Squirtle (Bill Burr) as the official pets of a fifth-grade classroom in Florida. However, Leo (Adam Sandler) comes to believe that he’s wasted his life in captivity, which is why he plots his escape.

When Leo makes his bid for freedom, he accidentally reveals his ability to speak to Summer (Sunny Sandler), one of the students in his classroom. Through Summer and the other students in the class, Leo discovers a new purpose in life while contending with mean substitute teacher Mrs. Malkin (Cecily Strong).

The Impossible (2012)

The Impossible is rising to the top on the Netflix movie chart, and not just because it’s the film debut of MCU Spider-Man actor Tom Holland. It’s also a harrowing tale of survival that is based on a true story. During the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Henry (Ewan McGregor) and Maria Bennett (Naomi Watts) are on vacation alongside their family when Thailand is struck by a massive wave.

In the aftermath, Maria is severely injured and left with her oldest son, Lucas (Holland), while Henry finds his two other sons in a separate location. With so many injured and dead, the Bennett family will need a few small miracles to make it through as the Thai people come together in the face of tragedy.

Minions (2015)

Before The Rise of Gru and Despicable Me , Minions chronicles the origins of the dim-witted yellow henchmen who live only to serve the most evil person alive. In 1968, that person was Scarlet Overkill (Sandra Bullock), the world’s first female supervillain.

The three primary Minions, Kevin, Stuart, and Bob (all three of whom are voiced by Pierre Coffin), are genuinely eager to please Scarlet and help her seize the throne of England. However, their incompetence and honest mistakes accidentally make Scarlet their nemesis even when they really want her to succeed.

The Killer (2023)

David Fincher’s latest thriller, The Killer , shows us that the life of a professional assassin, as played by Michael Fassbender, can be pretty mundane and boring … right up until he accidentally misses his target. From that point on, the assassin’s life is anything but boring. And suddenly, even his contact, Hodges (Charles Parnell), is ghosting him.

Not even fleeing the country is enough for the assassin to evade an international manhunt, as well as two rival assassins, The Expert (Tilda Swinton) and The Brute (Sala Baker), who have been hired to take him out.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

You could call Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse  “amazing, spectacular,” or “sensational” and it would still undersell just how terrific this movie is. Somehow, the team behind the Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse topped themselves with an even more thrilling sequel that reunites Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) and Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld).

Unfortunately for the would-be couple, it’s not a happy reunion. Gwen is keeping secrets from Miles while running from a difficult family situation at home. As for Miles himself, he’s inadvertently created a new nemesis: The Spot (Jason Schwartzman). Miles has also been targeted by Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac), the Spider-Man of the year 2099. And if Miles can’t get home to his own world, then his life will never be the same.

No Hard Feelings (2023)

No Hard Feelings was Jennifer Lawrence’s comeback movie after spending a few years away from the big screen. And she certainly makes a memorable impression as Maddie Barker, a woman who is on the verge of losing her home and her car over her money problems.

That’s why Maddie accepts a bizarre job from Laird (Matthew Broderick) and Allison Becker (Laura Benanti). If Maddie can seduce their son, Percy Becker (Andrew Barth Feldman), and bring him out of his shell before he goes off to college then she can save herself from her financial black hole. Unfortunately for Maddie, Percy may be undatable and he is nearly immune to her obvious charms.

Reptile (2023)

Benicio del Toro headlines Reptile , an intense crime thriller that never lets the audience get too comfortable with its main character, Detective Tom Nichols (del Toro). In the film, a young woman named Summer (Matilda Lutz) has been brutally murdered, and her body was discovered by her boyfriend, Will Grady (Justin Timberlake). And it seems like there are several men in Summer’s life who could have meant her harm, including Grady himself.

As he is drawn further into the investigation, Nichols shares some of the case details with his wife, Judy (Alicia Silverstone). But even Nichols’ relationship with Judy may not be what it seems as he is forced to reexamine his own life while looking for the answers that could bring a killer to justice.

Big George Foreman (2023)

During the 1990s, George Foreman shocked the boxing world by becoming the oldest world champion nearly two decades after he had lost the title. Big George Foreman finally gives the legendary boxer his due with a biopic that chronicles his life story, from living in poverty to Olympic gold and an unmatched career in the ring.

Khris Davis headlines the movie as George Foreman, and the story largely focuses on Foreman’s brush with death and his subsequent reinvention as a devout minister. But after 10 years out of the ring, Foreman begins an unlikely comeback that cemented his place in boxing history.

You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah (2023)

Adam Sandler produced and co-stars in the new Netflix comedy You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah . However, Sandler only has a supporting role as Danny Friedman, the father of Stacy Friedman (Sunny Sandler). Stacy and her BFF, Lydia Rodriguez Katz (Samantha Lorraine), are in the middle of planning their epic Bat Mitzvahs when someone comes between them.

The person in question is Andy Goldfarb (Dylan Hoffman), one of the most popular boys in school. Both Stacy and Lydia want to romantically pursue Andy, and it puts such a strain on their relationship that their friendship may not be able to survive. But is a high school crush really worth throwing away years of friendship?

They Cloned Tyrone (2023)

Netflix has no shortage of star power in its new sci-fi comedy, They Cloned Tyrone . John Boyega, WandaVision ‘s Teyonah Parris , and Jamie Foxx headline the ’70s-era Blaxploitation throwback, and they give this film its bite. Boyega plays Fontaine, a local crime enforcer who gets gunned down before the neighborhood pimp, Slick Charles (Foxx).

At least that’s what Slick Charles believes happened, but he’s clearly shaken when Tyrone (Boyega) reappears to take Fontaine’s place. With the help of Slick Charles and his top prostitute, Yo-Yo (Parris), this trio is going to unravel the truth about Tyrone or die trying. Although death is definitely not their preferred outcome.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is the second installment of this Shrek spinoff series, and it opens with the title hero facing the greatest crisis of his heroic career. Puss in Boots ( Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny ‘s Antonio Banderas) has been able to live fearlessly because of his nine lives. But once Puss is down to his last life, he suddenly finds himself gripped by insecurity and even fear.

The only recourse for Puss is to find a legendary wishing star to restore his lost lives, which reunites him with his ex-fiancée, Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek Pinault), who has her own wish to make. Unfortunately for them, they aren’t the only ones after the wishing star. And Puss will have to put his last life on the line before all is said and done.

The Mother (2023)

It might be a bit late in her career for Jennifer Lopez to jump back into action films, but if it worked for Liam Neeson, then it can work for J-Lo. The Mother  casts Lopez as an unnamed assassin with a particular set of skills, none of which are particularly useful when it comes to being a parent.

But when the Mother learns that the daughter she gave up, Zoe (Lucy Paez), is in danger from her enemies, she drops everything in an attempt to save her from an old foe, Adrian Lovell (Joseph Fiennes). And nothing Lovell puts in the Mother’s way can stop her for long.

Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (2022)

The story of Whitney Houston is both a triumph and a tragedy. The late singer rose from obscurity to become one of the most famous women in the world, only to die suddenly at 48 years old. Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody doesn’t attempt to sugarcoat Houston’s history, as it follows her meteoric rise and equally epic fall.

In the film, Whitney (Naomi Ackie) is supported by her friend-turned-lover Robyn Crawford (Nafessa Williams) before hitting the music industry like a tidal wave. As Whitney’s fame grows, she marries Bobby Brown (Ashton Sanders) and descends into drug addiction that threatens her career and even her life. And yet it’s impossible not to root for Whitney to pull herself out of that spiral.

The Magician's Elephant (2023)

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.

Munich: The Edge of War (2022)

The sea beast (2022), enola holmes (2020), roald dahl's matilda the musical (2022), the ballad of buster scruggs (2018), glass onion: a knives out mystery (2022), guillermo del toro's pinocchio (2022).

One of Hollywood most visionary filmmakers turns his attention to one of the most beloved tales in children’s literature in Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio , a stop-motion animated adaptation of Carlo Collodi’s 1883 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio . Featuring the voices of Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, and Gregory Mann, as Jiminy Cricket, Gepetto, and Pinocchio, respectively, the film chronicles the marionette Pinocchio’s quest to become a living boy — a journey that brings him through one adventure after another.

The star-filled voice cast also includes John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, Tim Blake Nelson, Christoph Waltz, and Tilda Swinton, among others. Some reviewers have named it one of the year’s best films, animated or otherwise.

Always Be My Maybe (2019)

Tick, tick...boom (2021).

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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Blair Marnell has been an entertainment journalist for over 15 years. His bylines have appeared in Wizard Magazine, Geek Monthly, SYFY Wire, Superhero Hype, Collider, DC Universe, and the official sites for Star Trek and Marvel. He also lends his pop culture expertise to Digital Trends on a variety of TV, movie, and streaming features.

Michael Bizzaco has been writing about and working with consumer tech for well over a decade, writing about everything from A/V components and smart home devices to encryption software, cloud backup platforms, search engine tools, and more. He has written for Digital Trends for over three years, covering entertainment content, A/V, and smart home devices.

Hulu doesn't have anything in April that can match the impact of adding Poor Things and Anatomy of a Fall last month. But we have no complaints when one of the Coen brothers' best films, The Big Lebowski, comes back to Hulu alongside the classic romantic drama,Legends of the Fall. More recent movies like The Wrestler and War for the Planet of the Apes are also on the top of our Hulu watch list for the month.

Keep reading for our complete rundown of the best movies on Hulu right now. There's something here from almost every film genre, and even more titles are waiting for you on Hulu.

Comedies are never out of favor at Netflix, even though some of our favorite comedy movies like Step Brothers, Dumb and Dumber, Fletch, Twins, and The Burbs are all leaving at the end of April. There aren't any modern comedies to replace them this month, but Netflix has added three films from the 1990s: Happy Gilmore, Beverly Hills Ninja, and Blue Streak. On top of those three, we're also taking a look back at the '80s comedy Repo Man.

It's too soon to say which films Netflix will add in May, but the rest of the best comedies on Netflix right now include a mix of classic and modern films, as well as a handful of Netflix originals that are just as funny as anything you would have seen in a theater.

Finding the best Black movies on Netflix right now is easier thanks to its Black Stories collection. But it's still a fairly extensive library, and it can feel difficult to narrow down your options to find a movie that suits your current mood. Don't worry, though, because we've already done the searching, updating this list monthly with the best of Black filmmaking on Netflix.

This month, a Netflix Original about pioneering politician Shirley Chisholm joins the list, as well as another great Civil Rights drama.

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The best movies on Netflix right now

Mary is EW.com's assistant features editor. She writes about movies, books, fashion, and the Real Housewives.

Here are EW's picks from Netflix 's current crop of flicks to help you program your next movie night, from the most beautiful to the most thrilling to the best literary adaptation. Happy streaming!

All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)

Nearly a century after Hollywood's 1930 adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque's heralded novel, German director Edward Berger adapted his own version that feels all the more brutal considering the capabilities of modern filmmaking techniques. The film centers on a young German soldier who is forced to confront the horrors of World War I, presented to us with visceral battle sequences and lifelike sound design. It's a difficult watch, but a needed reminder of how senseless war can be. — Kevin Jacobsen

Wins EW's award for: Best Antiwar Message

File under: World War I, Brothers in Arms, German Cinema, War Is Hell

EW grade: A– ( read the review )

Talent: Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch, Daniel Brühl

Related reading: The best World War II movies of all time

Da 5 Bloods (2020)

Spike Lee brings the experience of Black veterans to the screen in this epic war drama. Four Vietnam War veterans return to the country decades later to search for closure — as well as some buried treasure. Directed with propulsive energy and infused with dynamic performances, especially by Delroy Lindo in a true tour de force, the film is as urgent and raw as the best of Lee's oeuvre. The film also takes on added meaning due to the presence of Chadwick Boseman as their troop's fallen leader. — K.J.

Wins EW's award for: Most Urgent

File under: Vietnam War, Descent Into Madness, Oscar Snubs, Spike Lee Joints

Talent: Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors , Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis , Isiah Whitlock Jr. , Chadwick Boseman

Related reading: Spike Lee on Da 5 Bloods , Chadwick Boseman, and overdue awards buzz

Emily the Criminal (2022)

Aubrey Plaza stars as Emily, a college graduate who works as an independent food delivery contractor. Faced with insurmountable student loans, she turns to credit card fraud out of desperation and finds herself surprisingly good at the job. The independent film cleverly demonstrates the weight of capitalism, particularly on the millennial generation, and the lengths to which we'll go to survive. — K.J.

Wins EW's award for: Best Argument for Student Loan Relief

File under: Cautionary Tales, Money Is the Root of All Evil, Antiheroes, New Jersey Accents

EW grade: B+ ( read the review )

Talent: Aubrey Plaza, Theo Rossi , Megalyn Echikunwoke, Gina Gershon

Related reading: Aubrey Plaza on why her new thriller Emily the Criminal felt like pulling off a scam

Frances Ha (2013)

Before she was the acclaimed writer-director of Lady Bird (2017), Little Women (2019), and Barbie ( 2023), Greta Gerwig made her mark on cinema as a New York City dancer just trying to sort out her life in this indie favorite. Co-written by Gerwig and her partner, Noah Baumbach (who also directed), the film is an homage to the French New Wave, shot entirely in black and white and presented as a series of vignettes. The result is a portrait of life as a woman in modern-day NYC, with all of its ups and downs. — K.J .

Wins EW's award for: Best Coming-of-Age Story

File under: Mumblecore, Friendship Cinema, The Art of Dance

Talent: Greta Gerwig, Mickey Sumner, Adam Driver , Michael Zegen

Related reading: Frances Ha : Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach interview

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

Following up the success of 2019's Knives Out was a seemingly impossible task, but writer-director Rian Johnson proved with this installment that it was no fluke. Assembling another well-rounded cast that includes Edward Norton , Janelle Monáe , Dave Bautista , Kate Hudson , and Kathryn Hahn — in addition to the return of Daniel Craig 's master detective Benoit Blanc — Glass Onion proves to be a prescient satire of tech-billionaires and the friends they screw over on the way to the top. — K.J.

Wins EW's award for: Best Cameos

File under: Whodunnits, Eat the Rich, Pop Culture References, Pandemic, Art Crimes, Hot Sauce Gags

EW grade: B+

Talent: Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr. , Jessica Henwick , Madelyn Cline, Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista

Related reading: Why director Rian Johnson is 'pissed off' about the title of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022)

Guillermo del Toro has long specialized in creating fantastical worlds full of monsters and gothic imagery, with sincere messages about curious outsiders who feel like they don't belong in the world. This made him the perfect fit for an adaptation of the classic Pinocchio story, which he and co-director Mark Gustafson transposed to the time of World War II Italy. Designed with gorgeous stop-motion animation, the timeless tale of a wooden puppet who comes to life and explores a dark and dangerous world is achingly sincere and resonant in today's uncertain times. — K.J.

Wins EW's award for: Most Stunning Animation

File under: Stop-Motion Animation, World War II, Fascist Italy, Original Musical, Gothic Imagery, Mature Themes

EW grade: N/A

Talent: Ewan McGregor , David Bradley, Gregory Mann, Burn Gorman , Ron Perlman , John Turturro , Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett , Tim Blake Nelson , Christoph Waltz , Tilda Swinton

Related reading: Guillermo del Toro explains why his Pinocchio has so much fascism in it

Hail, Caesar! (2016)

If Hail, Caesar! seems like an excuse for actors to play dress-up against the backdrop of Old Hollywood, then at least we appreciate them putting on a damn good show. The Coen brothers ' mystery-comedy centers on a fixer ( Josh Brolin ) who must attend to a series of crises behind the scenes of a 1950s-era movie studio. While the overarching plot is compelling, the fun of Hail, Caesar! stems from its memorable set pieces, including a young actor ( Alden Ehrenreich ) who can't stop fumbling a line or a musical star's ( Channing Tatum ) homoerotic tap dancing number. — K.J.

Wins EW's award for: Best All-Star Cast

File under : Black Comedies, Old Hollywood Homages, Period Pieces, Tap Dancing

Talent: Josh Brolin, George Clooney , Alden Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes , Jonah Hill , Scarlett Johansson , Frances McDormand , Tilda Swinton, Channing Tatum

Related reading: Watch Josh Brolin rough up George Clooney in Hail, Caesar! clip

It Follows (2015)

This supernatural horror favorite made waves in 2015 for using its minimalist approach to maximum effect. The low-budget film tells the story of a woman who has a sexual encounter that leads to her being haunted by a supernatural being. Imbued with dread and enhanced by a synth-y John Carpenter -esque score, It Follows will follow you for days after watching. — K.J.

Wins EW's award for: Best Indie Horror

File under : Supernatural Beings, Psychological Horror, Symbolism, John Carpenter Homages

Talent: Maika Monroe , Keir Gilchrist , Olivia Luccardi, Lili Sepe, Daniel Zovatto, Jake Weary

Related reading: It Follows : The secrets behind the indie horror hit

La La Land (2016)

Damien Chazelle 's Technicolor ode to the fools who dream had the misfortune of being the only film to win and then lose the Oscar for Best Picture in the same night. Envelope-gate aside, losing that top award may have been the best thing for La La Land 's legacy, as it now gets to stand on its own as an earnest throwback to the movie musicals of old. Aided by Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling 's indelible chemistry, the film is earnest and bittersweet in all the best ways. — K.J.

Wins EW's award for: Best Pops of Color

File under : Original Musicals, Oscar Upsets, Traffic Jams, White Guys Saving Jazz

EW grade: A ( read the review )

Talent: Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, John Legend , J.K. Simmons , Rosemarie DeWitt , Finn Wittrock

Related reading: Ryan Gosling reunites with La La Land star Emma Stone to remind everyone how they 'saved jazz'

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

There are a lot of comedies available on Netflix: romantic comedies; raunchy comedies; basically-just-dramas-but-wanted-a-Golden-Globe comedies; and just fully bad comedies. The second Monty Python feature, however, which uproariously lampoons Arthurian legend, is — forgive us — the holy grail of the streamer's comedic selection. If you haven't seen it, well, your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries. — Mary Sollosi

Wins EW's award for: Most Absurd

File under: '70s Movies, Arthurian Lit, British Humor, Flesh Wounds, Knights Who Say 'Ni!'

Talent: Terry Gilliam , Terry Jones , John Cleese , Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Michael Palin

Related reading: Celebrate 50 years of Monty Python's Flying Circus with these 20 essential sketches

The Nice Guys (2016)

The same year Ryan Gosling turned in a Golden Globe-winning performance for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy for La La Land , he was even funnier in this neo-noir comedy about a private eye and an enforcer who come together to solve a missing persons case. Gosling and Russell Crowe make for a surprisingly fun pairing in this groovy homage to the '70s, which is practically begging for a sequel. — K.J.

Wins EW's award for: Best Buddy Comedy

File under : Unlikely Pairings, '70s Pastiches, Slapstick Comedies

EW grade: B ( read the review )

Talent: Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Angourie Rice , Matt Bomer , Margaret Qualley , Keith David , Kim Basinger

Related reading: Nice Guys director Shane Black explains his obsession with Christmas: 'It's just a thing of beauty'

Paddington (2014)

Based on the beloved Paddington Bear stories by Michael Bond, this 2014 film adaptation brought the anthropomorphic bear who hails from Darkest Peru and finds his way to London to the big screen. At a time when family-oriented films aim for the lowest common denominator, Paddington brings heart and wit, appealing to audience members of all ages. — K.J.

Wins EW's award for: Best Advertisement for Marmalade

File under : Very Good Bears, British Humor, Evil Nicole Kidman , Family Films

Talent: Ben Whishaw , Hugh Bonneville , Sally Hawkins , Julie Walters , Jim Broadbent , Peter Capaldi , Nicole Kidman

Related reading: It's true! Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky voiced Paddington in international release

The Power of the Dog (2021)

Acclaimed director Jane Campion returned to film after 13 years to helm this tense Western drama about a domineering rancher ( Benedict Cumberbatch ) who terrorizes his brother ( Jesse Plemons ), sister-in-law ( Kirsten Dunst ), and particularly her son, the sensitive Peter ( Kodi Smit-McPhee ). The film, for which Campion won the Oscar for Best Director, comments on masculinity and sexual repression against the backdrop of 1920s Montana, carefully laying the groundwork for a knockout ending. — K.J.

Wins EW's award for: Best Neo-Western

File under: Revisionist Westerns, Homoerotic Cinema, Toxic Masculinity, Menacing Banjo

Talent: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee

Related reading: What scared Benedict Cumberbatch about The Power of the Dog ? 'All of it'

Prisoners (2013)

Do the ends justify the means? This is just one of many questions posed by Denis Villeneuve 's 2013 thriller, which centers on a father ( Hugh Jackman ) whose young daughter is abducted, leading him to take matters into his own hands. The pensive drama unfolds like some of the best crime novels, with plenty of twists and turns to keep you invested through its two-and-a-half-hour runtime. — K.J.

Wins EW's award for: Best Thriller

File under: Crime Dramas, Vigilante Justice, Chilly Atmosphere

Talent: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal , Viola Davis , Maria Bello , Terrence Howard , Melissa Leo , Paul Dano

Related reading: Prisoners : Penning one of the year's most suspenseful thrillers

Roma (2018)

Netflix has proven itself to be a force to be reckoned with come Oscar season and its first original narrative feature to score a coveted statuette (for Best Cinematography, Best Foreign Language Film, and Best Director, though it unforgivably lost Best Picture to Green Book ) was Alfonso Cuarón 's deeply affecting chronicle of a live-in housekeeper to a Mexico City family, inspired by his own childhood. Marriage Story and The Irishman are extraordinary films from world-class directors, but Roma takes our crown as the streamer's greatest. — M.S.

Wins EW's award for: Best Netflix Original

File under: Mexican Cinema, Egregious Oscar Snubs, Found Families, Bad Boyfriends, Balancing on One Leg

Talent: Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira

Related reading: The biggest foreign film winners in Oscar history

RRR is one of the rare Indian films to crossover on a mainstream level, finding financial, critical, and awards success in the U.S. The epic action drama tells the fictionalized story of two real-life revolutionaries, Komaram Bheem (N.T. Rama Rao Jr.) and Alluri Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan), as they become friends despite unknowingly being on opposite sides of a major conflict. Bursting with energy and inventive action sequences that put Hollywood to shame, it's one of the most gripping three-hour films in years. — K.J.

Wins EW's award for: Most Movie

File under: Rise, Roar, Revolt; Tollywood Cinema, Action Epics, Killer Soundtracks, Dudes Rock

Talent: N.T. Rama Rao Jr., Ram Charan, Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt, Shriya Saran, Samuthirakani, Ray Stevenson , Alison Doody, Olivia Morris

Related reading: Russo brothers and RRR director S.S. Rajamouli on the 'universal language' of blowing stuff up

Sorry to Bother You (2018)

An absurdist dark comedy with trenchant social commentary, Boots Riley's directorial debut stars LaKeith Stanfield as a telemarketer who adopts a "white" vocal inflection when speaking on calls, which proves fruitful. His positive success rate comes to the attention of the higher-ups, who promote him to a better position, only to discover the horrors of what the company is up to behind closed doors. — K.J.

Wins EW's award for: Most Unique

File under: Social Satires, Magical Realism, Labor Unions, Horses

EW grade: A– ( read our review )

Talent: LaKeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson , Jermaine Flower, Omari Hardwick , Terry Crews , Patton Oswalt , David Cross , Danny Glover , Steven Yeun , Armie Hammer

Related reading: Sorry to Bother You director Boots Riley has some problems with BlacKkKlansman

The Woman King (2022)

Gina Prince-Bythewood 's electrifying epic about the real-life group of all-woman warriors who protected their West African kingdom in the 1800s was a huge audience favorite when it was released in summer 2022. Starring Viola Davis as the unit's leader, The Woman King 's strength lies in its message of sisterhood and bravery against seemingly insurmountable odds while providing genuine thrills on a semi-grand scale. — K.J.

Wins EW's award for: Biggest Crowdpleaser

File under: Strong Women Leads, Based on a True Story, Action Epics, Oscar Snubs

Talent: Viola Davis, Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch , Sheila Atim, John Boyega

Related reading: Viola Davis on embracing her warrior spirit for The Woman King

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What’s the best movie I can watch on Netflix? We’ve all asked ourselves this question , only to spend the next 15 minutes scrolling through the streaming service’s oddly specific genre menus and getting overwhelmed by the constantly shifting trend menus. Netflix’s huge catalog of movies continues to expand day by day, week by week, month by month. This makes the challenge of keeping up to date with best the service has to offer — let alone finding something the best of what to watch after a long day — a task that feels herculean at best and impossible at worst for someone not plugged into its inscrutable rhythms.

We’re here to help. For those suffering from choice paralysis in February, we’ve narrowed down your options to not only our favorite current movies on the platform, but the best movies Netflix has to offer.

If you’re looking for a specific genre, we’ve got the best action movies on Netflix , the best horror movies on Netflix , the best thrillers on Netflix , and the best comedy movies on Netflix ready for you. And for our readers across the pond, we have a list of the best movies on Netflix U.K.

We’ll be updating this list weekly as Netflix cycles movies in and out of its library, so be sure to check back next time you’re stuck in front of the app’s home screen. Our latest update added Warrior as our editor’s pick.

This week’s editor’s pick: Warrior

Director: Gavin O’Connor Cast: Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton, Frank Grillo

After being disappointed by the new Road House , I found myself thinking of the far superior modern MMA movie Warrior.

Quality sports dramas are a rare thing in Hollywood. In Warrior , two estranged brothers — one a former Marine and onetime wrestling prodigy (Tom Hardy), the other a former MMA pro turned high school physics teacher (Joel Edgerton) — compete in a massive MMA tournament, with more at stake than just the big cash prize. Gavin O’Connor’s heartfelt siblings-destined-to-collide story features terrific central performances, terrific MMA fight scenes (second unit director J.J. Perry is a modern action legend ), and a strong tournament narrative structure that holds the whole thing together.

Netflix now has two bangers called Warrior , after the canceled show inspired by Bruce Lee’s writing was recently added to the streaming service . Both are very much worth your time. — PV

How we pick the best movies on Netflix

Polygon’s staff consistently keeps up with new Netflix originals and titles added to the streaming platform, adding to this list with the best movies across both Netflix productions and library titles. We prioritize quality, unique artistic vision, and variety — different genres, different eras, different vibes, different filmmaking nations — to make sure every reader finds multiple options that interest them, as well as movies they may have never encountered before.

The best movies on Netflix

Director: John Hyams Cast: Jules Willcox, Marc Menchaca, Anthony Heald

A taut spine-chiller from John Hyams ( Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning) , Alone is your classic woman-on-the-run thriller. Jessica (Jules Willcox), a recent widow, is in the midst of moving. If that wasn’t enough stress, a creepy man (Marc Menchaca) appears to be following her on the road. After he slashes her tires, she crashes and wakes up in his basement. What follows is a tightly crafted thriller with great performances, outstanding direction, and enough tension to keep your heart pounding throughout the 98-minute running time. — PV

Director: Romain Gavras Cast: Dali Benssalah, Sami Slimane, Anthony Bajon

One of the very best movies of 2022, Athena is an intense action thriller about the uprising of a French banlieue after repeated police harassment and violence. Told through the eyes of three brothers with very different perspectives on the conflict and how it should be resolved, Athena is a powerful story. But where it really shines is in its technical acumen. Music video director Romain Gavras, making his feature debut, brings breathtaking tracking shots, intricately choreographed blocking, and an absolutely electric energy. I have qualms with the ending, but I’ll never forget the jaw-dropping experience of watching Gavras cook on this movie. Whatever he does next, I’m there. — PV

Director: Mati Diop Cast: Ibrahima Traoré, Mame Bineta Sane, Amadou Mbow

It’s hard to talk too much about Atlantics without giving away what makes the experience of watching it so special. It’s a beautiful, haunting love story with a tangibly beating heart, touching on romance as well as grief, class, labor, and the lingering effects of oppression. Shot gorgeously by director Mati Diop and cinematographer Claire Mathon, it was the first movie directed by a Black woman to be featured in competition in Cannes (it won the Grand Prix award, losing out on the Palme d’Or to Parasite ), and is one of the most remarkable feature film debuts for a director in recent memory. — PV

Director: Joe Dante Cast: Tom Hanks, Bruce Dern, Carrie Fisher

Suburban paranoia is as time-honored of an American tradition as baseball, apple pie, and redlining. In this 1989 horror comedy, Gremlins director Joe Dante taps into a wellspring of simmering communal tension and urban superstition and strikes gold. Tom Hanks stars as Ray Peterson, an overstressed homeowner trying to enjoy his weeklong vacation, if only everyone in the cul-de-sac of Mayfield Place would just leave him the hell alone. Unfortunately for him, the mysterious goings-on of his reclusive new neighbors have drawn the over imaginative ire of fellow suburbanites Art (Rick Ducommun) and Mark (Bruce Dern), who enlist Ray in a harebrained scheme to uncover what they’re absolutely certain is a murderous home-grown conspiracy.

Dana Olsen, the screenwriter for The ’Burbs, aptly summed up the film as “Ozzie and Harriet meet Charles Manson.” It’s a gleefully dark movie about a bunch of adults running around like grown-ass children, whipping themselves up into a frenzy with ever more outlandish theories while transforming into the very mirror image of their own tall tales. The script is fantastic, with memorable one-liners like “I’m gonna go do something productive; I’m gonna go watch television” delivered with an acerbic sense of wit by a cast of terrific actors who are all in on the joke. If you’re a fan of Joe Dante’s other films, like Small Soldiers, Innerspace, or, of course, Gremlins, you owe it to yourself to make the time to watch this bona fide cult classic. —Toussaint Egan

Director: Michael Mann Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Tang Wei, Viola Davis

A sleek and sexy thriller that makes hacking look extremely cool, Michael Mann’s unfairly maligned Blackhat stands tall as a high mark in digital filmmaking. It is peak Mann — if you’re not a fan of the Heat director’s work, your mileage may vary. In the film, Chen Dawai (Wang Leehom), a captain in the PLA’s cyber warfare unit, is tasked with getting to the bottom of a computer attack that melts down a nuclear power plant in Hong Kong. While liaising with the FBI investigation, Chen insists on the aid of his old friend Nicholas Hathaway (Chris Hemsworth, who has never been hotter or cooler), an imprisoned genius hacker. When Hathaway and Chen’s sister (Tang Wei), a networking engineer also helping with the case, fall for each other, it adds an extra wrinkle to an already high stakes situation. Viola Davis and Holt McCallany feature as FBI agents who aren’t super happy to have to rely on a notorious criminal.

With sharp digital cinematography and unforgettable set pieces, Blackhat explores our changing global relationship to technology. Mann makes tangible the microscopic computer systems that run the world: an extreme close-up of internal wires leading to a motherboard like a vast interconnected highway; a computer fan that sounds like a jet engine. Events that in other films would be shown as a boring stroke of keys are instead depicted as hypnotic processes happening under the surface of the visible world. — PV

The Conversation

Director: Francis Ford Coppola Cast: Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Harrison Ford

Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation is a paranoia-inducing murder thriller starring Gene Hackman as Harry Caul, a surveillance expert — one who does actual spying! — whose professional integrity and personal morality are put in direct opposition when he suspects that he has eavesdropped on a couple who he believe are going to be murdered. Drawn into a plot of veiled conspirators and unsavory violence, Harry must search for the truth behind what he has witnessed while staying alive. Over the journey, Coppola creates an aura of paranoia with each passing scene, and David Shire’s piano score is a mood. — TE

Devil in a Blue Dress

Director: Carl Franklin Cast: Denzel Washington, Jennifer Beals, Don Cheadle

This scintillating neo-noir captures Denzel Washington as he was ascending the mountain of movie stardom, all in a brilliant story of postwar racial tensions in Los Angeles, featuring some of the best cinematography of the 1990s.

Denzel is Easy Rawlins, a vet in between jobs just looking to make enough money to keep paying his mortgage. When he’s recruited by a seedy PI for what seems to be a simple job, Easy gets pulled into a tangled web of lies and deception that proves to be very difficult to break out of. With incredible supporting performances by Don Cheadle, Tom Sizemore, and Jennifer Beals, Devil in a Blue Dress is a gem of a mystery thriller that does the excellent original novel justice. — PV

Don’t Go Breaking My Heart

Directors: Johnnie To, Wai Ka-fai Cast: Louis Koo, Daniel Wu, Gao Yuanyuan

Johnnie To is one of our great modern directors, equally adept in hard-boiled triad crime dramas and light-hearted romantic comedies alike. 2011’s Don’t Go Breaking My Heart falls in the latter category, and is one of the many high marks of the Hong Kong director’s legendary career. Fresh off the end of a long-term relationship, Chi-yan (Gao Yuanyuan) is an analyst for an investment bank who finds herself in the middle of a love triangle. On one side, there’s Sean (Louis Koo), a CEO who works across the street from Chi-yan and yearns for her through the tall corporate glass windows that separate them. On the other, there’s Kevin (the always-dreamy Daniel Wu), an alcoholic former architect who helps Chi-yan move on and is inspired by her to start creating again. What follows is a sincere, funny, and truly charming romantic time. —PV

Director: S.S. Rajamouli Cast: Sudeepa, Nani, Samantha

Eega is a delightful slapstick romantic comedy from the director of RRR , about a fly and his human girlfriend conspiring to ruin a man’s life and then murder him for vengeance. If that doesn’t sound up your alley, I’m not sure what will.

Eega tells the story of a man who is murdered by a wealthy businessman. After being reincarnated as a fly, he makes it his mission to exact vengeance on the man who killed him. As a fly.

With groundbreaking visual effects that pushes digital filmmaking forward, Rajamouli injects a delightful energy and lighter tone into the genre of “dark revenge thriller,” with thrilling set pieces (stakes include “our hero gets stuck on a tennis ball being used in a cricket match” and “our hero causes a traffic jam by buzzing in the ears of a crossing guard”) and plenty of visual gags inspired by slapstick and screwball comedies alike. It’s all balanced by a compelling romance that sells you on the movie’s emotional stakes in the first half hour, culminating in an experience unlike any other. Rajamouli is just special. — PV

Emily the Criminal

Director: John Patton Ford Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Theo Rossi, Gina Gershon

One of the smartest movies about the gig economy and our modern money struggles, Emily the Criminal was criminally (ayyy) underappreciated when it came out in 2022. The movie follows a debt-ridden woman (Aubrey Plaza) who gets involved in a credit card scam to pay off her student loans. This pulls her in the orbit of charismatic ringleader Youcef (the reliably handsome Theo Rossi), and also deeper and deeper into the world of crime, as she looks for a way out of her difficult situation.

It’s a career-best performance from Plaza, who is as funny and dry as ever, but Emily the Criminal ’s script allows her to use her dramatic chops in ways we’ve rarely seen outside of White Lotus and Ingrid Goes West (and even those are primarily comedies with dramatic elements). Relentlessly paced, constantly tense, and always centered on the terrific leading performance at its core, Emily the Criminal is one of the best American films of the decade, and its potency will only grow as the problems it shines a light on continue to be exacerbated. — PV

Ghosts of Sugar Land

Director: Bassam Tariq

Director Bassam Tariq recently got replaced on Marvel’s upcoming Blade movie , and it’s as good a reason as any to catch up with his masterful 2019 short. Best known for the hip-hop drama Mogul Mowgli starring Riz Ahmed, Tariq’s previous movie is an enthralling documentary well worth the 21-minute running time.

Ghosts of Sugar Land is about a young group of friends in the suburbs of Texas, and what happens when one of them becomes radicalized by ISIS. A compelling portrait of an America we don’t often get to see depicted on screen, Tariq offers no easy answers, instead leaning on the shock and despair of the friends left behind, and on the dangers of isolation and loneliness in a country that often seems on the brink of collapse. A winner of multiple festival awards, including the 2019 Sundance Short Film Jury Award, Ghosts of Sugar Land is not to be missed. —PV

Director: Spike Lee Cast: Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster

Earlier this week, I stumbled across a group of random posts discussing Inside Man , Spike Lee’s 2006 heist movie starring Denzel Washington. Naturally, my interest was piqued: I hadn’t seen the movie in a while and I wanted to give it another shot to see if it stood the test of time. After settling in for a rewatch, I can say without a doubt that it most definitely does.

Washington plays Keith Frazier, a police detective under investigation for a scandal who is tasked with negotiating the release of hostages during an ongoing bank robbery. While matching wits with Dalton Russell (Clive Owen), the mastermind behind the heist, Frazier must also contend with Madeleine White (Jodie Foster), a Manhattan fixer hired by the bank’s founder to see that a safety deposit box containing a damning secret doesn’t come to light during the robbery. Sleekly shot and memorably edited, Inside Man is a puzzle-box heist thriller that excels at grabbing the audience’s attention during its opening minutes and never letting go. It’s a tour de force of acting and storytelling supported by an exceptional cast and enough shocking twists to keep viewers busy connecting all the dots even after the credits roll. —TE

Director: David Robert Mitchell Cast: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Olivia Luccardi

David Robert Mitchell’s breakout supernatural horror film centers on a young teenager, Jay (Maika Monroe), who, after a strange sexual encounter, finds herself stalked by a murderous entity that no one else but her can see. In order to stave off death, Jay and her friends must stay a step ahead of the creature while attempting to find a means of defeating it, or else resort to passing the curse on to another hapless unassuming victim herself. With a terrific score provided by Hyper Light Drifter composer Richard Vreeland (aka Disasterpeace), It Follows is a memorable, unique, and entertaining teen horror drama that flips the script on the genre’s traditionally puritanical framing of sexuality with terrific results. —TE

Jackie Brown

Director: Quentin Tarantino Cast: Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster

There’s no better time than the present to watch the best Quentin Tarantino movie ever (and by some margin). I said it and I meant it.

Adapted from Elmore Leonard’s terrific novel Rum Punch , this crime thriller stars the unmatched Pam Grier as a flight attendant who is caught bringing back money from Mexico for an arms dealer (Samuel L. Jackson). When a bail bondsman (Robert Forster) is assigned to pick her up, the two forge an unlikely bond in the midst of a complex scheme.

There are many reasons to love Jackie Brown — Tarantino’s more annoying writing tics are significantly dampened by the fact that this is an adaptation, and the electric cast includes Robert De Niro, Bridget Fonda, Michael Keaton, and a young Chris Tucker. But my favorite part of this movie is how damn romantic it is. The chemistry between Grier and Forster as two people in their middle ages unexpectedly falling for each other is electric, and it’s one of my favorite movie pairings to ever grace the screen. — PV

Jigarthanda DoubleX

Director: Karthik Subbaraj Cast: Raghava Lawrence, S.J. Suryah, Nimisha Sajayan

Movies about the Power of Cinema™ can be self-important, saccharine, and worst of all, boring. Jigarthanda DoubleX is none of those things. A sprawling tale of gangsters, movie stars, politicians, and the people caught between them, it’s one of my favorite movies of 2023, and a truly special film.

It’s the 1970s, and a coward who believes it’s his destiny to become a cop gets framed for a quadruple murder. He gets released from prison by a corrupt movie star/politician on the condition that he kills one of the lieutenants of that movie star/politician’s rival. Naturally, our coward poses as a movie director, because his target (a notorious gangster who loves Clint Eastwood) has made it his new mission in life to be the first dark-skinned movie star in India. While making their silly movie (a biopic of the gangster, of course), they fall in love with the magic of cinema and its transformative power on a personal and societal level.

Jigarthanda DoubleX is firing on all cylinders throughout its nearly three-hour run time, with superb direction, complex characters fully embodied by terrific actors, thrilling action sequences, and a surprising amount of emotional depth for a movie with this outlandish of a premise. Don’t miss it. — PV

Justin Timberlake + The Tennessee Kids

Director: Jonathan Demme Cast: Justin Timberlake

In 1984, director Jonathan Demme made one of the finest concert films of all-time with the Talking Heads in the raucously triumphant Stop Making Sense . A little more than three decades later, Demme’s final feature film was another joyous concert movie.

Justin Timberlake + The Tennessee Kids depicts the final show of a long tour for Timberlake and his excellent backing band at the gigantic MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. In typical Demme fashion, the staging and framing of the energetic pop numbers is electric, but he also takes time to show just how much work goes into setting up and breaking down such a large production.

Demme and Timberlake’s collaboration spurred from a mutual respect — Timberlake, like anyone else with good taste, is a massive fan of Stop Making Sense , and Demme reached out after watching The Social Network . The movie is dedicated to Prince, who died shortly before the movie’s release. — PV

Director: Ashutosh Gowariker Cast: Aamir Khan, Gracy Singh, Rachel Shelley

Ashutosh Gowariker’s timeless sports movie classic stars Aamir Khan as Bhuvan, a confident young man from a village that is dealing with both British oppression and a long-standing drought. When the wicked Captain Russell (Paul Blackthorne, who is deliriously good in this) challenges the village to a game of cricket (which they do not know how to play) as a bet, with their owed taxes (which they cannot afford to pay) on the line, Bhuvan takes it upon himself to form a team and learn the game. What follows is a soaring sports drama with humor, heart, and a show-stopping match finale. Lagaan was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at the 74th Academy Awards. —PV

The Lost Bullet movies

Director: Guillaume Pierret Cast: Alban Lenoir, Stéfi Celma, Nicolas Duvauchelle

Both Lost Bullet movies are pure jolts of adrenaline, filled with vehicular mayhem and explosive action. The first movie is leaner, with a simple premise executed to perfection, while the sequel ramps things up with even more jaw-dropping stunts, led by car stunt coordinator David Julienne, who also worked on the incredible Athena and is the grandson of the great Rémy Julienne. — PV

May December

Director: Todd Haynes Cast: Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, Charles Melton

The Oscars are this weekend (or, at least, they are when I’m writing this), so I thought it would be fitting to recommend one of the bigger Oscar snubs of the year. Yes, May December got nominated for its (great) screenplay, but it is also one of the best films of 2023 and features three of the most outstanding performances of the year, none of which had room in a stacked nominations list .

The latest film from New Queer Cinema icon Todd Haynes ( Carol , Safe ) sees the legendary director reunite with frequent collaborator Julianne Moore for one of their most intriguing projects yet. May December follows an actor, Elizabeth (Natalie Portman), who travels to Georgia to prepare for a role based on Gracie (Julianne Moore), a woman who became a focus of national attention after sleeping with (and eventually marrying) Joe, a 13-year-old boy when their relationship first started.

It’s an uncomfortable setting, and Haynes leans into that discomfort, both through the patience of his camera and the excellence of his lead actors. As Gracie and Elizabeth attempt to suss each other out, their identities fluctuating and blending with each other (Haynes has been very vocal about the influence of Ingmar Bergman’s Persona on this film), caught in the middle is Joe. Melton’s performance is haunting, a boy in a man’s body still caught in his teen years, closer in age to his children than to his wife. It’s the kind of adult drama we don’t get enough of anymore, and I’m glad Haynes is still here to make these kind of movies. — PV

The Night Comes for Us

Director: Timo Tjahjanto Cast: Joe Taslim, Iko Uwais, Julie Estelle

The Night Comes for Us just fucking whips, OK? Why waste time on subtlety and preamble; the film certainly doesn’t! Indonesian action thrillers have been enjoying a renaissance period ever since Gareth Evans’ 2011 film The Raid kicked the door down and mollywhopped everything else in sight. Timo Tjahjanto’s 2018 film certainly follows in the footsteps of Evans’ own, with The Raid star Joe Taslim starring here as Ito, a gangland enforcer who betrays his Triad crime family by sparing the life of a child and attempting to flee the country.

Fellow The Raid star Iko Uwais shows up here as Arian, Ito’s childhood friend and fellow enforcer, who is tasked with hunting down Ito and recovering the girl. The action comes fast and frenzied here, with kinetic choreography and dazzling handheld cinematography that makes every punch, fall, and stab count. If you need to get your adrenaline pumping, throw this one on. —TE

Phantom Thread

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lesley Manville, Vicky Krieps

Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2017 historical drama Phantom Thread follows the story of Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis), an irascible haute couture dressmaker in 1950s London whose carefully cultivated lifestyle is upset by his ongoing love affair with his muse Alma (Vicky Krieps), a strong-willed woman with ambitions and desires of her own. His final film role to date, Day-Lewis is unsurprisingly masterful in his portrayal of Woodcock as an artist whose capricious infatuations and fastidious inflexibility prove unbearable to all except Alma, who discovers a ... let’s say unconventional way of leveling the power dynamic in their relationship. Top that with exquisite score by Jonny Greenwood and beautiful costume designs by Mark Bridges and you’ve got what is undoubtedly one of Anderson’s finest films to date. —TE

Director: S.S. Rajamouli Cast: N.T. Rama Rao Jr., Ram Charan, Ajay Devgn

Polygon’s favorite movie of 2022 , RRR is an epic bromance for the ages filled to the brim with jaw-dropping action sequences, unforgettable music numbers, and two guys just being dudes. If you can, you should consider watching it in the original Telugu language version on Zee5. If you can’t, the Hindi dub on Netflix is still well worth your time. — PV

Space Sweepers

Director: Jo Sung-hee Cast: Song Joong-ki, Kim Tae-ri, Jin Seon-kyu

Space Sweepers: Set in the year 2092, Jo Sung-hee’s Space Sweepers follows the crew of freelance garbagemen in space who discover a strange child-like robot named Dorothy containing a nuclear device. Hoping to ransom Dorothy in exchange for enough money to escape their poverty-stricken lives, their plan quickly escalates into a chase to stay one step ahead of the military force of a corrupt corporation. Though it’s far from the most original of sci-fi premises, Space Sweepers is still a visually impressive film with great action and a likable cast of dysfunctional characters with great chemistry. — TE

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Directors: Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson Cast: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Oscar Isaac

2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was a genuine before-and-after moment in the history of American animation. The film not only introduced a new generation of audiences to Miles Morales, but sent a shockwave through the entire industry through its pioneering approach to CGI animation that drew heavily from the texture and techniques of comic book storytelling. In short, it was a bona fide cultural phenomenon. How exactly do you top that ?

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse feels like an answer to that question on several fronts; visually, tonally, and technically. Miles is faced with a personal and moral dilemma in the form of the Spot, a dimension-hopping supervillain whose vendetta against Spider-Man threatens to endanger the entire multiverse. If that weren’t enough, Miles inadvertently runs afoul of Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac), the leader of a group of Spider-People from alternate universes, who believes Miles himself is the source of the problem.

From its spectacular fight sequences to its gorgeous multiversal vistas to its absolutely bangin’ soundtrack, Across the Spider-Verse steps up to the challenge of following up one of most acclaimed American animated films in years and nails it out of the park. It’s a genuine sight to behold. With one more movie on the way , the question circles back: How exactly are they gonna top this ? —TE

The Summit of the Gods

Directors: Patrick Imbert Cast: Lazare Herson-Macarel, Eric Herson-Macarel, Damien Boisseau

This 2021 French-language animated drama centers on Makoto Fukamachi, a tenacious reporter who accidentally stumbles upon the biggest mountaineering story of the century: Proof that George Mallory and Andrew Irvine, not Sir Edmund Hillary, were the first climbers to reach the peak of Mount Everest in 1924. However, his only lead to break the story — an elusive mountain climber known as Habu Joji — has been missing for several years. Poring over the details of Joji’s life in the years preceding his disappearance, Makoto finds himself inadvertently drawn by the very same sense of accomplishment and meaning that has compelled countless climbers to crest Everest themselves.

Based on Jiro Taniguchi’s 2000 manga series, The Summit of the Gods is a gorgeously animated drama about the elusive quest for personal and professional validation and the perils of hubris and selfishness. The backgrounds are spectacular, the character animation is impressive, and the film’s final moments are as exhilarating as they are profoundly edifying. Brace yourself for a film that exemplifies “adult animation,” not as a juvenile display of hyper-violence and superficial titillation, but as a story about what it means to move through the world as an adult and find one’s place and purpose in it. —TE

Train to Busan

Director: Yeon Sang-ho Cast: Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, Ma Dong-seok

As far as horror movie premises go, it’s hard to get more fundamentally terrifying than “zombie outbreak on a train.” Yeon Sang-ho took that basic idea and ran with it to create a gory, pulse-pounding survival thriller about perseverance in the face of the apocalypse.

Train to Busan stars Gong Yoo ( Squid Game ) as Seok-woo, a workaholic fund manager who, wracked with guilt, agrees to take his estranged daughter on a train ride to Busan to celebrate her birthday. Unfortunately for him and everyone else on that train, a zombie epidemic brought about by a mysterious chemical spill has engulfed the nation. Aside from the core emotional arc between Seok-woo and his daughter, nearly every other character feels unique and compelling, from Ma Dong-seok’s portrayal as a doting husband-turned-brawler to Choi Woo-shik and Sohee’s performances as a high school couple trying to survive amid the chaos. It’s a well-crafted, compelling drama that devotes ample time to fleshing out the humanity of its cast as they fight tooth and nail to overcome a nightmare that threatens to tear them life from limb. In short: It’s the perfect movie to usher in the weekend and get your blood pumping. —Toussaint Egan

Directors: Josh and Benny Safdie Cast: Adam Sandler, LaKeith Stanfield, Julia Fox

It’s easy to forget sometimes, but Adam Sandler really is one hell of a dramatic actor. The Safdie brothers’ 2019 crime thriller Uncut Gems was a bracing reminder of that fact, giving Sandler the opportunity to flex his chops as Howard Ratner, a duplicitous gambling addict whose chaotic attempts to play every angle — and everyone — to come out on top backfires in spectacular fashion.

The film is stacked with terrific, surprising performances, from basketball superstar Kevin Garnett’s portrayal as a fictionalized version of himself to Julia Fox’s breakout turn as Howard’s mistress, Julia. To top it off, the score is phenomenal; Daniel Lopatin (aka Oneohtrix Point Never) reunites with the Safdies to deliver a mesmerizing soundtrack to Howard’s downfall, including an exquisite track inspired by the 1988 anime classic Akira .

Uncut Gems is the work that catapulted the Safdies to mainstream success, the inflection point that took them from indie darlings to big-time names rubbing shoulders with the likes of Paul Thomas Anderson and Christopher Nolan. It’s not hard to see why; the film really is that damn good. —TE

Director: Mélanie Laurent Cast: Mélanie Laurent, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Manon Bresch

There’s a place for movies like Alien , where a script written for a male lead character was left unchanged when a woman was cast in the role. But there’s also a place for movies like Wingwomen , an action comedy that thrives in its specificity around its characters and their experiences as women in our world.

In Wingwomen , Carole (director-star Mélanie Laurent of Inglourious Basterds ) has a very close and protective relationship with younger Alex (Adèle Exarchopoulos) — a found family situation. They are both caught in the web of crime lord Marraine (Isabelle Adjani) and looking for a way out. When they meet a new member of their team — skilled racer Sam (Manon Bresch) — they see an opportunity for one last score to break away from their life of crime and live peacefully together.

Fun, exciting, and endearing, you will not have more fun at the movies than watching Wingwomen . I wish for 20 more years of Laurent directing and starring in fun genre pictures — especially if they also star Exarchopoulos, who between this and Passages delivered two of the most memorable performances of 2023. — PV

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Netflix’s Top 20 Shows and Movies of 2021

As of December 31, 2021

What’s trending on Netflix? How about for all of 2021?

The most popular shows and movies on Netflix based on subscriber viewing habits are found on the service’s navigation menu, but that’s only part of the story. Fans also spend time reading up on their favorite Netflix series and movies and their critical standing here at Rotten Tomatoes. We’ve made a list of the top 20 movies and shows on Netflix U.S. that our visitors read about here during 2021. The list

Also Recommended:

• The Best Netflix Shows and Series To Watch • The Best Netflix Movies To Watch Right Now

Korean drama Squid Game led the list of the most popular Netflix titles on Rotten Tomatoes in 2021, beating out the streaming giant’s top film titles, like star-driven Red Notice , which saw Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot, and Ryan Reynolds teaming up for heist story.

Recent 2021 releases like season 2 of fantasy series The Witcher , political satire Don’t Look Up with Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence, and Benedict Cumberbatch–starring drama The Power of the Dog had a lot of ground to cover to catch up with the year’s earlier releases and make it into the top 10. Their ascent has been impressive to watch, and we’ve updated the list ranking as of December 31 to account for their continued growth at the end of 2021. Don’t Look Up finished in the No. 2 spot (previously No. 4), The Witcher at No. 4 (previously 5), and Power of the Dog at No. 7 (previously 9).

While traffic to most TV titles’ main pages propelled the titles onto the list, some titles like The Sinner — the four-season USA Network series has three seasons streaming on Netflix — and two-season French drama Lupin made it onto the list with traffic to their first season pages, again proving that Netflix is a place to discover titles that have been around for a while.

Looking for more great TV and streaming recommendations? Order our book, The Ultimate Binge Guide , which is now on sale .

Is your favorite Netflix show or series on the Netflix Top 20 list? Let us know in the comments what you watched on Netflix in 2021.

The Dig (2021) 88%

The White Tiger (2021) 92%

The Harder They Fall (2021) 88%

The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021) 97%

Lupin: Part 1 (2021) 98%

The Sinner: Season 1 (2017) 91%

Cowboy Bebop (2021) 45%

Money Heist (2017) 94%

The Guilty (2021) 74%

The Woman in the Window (2021) 25%

You (2018) 92%

Midnight Mass (2021) 87%

I Care a Lot (2020) 79%

The Power of the Dog (2021) 94%

Red Notice (2021) 37%

Army Of The Dead (2021) 67%

The Witcher (2019) 80%

Arcane: League of Legends (2021) 100%

Don't Look Up (2021) 55%

Squid Game (2021) 95%

On an Apple device? Follow Rotten Tomatoes on Apple News .

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The 44 Best Movies on Netflix Right Now

Our handy, extensive guide is updated weekly with all-new picks.

Spring is finally in the air, but that doesn't mean you can't still stay in and have a great movie night. As new plants start to grow, so does Netflix's movie selection, from romances like Love & Basketball and Set It Up to recent Oscar contenders like Rustin and Nyad . Whether you're looking for something deep and thought-provoking or light for the whole family, there are a plethora of incredible films on Netflix. With over 40 amazing movies on this list alone, it can be difficult to choose, but our carefully written recommendations will help you find just what you're looking for.

Rest assured, this list has been carefully considered and curated by seasoned Collider editors with decades of combined experience — not to mention a passion and enthusiasm for the medium. Only the crème de la crème has made the cut. Read on to discover the best movies to watch on Netflix right now.

For even more recommendations, check out our list of the best shows on Netflix , best comedies on Netflix , and best dramas on Netflix .

Disclaimer: These titles are available on US Netflix.

Editor's note: This article was updated April 2024 to include The Matrix.

'The Matrix' (1999)

Rotten tomatoes: 83% | imdb: 8.7/10.

Written and directed by the Wachowskis , The Matrix is a science fiction film that stars Keanu Reeves as a hacker who discovers that the world he lives in is an illusion crafted by malevolent Artificial Intelligence. The movie also stars Laurence Fishburne , Carrie-Anne Moss , and Hugo Weaving and spawned a franchise that includes three sequels and an animated anthology. The Matrix is an ambitious movie that presents the very best in technical filmmaking, winning the Oscars for Best Visual Effects, Best Film Editing, Best Sound, and Best Sound Editing. The performances are solid, the action is spectacular, and the plot is intricately crafted. The film’s narrative style feels quite surreal, drawing the audience into its ever-expanding world in a way that feels like a blend of Hong Kong action movies, cyberpunk anime, and 1990s techno-futurism. It’s dystopian, slick, and easily one of the best films ever made in its genre.

Watch on Netflix

'Molly's Game' (2017)

Rotten tomatoes: 81% | imdb: 7.4/10, molly's game.

Based on the true story of Molly Bloom , Molly’s Game was written and directed by Aaron Sorkin and stars Jessica Chastain in the lead role. An Olympic-level skier whose career was ended by an accident, the film follows Molly as she seeks a different kind of gold by running a high-stakes underground poker ring. The movie also stars Idris Elba , Kevin Costner , Jeremy Strong , and more. Sorkin’s directorial debut, the film received critical acclaim, largely thanks to Sorkin's Oscar-nominated script and the phenomenal performances by Chastain and Elba. The role of Molly Bloom earned Chastain her fifth Golden Globe nomination, further cementing her reputation as an acting powerhouse. It’s one of the defining performances of her career, and that alone should make the movie worth watching. Tightly written and expertly paced, Molly’s Game is a complete entertainer from beginning to end and a brilliant showcase of Sorkin’s abilities as a writer and filmmaker.

'Minari' (2020)

Rotten tomatoes: 98% | imdb: 7.4/10.

Lee Isaac Chung ’s 2020 drama film Minari is a semi-autobiographical story based on Chung's childhood. The movie is set in the 80s and follows a South Korean immigrant family that moves from California to rural Arkansas. Chung wrote and directed the film, which stars Steven Yeun , Han Ye-ri , Alan Kim , Noel Kate Cho , and Youn Yuh-jung , who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance.

Minari premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the US Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and the US Dramatic Audience Award. The film received critical praise for its direction and screenplay, as well as for the performances of its talented cast. Minari expresses its intimate multi-generational story through a beautifully shot narrative, and it’s widely regarded as one of the best films of the 2020s so far.

'Love & Basketball' (2000)

Rotten tomatoes: 85% | imdb: 7.2/10, love & basketball (2000).

Serving as the feature film directorial debut for Gina Prince-Bythewood ( The Woman King ), Love & Basketball is a cult classic sports romance, also written by Prince-Bythewood. The film co-stars Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps as Monica and Quincy, a pair of passionate athletes determined to achieve their dreams of playing basketball professionally. Supported by Alfre Woodard , Dennis Haysbert , and Kyla Pratt as young Monica, Love & Basketball follows the couple through the year as they pursue not only their respective basketball careers but their ardent relationship as well.

Love and Basketball provides an emotional look at the cost of perseverance and the ambition needed to keep dreams alive. An inspirational movie about working hard and loving fiercely, Love & Basketball continues to touch hearts over 20 years after debuting. - Yael Tygiel

'Uncut Gems' (2019)

Rotten tomatoes: 91% | imdb: 7.4/10.

A film that features the best Adam Sandler performance to date, Uncut Gems is a stressful journey into gambling that is as comedic as it is chaotic. Sandler is Howard 'Howie' Ratner, a New York City jeweler who is facing a lot of debts and decides to make one last bet to make it all back. Sound easy? It very much isn’t. Howie will have to somehow talk his way out of more than one dangerous situation and keep his family together while also having an affair.

If it wasn’t clear, this is not the best of guys we’re dealing with, though it is watching him self-sabotage that it all becomes both frightening and fascinating. You may shout at the screen a couple of times in frustration, though there is nothing quite like it. By the time it arrives at its explosive conclusion, you’ll be short of breath as you can finally exhale from the wild ride you’ve been on. - Chase Hutchinson

'Elvis' (2022)

Rotten tomatoes: 77% | imdb: 7.3/10.

Read Our Review

Elvis , the biopic about the iconic singer, was one of the big films of 2023. Written, directed, and produced by film auteur Baz Luhrmann , who was behind the 2013 hit The Great Gatsby starring Leonardo DiCaprio . Elvis stars Austin Butler ( Dune Part 2 ) as the rock n’ roll singer who took the world by storm in the 1950s while maintaining a complicated relationship with his manager, Colonel Tom Parker . The film was a box office hit, grossing $288 million worldwide, and was praised by critics for its stunning visuals and its ability to capture Elvis’s larger-than-life presence while also managing to bring in new fans.

The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Actor for Butler, Best Costume Design, and the always coveted Best Picture. Elvis also stars Tom Hanks ( Cast Away ), Olivia DeJonge ( The Visit ) , Richard Roxburgh ( Van Helsing ), and Kelvin Jarrinson Jr. ( It Comes At Night ).

'American Symphony' (2023)

Rotten tomatoes: 94% | imdb: 6.9/10, american symphony.

Even if you just watch the trailer for American Symphony, you will be in tears. The documentary tells the story of Grammy winner Jon Batiste and his wife, Suleika Jaouad , as they live a life of drastic contrast. While Batiste continues to take over the music world, Jaouad goes through an intense battle with cancer. Jaouad begins chemotherapy on the same day Batiste is nominated for 11 Grammy Awards – an obviously unplanned detail that sums up the entire message of the film: that a wonderful thing and terrible thing can happen at the same time. Over the course of the documentary, Batiste is writing a composition that he plans to play for one night only at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival to great reviews, with Variety Magazine calling it “one of the best love stories seen on film.” Currently, American Symphony is nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for “It Never Went Away” by Batiste and Dan Wilson . - Emily Cappello

'Rustin' (2023)

Rotten tomatoes: 85% | imdb: 6.6/10.

Currently nominated for an Academy Award for Best Leading Actor for its star, Colman Domingo , Rustin tells the story of Bayard Rustin (Domingo), a civil rights activist heavily inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr. Rustin sets out to organize the March on Washington against huge obstacles like racism and homophobia. Those familiar with the March on Washington, which occurred in 1963, know how paramount it was in the fight to end racial discrimination and that it concluded with Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. The film follows these incredible historic events while highlighting Rustin’s passion and enthusiasm for civil rights.

The film also stars Aml Ameen ( The Maze Runner ) as Dr. King, Glynn Turman ( Super 8 ) as A. Philip Randolph , Chris Rock ( The Longest Yard ) as Roy Wilkins , and Audra McDonald ( A Raisin In The Sun ) as Ella Baker . Rustin was previously nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for Best Original Song by Lenny Kravitz and Best Performance by Domingo. - Emily Cappello

'Nyad' (2023)

Rotten tomatoes: 86% | imdb: 7.1/10.

Oscar winners Annette Bening and Jodie Foster dominate in the biographical sports drama Nyad . Directed by documentarians Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin , Nyad is their feature directorial debut, which benefits from their experience capturing authenticity. As expected from most sports dramas and biopics, Nyad shares a story of perseverance, the triumphs of determination, and a message of hope, showcased by the undeniable on-screen power of Bening and Foster.

The actors’ dedication to truth in storytelling, as well as their chemistry, shine alongside the smart script written by Julia Cox . Nyad engages the audience with its solid foundation while entertaining through grounded drama based on reality instead of relying on cheap cliches. - Yael Tygiel

'Society of the Snow' (2023)

Rotten tomatoes: 90% | imdb: 7.9/10, society of the snow.

In 1972, a Uruguayan flight crashed while carrying a rugby team on their way to Chile, and the survivors of the wreck had to work together to survive in the treacherously cold weather of the Andes. This real-life event is the subject of J.A. Bayona 's film Society of the Snow , which tackles the incredible story of the survivors and their attempts to survive for two months in the mountains. Director Bayona got the idea for the film upon discovering the book The Society of the Snow , which was written by Pablo Vierci , and used the same name for his film. The cast, largely composed of newcomers in the acting world, is completely composed of Uruguayan and Argentinian performers.

The film was nominated for two Oscars, including Best International Feature Film, a Golden Globe for Best Non-English Language Film, and a Critic's Choice Award for the same category. With a budget of 60 million euros, The Society of Snow is the most expensive Spanish film ever made. With music by Michael Giacchino , the film is acclaimed for its emotional undertone and important message. - Emily Cappello

'May December' (2023)

Rotten tomatoes: 90% | imdb: 6.9/10, may december.

While watching May December , I found myself laughing out loud almost as much as I was cringing. I also found myself looking online afterward to see if my reaction was “normal.” This kaleidoscope viewing experience shows the brilliance of May December and how its subject matter — a thirty-six-year-old woman entering into a relationship with a seventh grader and having his three children — will dramatically change depending on the person telling the story. The plot follows actress Elizabeth ( Natalie Portman ) as she shadows Gracie ( Julianne Moore ), the controversial woman (and sex offender) who inspired Elizabeth’s latest film role. Or, depending on your point of view, it’s about Gracie’s experience as Elizabeth enters and disrupts the parts of her she’s been able to keep hidden. Or it’s about Gracie’s much, much younger husband, Joe ( Charles Melton ), as he discovers what Elizabeth’s presence means about his own life.

Written and directed by Todd Haynes , the film was inspired by the real-life relationship between teacher Mary Kay Letourneau and her sixth-grade student, Vili Fualaau. The two had children together and eventually married upon Letourneau’s release from prison, as Gracie and Joe did in May December . While it seems impossible that, given these themes, the film would have any laugh-out-loud moments, Haynes has crafted the story in such a way that it’s aware of its own absurdity. And, perhaps, we would find humor in the smallest moments, like Gracie dramatically revealing they “need more hot dogs” just to forget the insanity of the situation we’ve found ourselves in as an audience. - Emily Cappello

'Maestro' (2023)

Rotten tomatoes: 79% | imdb: 6.7/10.

One of the most talked-about films of 2023, Maestro tells the story of American composer Leonard Bernstein ( Bradley Cooper ), his rise to fame, and how that fame affected his relationship with long-time love Felicia Montealegre ( Carey Mulligan ). Directed and co-written by Cooper alongside screenwriter Josh Singer , the film was produced by cinema heavy hitters Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg . The film won the American Film Institute (AFI)’ s “Movie of the Year” and was nominated for four Golden Globe Awards, including “Best Motion Picture, Drama,” “Best Director,” and “Best Performance by a Male Actor” for Cooper and “Best Performer by Female Actor” for Mulligan. It co-stars Matt Bomer ( In Time ), Vincent Amato ( Unbroken ), and comedian Sarah Silverman .

Leonard Bernstein began his career as an assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic and rose to fame when he filled in for the main conductor, who had fallen ill. Maestro follows Bernstein as he meets and marries Felicia Montealegre, who struggles with her new husband’s infidelity. While Bernstein goes on to compose some of the most famous music in American history, including West Side Story , he struggles with alcohol and other substances, causing more issues in his marriage. - Emily Cappello

'Set It Up' (2018)

Rotten tomatoes: 92% | imdb: 6.5/10.

Two corporate executive assistants hatch a plan to match-make their two bosses.

Read Our Review Anyone who knows me knows I’m a rom-com junkie — obsessed to the point of running a podcast on it, actually. So it’s no surprise that Set It Up , Netflix’s 2018 original film starring Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell , is easily my favorite movie the streamer has on offer, even five years after its premiere. While they’ve made plenty of other rom-coms since the film was released, the story of two down-on-their-luck executive assistants who attempt to set their bosses up with each other for a little free time is easily still their best.

While it’s not the first time Powell and Deutch starred together — that award goes to Richard Linklater ’s Everybody Wants Some!! — and both have gone onto much bigger projects, it’s a sweet and heartwarming film that’s easy to get into, even if the comedy’s a bit cringe-worthy. It’s rare to find rom-coms made after 2005 whose leads have such immediate, entertaining, and believable chemistry and even rarer to find a cast filled with heavyweights who are just as much fun — can you believe this film also boasts the likes of Lucy Liu , Taye Diggs , and Pete Davidson ? Not to mention it’s an easy hour and forty-five minutes, perfect for watching (and rewatching, as I do) whenever you want a little fun in your life. — Maggie Boccella, News Editor

'It Follows' (2015)

Rotten tomatoes: 95% | imdb: 6.8/10.

Read Our Review In a world filled with remakes and reboots, It Follows defied the norm by finding an original way to tell a mysterious horror story. The story follows Jay ( Maika Monroe ), a teenager who has sex with a guy named Hugh ( Jake Weary ), whom she doesn’t know very well. Afterward, Hugh tells her that she’s inherited a curse that he's now free of. Jay starts to be followed by a phantom who wishes her dead, and the only way Jay can get rid of the curse is if she sleeps with someone else, passing it along to them.

It Follows premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2014, where it was then a part of a limited theatrical release before moving to a nationwide release in 2015. Written and directed by David Robert Mitchell ( Under the Silver Lake ), audiences raved about the movie not just for its originality but also for their different interpretations of the meaning behind the plot. Throughout its time in theaters, the film continually received great reviews for its terrifying scares and for its deeper meaning. As of October 2023, a sequel is in the works entitled They Follow . - Emily Cappello

'Burning' (2018)

Rotten tomatoes: 95% | imdb: 7.5/10.

Based on the short story “Barn Burning” by Haruki Murakami , Burning is a South Korean-Japanese thriller written and directed by Lee Chang-dong in his first film after an eight-year hiatus. The film focuses on Lee Jong-su ( Yoo Ah-in ) after he runs into an old classmate named Shin Hae-mi ( Jeon Jong-seo ), who asks him to feed her cat while she’s away. Jong-su obliges, but upon Hae-mi’s return with a mysterious man named Ben ( Steven Yeun ), things take an odd turn. When Ben admits his illegal and dangerous hobby to Jong-su, Jong-su becomes worried for Hae-mi’s safety. It's a story that knows how to heighten the tension little by little and, by the end, has viewers' hearts racing.

Burning premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2018, where it won the International Critics’ Prize and was then released in South Korea and later in the United States. Perhaps more impressive, the film was voted as the best Korean film of all time on Korean Screen. Burning appeared on many critics’ “Top 10” lists for 2018, with critics at The A.V. Club and The Los Angeles Times rating it number one. The film also made some “Best Films of the Decade” Lists, proving the power of the writing, directing, and the three lead actors’ performances. - Emily Cappello

'Mobile Suit Gundam I' (1981)

Imdb: 7.9/10, mobile suit gundam i.

In outer space, an interplanetary war is raging. This is the story of Mobile Suit Gundam I , a Japanese animated action and adventure movie based on an animated series of the same name. While the battle rages on in the Solar System, there is hope in the form of a mobile battle suit named the “Gundam,” but there’s one problem: the only person able to pilot the massive machinery is a boy named Amuro Ray ( Toru Furuya ). Now, Amuro must fight alongside other kids to save themselves and their families as the war rages on. The film also stars Hirotaka Suzuoki , Toshio Furukawa , Kiyonobu Suzuki , and Shôzô îzuka .

The film, directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Ryoji Fujiwara , premiered in Japan in 1981 and acted as a compilation of episodes 1-13 of the popular Animated series Mobile Suit Gundam . Later dubbed in English and released on VHS tape in the United States in 1999, both the film and its original show material were suddenly popular worldwide, finding a completely new fanbase with English-speaking audiences. - Emily Cappello

'Miss Juneteenth' (2020)

Rotten tomatoes: 99% | imdb: 6.6/10, miss juneteenth.

Miss Juneteenth follows the story of single mother Turquoise ( Nicole Beharie , who won a Gotham award for Best Actress for the role) as she enters her fifteen-year-old daughter Kai ( Alexis Chikaeze ) into the Miss Juneteenth Pageant. Kai is rebellious and doesn’t follow the path her mother has laid out for her willingly, but she ends up making Turquoise proud nonetheless.

When Miss Juneteenth premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2020, it received critical praise and a nomination for the Grand Jury Prize in the “Dramatic” category. The film continued its victory lap with wins at the SXSW Film Festival, where it won the Louis Black/Lone Star Award, as well as numerous other honors from different festivals across the US. The film had a prominent release date to video-on-demand: June 19, 2020: the 155th anniversary of the holiday Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. The film tackles the significance of the holiday while also bringing in other themes within the characters’ lives. In January 2021, it was announced that Miss Juneteenth would be adapted into a television series with NBCUniversal, but it is still listed as “in development.” - Emily Cappello

'Paddington' (2014)

Rotten tomatoes: 97% | imdb: 7.3/10.

The filmmakers of 2014’s Paddington had big, fuzzy shoes to fill. Based on the beloved children’s books by Michael Bond that premiered in 1958, Paddington Bear was already known worldwide when he hit the big screen, putting a lot of pressure on the film’s creators to get him right. The story follows a computer-animated Paddington, voiced by Ben Whishaw , as he travels from Peru to London to find a home under the advice of his uncle (the late, great Michael Gambon ) and aunt ( Imelda Staunton , another Harry Potter alum). There, Paddington meets the Brown family, played by Hugh Bonneville ( Notting Hill ), Sally Hawkins ( The Shape of Water ), Madeleine Harris ( Man Down ), and Samuel Joslin ( The Impossible ), who take Paddington home with them. All is going swell until Paddington catches the interest of a taxidermist.

The film was widely critically praised, earning $282 million at the box office and generating a sequel that is regarded by some to be one of the best films ever made. The film is fun and light and also has a surprising amount of depth for what might be viewed as a “kid’s movie.” It contains an all-star cast, with additional stars like Julie Walters ( Billy Elliot ), Nicole Kidman ( The Hours ), and Matt Lucas ( Bridesmaids ), and an excellent score by Nick Urata . The film won awards from the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain and a British Screenwriters’ Award for Best Screenplay by Paul King. It was also nominated for two BAFTA Awards. No matter your age, Paddington is sure to put a smile on your face. - Emily Cappello

'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' (1975)

Rotten tomatoes: 96% | imdb: 8.2/10, monty python and the holy grail.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail follows the exploits of King Arthur of the Britains ( Graham Chapman ) as he tries to recruit knights to join his court at Camelot. He faces many obstacles in this journey, such as anarcho-syndicalist peasants and a stubborn Black Knight, but eventually, he recruits Sir Bedevere ( Terry Jones ), Sir Lancelot ( John Cleese ), Sir Robin ( Eric Idle ), Sir Galahad ( Michael Palin ) and Sir Not Appearing In This Film. They are then tasked by God (Graham Chapman) with retrieving the Holy Grail, an arduous task filled with perils they cannot imagine.

Though incredibly stressful on the cast and crew due to behind-the-scenes troubles, Holy Grail has become one of the most beloved comedies of all time. The Pythons already enjoyed a lot of success thanks to their unique brand of surrealism mixed with biting British whit, but Holy Grail adds a dash of antiquity by using Arthurian legend as its setting. In fact, there’s little action in the film: everything is carried by the camaraderie of the Pythons and the hilarity of their situations. Many of its jokes have become cemented in popular culture, ensuring that, even if audiences haven’t experienced Monty Python before, they'll be familiar with its comedy. - Tyler B. Searle

'Phantom Thread' (2017)

Phantom thread.

In the 1950s setting of Phantom Thread , Daniel Day Lewis ’s character, Reynolds, does everything by the book. He lives his life as structured and measured as he tailors clothing with great care and concentration. That is, until he meets Alma ( Vicky Krieps ), a woman who completely disrupts the order of his life. Complicating matters is Reynolds’s sister, Cyril ( Lesley Manville ), who runs the business side of Reynolds’s life. The introduction of Alma creates a ripple effect as Reynolds hires her to be his assistant while also making her his lover and muse. Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson ( There Will Be Blood ), Phantom Thread explores both familial and romantic relationships while delivering powerhouse acting performances from its leading trio of actors .

The film opened in 2018 to rave reviews despite its lackluster box office performance. It received five Oscar nominations and secured one win for Best Achievement in Costume Design by Mark Bridges . Bridges won this same award at the BAFTA Awards as well as the Critics’ Choice Awards . Also highlighted was the film’s hauntingly beautiful score by Jonny Greenwood , whose previous work with writer-director Anderson has proven they are a winning pair. - Emily Cappello

The 83 best Netflix movies to stream in April

Looking for a movie to stream on Netflix, here are our recommendations for the best of the bunch.

Before Netflix was the home of some of the biggest and best shows on TV, Netflix was more associated with movies. It all started with its red envelopes, sending DVDs directly to people's homes. It soon became one of the most popular platforms to stream movies in the world (now streaming is the only option as the Netflix DVD service has ended ). And it doesn't disappoint, as the amount of Netflix movies to stream is vast.

Best sci-fi movies on Netflix Best Netflix shows to watch Best spy thrillers on Netflix Best period dramas on Netflix Best fantasy shows on Netflix What's new on Netflix

Of course, such a big library is a positive and a negative. It's a positive because there are seemingly endless options to choose from, but that amount of choice can lead to a lot of scrolling an in decision on what to settle on watching. Allow us to help with that by assembling on official ranking of the best Netflix movies to stream right now.

The list we've put together below (not ranked, just in alphabetical order) includes both the best of the ever expanding slate of Netflix original movies, which are always going to be available on Netflix, and movies that rotate in and out of the service each month; so be sure to check back with this post to see what's new on the service that you should be watching. (FYI, we're only doing feature length movies, so not including shorts, even the Oscar-winning The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar . )

Let's not waste any more time and dive right into WTW's picks for the best Netflix movies to watch right now.

83 best Netflix movies to stream right now

13th (2016).

Netflix has plenty of amazing documentaries in its library that challenge and inform viewers, perhaps none more so than the Oscar-nominated 13th , directed by Ava DuVernay. The movie reexamines the 13th amendment to the US Constitution, which officially ended slavery but, as the movie posits, also may have led to the racial inequality of the current US prison system. Available: US/UK

All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)

1930's All Quiet on the Western Front , an anti-war story depicting a young German soldier's harrowing experiences during World War One, was among the first Best Picture winners , but Netflix's remake of All Quiet of the Western Front from German director Edward Berger maybe even better than the original. With today's technology they can masterfully reconstruct the intense battle sequences of the story, but at its heart are still the characters who are forced to endure the worst. Available: US/UK

Always Be My Maybe (2019)

The rom-com has found new life on Netflix, with Always Be My Maybe as one of the streamer's best original movies in the genre. Ali Wong and Randall Park star as childhood friends we reconnect as adults wondering with the question hanging over their heads: why did they never end up together? An excellent script, Wong and Park's great chemistry and a memorable Keanu Reeves cameo make Always Be My Maybe a movie you'll love in love with. Available: US/UK

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Amadeus (1984)

Ignore the historical accuracies and just get swept up by the music and the drama of Amadeus , the story of the (again, mostly fictitious) rivalry between composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri. The Best Picture winner is lush and grand, with two strong performances from its leads, Tom Hulce as Mozart and F. Murray Abraham as Salieri, the latter of which won the Oscar for Best Actor. Available: US

American Factory (2019)

One of Netflix's Oscar-winning documentaries, American Factory focuses on an Ohio factory that was set to close when it is rescued by a Chinese billionaire. The documentary focuses on the struggles of how the Chinese and American work cultures mix. Available: US/UK

American Graffiti (1973)

Before George Lucas changed the movies forever with Star Wars, he earned critical acclaim and a Best Picture nomination for his ode to the 1960s in American Graffiti . Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Cindy Williams and a newcomer named Harrison Ford starred in this story of recent high school graduates cruising around town. It's a far cry from what Lucas has become known for, but it is a time capsule of his formative years. Available: US

Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood (2022)

Richard Linklater is a singular American filmmaker with such classics as Dazed and Confused , the Before trilogy and Boyhood . With Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood , he manages to capture the awe of the Moon Race era as he imagines what it would be like if a child from a small town in Texas was recruited to help NASA as they work on the Apollo missions. Available: US/UK

Apollo 13 (1995)

From Linklater's imagination of a secret NASA mission to Ron Howard's retelling of one of the true Apollo missions, Apollo 13 depicts the dramatic scramble to return a group of astronauts (played by Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon and Bill Paxton) home from space when their spaceship malfunctions. Available: US only

Baby Driver (2017)

People love Edgar Wright's Cornetto trilogy ( Shaun of the Dead ,  Hot Fuzz ,  World's End ) and rightly so, but the director has done some great work beyond that, including the heist movie  Baby Driver . The story centers on a young getaway driver, Baby (Ansel Elgort), who is always listening to music, but that doesn’t stop him from being the best in the business. Attempting to get out of the game though proves quite difficult for him. The movie is edited to fit perfectly with the soundtrack, which just adds to the overall excitement.  Available: US/UK

Beasts of No Nation (2015)

One of the first Netflix original movies remains one of its best. Beasts of No Nation , directed by Cary J. Fukunaga and featuring Idris Elba in an acclaimed supporting performance, is a drama based on the experiences of a child soldier fighting in Africa. Available: US/UK

Born on the Fourth of July (1989)

Oliver Stone's Platoon may have won the Oscar, but for my money Born on the Fourth of July is the better movie. It is the biography of Ron Kovic, who enlisted for Vietnam after high school but after being over there and ultimately being paralyzed became a staunch anti-war and human rights activist. Tom Cruise gives one of his best performances in the movie and Stone won his second Best Director trophy in the span of three years. Available: US

Bullet Train (2022)

Bullet Train seems destined to be a movie that didn't get the best critical reception (it's technically "Rotten" on Rotten Tomatoes ) but that movie fans love because it's bonkers and fun. Brad Pitt stars as a hitman tasked with a simple retrieval job that becomes anything but as other assassins are on board all with their own agenda. The all-star cast helps sell this movie, including Brian Tyree Henry, Joey King, Bad Bunny, Logan Lerman, Zazie Beetz, Hiroyuki Sanada, Michael Shannon, Sandra Bullock and (reported next James Bond ) Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Available: US only

The Christmas Chronicles (2018)

If you ever need the Christmas spirit, Netflix has plenty of holiday-themed movies to pick from. A fun one is The Christmas Chronicles , which sees Kurt Russell play Santa Claus, whose delivery of presents is interrupted by a sister and brother who attempt to capture him on camera. There is also a sequel, The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two , if you're interested. Available: US/UK

Da 5 Bloods (2020)

Spike Lee took on the Vietnam War in this tale of four African-American vets who return to Vietnam seeking the treasure that they buried and to bring back the remains of their fallen squad leader. Lee was on a hot streak with Da 5 Bloods and BlackKlansman , and we're still shocked that Da 5 Bloods didn't earn more than its one Oscar nomination for Best Original Score. Available: US/UK

Dolemite Is My Name (2019)

Eddie Murphy gives one of his most critically acclaimed performances as he honors a beloved figure of the 1970s Blaxploitation movies, Rudy Ray Moore, who created and starred as the character Dolemite in various movies. Dolemite Is My Name tells Moore's story and features a fantastic cast that includes Keegan-Michael Key, Mike Epps, Craig Robinson, Titus Burgess, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Snoop Dogg, Ron Cephas Jones, Luenell, Chris Rock and Wesley Snipes. Available: US/UK

Dumb and Dumber (1994)

Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels proved to be an all-time great comedy duo with Dumb and Dumber (opinions vary on which character is which). The hilarious movie, directed by the Farrelly Brothers (Peter and Bob) remains one of the most quotable comedies of the last 30 years and is always worth a rewatch if you need a laugh. Available: US only

Dumb Money (2023)

Retelling the story of the GameStock revolution during the pandemic, Dumb Money is a fun, underdog story about a group of small time investors taking on the major hedge funds and disrupting Wall Street like never before. Paul Dano leads a great ensemble that includes America Ferrera, Seth Rogen, Nick Offerman, Shailene Woodley, Pete Davidson and more in what WTW called the " Rocky of Wall Street movies" in our Dumb Money review . Available: US only

Enola Holmes (2020)

Millie Bobby Brown has practically become the de-factor queen of Netflix between Stranger Things and her number of Netflix original movies, the best of which is definitely Enola Holmes . Brown stars as the titular younger sister of famed detective Sherlock Holmes (played by Henry Cavill), who takes on her own case involving a young lord in trouble. Available: US/UK

Erin Brockovich (2000)

Julia Roberts put a twist on her America's sweetheart persona to play the tough single mom who becomes a legal assistant and helps lead a major lawsuit against a power company polluting a small town in Erin Brockovich , which ultimately wound up winning her an Oscar for Best Actress. While Roberts headlines things, Steven Soderbergh's direction, Susannah Grant's script and a strong supporting cast (most notably Albert Finney) are invaluable. Available: US/UK

*Leaving Netflix on May 1

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020)

The Eurovision Song Contest is one of the most popular and wonderfully bonkers events in the world, so Will Ferrell's movie on the singing competition is no less joyfully insane. Starring alongside Rachel McAdams, the pair star as Icelandic musicians who may not be the most talented, but are desperate to live their dreams and compete in Eurovision. Funny and with some great musical moments, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is one of the better Will Ferrell movies we've had of late. Available: US/UK

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

Everything Everywhere All at Once dominated the 2023 Oscars, winning six awards in total including Best Picture and Best Actress for Michelle Yeoh. It is definitely one of the more gloriously out-there picks from the Academy, as the story centers on a struggling Chinese-American family that is pulled into a multiverse adventure and involves martial arts, hotdog fingers, sentient rocks and plenty more. It was also supported by one of the best movie posters of all time. Available: US only

Extraction (2020)

Chris Hemsworth may have traded in his hammer but he is still nearly superhuman in Extraction , an action movie that sees him play a black market mercenary hired to rescue a kidnapped son of an international crime lord. Extraction features multiple incredible action set pieces that will wow viewers, but the movie may also be among Hemsworth's better performances. Available: US/UK

Fair Play (2023)

A modern-day take on the erotic thriller genre that was popular in the 1990s, Fair Play stars Phoebe Dynevor and Alden Ehrenreich as a young couple whose relationship is pushed to the brink when an unexpected promotion shifts the dynamics in their relationship. Both young stars give good performances and first-time feature director Chloe Domont crafts a taut viewing experience. Available: US/UK

The Florida Project (2017)

The Florida Project is a Disney-adjacent story, literally, as the drama follows a group of kids that live in a motel just down the road from the Magic Kingdom. Sean Parker directed critically acclaimed movie that was the debut for young actress Brooklynn Prince and featured an Oscar-nominated performance from Willem Dafoe. Available: US only

The Forty-Year-Old Version (2020)

Playwright, rapper, comedian and filmmaker Radha Black pulled triple duty on The Forty-Year-Old Version : directing, writing and starring in the dramedy loosely based on her own experiences as a playwright attempting to make her career breakthrough before she turns 40. Black is great in all three aspects, delivering a funny and inspiring story of artistic persistence. Available: US/UK

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

Daniel Craig's Benoit Blanc is back on the case in Glass Onion , the second movie in the Knives Out mystery franchise from Rian Johnson. The second installment is just as funny and twisty as the original Knives Out , with just as (and perhaps even more) star-studded cast that included Edward Norton, Janelle Monae, Kate Hudson, Leslie Odom Jr., Kathryn Hahn, Dave Bautista, Jessica Henwick and Madelyn Cline alongside Craig. Available: US/UK

The Guns of Navarone (1961)

Gregory Peck leads a team to sabotage a key German weapons base during World War II in The Guns of Navarone . Hollywood legends Peck, Anthony Quinn, David Niven, Richard Harris and more set out on the mission, which is a great example of the old-school Hollywood epics of the 1950s and 1960s. Available: US only

Happy Gilmore (1996)

One of Adam Sandler's pre-Netflix classics is now available to watch on the streamer in Happy Gilmore . The hilarious sports movie sees Sandler stars as a little talent hockey player with a short fuse who picks up golf to win some much needed money after he learns he has the ability to drive the ball farther than anyone. It's a fan favorite of Sandler's from his heyday in the 90s (so much so a sequel is reportedly in the works), while also featuring Carl Weathers as Happy's mentor, one of the late actor's move beloved roles. Available: US

The Harder They Fall (2021)

Writer-director Jeymes Samuel put his own spin on the western with the magnificent The Harder They Fall . Thrilling and funny, it brought a fresh spin to a classic Hollywood genre (something Samuel did again with the 2024 movie The Book of Clarence ). We'll ride with this movie any time and highly recommend checking it out for yourself. Available: US/UK

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

All four of the original The Hunger Games movies are streaming on Netflix right now, so binge at your leisure. But if we're picking which of the Jennifer Lawrence movies we think is the best from the franchise, we'd have to go with The Hunger Games: Catching Fire . What helps make this edition stand out is the mix of action and political intrigue (the latter of which was mostly missing from the first movie). Plus, it handles the love triangle between Katniss, Peeta and Gale the best of any of the movies. Oh yeah, and the arena sequence is fantastic. Available: US

Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)

Before Taika Waititi became truly mainstream with Thor: Ragnarok and Jojo Rabbit , the Oscar-winning filmmaker made Hunt for the Wilderpeople . The story is about a kid and his reluctant foster uncle traveling through the New Zealand bush and stars Julian Dennison and Sam Neill, with Waititi's trademark humor and heart on full display. A must-watch for all fans of his work. Available: US only

Hustle (2022)

One of the best new movies coming from then Adam Sandler/Netflix partnership of the last few years is the basketball drama Hustle . Sandler plays a pro scout who risks it all when he discovers an unknown prospect in Spain. Sandler is probably still best known for his comedies, but he has proven time and time again (and again in a movie further down) that he is a more than capable dramatic actor as well. Available: US/UK

Icarus (2017)

This is a great example of how a documentary can start out being one thing and then take on a life of its own. Documentarian Bryan Fogel was an avid cyclist who wanted to see if his results would truly be better using a doping program that often clouds the sport. He works with a Russian scientist to create the plan, only for things to come out that snowball into a global scandal and turn the documentary into a geopolitical thriller. Icarus would wind up winning the Oscar for Best Documentary. Available: US/UK

The Impossible (2012)

Telling a story about a tourist family in Thailand when the devastating 2004 Indian Oscan tsunami hit, The Impossible will hit you with so many feels as the family (played by Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts and a young Tom Holland) attempt to reunite. Available: US/UK

Inside Man (2006)

Spike Lee and Denzel Washington have partnered many times for fantastic results ( Malcolm X , He Got Game ), and Inside Man is another fun instance of this, as the two craft an impeccable heist movie. Washington stars as the NYPD detective tasked with figuring just what the mysterious bank robber played by Clive Owen wants as he takes an entire bank hostage, because it definitely isn't just the money. Jodie Foster, Christopher Plummer, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Willem Dafoe also star in this crime thriller that lives up to its genre. Available: US/UK

The Irishman (2019)

Before making Killers of the Flower Moon for Apple TV Plus, Martin Scorsese worked with Netflix on his epic crime drama The Irishman , which featured Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci and Harvey Keitel, among others. De Niro stars Frank Sheeran, a mafia hitman who allegedly assassinated union leader Jimmy Hoffa (Pacino). It's a three-hour plus movie, but a masterful one in the hands of Scorsese and these legendary actors. Available: US/UK

Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020)

Another entry to get you in the holiday spirit any time of year is Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey . In the movie, Forest Whitaker is a master toy maker whose latest invention is stolen from him. It takes his adventurous granddaughter to get him out of his funk and save the day in time for Christmas. It's a charming musical that is perfect for the whole family. Available: US/UK

Jurassic Park (1993)

Steven Spielberg's dinosaur adventure is beloved by movie fans everywhere. While you can watch the first three Jurassic Park movies on Netflix right now, let's be honest, the first is far and away the best one, as Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum are at first awed by the resurrection of dinosaurs as the center of a new theme park, but quickly realize that the danger of these creatures' reemergence is massive. Available: US only

The King (2019)

Before Timothée Chalamet was a messianic figure in Dune , he played the king of England in Netflix's The King . This historical epic depicts young Henry V as he rises to the throne and wage war against a strong French army. It's a showcase of how Chalamet became one of the biggest young actors in Hollywood. Available: US/UK

Klaus (2019)

A different take on the Santa story, Klaus is a gorgeously animated movie featuring the voice work of Jason Schwartzman, J.K Simmons, Rashida Jones, Norm MacDonald and Joan Cusack. Once you watch it good luck not making it a part of your annual Christmas movie rotation. Available: US/UK

L.A. Confidential (1997)

Corruption and a mystery involving call girls that look like movie stars are at the center of the 1950s set crime drama L.A. Confidential . Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe lead things in this adaptation of James Ellroy's book, which was nominated for Best Picture (losing to the behemoth that was Titanic ) but with Kim Basinger winning Best Supporting Actress. Available: US only

The Land Before Time (1988)

Millennials will undoubtedly remember The Land Before Time , the animated dinosaur movie that probably was many of our first experiences crying to a movie. The adventure of Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie and Spike to find their families in a dangerous preshitoric world will give you plenty of nostalgia. Available: US

Looper (2012)

For our money, Looper is one of the better sci-fi movies of the last 15 years or so, but it seems to have been forgotten a little bit. No better time to remind yourself of why it rocks then watching it on Netflix. In case you need a reminder, it stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a hitman who disposes of people from the future, but things go awry when his future self (played by Bruce Willis) is sent back to be killed and escapes. Available: US only

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020)

While Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is probably most known for being the last movie that Chadwick Boseman starred in, the adaptation of the August Wilson play is a showcase for Boseman as well as the great Viola Davis, with strong supporting turns from Colman Domingo and Glynn Turman as members of a 1920s band going through a contentious recording session. Available: US/UK

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018)

 While we usually wouldn't say a movie gets better when it loses Meryl Streep, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again may be the exception (though the Oscar-winning actress makes an emotional cameo toward the end of the movie). Telling parallel stories of a younger Donna (Lily James) as she meets her three beaus Harry (Hugh Skinner), Bill (Josh Dylan) and Sam (Jeremy Irvine) and Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is a joyful sing-a-long to some classic ABBA tunes. Available: US/UK

Mank (2020)

A movie about the writing of what is widely considered the greatest movie of all time ( Citizen Kane ), David Fincher's Mank is pretty great in its own right. While it definitely helps if you have some base knowledge of Hollywood history ahead of time, the story of screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz using his first-hand experience to criticize some of the most powerful political and media players of the day is enthralling to watch. Available: US/UK

Marcel the Shell With Shoes On (2022)

From viral hit to movie star, Marcel the Shell With Shoes On took the idea of a talking shell living in our everyday world created by Jenny Slate and Dean Fleischer Camp and turned it into a funny and touching faux documentary. Just try and not to be won over by Marcel as he goes about trying to reconnect with his long-lost family.  Available: US only

Marriage Story (2019)

The opposite of a romance movie, Marriage Story takes a look at the ending of a relationship, specifically the divorce between Adam Driver's Charlies and Scarlett Johansson's Nicole. The two stars are brilliant as the story doesn't shy away from all facets of a messy divorce, as is Laura Dern as Nicole's lawyer (winning the actress an Oscar). For all the bad that happens though, there is an underlying message of hope that when it really comes to it, there's still love between these two even if it's no longer romantic love. Available: US/UK

The Matrix (1999)

One of then most influential action movies of all time, The Matrix helped redefine what could be done on screen. And even 25 years later (happy anniversary to the movie) it still looks incredible. The sequels struggled to live up to the bar that the original set, in all honesty few action movies have reached the same kind of heights since, so it's not really fair. Available: US

Minari (2020)

Minari is a touching family and immigrant story about a Korean family that moves to Arkansas to try and find their version of the American dream. It is a beautifully delicate example of a culture clash being overcome with a strong sense of family. It is a movie that just gets better every time we see it. Available: US only

The Mitchells vs the Machines (2021)

Produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, though co-written and co-directed by Michael Rianda and Jeff Rowe, The Mitchells vs the Machines definitely fits nicely into the Lord and Miller style of absolutely bonkers narrative (a family road trip goes off the rails when a machine takeover threatens humanity) that is just the icing on the cake for a truly emotional and heartwarming movie about family. Available: US/UK

Moneyball (2011)

A very different kind of baseball story, Moneyball isn't as much about what happens on the field, but the way that Oakland Athletics General Manager Billy Beane went against conventional wisdom to overcome the financial deficit his club had against the likes of the New York Yankees and others. In our opinion, it features the best Brad Pitt performance of his career and is masterfully directed by Bennett Miller. Available: US/UK

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

The Monty Python comedy troupe of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam already had made comedy history with their sketch show on UK TV, but then they took their brand of silliness to the big screen for the hysterical Arthurian spoof with Monty Python and the Holy Grail . It's easily one of the funniest movies ever made and a must watch if you haven't yet seen it (or if you haven't seen it in a while). Quick programming note, Monty Python's Life of Brian is also streaming on Netflix right now, if you want to make it a double feature. Available: US/UK

Mudbound (2017)

Dee Rees' Mudbound is kind of a forgotten gem on Netflix, as the Netflix original movie was critically acclaimed, was nominated for four Oscars and features outstanding work from its ensemble (Jason Mitchell, Garrett Hedlund, Carey Mulligan, Mary J. Blige and others). The story follows two rural Mississippi families, one white and one black, as they struggle in the aftermath of World War Two. Available: US/UK

My Octopus Teacher (2020)

People fell in love with My Octopus Teacher when it first landed on Netflix, as it tells the incredible story of a diver who forms a special friendship with an octopus and learning incredible lessons from the sea creature. Be warned though, the movie may make you think twice about ordering sea food any time soon. Available: US/UK

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Wes Craven is one of the masters of the horror genre, and A Nightmare on Elm Street was one of his movie's the solidified that status. The first movie (though a number of the sequels are also available on Netflix) introduces Freddy Krueger, who terrorizes teens in their dreams, but the danger is very real for them when they are awake. Krueger has become one of the iconic movie monsters, so see where it all started if you haven't yet. Available: US

Okja (2017)

Bong Joon Ho's Okja is an ambitious story of a young girl who goes on a mission to rescue the genetically altered pig that she has helped raise from the company that created it and wants to turn it into a new kind of food. While that seems dark, and the movie is certainly that at times, it also has a sincere heart amplified by the friendship of the girl and the titular Okja. Available: US/UK

The Old Guard (2020)

Netflix's adaptation of the graphic novel series, The Old Guard follows a group of immortal warriors who perform missions to protect the world. However, when they discover a new immortal their secret is at risk of being exposed by nefarious individuals. Charlize Theron leads the exciting, action-packed movie directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood. Available: US/UK

The Other Guys (2010)

Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg aren't your standard action movie heroes in this movie, their just the other guys. But when they have the chance to tackle the biggest cases of their careers they seize at the opportunity and try not to bungle it. Ferrell and Wahlberg are a great team here, with a strong blend of action and laughs that will leave everyone entertained. Available: US/UK

Outlaw King (2018)

Mel Gibson's Braveheart is not the most accurate movie about the 14th century fight for Scottish independence, particularly when it comes to the character of Robert the Bruce. That's where Outlaw King comes in, putting the Scottish king (played by Chris Pine) at the center of the story as he bravely goes up against a larger forces of England, ready to do anything to claim his country's freedom. Available: US/UK

Paddington (2014)

There is probably not a more wholesome movie franchise right now than Paddington , based on the beloved children's books by Michael Bond. While Paddington 2 has been called The Godfather Part II of kids movies, lets not overlook the original Paddington, which introduced us to Ben Whishaw's courtesy and curious bear, who quickly wins the heart of the Brown family (Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Madeleine Harris and Samuel Joslin) and us viewers. Available: US/UK

Phantom Thread (2017)

Phantom Thread is such a wonderfully strange movie, as Paul Thomas Anderson tells the story of an obsessive 1950s London fashion designer (played by Daniel Day-Lewis) and the strong-willed woman (Vicky Krieps in her breakout role) who he begins a relationship with. The movie has a surprisingly dark comedy tone to it which is the secret to its success. Also, it must be appreciated that this is the (at least currently) final performance of Day-Lewis magnificent career. Available: US only

Pieces of a Woman (2020)

Pieces of a Woman is an emotional drama if you are in need for a good cry, as Vanessa Kirby plays a woman who experiences a tragedy while pregnant and her journey through grief. It's a brilliant (and Oscar-nominated) performance from Kirby that makes the whole experience worthwhile. Available: US/UK

The Power of the Dog (2021)

Director Jane Campion became just the third woman ever to win Best Director at the Oscars for her dark western drama The Power of the Dog . Incredible performances from Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee anchor this drama about an intimidating rancher who torments his brothers' new wife and stepson, but eventually, long-hidden secrets complicate their relationships. Available: US only

Private Life (2018)

Kathryn Hahn and Paul Giamatti are brilliant together in this dramedy about a couple's struggles to get pregnant. Writer-director Tamara Jenkins and her stars are able to walk the tightrope in showing just how hard it can be going through different fertility options to have a child, but never losing a softer touch that makes us laugh and sympathize for these characters. Available: US/UK

Roma (2018)

Arguably Netflix's best chance to win the Oscar for Best Picture to date (it did win Best Director and Best Foreign Language Film), Roma is the beautiful story of a year in the life of the housekeeper for a middle-class family in 1970s Mexico City, loosely based on of director Alfonso Cuaron's own experiences. Available: US/UK

Set It Up (2018)

Netflix has become one of the main places for romantic comedies to thrive in recent years, with one of the best examples being the fantastic movie Set It Up . Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell are fantastic together as two overtaxed assistants who scheme to make their lives easier by setting up their two bosses (Taye Diggs and Lucy Liu). Of course their antics also bring them closer together as well. Available: US/UK

Shirley (2024)

Regina King gave her first on-screen performance since The Harder They Fall in Shirley , a biopic about Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress who would take history a step further by also taking on a campaign to be president in 1972. Shirley is one of WTW's best-reviewed movies of 2024 , with much of the praise going to King's performance and highlighting a US history lesson that may have been skipped in high schools. Available: US/UK

Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

Jennifer Lawrence (who won Best Actress for her performance) and Bradley Cooper (nominated for Best Actor) are great together in the dramedy Silver Linings Playbook , which combines family, Philadelphia sports, an amateur dance competition and finding the people who can help you manage the day-to-day into a winning combination. As a Philly sports fan the movie holds a special place in my heart, but it works even if you're not. Available: US only

Smokey and the Bandit (1977)

I only watched  Smokey and the Bandit  for the first time in the last year, but I would definitely recommend others giving the movie a try as well if they have not. Burt Reynolds is the definition of a movie star as he plays a the fast-driving Bandit who takes the challenge of transporting a truck full of beer across state lines (illegal at the time), while having to deal with a fuming local sheriff (hilariously portrayed by Jackie Gleason) and picking up a runaway bride (Sally Field) along the way. It's just a fun, easy to watch movie.  Available: US

Something's Gotta Give (2003)

Love doesn't have to be a young person's game, as shown in Nancy Meyers great romantic comedy Something's Gotta Give , which sees Jack Nicholson's life-long bachelor form an unexpected relationship with the mother of the younger woman he is dating, played by Diane Keaton. The two screen legends are great together and Meyers script is among her best. Available: US only

Spaceman (2024)

Another instance where Adam Sandler goes dramatic, Spaceman is an ambitious psychological drama where an astronaut on a solo mission investigating a new phenomenon comes in contact with an alien creature that attempts to understand his complicated past. While Sandler and company (including Carey Mulligan and Paul Dano) are all good, this is truly a showcase for director Johan Renck, who crafts an intriguing and thoughtful drama. Available: US/UK

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

While Spider-Man has been memorably portrayed by the likes of Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland in eight live-action Spider-Man movies, the best iteration of the character honestly may be the animated Spider-Verse movies, including Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse . Ambitious in animation style and scope, Across the Spider-Verse is a spectacle but never loses track of its emotional heart in the journey of young Miles Morales as he deals with the challenges of being Spider-Man. Available: US only

The Sting (1973)

After their dynamic pairing in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid , Paul Newman and Robert Redford reteamed on the crime caper The Sting . Think of it as a 1920s set Ocean's Eleven , as a team of grifters try to pull off a big con job. The entertaining flick is also a Best Picture winner. Available: US only

tick, tick... Boom! (2021)

Who knew Andrew Garfield could sing? Well he does, and quite convincingly, earning a Best Actor nomination for this adaptation of Jonathan Larson's semi-autobiographical musical that was directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda. While Larson's Rent is his most well known work, tick, tick... Boom! is an emotional detailing of the creative process and friendship. Available: US/UK

The Two Popes (2019)

Two acting legends, Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce, play opposite each other as the two most recent popes, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. The movie focuses on what led to the historic decision of Pope Benedict XVI (Hopkins) stepping down from his position, discussing his decision with the future Pope Francis (Pryce) and why he should be the one to take his place. Available: US/UK

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

Aaron Sorkin wrote and directed the star-studded ensemble The Trial of the Chicago 7 , which recounts the historic case that came after the violence at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Sacha Baron Cohen, Jeremy Strong, Eddie Redmayne, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Mark Rylance, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Frank Langella are just some of the names that star in the courtroom drama. Available: US/UK

Uncut Gems (2019)

Instead of Netflix like his previous two movies on this list, Adam Sandler teamed up with A24 for the high-octane drama Uncut Gems , where he plays a jeweler and gambler who takes a big risk in an attempt to settle things with his debt collectors. Directed by the Safdie brothers, Uncut Gems is a frenetic watching experience that, like Sandler's Howard, leaves you itching for another go around once you're done with it. Available: US/UK

Warrior (2011)

Amid UFC's rise in popularity in the late 2000s, Warrior arrived and delivered an emotional story of family and perseverance. Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton star as estranged brothers who are on a collision course at a big ultimate fighting competition. One is fighting to save his family home, the other in remembrance of his fallen friend from the military. Available: US only

Whiplash (2014)

Damien Chazelle's breakout movie, Whiplash follows an aspiring drummer (Miles Teller) who is tormented by a demanding instructor (J.K. Simmons), who will do anything to make sure that his standards are met. A brilliant, Oscar-winning performance by Simmons is the main attraction, but the skills that made Chazelle the youngest Best Director winner (for La La Land ) ever are on full display here. Available: US/UK

The Woman King (2022)

Gina Prince-Bythewood is one of the better action directors around, as evidenced by her 2022 movie The Woman King . This historical drama focuses on the group of female soldiers that protected the kingdom of Dahomey, one of the most powerful kingdoms in Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries. Viola Davis owns the movie as the general who leads and trains her troops. Available: US only

Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018)

Mr. Rogers is one of the most influential people in TV history, with his show teaching valuable lessons to kids for more than 30 years. Won't You Be My Neighbor? is an incredible documentary that explores the life, lessons and legacy Fred Rogers. Available: US only

Ti West has crafted a fan-favorite horror franchise in recent years with X and Pearl (soon to be joined by MaXXXine ), but if you've missed the boat on this one you can catch up with X right now on Netflix. The movie centers on a group of young filmmakers who set out to make an adult film on an elderly couple's ranch. But when the reclusive ranch owners find out what they're doing, all hell breaks loose. Available: US

Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca , Moulin Rouge! , Silence of the Lambs , Children of Men , One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars . On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd .

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In May 1939, as Europe lurched towards war, amateur excavator/archaeologist Basil Brown, hired to dig up the huge mounds on Edith Pretty's property in Suffolk, struck gold (literally). First, he came across the skeleton of an 88-foot ship dating to the Anglo-Saxon period. This was the first phase of what Sue Brunning, curator at the British Museum, has called "one of the most important archaeological discoveries of all time, certainly in British archeology but I would argue in the world." The next phase was discovering the burial chamber within the ship, filled with a treasure trove of almost perfectly-preserved artifacts, made from gold and garnet: a stunning helmet, shoulder clasps, a golden belt buckle. Pretty donated the artifacts to the British Museum, where they sit to this day, known as the "Sutton Hoo find." This fascinating story is the subject of Netflix's new film "The Dig," directed by Simon Stone , with Moira Buffini adapting John Preston's novel for the screenplay.

Basil Brown ( Ralph Fiennes ) is a humble man, of working-class origins, who was taught how to excavate archaeological sites by his father and his grandfather before him. Edith Pretty ( Carey Mulligan ), a widowed woman living on a huge estate with her small son Robert ( Archie Barnes ), hires Basil away from the Ipswich Museum to dig up the mounds on her property. Basil doesn't have high hopes. These sites have been picked over by people for centuries, he informs her. She offers him more money than the museum, so he gets to work. Young Robert latches on to Basil as a new father-figure, and cavorts around on the mound as Basil digs. At first Basil utilizes just a small ad-hoc team, but after the ship is revealed, throngs of people descend onto Suffolk, wanting a piece of the action.

Told with simplicity and grace, and a sensitivity to the pastoral Suffolk landscape of wide fields and wider skies, "The Dig" is often quite thrilling, particularly in the dig's initial phases, when it's just Basil and Edith discussing how to proceed. Edith had a youthful interest in archaeology, and was accepted to university. Her father nixed those plans. She took care of her father through his long illness, and only got married after he died. This sad backstory is described in just one or two lines, but it's all over Mulligan's pinched determined face, dogged by loss and disappointment. Father-dominated her whole life, now widowed, in very poor health herself, she makes the decision to dig up those mounds, even though war is imminent.

The first half of the film is mostly Mulligan and Fiennes, and there's an interesting dynamic at work. They come from two totally different worlds and classes. But they intersect in important ways. They share a passion for knowledge, for discoveries of the linkages between eras and peoples. Tutankhamun's tomb was excavated in 1922 by British Egyptologist Harold Carter, whom Edith name-drops at one point. Edith would have been a teenager in 1922. One can imagine how that world-changing event—and seeing those artifacts for the first time—would have filled her with wonder and awe. She has a feeling about those mounds in her yard. She has a feeling something is down there. When Basil discovers the ship, he declares it sixth/seventh century Anglo-Saxon, and this is at first scoffed at by the "experts." But he's right.

The plot thickens when people descend onto the land, to continue the dig, and jostle for credit. Ken Stott plays Charles Phillips, a famous archaeologist, who declares the site far too important to be in the hands of Basil, an amateur with no formal education. Part of the new excavation team is Stuart Piggot ( Ben Chaplin ) and his budding-archaeologist wife Peggy ( Lily James ). Edith's cousin Rory ( Johnny Flynn , charming as always) takes photographs of the dig. "The Dig" loses a little steam during this section, when it gets side-tracked by Peggy's dissatisfaction in her marriage. Stuart seems just a little bit too into one of his male colleagues ( Eamon Farren ), and Rory is so friendly and gentle and makes Peggy feel things she's never felt in her marriage. These complicated emotional matters arrive over an hour into the film, far too late to have any real staying power. Basil mostly disappears during this section, and the film really misses him.

But this larger ensemble is eventually shuffled into the overall mix. What matters is the dig itself. Stone's attention to detail is crucial: he shows how a dig must proceed, the dangers of a dig, how the artifacts are discovered and then removed from the dirt—the way this is presented helps non-archaeologically-minded audience members understand what is happening and how. You believe in Fiennes' expertise. You believe in Peggy's too. The other element is the approach of war. RAF planes roar over the field with increasing regularity. Everyone knows that once war is declared the digging will have to cease. They're all fired up with a sense of urgency.

There are moments of emotion and triumph, especially during the sequences of discovery, but the mood overall is understated, quiet, thoughtful. Phillips makes an impassioned speech about what the "Sutton Hoo find" means, and it's an important thematic element. Common wisdom assumed the Anglo-Saxons were violent savage marauders, but the exquisite artifacts discovered showed "they had art. They had culture." The Sutton Hoo find represented a shift in consciousness around shared ancestry and legacy, and a sense of ownership over the collective past. These themes are all present in "The Dig" but nothing is underlined or punched up to amplify significance.

Instead, you get Edith and Basil locking eyes across the hole in the ground, speechless, two misfit outsiders realizing they were right, there is something down there, and it is beyond their wildest dreams.

Now on Netflix.

Sheila O'Malley

Sheila O'Malley received a BFA in Theatre from the University of Rhode Island and a Master's in Acting from the Actors Studio MFA Program. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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Film credits.

The Dig (2021)

Rated PG-13

112 minutes

Carey Mulligan as Edith Pretty

Ralph Fiennes as Basil Brown

Lily James as Peggy Preston

Johnny Flynn as Rory Lomax

Ben Chaplin as Stuart Piggott

Ken Stott as Charles Phillips

Monica Dolan as May Brown

• Simon Stone

Writer (novel)

• John Preston
• Moira Buffini

Cinematographer

• Stefan Gregory

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The 10 best new movies on netflix in april 2024.

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The 2019 film 'Anna' stars Sasha Luss as the titular character Anna Poliatova.

Another week on Netflix NFLX means another slate of fresh new movie picks. This week, subscribers enjoyed an abundance of great new films, including a riveting action flick from the director of The Fifth Element , a brand new western that features incredible performances from the likes of Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke, and a captivating sci-fi/fantasy affair from the man who brought us Your Name . These films only scratch the surface of Netflix’s best cinematic offerings in the month of April.

So what new movies should you not miss? Let’s dig in. Below, you’ll find my ten picks for the absolute best films freshly available on Netflix this month. Then at the bottom of the article, you’ll find a full list of every single new movie that’s been added in April. I guarantee you’ll find your next movie night pick in this bunch—and perhaps a new favorite you’ll return to time and time again.

Anna (2019)

Meet Anna Poliatova, a striking beauty who secretly operates as a deadly assassin, who skillfully balances the perilous world of modeling in the self-titled Anna with high-stakes espionage. As the plot unfolds, our complicated hero navigates through a web of government operatives and international intrigue, revealing layers of deception and her quest for freedom. The direction from Luc Besson, who gave us classics like Léon: The Professional and The Fifth Element , effortlessly weaves together action-packed sequences with a deep dive into Anna’s internal struggle. This underrated spy flick features the fantastic Sasha Luss in the lead role, alongside Helen Mirren, Luke Evans and recent Academy Award winner Cillian Murphy.

Best High-Yield Savings Accounts Of 2024

Best 5% interest savings accounts of 2024, suzume (2023).

From the director of Your Name , one of the most successful anime films of all time, Suzume tells the story of a young girl who embarks on a quest across Japan to seal mysterious portals that threaten natural calamities. Her journey begins when she encounters a young man connected to her past, who reveals the supernatural phenomena linked to their shared history. As they close each portal, the narrative delves into themes of healing and resilience, drawing on the beauty and spirit of various Japanese landscapes. Directed by Makoto Shinkai, this animated film combines a deeply rich story and captivating characters with as-expected stunning visuals, exploring the impact of past trauma and the journey toward closure.

For a great explanation of Suzume , check out this thorough breakdown .

Knocked Up (2007)

The year 2007 was one of the best ever for movies, featuring classics like There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men . But we cannot forget the comedies, which included Superbad and Knocked Up . And the latter film—which centers on the repercussions of a one-night stand between Ben, a laid-back slacker, and Alison, a rising journalist—just arrived on Netflix. After their frivolous and brief encounter results in an unexpected and unwanted pregnancy, the pair must navigate the challenges of potential parenthood and drastically different lifestyles. Directed by Judd Apatow, this comedy explores themes of responsibility, family and personal growth, featuring Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl in career-defining roles that mesh perfectly together.

The Little Things (2021)

Many films that were exclusive to the Max streaming service have found their way onto Netflix lately, and the latest addition is the thrilling mystery film The Little Things. This noirish throwback from director John Lee Hancock follows Joe Deacon, a burnt-out deputy sheriff from Kern County, who ends up embroiled in the hunt for a serial killer terrorizing Los Angeles. Teaming up with Sergeant Jim Baxter, the official assigned to the case, the pair's investigation uncovers unsettling secrets about the killer and themselves. As they delve deeper, the lines between right and wrong blur in their quest for justice. The film, which delves into the darker side of obsession and the costs of uncovering the truth, features a trio of Oscar winners in the three lead roles: Denzel Washington, Rami Malek and Jared Leto.

Megan Leavey (2017)

Every couple years, you can expect a film that centers on someone ’ s relationship with their dog. The results aren’t always great, but people like Channing Tatum, Aaron Eckhart and—in this case—Kate Mara have given us quality clicks. Megan Leavey, directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, is based on the true story of a young Marine corporal whose unique discipline and bond with her military combat dog saved many lives during their deployment in Iraq. After a disciplinary hearing leaves her with a K9 unit assignment, Megan (played by Mara) forms an unbreakable bond with an aggressive dog named Rex. When both are injured in the line of duty, Megan battles through physical and emotional challenges to adopt Rex post-service.

The Bricklayer (2023)

Renny Harlin doesn’t always make great action films, but when he does—as was the case with Cliffhanger, The Long Kiss Goodnight and Die Hard 2 —the results include some of the most entertaining minutes you’ll spend in front of the television. Harlin ’s latest feature, The Bricklayer, features Aaron Eckhart as a retired CIA operative drawn back into action after a rogue assassin makes the agency look culpable for the deaths of several journalists. Tasked with clearing the CIA's name, he must navigate a web of international conspiracy and confront his own troubled past. Harlin’s film balances action with a touch of intrigue, offering a lively if somewhat predictable espionage thriller. With Nina Dobrev and Tim Blake Nelson supporting, the story weaves through various global tensions and personal problems, providing a fun viewing experience despite familiar genre elements.

Strange Way of Life (2023)

Pedro Almodóvar has given us so many classics over the years, from Volver to The Skin I Live In to All About My Mother. And his latest release, which runs just over an hour long, is a welcome addition to that lineup that features two incredible performances. Strange Way of Life depicts the reunion of two old friends, Silva, a rancher, and Sheriff Jake, in the desert town of Bitter Creek. Silva rides across the desert to meet Jake, recalling their past as hired gunmen. Although the visit starts as a nostalgic remembrance of their youth, it soon becomes clear that Jake has ulterior (aka romantic) motives. The film delves into the complexities of their relationship, exploring themes of friendship, betrayal and the unresolved tensions of their shared past. Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal deliver strong performances in this brief yet compelling addition to Almodóvar’s filmography.

Scoop (2024)

Journalist films aren’t as sexy as they used to be, but it looks like Netflix is trying to change that with its latest British-themed endeavor. Scoop dives into the high-stakes world of broadcast journalism as it recounts the events leading up to Prince Andrew’s infamous 2019 interview with BBC Newsnight. The film focuses on Sam McAlister, played by Billie Piper, the tenacious journalist who secures the explosive interview. Directed by Philip Martin, the sotry captures the intense preparations, behind-the-scenes negotiations and the climactic broadcast that shook the British monarchy. With Gillian Anderson portraying journalist Emily Maitlis and a strong supporting cast, Scoop provides a detailed look at the challenges and triumphs of a team determined to uncover the truth amid public and private pressures.

Split (2016)

If there’s one thing you can count on from M. Night Shyamalan, it’s a thrilling, unpredictable time at the movies. His latest output has been stellar, which includes Knock at the Cabin , Old and the widely appreciated Split . This thriller that verges on the edge of superhero genre features James McAvoy as Kevin Wendell Crumb, a man with 23 distinct personalities, who kidnaps three teenage girls (one of them is played by the star of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga SAGA , Anya Taylor-Joy). As they are held captive, they must find ways to escape before the emergence of a frightening new 24th alter, "The Beast." The thriller navigates the complexities of Kevin’s fractured mind, exploring themes of trauma and survival. The film builds tension with its burning psychological questions and shocking twists, leading to a climactic connection with the most pressing and entertaining themes in Shyamalan’s filmography.

Hans Zimmer: Hollywood Rebel (2022)

The last pick on my list is a documentary that I’m guessing a lot of people haven’t seen. Hans Zimmer: Hollywood Rebel is a great, informational, moving flick that explores the innovative career of Hans Zimmer, one of the most influential film composers of our time. The film highlights his revolutionary approach to music and sound, moving away from traditional orchestral compositions to integrate electronic music and unique sound palettes. Through interviews with collaborators and behind-the-scenes footage, viewers gain insights into Zimmer's creative process and the impact of his work on film music. Directed by Matt Schrader, the documentary showcases Zimmer's role in evolving the cinematic experience through score.

Every New Movie on Netflix in April 2024

• April 1 : American Graffiti (1973); Baby Driver (2017); Battleship (2012); Born on the Fourth of July (1989); Ender’s Game (2013); Glass (2019); Haikyu!! Movie 3: Genius and Sense (2017); Haikyu!! Movie 4: Battle of Concepts (2017); Happy Gilmore (1996); Hotel Transylvania (2012); Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015); How to Be Single (2016); Inside Man (2006); Inside Man: Most Wanted (2019); It’s Kind of a Funny Story (2010); Molly’s Game (2017); Mortal Engines (2018); Night Raiders (2021); One Piece Film: Red (2022); Role Models (2008); Skyscraper (2018); Smokey and the Bandit ; Smokey and the Bandit II ; Split (2016); Step Up: Revolution (2012); Strawberry Shortcakes: Spring Spectacular (2024); Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006); The Land Before Time (1988); The Little Things (2021); The Matrix ; The Matrix Reloaded ; The Matrix Revolutions ; The Theory of Everything (2015); Wild Things (1998); You’ve Got Mail (198)
• April 2 : Together: Tr3ble Winners (2024)
• April 3 : Zero to Hero (2024)
• April 4 : The Tearsmith (2024)
• April 5 : Scoop (2024); The Antisocial Network: Memes to Mayhem (2024)
• April 8 : Megan Leavey (2017)
• April 9 : Neal Brennan: Crazy Good (2024)
• April 10 : Anthracite (Limited Series); Death Whisperer (2023); What Jennifer Did (2024)
• April 12 : A Journey (2024); Amar Singh Chamkila (2024); Love, Divided (2024); Smart Casual (2024); Stolen (2024); Strange Way of Life (2023); Woody Woodpecker Goes to Camp (2024)
• April 15 : Hans Zimmer: Hollywood Rebel (2022)
• April 16 : Anna (2019); Knocked Up (2007); Jimmy Carr: Natural Born Killer (2024)

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Netflix Review

Netflix has the most popular on-demand content than any other streaming service, but it’s also the priciest

Netflix has ruled the streaming service industry despite new companies, like Disney+ or Peacock , joining the on-demand streaming game.

We don’t necessarily like the price tag on the monthly subscription of Netflix, but you do get what you pay for (and it still maintains the title of best streaming service ). You get access to over 5,000 titles, giving you hours of bingeable entertainment. 

Let’s get into the details to find out if Netflix is worth it for you.

• Plans and pricing
• Movies, TV series, and Originals
• Recommended internet services for streaming
• Netflix app and compatible devices
• User interface

And if you want to stream in HD and 4K, and also want to avoid lag , below are our favorite internet providers for streaming Netflix.

How much does a Netflix subscription cost?

Netflix has three plans to choose from: Standard with Ads for $7 per month, Standard for $15.49, and Premium for $23.

Although $23 is costly compared to other on-demand services , there’s no better service than this to watch hours upon hours of great entertainment. Prepare to find yourself binge-watching more often than not.

The Standard with Ads plan is perfect for the money-savers, but you won’t get to watch Squid Game in high definition (HD). But you can stream two devices at a time.

If you want HD and plan to share an account with your roommate or your significant other, then the Standard plan is the way to go.

But if the whole family wants to watch their own Netflix movie or TV show on their device, then the Premium Plan  will have your family set.

Also, your Netflix account allows you to create five profiles. So you won’t have to worry about getting your child’s suggestions of Fuller House  or Victorious getting in the way of your browsing experience.

What is Netflix Ultra?

Netflix Ultra refers to ultra-HD (also called 4K) resolution. Traditional HD starts at 1920x1080 pixels, but ultra-HD has twice that many pixels! Users in the US can get this ultra-HD content with the Premium Netflix plan. If you live in Europe, you can sign up for Netflix Ultra, which costs a little more than Premium.

Can you rent DVDs from Netflix?

We know it’s hard for the younger generation to understand ... but some people out there are still ordering physical DVDs and Blu-ray discs ( what are those? ).

Currently, almost two million subscribers are using Netflix’s DVD-by-mail rental service .

Maybe grandma and grandpa would like this plan and could choose from a vast catalog of DVD and Blu-ray titles from Star Trek: Discovery to Dune to The Jungle Cruise .

Plans range depending on if you want to be able to rent one or two discs at once.

New password sharing rules

Netflix is cracking down on password-sharing, limiting simultaneous streams to only work within the account owner's primary Wi-Fi network location. It's unclear when Netflix will implement these restrictions globally, but you can check out our piece on Netflix's new password rules to stay up to date.

Can I add members to my Netflix account?

Following password crack-downs, Netflix has implemented a discounted family-plan type system in which users can join an active Netflix account at a discounted price. 

Netflix users can now add extra members to Standard and Premium accounts for $7.99/month per extra member. Extra members will be able to manage their own account and password, though payments will be sent to the person who invited them to join their Netflix account. You can add one extra member to Netflix Standard and up to two extra members with Netflix Premium.

What content does Netflix have?

• Love Island
• Grey's Anatomy
• Jane the Virgin
• Better Call Saul
• Gilmore Girls
• The Mindy Project
• Cold Case Files
• Married at First Sight

Netflix has new, old, and Original content in a variety of genres, such as comedy, documentaries, crime TV drama, romance, sci-fi and horror, reality, animated series, and action.

Your eldest son will be able to watch Dave Chappelle’s comedy special, your toddler will be entertained with lots of animated movies like Trolls , and you can watch Wedding Crashers  or Glass Onion on your day off.

Netflix TV shows include the following:

Netflix movies include the following:

• A Man Called Otto
• This Is Where I Leave You
• Where the Crawdads Sing
• We're the Millers
• The Angry Birds Movie
• The Five-Year Engagement
• The Hateful Eight
• I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry
• The Boss Baby
• The Age of Adaline
• How to Lose a Guy In 10 Days

If you want to learn more about the kids content on Netflix and its excellent parental controls, head on over to our best streaming services for kids piece. Netflix won the No. 1 spot for the best service for your little ones.

Which Originals does Netflix have?

Netflix is top-notch when it comes to Originals. Why? Because Netflix produces Original content with famous directors, producers, and actors.

And wow, they make for some great TV shows and movies. So great that lots of Netflix’s Original titles become popular and known. Current popular Netflix Original shows include the following:

• Queen Charlotte
• The Umbrella Academy
• Emily In Paris
• Love Is Blind
• Black Mirror
• Workin' Moms
• Grace and Frankie
• The Recruit
• Virgin River  (with Alexandra Breckenridge)

Current popular Netflix Original movies include the following:

• Your Place or Mine (with Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher)
• The School for Good and Evil ( with Charlize Theron and Kerry Washington)
• Glass Onion
• We Have a Ghost
• Extraction and Extraction 2 (with Chris Hemsworth)
• You People (with Jonah Hill and Eddie Murphy)

Does Netflix have premium channels?

Unfortunately, you’ll have to go elsewhere for your Max (formerly HBO Max) or Paramount+ with SHOWTIME®. Just get Max through its own app, and you’ll get all of Max's older Original series on top of Max’s new Originals.

Does Netflix have sports?

Netflix is an on-demand service and doesn’t provide live TV channels. But you can still find binge-worthy sports series and movies.

Netflix includes the following sports content:

• Hustle (with Adam Sandler)
• Bill Russell: Legend
• Jerry Maguire
• The Swimmers
• Kicking & Screaming
• The Last Dance
• Gridiron Gang
• Friday Night Lights
• Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn't Exist

If you’re interested in a live TV streaming service with lots of sports channels, check out our top streaming services for sports . Just make sure to put together an awesome man cave before you start streaming.

Does Netflix have Spanish-language or international content?

If your mom is obsessed with telenovelas like mine, your mamá  will love Netflix.

Netflix has a Spanish-language genre, and if you (the daughter or son of the telenovela-loving mother who gets lassoed into watching these shows with her) don’t speak Spanish, there are subtitle options.

Some Spanish-language series and movies on Netflix are the following:

• Through My Window
• Como Caído del Cielo
• You've Got This
• Honeymoon with My Mother
• El Rey, Vicente Fernández
• Anonymously Yours
• Street Food: Latin America
• Sounds Like Love
• Don't Blame Karma!
• Guatemala: Heart of the Mayan World

Netflix’s international content is diverse and unique to an on-demand streaming service. It’s also a nice break from American titles if you’d like to venture off and visit other countries virtually.

Here are some popular international titles you can expect on Netflix:

• Flavors of Youth: International Version
• Lorena, Light-Footed Woman
• Eye for an Eye
• I'm No Longer Here
• Spoiled Brats
• Blood Sisters
• African America

Is my internet fast enough to stream Netflix?

Netflix suggests you have at least a 3 Mbps internet connection to stream and 5 Mbps for HD quality while using the app. If you have two simultaneous streams, you will need 10 Mbps for HD quality. (Not sure what internet speed you have? Test it out with our tool .)

If you want uninterrupted streaming, Tyler Abbott has a few internet provider suggestions for you.

Which devices are compatible with Netflix?

Pretty much all devices are compatible with the Netflix app, as long as you’re connected to the internet. Most mobile phones, tablets, smart TVs, and gaming consoles allow you to download the Netflix app.

But remember, you can only stream on one to four devices at a time depending on your plan. Here are a few streaming devices to choose from:

• iPhones and iPads
• Android smartphones and tablets
• Windows smartphones and tablets
• Nvidia Shield
• PS3 and PS4
• Xbox 360 and Xbox One
• Smart TVs such as Hisense, LG, Panasonic, Phillips, Samsung, Sanyo, Sharp, Sony, and Vizio
• Blu-ray players such as Funai, LG, Magnavox, Panasonic, Toshiba, Samsung, Phillips, Sharp, and Sony

Does Netflix have a good interface?

Open up Netflix, and you’ll be welcomed with a user interface that’s simple, seamless, and intuitive.

Find your convenient tabs at the top of Home, TV Shows, Movies, New & Popular, and My List. Now Netflix includes a new tab: Browse by Languages.

Scroll down, and you’ll find series and movies categorized by Popular on Netflix, Trending Now, Comedies, Familiar Favorites, Small Town Charm, Documentaries, and more.

One feature we love: when you watch a movie, such as 21 Jump Street , there will be a category on your homepage of Because You Watched 21 Jump Street. You’ll find similar movies like Pineapple Express  and Me Time (a Netflix Original featuring Kevin Hart and Mark Wahlberg).

We also like the search bar. Netflix won’t tell you if a title isn’t available. Instead, it will suggest other movies or TV series similar to the one you're looking for.

Recap: Is Netflix worth it?

Recently, Netflix has seen more competition with Hulu , Amazon Prime Video , and Disney+ , just to name a few. But there is no other on-demand streaming service that is as well-rounded as Netflix.

You’ll find excellent movies and series, incredible Original content, and one of the best interfaces on Netflix. These are the reasons why it has a high price tag among the rest.

Netflix is the best option for families, those who love exclusive content, those who love the idea of 5,000+ titles to choose from, and those who love to binge-watch. Tons of positive user reviews don’t lie.

If this doesn’t sound like you or you’d like to see your other options, check out our full review on the best streaming services . And if you'd like a streaming service with live channels, we have a list of the best live TV streaming service providers . 

Squid Game season 2 will release on Netflix— you're not going to like this —at the end of 2023 or beginning of 2024. 

You can't get Netflix free with Amazon Prime, unfortunately. Netflix costs $7–$23 per month, and Amazon Prime Video costs $9–$15. 

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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘What If?’ on Netflix, a Bland Romantic Drama About a Honeymoon That Hits the Rocks

Where to stream:.

• What If (2023)

Richard Linklater’s ‘Hit Man’ Sure Looks Like It’s Going To Be A Summer Hit, Man

‘the circle’ season 6 upped the ante by moving to atlanta: go behind the scenes of netflix’s big investment, stream it or skip it: ‘the greatest hits’ on hulu, a high-concept sci-fi romance starring lucy boynton as a very sad time traveler, stream it or skip it: ‘love, divided’ on netflix, a sweet fantasy romance that seems to ask the question “what if amélie was a contestant on ‘love is blind’”.

What If? (now on Netflix) is bound to be confused with multiple other films and TV shows with the same title, ranging from the Marvel one to the Renee Zellweger one to the Daniel Radcliffe one to the one that’s probably about Jesus, because Kevin Sorbo is in it. This time, it’s a Filipino romance that takes its title from a fictional hit song written by one of the lead characters, which I’d hum to you right now, if I could remember it. And that sentiment is a reflection of the movie as a whole, I’m afraid. 

WHAT IF? : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Billie (Alessandra De Rossi) narrates glumly as she walks along a trash-strewn beach to catch a boat. She’s leaving this island, and we’re about to spend the next two-ish hours finding out why. Flashback to several days prior, when she wasn’t so glum. She and new hubby Jecs (JM De Guzman) are freshly married and ready to honeymoon the living crap out of each other. They get to Panglao Island, a gorgeous locale with crystal waters and beaches lined with tall grasses. We soon learn that Jecs’ reputation precedes him even in this relatively remote locale – “Aren’t you that singer?” he’s asked right off the boat, and indeed he is. His hit is ‘What If,’ a lite-rock strummer that makes John Mayer sound like Slayer. True to the reality of being a musician trying to make a living in 2023, when Jecs isn’t singing or writing songs, he’s hocking name-brand luggage on social media smack in the middle of his damn honeymoon.

Billie isn’t too annoyed by this – not as much as we are, anyway. I guess that’s what happens when you’re sometimes the subject of flattering photos posted on an up-and-coming star musician’s social media, accompanied by HASHTAG PERFECT WIFE and other such flatteries. They smooch and flirt and settle into their rustic, postcard-worthy cottage nestled on a hill overlooking the sea. Jecs’ mother calls, and he indulges her buttisnkyisms; she tells him honeymoons are for making her a grandchild, and he laughs and Billie winces a little and really Mom, can it and let the lovebirds lovebird, all right? Meanwhile, Billie’s father keeps calling and she keeps ignoring it; he skipped the wedding and is an abusive shithead, so she doesn’t want to give the guy her time, and who can blame her?

Don’t forget, this whole thing is a flashback, so the flashbacks to how Billie and Jecs met mean we’re getting flashbacks within flashbacks, which is, like, bordering on Inception -style Russian-doll narrative layering. Billie’s a keyboardist who was hired by Jecs’ producer or manager or whatever to play on one of his recordings, and she was the only one not afraid to give the writer of a big hit track some constructive criticism, from which love bloomed. Back in the almost-present, the happy couple goes island-hopping and does a little freediving and then the cracks start to show. It turns out that Billie can’t conceive a child, which explains why her mother-in-law’s commentary needles her so. And her jealous streak starts to throb when she spots an influencer with boobs out to here routinely liking Jecs’ posts; “She’s just clout-chasing for her vlogs!” Jecs protests as we stifle our laughter. Meanwhile, a typhoon starts bearing down on the island and as the rain and wind batter the house and the power flickers out, the tension between Billie and Jecs simmers and boils. Is the honeymoon over before the honeymoon is over?

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Nights in Rodanthe , if it fizzled instead of sizzled.

Performance Worth Watching: On behalf of De Rossi, whose presence here indicates her skill in inhabiting a character, I hereby plead for someone to give her a decent script next time.

Memorable Dialogue: Jecs’ mother doesn’t mince words: “Of all the women, you had to fall in love with the barren one.”

Sex and Skin: None.

Our Take: The dramatic high point of this story makes a hill of beans look like Kilimanjaro. De Rossi and De Guzman never really kindle a romantic flame, and we therefore fail to be invested in their well-being as a couple. It takes 45 minutes before it feels like anything happens in What If? , which isn’t valid criticism if a movie uses that time to enrich its characters. Yet here, it feels like loitering, in draggy scenes that dole out bits of information about Billie and Jecs that comprise the bare minimum of their personhood. One senses director Manny Palo aiming for realism, for a hangout vibe allowing his actors to find their characters in the basic, unsensational moments of life, and they land on the occasional earnest truth. But the cast seems uninspired and not fully engaged with the material, an indicator of a screenplay in need of another rewrite or three. 

The island setting is ripe for lush cinematography, and is a key component of a narrative that’s soon to deploy a doozy of a metaphor when torrential downpours begin, and we wonder if this couple can, you know, “weather the storm” – it’s so on-the-nose, I half expected the typhoon to unleash a deluge of fist-sized hams. Granted, the conflict is rooted in common pitfalls of modern relationships; Billie is mostly content to be childless, while Jecs doesn’t want to exhaust all their options yet, and therefore briefly grazes against the topic of female bodily autonomy. That tantalizing bit doesn’t go anywhere, though, as the story clunks through flashbacks, unconvincing melodrama and a haphazardly plotted, laughably bad conclusion. Even the contingent of fans who glom onto Asian romances is going to find What If? too bland for consumption. 

Our Call: What If? More like Butt If ! SKIP IT. 

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

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Netflix review: Should you stay or churn?

Netflix is too big to fail these days.

Tom's Guide Verdict

Netflix has an untouchably large library of Originals series and an strong library of films as well.

Impressive library of Original shows

Increasingly strong Original films

Reliable apps

Expensive at 4K

Cancels shows a bit early

Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our writers and editors spend hours analyzing and reviewing products, services, and apps to help find what's best for you. Find out more about how we test, analyze, and rate.

A Netflix review can seem like an impossible concept. One of the best streaming services there is, Netflix nearly defies analysis, moving at light speed in every direction at the same time. One second it's announcing the dual Knives Out sequels, and the next thing you know, they've actually got knives out to cut a cake shaped like a purse. And now there's even Netflix with ads .

The thousands of titles in Netflix's impressive library may be hard to navigate, but check out our list of the new movies and shows on Netflix for the week of January 16 to see the latest additions. You may never run out of things to watch on Netflix, though each month does see many films and (and some shows) leave the service. A lot of us are asking if we should cancel our Netflix subscriptions these days, but we always come back. This is a process called "churn," where you leave when there's nothing left to watch and return when your favorites are back (and using the redesigned Netflix iPhone app ).

So, for those who need help keeping track of why we like (and dislike) the big red streaming machine, we believe this Netflix review will have you sorted faster than you can say "Yes, I'm still watching." Oh, and Netflix confirmed Wednesday season 2 !  Also, the latest Netflix arrivals often land on our list of what to watch this weekend , which has new shows and movies.

Netflix review: Pricing and availability

Netflix has been around since 1997, when it started as a mail-based movie rental service. It didn't launch its streaming service until 2007, and didn't offer a streaming-only service until 2011. The initial price of the streaming service was $7.99 per month.

As of November 2022, Netflix will start at $6.99 per month for the Basic with Ads tier, which has 4-5 minutes of ads per hour. Then, there's $9.99 per month for the Basic plan that is mostly for people who have older TVs, as its picture quality caps out at 720p. That's not ideal for someone with a Full HD or 4K TV.

The Standard Netflix package, likely its most popular option, costs $15.49 per month. It includes image quality of up to 1080p Full HD, and a second simultaneous stream. 

Those who want to stream in 4K will get the $19.99 Premium Netflix tier, which has Ultra HD video quality and up to four streams.

That's really pricey compared to the $9.99 - $14.99 per month HBO Max and even less expensive services such as Peacock, Paramount Plus and others, but the math of Netflix's library makes it seem worth it. JustWatch claims Netflix houses more than 3,600 movies and 1,800 TV shows

Stack that up against Disney Plus' library of more than 740 movies and 280 TV shows , and HBO Max's list of over 2,000 movies and 580 shows and the pricing starts to make sense.

Sure, HBO Max has a wider range of content, but fans want to see those shows in crystal clear 4K. Especially if they know another app can offer it.

Those simultaneous streams, though, are only in the same household. The unfortunate news that Netflix is cracking down against sharing accounts (a popular way to cut costs — and one of our top Netflix tips and tricks ) used across separate households, may put a pothole in the road for some streamers.

Netflix is available globally.

Netflix review: Design

The Netflix apps set the standard for the best streaming services, but they've never been truly perfect. For example, Netflix would always auto-play audio when you hovered over a selection for too long. Settings to fix this were eventually provided.

The Netflix app is simple, organizing content into five main sections: Home, TV Shows, Movies, New & Popular and the self-curated My List. That said, trying to find something new and digging up a hidden gem can be tricky. Sure, the TV and movies sections promote the best shows on Netflix and the best Netflix movies , and they do sort things by genre, but discovery continues to be a problem for Netflix customers.

This is why we've got our roundups of the best family movies on Netflix , which helps separate the neon-drenched chaff from the high-quality wheat. Netflix, to its credit, is always trying to figure out a new way to help, but its randomizing Play Something shuffle feature went away and nothing has come back to replace it.

Netflix review: Shows

When it's time to find a great new show to watch, the folks at Netflix keep delivering options — even though some may seem too weird to watch. The service's range is almost untouchable, as it goes from the dramatic true crime stories of Bad Vegan to the bonkers animated video game adaptation that is The Cuphead Show. 

But originals aren't the only thing Netflix has. Among the best Netflix comedies , you'll find licensed must-see shows such as 30 Rock and Community, which you would think belong on Peacock . Your subscription fee could also one day include a library of games with the streamer announcing its own games studio in Helsinki.

And while we might get annoyed with the big red streaming machine — I canceled my Netflix account for a month to save money when they lost Halt and Catch Fire, which I had to get AMC Plus for — everyone eventually comes back. When a streaming service can drop new batches of Bridgerton, Formula 1: Drive to Survive, Better Call Saul , Russian Doll and Grace & Frankie in the span of a month and a half? It's hard to stay away forever.

That said, Netflix has always seemed too eager to cancel shows before they had a chance to say goodbye. For example, Netflix canceled Bad Crimes before a single episode could air.Fans of Glow, Dark, Mindhunter and many other Netflix Originals will tell you — often without provocation — how Netflix did them wrong. Check out our big list of canceled shows to see what else is getting the axe soon.

Netflix review: Movies

Movies aren't anything new, but it definitely feels like Netflix discovered their true importance over the last three years. Now, we've got Oscar nominations for big Netflix Original films such as The Power of the Dog and Don't Look Up, while more populist fare such as Red Notice and The Old Guard earn slots in our list of the best action movies on Netflix . 

The list of the best horror movies on Netflix has some great scares, but it feels like this is one category where the likes of Shudder, Peacock and HBO Max are drinking Netflix's milkshake. Even Paramount Plus has its own sets of horror franchises (Scream and Paranormal Activity), while Netflix's only franchises arrive and depart. 

So while Disney Plus streams most of Marvel movies in order and the Star Wars movies as well, Netflix doesn't quite have a series of films that can go toe-to-toe. Netflix's history of building franchises has mostly stuck within TV shows, with its own Originals such as Stranger Things and The Crown. 

And this is where we see how other services fight to survive. HBO Max, for example, has Friends, the DC movies and all the Sex & The City and Gossip Girl revival seasons they can pump out. Netflix's constantly changing library of licensed properties means you can only expect them to have their own shows and films. 

And if you need help finding more films to stream on Netflix, our lists of the best Netflix war movies and the best Netflix documentaries will keep you sated whether you're looking for flashy explosions or gritty true stories.

Netflix review: Supported devices

Netflix is available everywhere . If it has a screen — unless we're talking about so-called non-smart dumb TVs , which can connect to the best streaming devices — it can probably stream Stranger Things. 

Here is a list of the many kinds of devices that support Netflix:

• Web browsers on PC and Mac
• iOS mobile devices
• Android mobile devices
• Amazon Fire TV and Fire tablets
• Smart TVs (most manufacturers)
• Game consoles (Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo, etc.)
• Set-top cable boxes (check with your provider)
• Blu-ray players (most manufacturers)

Netflix review: Bottom line

While we may pull a Ross and go "on a break" from Netflix now and again, it's one of our top best streaming services for a reason: it always pulls you back in. Sure, you might be upset be a price hike today, or a canceled show from last year, but Netflix knows you'll come crawling back.

Netflix produces so much compelling programming — I was able to write this entire Netflix review and not mention Tiger King or Squid Game until the conclusion — that many people just think of it as a necessary utility. And who are we to argue?

Henry is a managing editor at Tom’s Guide covering streaming media, laptops and all things Apple, reviewing devices and services for the past seven years. Prior to joining Tom's Guide, he reviewed software and hardware for TechRadar Pro, and interviewed artists for Patek Philippe International Magazine. He's also covered the wild world of professional wrestling for Cageside Seats, interviewing athletes and other industry veterans.

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Zack Snyder's 'Rebel Moon' is back in 'Part 2': What kind of mark will 'Scargiver' leave?

It was only in December that Netflix's "Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire" ushered in producer/director/creator Zack Snyder 's brash new sci-fi universe to great fanfare, a (limited) theatrical release and giddy talk of expansion.

Just four months later, "Rebel Moon − Part Two: The Scargiver" premieres on Netflix to noticeably less pomp, but all the special-effects pop. The two movies were shot back-to-back in 152 days on a total budget of $166 million.

"The movies were written as a single story, our script was over 220 pages," says Snyder, who split the story, originally conceived as a "Star Wars" project, in half Solomon-like after bringing the saga to PG-13-friendly Netflix.

Here's what happening with the "Rebel Moon" universe and "Part Two: The Scargiver," premiering Friday (3 a.m. EDT/midnight PDT) on Netflix.

What happened in 'Child of Fire' the first 'Rebel Moon' movie?

Former Imperium soldier Kora (Sofia Boutella) pulled together an unlikely team of rebels including General Titus (Djimon Hounsou), Nemesis (Bae Doona), Tarak (Staz Nair) and Darrian Bloodaxe (Ray Fisher). The crew overcame the usual impossible odds and even betrayal by mercenary pilot Kai ( Charlie Hunnam ) to deliver a major blow against the oppressive regime ruled by Regent Balisarius (Fra Fee).

In the ultimate showdown, Kora stabbed deliciously evil Admiral Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein), crushed his head and knocked him 2,000 feet, falling to certain death. Kai also earned the death the traitor deserved, removing the biggest Hollywood star from the cast lineup.

Critics panned 'Rebel Moon,' but how did 'A Child of Fire' perform on Netflix?

Critics revolted against the first "Rebel Moon," which earned a dismal 21% fresh reviews on Rotten Tomatoes (with a surprisingly low 57% audience score). Snyder dismisses the naysayers: "If people watch the movie, it doesn't matter what the critics say. It is what it is."

Gauging streaming movie successes, or flops, without traditional box-office metrics is a brave new world that's open to interpretation. But people did watch. Netflix cited 77.9 million views of "Rebel Moon," which debuted as the streaming service's No. 1 movie and remained in Netflix's global top 10 for four weeks.

During a recent " Joe Rogan Experience " podcast interview, Snyder improbably compared the numbers for "Rebel Moon" to the $1.4 billion "Barbie" theater haul.

"Those metrics don't hold water," says Ryan Scott, a SlashFilm.com box-office analyst . "And while it cracked the Netflix top 10, 'Rebel Moon' still ranked behind movies with titles you had to Google. It just wasn't nearly as big as Netflix wanted it to be."

What happens in 'Rebel Moon 2'? Lots of fast action scenes and slow-motion wheat harvesting

The action picks up right after the rebel victory. Noble somehow survives and is hellbent on revenge, urging his Imperium ship to Kora's peaceful adopted farming planet of Veldt.

There are five days before Noble's arrival. That's enough time for Kora and farmer rebel Gunnar (Michiel Huisman) to heat up their simmering love and for the warriors to train the farmers for war − all while harvesting wheat fields for the Imperium.

There are lingering shots, often in slow motion, of warriors like Hounsou's General Titus working the scythe in real northern California wheat fields. Snyder oversaw the 10 acres of wheat grown specifically for "Rebel Moon" and gets his money's worth in "Scargiver."

The farming and peace are cut short when Noble's ship arrives to bring another super-epic, supremely loud battle.

Critics' thoughts on the second film are not yet available: Reviews are embargoed until one minute before Friday's "Scargiver" release. Early reaction on social media has been mixed, with Gizmodo's Germain Lussier calling it "better than Part I."

What's up with that third 'Rebel Moon' film?

Snyder, known for his superhero movie director's cuts, plans to release R-rated versions of "Child of Fire" and "Scargiver." Snyder says he's completed the "adult, hard-R" versions, but is waiting for Netflix to set the streaming dates.

Snyder told USA TODAY last year that he'd be "comfortable" with six films in the 'Rebel Moon' franchise. However, Netflix has not greenlit a third movie, and the streaming giant has changed movie leadership. Dan Lin arrived as the new film chief on April 1.

"It seems tough to see a continuation of this franchise with these numbers and in this Hollywood environment," says Scott.

Sean O'Connell, managing editor at CinemaBlend and author of "Release the Synder Cut: The Crazy True Story Behind the Fight That Saved Zack Snyder's Justice League," says it will be a challenge for Snyder to make additional "Rebel Moon" films.

"But I've learned not to bet against Zack Snyder," says O'Connell. "Zack and his fans can make the impossible happen."

For his part, Snyder is "ready to go as far as I'm concerned" with the third movie already planned out.

"I'm excited to make some more movies," he says. "We're just waiting to see what everyone feels like in terms of what's next."

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Stolen – Netflix Review (3/5)

Posted by Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard | Apr 12, 2024 | 4 minutes

STOLEN on Netflix is a new crime drama from Sweden (org. title: Stöld ). More precisely, the heartbreaking story plays out in the Sámi community. Based on real events. Read our full  Stolen (2024) movie review here!

STOLEN is a new Netflix movie from Sweden that takes place in the Sámi community, so mostly Saami is spoken. Having this setting reminded me of the most recent  True Detective  setting . The two stories have nothing in common, except featuring indigenous people struggling to keep going. 

In this crime drama from Sweden (org. title: Stöld ), the plot plays out over more than a decade. A young girl witnesses something brutal as a child, but also experiences that the local Swedish police isn’t too interested in working the case. The runtime is 1 hour and 41 minutes, which feels a bit too long.

Continue reading our Stolen (2024) movie review below. Find it on Netflix from April 12, 2024.

The hatred of man

Stolen is based on a novel (I’ll get back to this later) and in this movie adaption, we see a young woman, Elsa (Elin Kristina Oskal), as she struggles to defend her indigenous heritage.

In fact, we meet her when she’s just a girl and witnesses a Swedish man (Martin Wallström of Mr. Robot ) killing her reindeer calf. And yes, there are several depictions of animal harm, which is something I loathe deeply!

But why would this Swedish man kill a baby reindeer ? Well, it turns out he’s just doing what he feels entitled to. He feels that the Sámi people are getting too much and this is his little rebellion.

Ten years down the line, the girl is a young woman and the man is none the wiser. They’re still both living in a world where xenophobia is on the rise and the constant and escalating climate change is threatening Elsa’s family’s reindeer herding.

We see young Sami people committing suicide when they can no longer bear the collective desperation. This is a story of revenge, but also of the struggle to just exist in a world where others want to be rid of you and your kind. And they feel that this is a very fair and just desire to have.

Based on real events

While the story in  Stolen may not be a direct depiction of something that happened, it is very much based on real events. The Sámi living in the region of Sápmi is located in the most Northern part of Sweden, Norway, and Finland.

While they do their best to be integrated when needed, they also still work the land as they have for centuries. Their main profession is reindeer herding, and they speak Saami now, though it was outlawed for quite some time.

Watching these indigenous people struggle to defend and maintain their heritage and traditions is brutal. Not least because we’ve seen white people try to eradicate indigenous people in the exact same way all over the world.

From Native Americans in North America to Aboriginals in Australia, and here the Saami in Scandinavia and Finland. Even my native Denmark has a brutal past of doing this to the people of Greenland.

As we’ve seen in more recent movies and series from North America, Australia , and Scandinavia, it is still  happening within this past century and even now.

Watch Stolen on Netflix now

Elle Márjá Eira is the director of  Stolen  (org. title: Stöld ) and this is her feature film directorial debut. She was part of  The 12th Man   in the music department and has written and directed several short films. The screenplay comes from Peter Birro, who has many acclaimed movies on his resume.

Stolen is based on the critically acclaimed novel of the same title by award-winning author Ann-Helén Laestadius. She is also attached to the project as an executive producer, so she’s part of the Netflix adaptation in that sense as well.

This is also a story that focuses on the tensions that come as a result of modern ideas and traditional culture not being able to co-exist. Especially when deeply rooted in patriarchal structures. In most cultures, someone along the line has realized that the best-suited should lead. Regardless of gender.

As we see in  Stolen , the alternative is having sons who feel forced to do something that they don’t want and daughters that will never be good enough. Even when they are the best at the family business.

Stolen is out on Netflix from April 12, 2024.

Director: Elle Márjá Eira Script:  Peter Birro Cast: Elin Kristina Oskal, Martin Wallström, Lars-Ánte Wasara, Ida Persson Labba, Pávva Pittja, Ingahilda Tapio, Magnus Kuhmunen, Simon Issát Marainen, Niilá Omma, Anne Lajla Westerfjell Kalstad

A young woman from Sweden’s Indigenous Sámi community tracks down a killer to settle a personal score in this emotional drama based on real events.

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About The Author

Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard

I write reviews and recaps on Heaven of Horror. And yes, it does happen that I find myself screaming, when watching a good horror movie. I love psychological horror, survival horror and kick-ass women. Also, I have a huge soft spot for a good horror-comedy. Oh yeah, and I absolutely HATE when animals are harmed in movies, so I will immediately think less of any movie, where animals are harmed for entertainment (even if the animals are just really good actors). Fortunately, horror doesn't use this nearly as much as comedy. And people assume horror lovers are the messed up ones. Go figure!

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Critic’s Pick

‘Civil War’ Review: We Have Met the Enemy and It Is Us. Again.

In Alex Garland’s tough new movie, a group of journalists led by Kirsten Dunst, as a photographer, travels a United States at war with itself.

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‘Civil War’ | Anatomy of a Scene

The writer and director alex garland narrates a sequence from his film..

“My name is Alex Garland and I’m the writer director of ‘Civil War’. So this particular clip is roughly around the halfway point of the movie and it’s these four journalists and they’re trying to get, in a very circuitous route, from New York to DC, and encountering various obstacles on the way. And this is one of those obstacles. What they find themselves stuck in is a battle between two snipers. And they are close to one of the snipers and the other sniper is somewhere unseen, but presumably in a large house that sits over a field and a hill. It’s a surrealist exchange and it’s surrounded by some very surrealist imagery, which is they’re, in broad daylight in broad sunshine, there’s no indication that we’re anywhere near winter in the filming. In fact, you can kind of tell it’s summer. But they’re surrounded by Christmas decorations. And in some ways, the Christmas decorations speak of a country, which is in disrepair, however silly it sounds. If you haven’t put away your Christmas decorations, clearly something isn’t going right.” “What’s going on?” “Someone in that house, they’re stuck. We’re stuck.” “And there’s a bit of imagery. It felt like it hit the right note. But the interesting thing about that imagery was that it was not production designed. We didn’t create it. We actually literally found it. We were driving along and we saw all of these Christmas decorations, basically exactly as they are in the film. They were about 100 yards away, just piled up by the side of the road. And it turned out, it was a guy who’d put on a winter wonderland festival. People had not dug his winter wonderland festival, and he’d gone bankrupt. And he had decided just to leave everything just strewn around on a farmer’s field, who was then absolutely furious. So in a way, there’s a loose parallel, which is the same implication that exists within the film exists within real life.” “You don’t understand a word I say. Yo. What’s over there in that house?” “Someone shooting.” “It’s to do with the fact that when things get extreme, the reasons why things got extreme no longer become relevant and the knife edge of the problem is all that really remains relevant. So it doesn’t actually matter, as it were, in this context, what side they’re fighting for or what the other person’s fighting for. It’s just reduced to a survival.”

By Manohla Dargis

A blunt, gut-twisting work of speculative fiction, “Civil War” opens with the United States at war with itself — literally, not just rhetorically. In Washington, D.C., the president is holed up in the White House; in a spookily depopulated New York, desperate people wait for water rations. It’s the near-future, and rooftop snipers, suicide bombers and wild-eyed randos are in the fight while an opposition faction with a two-star flag called the Western Forces, comprising Texas and California — as I said, this is speculative fiction — is leading the charge against what remains of the federal government. If you’re feeling triggered, you aren’t alone.

It’s mourning again in America, and it’s mesmerizingly, horribly gripping. Filled with bullets, consuming fires and terrific actors like Kirsten Dunst running for cover, the movie is a what-if nightmare stoked by memories of Jan. 6. As in what if the visions of some rioters had been realized, what if the nation was again broken by Civil War, what if the democratic experiment called America had come undone? If that sounds harrowing, you’re right. It’s one thing when a movie taps into childish fears with monsters under the bed; you’re eager to see what happens because you know how it will end (until the sequel). Adult fears are another matter.

In “Civil War,” the British filmmaker Alex Garland explores the unbearable if not the unthinkable, something he likes to do. A pop cultural savant, he made a splashy zeitgeist-ready debut with his 1996 best seller “The Beach,” a novel about a paradise that proves deadly, an evergreen metaphor for life and the basis for a silly film . That things in the world are not what they seem, and are often far worse, is a theme that Garland has continued pursuing in other dark fantasies, first as a screenwriter (“ 28 Days Later ”), and then as a writer-director (“ Ex Machina ”). His résumé is populated with zombies, clones and aliens, though reliably it is his outwardly ordinary characters you need to keep a closer watch on.

By the time “Civil War” opens, the fight has been raging for an undisclosed period yet long enough to have hollowed out cities and people’s faces alike. It’s unclear as to why the war started or who fired the first shot. Garland does scatter some hints; in one ugly scene, a militia type played by a jolting, scarily effective Jesse Plemons asks captives “what kind of American” they are. Yet whatever divisions preceded the conflict are left to your imagination, at least partly because Garland assumes you’ve been paying attention to recent events. Instead, he presents an outwardly and largely post-ideological landscape in which debates over policies, politics and American exceptionalism have been rendered moot by war.

‘Civil War’ Is Designed to Disturb You

One thing that remains familiar amid these ruins is the movie’s old-fashioned faith in journalism. Dunst, who’s sensational, plays Lee, a war photographer who works for Reuters alongside her friend, a reporter, Joel (the charismatic Wagner Moura). They’re in New York when you meet them, milling through a crowd anxiously waiting for water rations next to a protected tanker. It’s a fraught scene; the restless crowd is edging into mob panic, and Lee, camera in hand, is on high alert. As Garland’s own camera and Joel skitter about, Lee carves a path through the chaos, as if she knows exactly where she needs to be — and then a bomb goes off. By the time it does, an aspiring photojournalist, Jessie (Cailee Spaeny), is also in the mix.

The streamlined, insistently intimate story takes shape once Lee, Joel, Jessie and a veteran reporter, Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson), pile into a van and head to Washington. Joel and Lee are hoping to interview the president (Nick Offerman), and Sammy and Jessie are riding along largely so that Garland can make the trip more interesting. Sammy serves as a stabilizing force (Henderson fills the van with humanizing warmth), while Jessie plays the eager upstart Lee takes under her resentful wing. It’s a tidily balanced sampling that the actors, with Garland’s banter and via some cozy downtime, turn into flesh-and-blood personalities, people whose vulnerability feeds the escalating tension with each mile.

As the miles and hours pass, Garland adds diversions and hurdles, including a pair of playful colleagues, Tony and Bohai (Nelson Lee and Evan Lai), and some spooky dudes guarding a gas station. Garland shrewdly exploits the tense emptiness of the land, turning strangers into potential threats and pretty country roads into ominously ambiguous byways. Smartly, he also recurrently focuses on Lee’s face, a heartbreakingly hard mask that Dunst lets slip brilliantly. As the journey continues, Garland further sketches in the bigger picture — the dollar is near-worthless, the F.B.I. is gone — but for the most part, he focuses on his travelers and the engulfing violence, the smoke and the tracer fire that they often don’t notice until they do.

Despite some much-needed lulls (for you, for the narrative rhythm), “Civil War” is unremittingly brutal or at least it feels that way. Many contemporary thrillers are far more overtly gruesome than this one, partly because violence is one way unimaginative directors can put a distinctive spin on otherwise interchangeable material: Cue the artful fountains of arterial spray. Part of what makes the carnage here feel incessant and palpably realistic is that Garland, whose visual approach is generally unfussy, doesn’t embellish the violence, turning it into an ornament of his virtuosity. Instead, the violence is direct, at times shockingly casual and unsettling, so much so that its unpleasantness almost comes as a surprise.

If the violence feels more intense than in a typical genre shoot ’em up, it’s also because, I think, with “Civil War,” Garland has made the movie that’s long been workshopped in American political discourse and in mass culture, and which entered wider circulation on Jan. 6. The raw power of Garland’s vision unquestionably owes much to the vivid scenes that beamed across the world that day when rioters, some wearing T-shirts emblazoned with “ MAGA civil war ,” swarmed the Capitol. Even so, watching this movie, I also flashed on other times in which Americans have relitigated the Civil War directly and not, on the screen and in the streets.

Movies have played a role in that relitigation for more than a century, at times grotesquely. Two of the most famous films in history — D.W. Griffith’s 1915 racist epic “The Birth of a Nation” (which became a Ku Klux Klan recruitment tool) and the romantic 1939 melodrama “Gone With the Wind” — are monuments to white supremacy and the myth of the Southern Lost Cause. Both were critical and popular hits. In the decades since, filmmakers have returned to the Civil War era to tell other stories in films like “Glory,” “Lincoln” and “Django Unchained” that in addressing the American past inevitably engage with its present.

There are no lofty or reassuring speeches in “Civil War,” and the movie doesn’t speak to the better angels of our nature the way so many films try to. Hollywood’s longstanding, deeply American imperative for happy endings maintains an iron grip on movies, even in ostensibly independent productions. There’s no such possibility for that in “Civil War.” The very premise of Garland’s movie means that — no matter what happens when or if Lee and the rest reach Washington — a happy ending is impossible, which makes this very tough going. Rarely have I seen a movie that made me so acutely uncomfortable or watched an actor’s face that, like Dunst’s, expressed a nation’s soul-sickness so vividly that it felt like an X-ray.

Civil War Rated R for war violence and mass death. Running time: 1 hour 49 minutes. In theaters.

An earlier version of this review misidentified an organization in the Civil War in the movie. It is the Western Forces, not the Western Front.

How we handle corrections

Manohla Dargis is the chief film critic for The Times. More about Manohla Dargis

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Top Gun star Glen Powell stars in sexy trailer for Netflix movie Hit Man - and it already has rave reviews

The netflix movie will be released on 7 june.

It feels like we have been waiting forever for Netflix ’s upcoming movie Hit Man , and it looks like it’s going to be seriously good! The full-length trailer for the new film starring Glen Powell and Adria Arjona has finally been released - and we can’t believe that it is based on a true story! 

The director of School of Rock , Richard Linklater, is behind the new project, which stars Glen Powell as “strait-laced professor Gary Johnson”, a professor who moonlights as a fake hitman for the New Orleans Police Department. 

The synopsis reads: “Preternaturally gifted at inhabiting different guises and personalities to catch hapless people hoping to bump off their enemies, Gary descends into morally dubious territory when he finds himself attracted to one of those potential criminals, a beautiful young woman named Madison. As Madison falls for one of Gary’s hit man personas — the mysteriously sexy Ron — their steamy affair sets off a chain reaction of play-acting, deception, and escalating stakes.” 

The trailer shows the Anyone But You star don a series of different disguises as he meets with a variety of clients, while living a quiet life with two cats the rest of the time. 

The movie premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2023, and received an incredible 86 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes. Writing for The Daily Beast, Nick Schager wrote: “Hit Man is hot and hilarious, a winning combination amplified by a story that gets knottier at every turn.” 

Robbie Collin for The Daily Telegraph added: “Hit Man trips along on great writing, Linklater’s witty, light-touch direction and a rich sense of place, but what makes it especially pleasurable is Powell and Arjona’s naturally steamy rapport.” 

The movie is based on the 2001 long-read article Hit Man in Texas Monthly about Gary Johnson, a psychology professor who also worked as a staff investigator for the Harris County district attorney’s office. He would pose as a hitman for dozens of cases and meet with potential ‘clients’ who all wanted to kill someone in their lives, with the article listing everything from disgruntled bosses wanting to have an employee fired to warring spouses. 

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Speaking about Gary at the time, Houston lawyer Michael Hinton said: “He’s the perfect chameleon. Gary is a truly great performer who can turn into whatever he needs to be in whatever situation he finds himself. 

“He never gets flustered, and he never says the wrong thing. He’s somehow able to persuade people who are rich and not so rich, successful and not so successful, that he’s the real thing. He fools them every time.”

Glen opened up about wanting to play the role, telling The Wrap: “[Gary] was so compelling when he was on the mic, when he was in front of people…and then he would go home and he’d be with his cats.  What an interesting thing to have this duality. And it was that duality that sprung the thought behind this movie.”

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