Netflix’s streaming service features a library packed with original films, critical and commercial gems like blockbusters and Oscar-winners, horror films, and indie darlings perfect for your next movie night. But, with so many great movies to watch on Netflix comes the headache of choosing which flick fits your binge-watching mood.
Do you want a Netflix original or a star-studded whodunnit? Maybe you’re in the mood for an animated movie or an action-packed Bollywood adventure? Does a horror movie that doubles as nightmare fuel sound tempting?
Whatever kind of story you’re looking to escape into, you’ll find it on our best streaming movies on Netflix list. So without further ado, here are our picks for the 50 best movies on Netflix streaming right now.
Last updated on October 1, 2023.
1. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Year: 2022
Cast: Daniel Craig, Janelle Monáe, Edward Norton, Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista, Kathryn Hahn
Genre: Mystery, Comedy, Crime
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 140 minutes
Director: Rian Johnson
Trailer: Watch here
Writer/director Rian Johnson delivers a deliriously fun follow-up to his breakout 2019 murder-mystery with Daniel Craig returning to play famed detective Benoit Blanc. This time around, Blanc, equipped with a colorful new wardrobe and his same slow, Southern drawl, heads to Greece to investigate a murder amongst a group of friends reuniting for an island holiday. Most of the culprits are out-of-touch elites – to the nth degree – with stars like Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista, Kathryn Hahn, and Edward Norton playing supermodels, Twitch streamers, politicians, and tech moguls who are as ridiculous as they are corrupt.
2. They Cloned Tyrone
Year: 2023
Cast: John Boyega, Teyonah Parris, Jamie Foxx
Genre: Comedy, Mystery
Rating: R
Runtime: 121 minutes
Director: Juel Taylor
Trailer: Watch here
Barbenheimer weekend might’ve pushed this gem to the bottom of the binge-watch list but let’s rectify that now. Pulled from a Black List script from first-time director Juel Taylor, this slick, riotous crime caper is an amalgam of genres – one part mind-bending sci-fi, one part Blaxploitation homage, mixed with ’70s era funk, infused with Nancy Drew references, and propped up by stellar comedic performances from Jamie Foxx and Teyonah Parris. John Boyega’s in here too, playing a reluctant hero tasked with saving his block from a secret government conspiracy that’s somehow twisted up in fried chicken recipe, grape drink offerings, and hair relaxer. It’s the best original movie to come from the streamer in a long time.
3. Heat
Year: 1995
Cast: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Val Kilmer
Genre: Action, Crime
Rating: R
Runtime: 170 minutes
Director: Michael Mann
Trailer: Watch here
De Niro vs. Pacino hotness rankings aside, both actors give career-best performances in this Michael Mann-directed crime drama about a group of world-class thieves trying to evade a dogged Los Angeles Police Department detective. De Niro plays Neil McCauley, a calculating criminal operating under a strict code. Pacino plays Lieutenant Vincent Hanna, a seasoned officer committed to bringing McCauley in even as his personal life crumbles around him. The two engage in a thrilling game of cat-and-mouse that tests both men’s resolve and allows Pacino and De Niro to deliver some of their best work.
4. Bridesmaids
Year: 2011
Cast: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy
Genre: Comedy
Rating: R
Runtime: 125 minutes
Director: Paul Feig
Trailer: Watch here
Whatever the opposite of bro-comedy is, this movie is that. A triumph of a film that proved women could be gross and funny on-screen when it dropped over a decade ago, Bridesmaids is an insightful look at the complexities of female friendship wrapped up in failed bachelorette trips and public bouts of diarrhea. Wiig plays Annie, a middle-aged woman with a failed bakery who lives with two roommates while Rudolph plays Lillian, her best friend who’s about to get married. Their friendship is tested when Helen, Lillian’s newest bridesmaid, begins taking over Annie’s maid of honor duties.
5. The Woman King
Year: 2022
Cast: Viola Davis, Lashana Lynch, Thuso Mbedu
Genre: Historical Drama, Action
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 135 minutes
Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood
Trailer: Watch here
Gina Prince-Bythewood’s action-packed historical epic was one of the best films of the year — even if the Academy Awards forgot it existed come nominations time. Viola Davis transforms herself into a formidable warrior named Nanisca who leads the Agojie, an all-female unit of warriors in the Kingdom of Dahomey in the 18th century. The film follows the recruitment of a rebellious young girl named Nawi (Thuso Mbedu) into their ranks, playing up the brutal training regimen, vicious war tactics, and unrivaled influence that earned them the nickname the “Dahomey Amazons.” Come for the powerhouse performances and intense action sequences, stay for literally everything Lashana Lynch does here.
6. Da 5 Bloods
Year: 2020
Cast: Delroy Lindo, Chadwick Boseman, Jonathan Majors
Genre: War, Drama
Rating: R
Runtime: 154 minutes
Director: Spike Lee
Trailer: Watch here
Any Spike Lee joint is worth a watch, but this genre-bending thriller about a group of black Vietnam War vets returning to the battlefield decades later feels especially timely. That’s because Lee manages to shed light on a little-known part of our shared history: the way our country treated Black soldiers returning from the war, but he also raises the stakes with a subplot that includes a buried treasure hunt and a heartwrenching mission to retrieve the remains of a fallen comrade. The cast, which includes Black Panther’s Chadwick Boseman in one of his final roles, is brilliant, the story is gripping, and the direction is top-notch.
7. Easy A
Year: 2010
Cast: Emma Stone, Penn Badgley, Stanley Tucci
Genre: Comedy
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 92 minutes
Director: Will Gluck
Trailer: Watch here
This teen comedy officially put Emma Stone on the map, handing her the lead in a modern-day retelling of The Scarlet Letter — just without most of the Puritanical bullsh*t and witchcraft slander. Stone plays Olive, a fairly clean-cut student who sheds her good-girl image when she pretends to have sex with a friend at a party. She starts trading imaginary sex for clout (and gift cards) but her growing reputation begins to wreak havoc on her friendships and romantic life. Stone has enviable leading-lady status here and she’s supported by a terrific cast.
8. The Nice Guys
Year: 2016
Cast: Ryan Goslin, Russell Crowe, Angourie Rice
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Rating: R
Runtime: 116 minutes
Director: Shane Black
Trailer: Watch here
Both Ryan Gosling and Russel Crowe are known more for their dramatic chops than their comedy skills but this 70s-era crime caper proves they can ham it up with the best of them. Gosling plays Holland March, a single dad and sh*tty detective struggling to make ends meet and avoid the bottom of yet another bottle. Crowe plays Jackson Healy, the gruff, no-nonsense guy you call when you want a problem to disappear. Their goals align when a young girl goes missing and adult film stars start turning up dead but it’s their fairly-odd-couple dynamic that’s the most entertaining element here.
9. RRR
Year: 2022
Cast: N. T. Rama Rao Jr., Ram Charan
Genre: Action, Drama
Rating: Not Rated
Runtime: 187 minutes
Director: S.S. Rajamouli
Trailer: Watch here
This Bollywood epic recounts the real-life story of Indian revolutionaries, Alluri Sitarama Raju (Charan) and Komaram Bheem (Rama Rao). The pair fought against the British Raj, i.e. the British government that controlled India in the 1920s. The film imagines their friendship before both men eventually joined the war effort – complete with musical numbers, CGI tigers, and some of the most mind-blowing action scenes we’ve ever seen. Seriously, Marvel, you’ve got some work to do.
10. All Quiet On the Western Front
Year: 2022
Cast: Daniel Brühl, Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch
Genre: War, Drama
Rating: R
Runtime: 148 minutes
Director: Edward Berger
Trailer: Watch here
Sometimes the best argument against war is to show it fully, in all its brutality and heartbreak, and inevitable devastation. That’s what this film does well, following the story of a young, idealistic German boy who enlists to serve his country during World War I. Instead of finding glory and honor on the battlefield, he and his friends witness unimaginable horrors while struggling to survive in a wasteland created by man’s greed and insatiable appetite for violence.
11. Mean Girls
Year: 2004
Cast: Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried, Lizzy Caplan
Genre: Comedy
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 97 minutes
Director: Mark Waters
Trailer: Watch here
Few teen comedies do justice to the nightmarish journey of navigating high school as a teenage girl but this Tina Fey-scripted coming-of-age story is in a league of its own. Lindsay Lohan plays Cady, the new girl at school who learns the lay of the land quickly, embedding herself in a clique of popular girls called The Plastics led by a vicious Queen Bee named Regina George (an excellent Rachel McAdams). As Cady tries to take down The Plastics from the inside, she slowly morphs into one of them, assuming control of the group and losing her sense of self — and her few real friends — along the way. Come for the cliched high school tropes done right, stay for Amy Poehler playing a “cool mom.”
12. Phantom Thread
Year: 2017
Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lesley Manville, Vicky Krieps
Genre: Drama, Romance
Rating: R
Runtime: 130 minutes
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Trailer: Watch here
There’s toxic romance and then there’s the relationship between Reynold Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Alma Elson (Vicky Krieps). Woodcock is an in-demand dressmaker for London’s upper crust, crafting gorgeous designs for high society snobs and royalty alike in the 1950s. When he meets Alma, a waitress at a country restaurant, she quickly becomes his lover, his muse, and eventually, his wife. But Woodcock is demanding and unmoving in his pursuit of perfectionism, something that takes its toll on their relationship and forces Alma to adapt in ingenious, slightly sinister ways.
13. Bullet Train
Year: 2022
Cast: Brad Pitt, Brian Tyree Henry, Joey King, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Sandra Bullock
Genre: Action, Comedy
Rating: R
Runtime: 127 minutes
Director: David Leitch
Trailer: Watch here
This fast-paced action thriller is loaded with talent, quick-witted comedy, and some impressively choreographed stunt sequences, which is really all you can ask for from a premise that boils down to “assassins fighting on a high-speed train.” Brad Pitt is one such hitman, a gun-averse bucket-hat-wearing courier charged with pilfering a briefcase. He’s thwarted by a couple of British brothers (an excellent Brian Tyree Henry and Aaron Taylor Johnson), a Cartel henchman (Bad Bunny), a scheming kid (Joey King), and a Yakuza boss (Michael Shannon) that’s somehow weaved all of these killers into his web of revenge.
14. Annihilation
Year: 2018
Cast: Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson, Gina Rodriguez
Genre: Sci-fi, Drama
Rating: R
Runtime: 115 minutes
Director: Alex Garland
Trailer: Watch here
Natalie Portman leads this cast of badass women investigating a natural phenomenon that is slowly invading Earth. Portman plays Lena, a biologist who leads a team of women consisting of a psychologist (Jennifer Jason Leigh), a scientist (Tessa Thompson), and a paramedic (Gina Rodriguez) into “The Shimmer,” a quarantined zone mutated by alien DNA that seems to be transforming matter at will and spreading further each day. Past teams, including one led by Lena’s husband (Oscar Isaac), have disappeared in The Shimmer and Lena goes searching for a clue as to what happened to them and how she can save her husband — who returned changed from his mission. The entire journey is filled with bizarre happenings tied to meta-commentary about evolution and the human condition but honestly, the coolest thing about this science fiction movie is its cast and the kick-ass characters they play.
15. The Irishman
Year: 2019
Cast: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci
Genre: Biography, Crime
Rating: R
Runtime: 209 minutes
Director: Martin Scorsese
Trailer: Watch here
Martin Scorsese delivers another cinematic triumph, this time for Netflix and with the help of some familiar faces. Robert De Niro and Al Pacino team up (again) for this crime drama based on actual events. De Niro plays Frank Sheeran a World War II vet who finds work as a hitman for the mob. Pacino plays notorious Teamster Jimmy Hoffa, a man who frequently found himself on the wrong side of the law and the criminals he worked with. The film charts the pair’s partnership over the years while injecting some historical milestones for context. It’s heavy and impressively cast and everything you’d expect a Scorsese passion project to be, with some interesting de-aging CGI that does its best to show the scope of Scorsese’s storytelling.
16. If Beale Street Could Talk
Year: 2018
Cast: KiKi Layne, Regina King, Stephan James
Genre: Drama, Romance
Rating: R
Runtime: 119 minutes
Director: Barry Jenkins
Trailer: Watch here
Barry Jenkins excels at bringing the Black experience to the big screen with an authenticity that is rarely matched by his fellow filmmakers. He did it with Moonlight, and he does it here with this adaptation of a piece from James Baldwin’s iconography. Told in a nonlinear style, the film recounts the romance of Tish and Fonny, two young Black lovers living in 1970s New York. When Fonny is accused of a heinous crime, Tish and her family fight to prove his innocence. The film stars KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Regina King, and more. All in all, the story is heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time, and King puts in an Oscar-winning performance as Tish’s devoted mother.
17. Rocky
Year: 1976
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Burt Young, Talia Shire
Genre: Sports, Drama
Rating: PG
Runtime: 120 minutes
Director: John G. Avildsen
Trailer: Watch here
One of the greatest sports films of all time, Rocky helped put Sylvester Stallone on the map. Stallone plays a small-time boxer from Philly looking to break out of his working-class background and be a contender. When he gets the rare opportunity to fight in a heavy-weight match against an infamous Russian opponent, Rocky trains harder than ever before, battling against his class, his background, and his self-doubt to go the distance.
18. Call Me By Your Name
Year: 2017
Cast: Timothee Chalamet, Armie Hammer, Michael Stuhlbarg
Genre: Drama, Romance
Rating: R
Runtime: 132 minutes
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Trailer: Watch here
If you can look past the Armie Hammer-sized elephant in the room, this gorgeously-shot coming-of-age film is one of the most bittersweet love stories you’ll see on-screen right now. Timothee Chalamet gives a leading man performance as Elio, a teenage student on a summer holiday with his father in Italy. He falls for the older Oliver (Hammer) who works for his dad as a research assistant and the two begin a passionate, secret affair that burns hot and bright and eventually breaks the poor kid’s heart in a way we can all relate to.
19. Emily The Criminal
Year: 2022
Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Theo Rossi
Genre: Crime, Thriller
Rating: R
Runtime: 97 minutes
Director: John Patton Ford
Trailer: Watch here
Aubrey Plaza turns in a mesmerizing performance as the criminal in the title of this tense and tight crime thriller. Plaza’s Emily is a recent college grad plagued by debt (who can’t relate, tbh?) who’s given up on using her actual degree in the hopes of making money to pay off her outrageous loan interest each month via a catering contract job. When that doesn’t foot the entire bill she’s turned onto a less-than-legal scam enterprise that sees her creating fake credit cards, selling TVs out of her four-door sedan, facing off against junkies with boxcutters, and stealing luxury vehicles. Her descent into a life filled with felonies is swift, anxiety-inducing, and a bit too believable for comfort.
20. Reservoir Dogs
Year: 1992
Cast: Tim Roth, Harvey Keitel
Genre: Crime, Thriller
Rating: R
Runtime: 99 minutes
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Trailer: Watch here
Quentin Tarantino recruits Tim Roth and Harvey Keitel for this crime thriller about a jewelry heist gone wrong. Full of shootouts, violence, and pop culture references, the film follows a group of criminals who suspect one of their own might be working for the cops. There are plenty of twists and inventive action sequences to keep you guessing until the end
21. The Fast and the Furious
Year: 2001
Starring: Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster
Genre: Action, Crime
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 103 minutes
Director: Rob Cohen
Trailer: Watch here
Before Vin Diesel and company became globe-trotting vehicular mercenaries, they were just a couple of low-level street racers trying to rip off DVD players in The Fast and the Furious. In this almost quaint first film that started it all, Paul Walker stars as Brian O’Conner, an undercover cop trying to infiltrate Dominic Toretto’s crew before their next vehicular heist. Instead, Brian finds himself getting pulled even further into Dom’s world after falling for his sister Mia (Jordana Brewster). Strap in for an absolutely electric performance from Diesel in the role that launched him, and the whole franchise, into super stardom.
22. Enola Holmes
Year: 2020
Cast: Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, Sam Claflin
Genre: Action, Adventure
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 123 minutes
Director: Harry Bradbeer
Trailer: Watch here
Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, and Sam Claflin are among the stars cast in this gender-flopped take on the classic detective adventure. Brown plays the titular Enola, a young woman whose mother vanishes in the night, putting her on a crash course with Viscounts and her two older brothers — one the famous investigator, the other an uptight prick. Brown is perfectly cast and watching her venture across the English countryside via train, bike, and motorcar while solving crime and serving wicked clap backs to period sexism is more fun than we can accurately convey.
23. Homecoming: A Film By Beyoncé
Year: 2019
Cast: Beyonce, Jay-Z
Genre: Documentary
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 137 minutes
Director: Beyonce, Ed Burke
Trailer: Watch here
Beyoncé’s history-making Coachella performance was enough to temporarily rename the music festival Beychella, but fans who couldn’t afford to see Queen Bey perform live get a backstage pass to the show with this doc. Are there killer performances, musical mash-ups, and dance routines? Sure. But what really makes this music doc stand out besides the talent of its star is the intimate look fans are given into Beyoncé’s personal life, from her surprise pregnancy to her struggle to get in shape before the event and all the in-between madness and heartbreak.
24. Bo Burnham: Inside
Year: 2021
Cast: Bo Burnham
Genre: Comedy, Music
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 87 minutes
Director: Bo Burnham
Trailer: Watch here
Bo Burnham distills our collective quarantined experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, writing, directing, starring in, composing, and editing this bleak-yet-hilarious bit of performance art that might be the most exciting, inventive thing we’ve seen yet. Is it a movie, a stand-up routine, or a comedy special? We really don’t know, but it’s damn funny so we’re putting it on this list. The self-deprecating humor and catchy tunes are here of course, but Burnham goes darker, crafting complete bangers about everything from the white savior complex to cancel culture, toxic masculinity, depression, and global economic inequality.
25. Lawless
Year: 2012
Cast: Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain, Shia LaBeouf, Jason Clarke
Genre: Crime, Drama
Rating: R
Runtime: 116 minutes
Director: John Hillcoat
Trailer: Watch here
Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain, and Shia LaBeouf star in this period gangster drama about a family of moonshiners who go up against a deranged lawman. Hardy plays Forrest, the eldest Bondurant, who operates an illegal liquor delivery service during prohibition times. His brothers Jack (LaBeouf) and Howard (Jason Clarke) provide the muscle, but when a dogged special deputy Guy Pierce) comes to town to shut the business down, things get bloody, quick.
26. Trial of the Chicago 7
Year: 2020
Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Jeremy Strong, Sacha Baron Cohen, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
Genre: History, Drama
Rating: R
Runtime: 129 minutes
Director: Aaron Sorkin
Trailer: Watch here
Aaron Sorkin’s star-studded courtroom drama delivers a handful of ridiculously good performances from its impressive cast – a lineup that includes everyone from Succession’s Jeremy Strong to Sacha Baron Cohen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Keaton, Eddie Redmayne, and Watchmen breakout Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. The film follows the true story of a group of anti-Vietnam War protesters charged with conspiracy counts and inciting riots during a demonstration at the 1968 Democratic Convention. If you’d like to gauge how unsettling and absorbing this movie is beforehand, word has it that Strong asked Sorkin to tear-gas him for a scene so, yeah, it’s an intense watch.
27. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Year: 2020
Cast: Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Taylour Paige, Colman Domingo
Genre: Music, Drama
Rating: R
Runtime: 94 minutes
Director: George C. Wolfe
Trailer: Watch here
This dramatic interpretation of August Wilson’s iconic play rightly earned considerable awards buzz when it was released just a couple of years ago. That’s mainly due to Viola Davis, who turns in a stunning performance as the legendary Blues singer, and the late Chadwick Boseman, who plays a frustrated young Jazz musician whose ambition disrupts a fateful recording session. It’s tense and contained in a way that suits its source material but it feels even more relevant now than when Wilson first wrote it.
28. Lady Chatterley’s Lover
Year: 2022
Cast: Emma Corrin, Jack O’Connell
Genre: Drama, Romance
Rating: R
Runtime: 126 minutes
Director: Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre
Trailer: Watch here
Emma Corrin and Jack O’Connell deliver a dazzling display of chemistry in this adaptation of a classic novel that feels as scandalous and searing as its source material. Corrin plays Connie, the titular Lady Chatterley, a young woman who marries a rich aristocrat and finds her life to be increasingly dull and restrictive. O’Connell plays Oliver, the gamekeeper of her husband’s estate. The pair begin a forbidden affair that had dire consequences for both and, while the sex scenes are plenty, it’s the bond between Connie and Oliver – and what it says about the class divide and sexist societal expectations – that really holds your attention.
29. I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Year: 2020
Cast: Jessie Buckley, Jesse Plemons, David Thewlis, Toni Collette
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Rating: R
Runtime: 134 minutes
Director: Charlie Kaufman
Trailer: Watch here
Charlie Kaufman’s latest film is based on a book of the same name and stars Chernobyl’s Jessie Buckley as a young woman meeting her boyfriend’s parents for the first time — which normally would be a happy event except she’s secretly been planning to break up the with the guy. That guy is Jesse Plemons, who seems to be in everything these days, and along with Toni Collette and David Thewlis who play his parents, they make for hellish dinner mates. There’s a sinister vibe permeating everything about this straightforward plot so if you think you know how this ends, let us be the first to tell you: You don’t have a clue.
30. Black Hawk Down
Year: 2001
Cast: Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Eric Bana
Genre: War, Drama
Rating: R
Runtime: 144 minutes
Director: Ridley Scott
Trailer: Watch here
This Ridley Scott military epic spotlights the perils of modern warfare, telling the true story of the 160 soldiers dropped into Mogadishu in October 1993. The mission was to capture two top lieutenants of a rogue warlord. Instead, the U.S. military had to square off against an army of Somalis intent on taking their country back. Everyone from Josh Hartnett to Eric Bana serves in this one, but the star is Scott’s direction and impressive action sequences.
31. Pinocchio
Year: 2022
Cast: Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Gregory Mann, Cate Blanchett
Genre: Animation, Family
Rating: PG
Runtime: 117 minutes
Director: Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson
Trailer: Watch here
Guillermo del Toro’s trademark whimsy and love for dark fantasy make for a wonderful balancing act in this adaptation of a beloved childhood fairytale – told this time in stop-motion animation form. Of the two retellings fans were given this year, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is undoubtedly the superior work, rehashing the familiar plotline – a wooden puppet brought to life as the son of his carver – and setting it amidst the backdrop of Fascist Italy before and during the Second World War. It’s grim and mesmerizing and surprisingly moving, even if you can predict most of its trajectory.
32. Day Shift
Year: 2022
Cast: Jamie Foxx, Dave Franco
Genre: Comedy, Action
Rating: R
Runtime: 113 minutes
Director: J.J. Perry
Trailer: Watch here
Horror comes in many forms and not every “scary” movie has to terrify you. Some of them can make you laugh. And this film? This film does both. There are enough jumps and thrills to keep you guessing but the real draw is the chemistry between Jamie Foxx and Dave Franco. One plays a vampire-hunting single dad, the other, his tightly laced sidekick who is definitely not cut out for the stake life. Add in a pretty wild Snoop Dogg guest spot and some gory Buffy Summers-esque slaying action and you’ve got a recipe for a great horror comedy watch.
33. Crimson Peak
Year: 2015
Cast: Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska, Charlie Hunnam
Genre: Horror, Mystery
Rating: R
Runtime: 119 minutes
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Trailer: Watch here
Guillermo del Toro recruits Jessica Chastain and Tom Hiddleston for this gorgeous Gothic horror story that’s more unnerving than truly terrifying. That’s not a knock. Horror takes all kinds of forms, and this story, about a brother-sister duo with a deadly secret and a young woman trying to escape her tragic past, is certainly spine-chilling. Chastain has the most fun, playing a deranged spinster with sinister plans for her brother’s new wife – including poisoned porridge and a bit of ghostly gaslighting — but the real star here is the setting: a Victorian-era mansion that breathes, bleeds, and holds the memories of its unlucky former inhabitants. It’s beautiful – as is everything del Toro does – and it deserves more hype than it’s been afforded.
34. Dolemite Is My Name
Year: 2019
Cast: Eddie Murphy, Mike Epps, Keegan-Michael Key, Wesley Snipes
Genre: Comedy, Biography
Rating: R
Runtime: 118 minutes
Director: Craig Brewer
Trailer: Watch here
Eddie Murphy proves why he’s one of the definitive comics of his generation in this biopic about famed comedian, actor, and showman Rudy Ray Moore, better known as Dolemite to fans of his raunchy comedy albums, stand-up tours, and blaxploitation films. Murphy plays Moore at the beginning of his career when he was just a record store clerk looking to break out in the business. He’s joined by a cast that includes Keegan-Michael Key, Ron Cephas Jones, Tituss Burgess, and others, but it’s Murphy who shines here, giving possibly the best performance of his career as a man who will stop at nothing to pursue his dream.
35. The Power Of The Dog
Year: 2021
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee
Genre: Western, Drama
Rating: R
Runtime: 126 minutes
Director: Jane Campion
Trailer: Watch here
Based on the novel of the same name, this Jane Campion-directed Western features a handful of tour-de-force performances and an emotionally wrenching story about familial bonds. Benedict Cumberbatch plays Phil, one-half of a pair of ranching brothers who becomes bitter and verbally abusive to his brother’s new wife, Rose (Kirsten Dunst). Hiding who he is and angry that his brother seems to be occupied with his new life, Phil befriends Rose’s young son, Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee), and as their relationship progresses, both men learn undeniable truths about themselves.
36. The Lost Daughter
Year: 2021
Cast: Dakota Johnson, Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley
Genre: Drama
Rating: R
Runtime: 121 minutes
Director: Maggie Gyllenhaal
Trailer: Watch here
Dakota Johnson and Olivia Colman star in this tense drama from first-time director Maggie Gyllenhaal. Colman plays Leda, a woman on vacation in Greece who’s forced to confront her own shortcomings as a mother when she befriends Nina (Johnson) a new mom struggling to keep her head above water. The film teeters between the past, with Jessie Buckley playing Leda as a young, overwhelmed, absentee mom, and Colman, who makes increasingly problematic choices in her attempt to get closer to Nina and find some kind of redemption.
37. Always Be My Maybe
Year: 2019
Cast: Ali Wong, Randall Park
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 101 minutes
Director: Nahnatchka Khan
Trailer: Watch here
Ali Wong and Randall Park star in this short but sweet rom-com from Netflix that follows two childhood sweethearts — who’ve spent the last 15 years apart — trying to reconnect when one moves back home. Wong plays a successful chef opening a new restaurant in San Francisco while Park plays her former best friend still living at home and working for his dad. Both have some growing up to do, but the film eschews classic romcom tropes for bits that are funnier and more poignant than your average lighthearted fare. Oh, and there’s a Keanu Reeves cameo that’s just *chef’s kiss*.
38. Hustle
Year: 2022
Cast: Adam Sandler, Queen Latifah, Ben Foster, Juancho Hernangómez
Genre: Sports, Comedy
Rating: R
Runtime: 117 minutes
Director: Jeremiah Zagar
Trailer: Watch here
Adam Sandler has plenty of comedy favorites housed on Netflix but we’re highlighting this one because Sandler gets to channel his everyman charm in a sports story that lets his comedic sensibilities control the game. He plays Stanley Sugerman, an aging scout for the 76ers who discovers a potential NBA star during a pick-up game in Spain. Stanley risks his career and his family’s future to back the unknown player, eventually squaring off against his old boss and confronting his own troubled past to help someone else achieve their dreams on the court.
39. Stutz
Year: 2022
Cast: Jonah Hill, Phil Stutz
Genre: Documentary
Rating: R
Runtime: 96 minutes
Director: Jonah Hill
Trailer: Watch here
Actor and director Jonah Hill bravely invites fans into his own therapy sessions with psychiatrist Phil Stutz in this documentary that’s both incisive and lighthearted. Hill devotes much of the doc’s runtime to telling the story of Stutz’s life and his unique approach to therapy before the pair delve deep into the actor’s own psyche, including his increasing anxiety surrounding a key element of his profession. It’s heartwarming and raw in a way you likely wouldn’t expect, and it may change your perceptions about talk therapy and just how beneficial it truly can be.
40. Extraction 2
Year: 2023
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Golshifteh Farahani, Olga Kurylenko
Genre: Action, Thriller
Rating: R
Runtime: 123 minutes
Director: Sam Hargrave
Trailer: Watch here
In this sequel to the high-octane action thriller, Chris Hemsworth returns as Tyler Rake. After barely surviving the events of the first film, Tyler is pulled back into the action as the no-holds barred mercenary is pulled into another deadly mission that’s far more personal this time. Once again, Hemsworth slams heads and drops bodies as only Tyler Rake can in this explosive follow-up that somehow manages to up the ante in every way possible.
41. Titanic
Year: 1997
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet
Genre: Drama, Romance
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 194 minutes
Director: James Cameron
Trailer: Watch here
James Cameron crafted a cinematic masterpiece with this dramatic retelling of a terrible tragedy that stars fresh-faced, future Oscar-winners Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Before that fateful night when the R.M.S. Titanic struck an iceberg and sank, bringing a majority of its passengers and crew with it, Cameron tells a really beautiful love story between a young aristocrat (Winslet) and a poor artist (DiCaprio) that she has no hope of a future with. Some iconic lines, beautiful costumes, and a climactic final act that will leave you in tears make the film’s three-hour runtime more than worth it.
42. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Year: 2018
Cast: Tim Blake Nelson, Zoe Kazan, James Franco, Brendan Gleeson, Liam Neeson
Genre: Comedy, Musical
Rating: R
Runtime: 133 minutes
Director: Joel & Ethan Coen
Trailer: Watch here
The Coen brothers serve up a slick Western romp, one that serves as an ode to all of the tropes present in Hollywood’s best Wild West adaptations. Split into six parts, each story is loosely connected although thematically and tonally different. Tim Blake Nelson stars as the titular hero, a sharpshooting songster who takes part in the film’s opening musical portion. From there, we get stories of outlaws getting their due, prospectors mining for gold, ghostly hauntings, and wagon trails. Forget trying to follow the thread and simply enjoy the ride with this one.
43. tick, tick… BOOM!
Year: 2021
Cast: Andrew Garfield, Alexandra Shipp, Vanessa Hudgens, Robin de Jesus
Genre: Biography, Comedy, Drama
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 120 minutes
Director: Lin Manuel-Miranda
Trailer: Watch here
Lin Manuel-Miranda makes his directorial debut with this musical biopic about famed Broadway composer Jonathan Larson. Andrew Garfield completely transforms himself to play the tortured artist who would one day give us Rent. In this outing, Larson is still searching for inspiration for his next play while battling grief and a debilitating awareness of life’s deadline. The supporting cast (Vanessa Hudgens, Alexandra Shipp) are all good, but this is Garfield’s moment and he proves his multifaceted talent extends beyond his Marvel superhero contributions.
44. Beasts Of No Nation
Year: 2015
Cast: Abraham Attah, Idris Elba
Genre: Drama, War
Rating: R
Runtime: 137 minutes
Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga
Trailer: Watch here
Idris Elba is normally so talented and charismatic on-screen that it’s easy to forget he can play a morally-corrupt psychopath to perfection as he does in this harrowing war story based on a novel by the same name. As the Commandant, Elba recruits young boys to his rebel army fighting the government of Ghana by forcing them to undergo a brutal initiation process. Agu, a young boy who saw his father and older brother murdered at the hands of the government, is captured and indoctrinated into the Commandant’s army, suffering through terrible torture, both physical and psychological, before he eventually escapes. The film’s commitment to authenticity makes it hard to stomach at times, but there’s still a sense of hopefulness that makes its ending worth the watch.
45. The Good Nurse
Year: 2022
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Eddie Redmayne
Genre: Crime, Drama
Rating: R
Runtime: 123 minutes
Director: Tobias Lindholm
Trailer: Watch here
Based on the true crime book of the same name, The Good Nurse follows Jessica Chastain as Amy, a struggling single mom working as an ICU nurse. When she’s teamed up with the new hire, Charlie (Eddie Redmayne), Amy think she’s found a new friend whose experience helps lighten the load at work. But when patients start mysteriously dying, this taut thriller forces Amy to question everything she knows about Charlie and a health care system that’s all too willing to bury its secrets.
46. To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before
Year: 2018
Cast: Lana Condor, Noah Centineo, Janel Parrish, Israel Broussard
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 99 minutes
Director: Susan Johnson
Trailer: Watch here
A teen rom-com for the ages, this movie is based on a best-selling YA series that Netflix was smart enough to snatch up early on. Sequels have followed but none have managed to bottle the exact magic formula that this fun, light-hearted coming-of-age story boasts. Lana Condor plays Lara Jean Covey, a junior in high school who tends to write her crushes love letters without ever actually sending them. After those same letters are anonymously mailed, she’s forced to do damage control by carrying on a fake relationship with one of her former love interests who just happens to be one of the most popular kids at school. Blame this movie for Noah Centineo’s ascension to internet boyfriend status.
47. Luckiest Girl Alive
Year: 2022
Cast: Mila Kunis, Finn Wittrock, Connie Britton, Scoot McNairy
Genre: Thriller, Mystery
Rating: R
Runtime: 113 minutes
Director: Mike Barker
Trailer: Watch here
None of us are who we were in high school but that’s especially true for Ani Fanelli, a New York City journalist on the cusp of having it all. Mila Kunis plays Ani as tough, street-smart, and a bit of a black sheep amongst the Manhattan elite whose circles she now navigates while trying to keep a lock on her troubled and violent past. But, when a documentary crew comes knocking, hoping to get Ani’s take on an infamous school shooting incident she survived during her teenage years, old ghosts rise to the surface, threatening her carefully cultivated persona in ways she could never expect.
48. The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf
Year: 2021
Cast: Theo James, Mary McDonnell, Graham McTavish
Genre: Animation, Adventure
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 83 minutes
Director: Kwang Il Han
Trailer: Watch here
Netflix knew the IP goldmine they had with Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher series which is why it took practically no time at all to greenlight an animated and adventurous action film set in the same universe as Henry Cavill’s passion project. This story follows Geralt of Rivia’s mentor, Vesemir, from his humble beginnings as an impoverished child to a legendary monster-slayer. Becoming an infamous Witcher has its problems though and when a new creature threatens the brotherhood, Vesemir has to face the darkness in his own past to defeat it.
49. His House
Year: 2020
Cast: Wunmi Mosaku, Sope Dirisu, Matt Smith
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Rating: NR
Runtime: 93 minutes
Director: Remi Weekes
Trailer: Watch here
Lovecraft Country’s Wunmi Mosaku and House of the Dragon’s Matt Smith star in this British horror flick that paints a terrifying picture of life as an immigrant. Mosaku plays Rial while Sope Dirisu plays her husband, Bol. The couple flees their war-torn home in South Sudan, applying for refugee status in England and hoping for a better life. Instead, evil lurks, not only in their neighborhood but in their own home which houses ghosts that haunt the pair and force them to reckon with past injustice. Smith plays their case worker who ignores their concerns, forcing the couple to endure some nightmarish conditions before they can find peace in this bizarre and foreign setting.
TIE: 50. The Snowman
Year: 2017
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Rebecca Ferguson, Val Kilmer, J.K. Simmons
Genre: Crime, Thriller
Rating: R
Runtime: 119 minutes
Director: Thomas Alfredson
Trailer: Watch here
Alright, so this isn’t a good movie, but this stark, Scandinavian crime thriller is enjoying a bit of a resurgence thanks to Netflix and TikTok of all things. The reason being it’s a topsy-turvy, twisty-bendy murder puzzle whose pieces just don’t fit together until the very end. Michael Fassbender plays a Norwegian inspector named Harry Hole (no, really) who struggles to do his job after a break-up and a return to the bottle. To solve a string of gruesome murders with a frosty calling card, he pairs up with Rebecca Ferguson’s rebellious officer Katrine Bratt who has ulterior motives of her own. To reveal any more would be to spoil the ending, which is what you’re watching this whole saga for, to begin with.
TIE: 50. Arrival
Year: 2016
Starring: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker
Genre: Sci-Fi, Thriller
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 116 minutes
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Trailer: Watch here
In this cerebral alien invasion thriller filled with captivating visuals from iconic director Denis Villeneuve, Amy Adams stars as linguistic professor Dr. Louise Banks who finds herself tasked with deciphering a language unlike anything seen on Earth. As if the seemingly impossible task of learning an alien language wasn’t daunting enough, Louise is working against the clock as militaries around the world grow less interested in communication and more interested in eliminating the potential threats hovering over their heads.
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