Every time I open Netflix, I feel a mild sensation of both excitement and dread. There’s plenty of stuff to check out, but I actually have to pick something in order to get started. This weekend, I’ve pulled together three movies that are all great whether you’ve seen them once or hundreds of times.
They’re also movies that, for one reason or another, are underrated at the moment. Give them a look.
We also have guides to the best new movies to stream, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on HBO Max, and the best movies on Disney+.
Friday Night Lights (2004)
One of the great football movies ever made, Friday Night Lights tells the story of a small Texas town where high school football is the only thing that matters. When the star tailback hurts himself and is out for the season, all hope of the team making it to the state championship seems lost.
The team’s coach must then push his kids and the town to remember how important it is to believe in themselves. As cheesy as that might sound, Billy Bob Thornton knows how to turn the material into something genuinely revelatory. There’s a reason a whole show was based on the story at the center of this film.
You can watch Friday Night Lights on Netflix.
His Three Daughters (2024)
A genuinely heartbreaking movie, His Three Daughters follows three sisters as they navigate the death of the father they all shared. Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne, and Elizabeth Olsen all delivered textured performances here, and part of the point of the movie is that their dad meant very different things to each of them.
His Three Daughters is a movie about how easy it is to judge the people in your life and how hard it is to navigate difficult periods together without driving one another insane. Crucially, each actor receives plenty of breathing room.
You can watch His Three Daughters on Netflix.
Instant Family (2018)
Family comedy has largely been relegated to Netflix, but Instant Family is a reminder of how great this genre can be. The film stars Rose Byrne and Mark Wahlberg as a couple who decide to foster children after agreeing to start a family.
When they find themselves fostering three siblings, including a rebellious 15-year-old, they begin to realize how chaotic and complicated fostering children really is and how much they still have to learn. Byrne and Wahlberg are excellent and remarkably game. Instant Family is surprisingly sweet without losing any of its laughs.
You can watch Instant Family on Netflix.
