Labor Day is a great time to relax, sit back, and catch up with a few things on streaming. Even if you fire up Netflix and look for something to watch, that doesn’t necessarily make the decision about what to check out any easier.
We’ve done some of the hard work of making that decision for you, choosing a combination of great shows and movies that you can watch on Netflix right now. Pick something intriguing, and at least get it started on the holiday.
One Day (2024)
Adapted from a novel of the same name, One Day tells the story of two people as they fall in and out of love with one another over the course of years. We check in with them on the same day every year. Crucially, this show understands that some of those days are going to be more significant than others.
Swooningly romantic and heartbreaking, One Day is a show about the ways that our lives take shape day by day and how hard it can be to appreciate the sweep and scope of where we’ve wound up because of the smallness of each individual moment.
You can watch One Day on Netflix.
3 Body Problem (2024)
Adapted from a sprawling series of novels, 3 Body Problem tells the story of a group of people who suddenly find themselves at the center of what might well be an alien invasion. Although the novel is set primarily in China, 3 Body Problem internationalizes its story and also focuses on a much broader cross-section of characters.
The result is a show that, through its first season, manages to tell a genuinely different kind of sci-fi story than the ones we’re familiar with, even if it does ultimately wind its way back to an alien invasion.
You can watch 3 Body Problem on Netflix.
The Staircase (2004-2018)
A sprawling true crime documentary, The Staircase tells the story of Michael Peterson, a North Carolina author accused of murdering his wife on the staircase in their home. Over the course of more than a decade, we follow Peterson through the investigation and his eventual trial for murdering his wife.
This series has plenty of genuine twists and turns, but one of the best things about it is that, through it all, we don’t know for sure whether Peterson is guilty or not. You’ll likely find your opinion on the matter shifting with almost every episode.
You can watch The Staircase on Netflix.
The Departed (2006)
The movie that finally earned Martin Scorsese his Oscar love, The Departed has had a fascinating reputational evolution in the years since its release. The film is adapted from a Hong Kong movie called Infernal Affairs. The Departed tells the story of a mole for the Boston Police who infiltrates the mob and a mole for the mob who infiltrates the Boston Police.
As the two try to suss one another out, we see the ways their lives do and don’t intersect. Featuring a slew of the best actors on the planet and a few questionable Boston accents, The Departed is one of Scorsese’s most consistently entertaining movies.
You can watch The Deported on Netflix.
Jaws (1975)
The movie that created the summer blockbuster is still just as incredible 50 years later as it was at the time. There’s no better way to end the summer than Jaws, which tells the story of a small beach community that is rocked by a series of progressively more horrific shark attacks.
Directed by a young Steven Spielberg, Jaws foretold where Hollywood was headed. It’s a horror movie wrapped in a bright, shimmering passage, equal parts thrilling and terrifying. Thank god they couldn’t get that mechanical shark to work any better than it did.
You can watch Jaws on Netflix.
