The holidays are upon us. During this crazy time of year, where most of us aren’t sure if we’re coming or going, there’s nothing like a good movie to return us to earth. And guess what? Some of the very best movies are on Netflix. The O.G. streaming giant is home to thousands of popular movies and TV shows from every genre, stand-up specials from powerhouse comics like Bill Burr and Dave Chapelle, award-winning original content, and so much more. It all started with movies, though, and Netflix has come a long way from the days of mailing DVDs with no late fees (take that Blockbuster).
Finding the best movies on Netflix can be quite the task on a Saturday night. Fortunately, we know Netflix’s library inside and out and have put together this exhaustive guide for all the best movies you can watch on the platform this week. Whether you’re into poignant documentaries or Scorsese’s latest mobster flick, our list below has you covered.
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+.
Jurassic Park (1993)
Written by Michael Crichton and David Koepp (and an adaptation of Crichton’s source novel of the same name), our story follows paleontologist Dr. Allan Grant (Sam Neill), paleobotanist Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), and chaos theorist Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), three recruits to the island of Isla Nublar. The remote locale is home to industrialist John Hammond’s (Richard Attenborough) Jurassic Park, a safari park and scientific miracle of genome alchemy — the result being live dinosaurs. The crew we follow was hired to inspect the facility after one of the park’s dinosaurs killed an employee. During their tour, a massive storm hits, the grid goes down, and the dinosaurs become an all-too-real main attraction for Hammond’s guests. A film as famous as they come, Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park is a cinematic benchmark in both special effects and early CGI.
Rotten Tomatoes: 91%
Genre: Adventure, Action, Sci-Fi, Mystery, Thriller
Stars: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum
Director: Steven Spielberg
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 126 minutes
E.T. the Extra Terrestrial (1982)
When a group of alien botanists lands on Earth to explore, government forces swoop in, causing the visitors to take off in a hurry, leaving one of their own behind in the process. Frightened, the alien holes up in the backyard shed of 10-year-old Elliot (Henry Thomas) and his family. When Elliot discovers the creature, the two form an unbreakable bond. As the alien begins to learn the English language, he and Elliot decide he should go by “E.T.” The alien is finally able to communicate his story to his new friend, but not before the U.S. government comes knocking once more … this time for E.T. Steven Spielberg’s classic film won four Oscars, including Best Sound, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Effects Editing, and Best Original Score.
Rotten Tomatoes: 98%
Genre: Kids and Family, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Stars: Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Peter Coyote
Director: Steven Spielberg
Rating: PG
Runtime: 115 minutes
The Christmas Chronicles 2 (2020)
Who wouldn’t want more Santa Kurt? In the follow up to 2018’s The Christmas Chronicles, Kate Pierce (Darby Camp) is now an angsty teen, and she’s not happy with life. On holiday with her mother, stepfather, and younger stepbrother, Jack (Jahzir Bruno), in Mexico, Kate decides to flee her unhappy confines. It just so happens that Jack decides to tag along on her pilgrimage. It also just so happens that they’re magically transported back to the North Pole, and Mr. and Mrs. Claus are in trouble. An evil elf named Belsnickel (Julian Dennison) threatens to end Christmas, and it’s up to the Claus clan and Kate to set things straight. Christmas sequels aren’t the easiest to get right, but The Christmas Chronicles 2 manages to honor the magic of its predecessor while expanding on its mighty holiday mythos.
Rotten Tomatoes: 69%
Genre: Kids and Family, Fantasy, Comedy, Adventure
Stars: Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn, Darby Camp
Director: Chris Columbus
Rating: PG
Runtime: 115 minutes
Hillbilly Elegy (2020)
In Ron Howard’s Hillbilly Elegy, adapted from J.D. Vance’s memoir of the same name, Gabriel Basso stars as J.D., an Appalachian teen in the throes of familial hardship. His mother, Beverly (Amy Adams), struggles with a heroin addiction that puts a strain on the whole family. Bonnie (Glenn Close) is J.D.’s one saving grace, an endearing and maternal grandmother that wants the best for her troubled clan. Close and Adams are at the top of their game in this raw and emotional drama that puts us deep in the heartache and hardships of the Vance dynasty.
Rotten Tomatoes: 21%
Genre: Drama
Stars: Glenn Close, Amy Adams, Gabriel Basso
Director: Ron Howard
Rating: R
Runtime: 116 minutes
Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2017)
Based on Barry Crump’s novel Wild Pork and Watercress, Taika Waititi’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople stars Sam Neill and Julian Dennison as an unlikely foster-father/foster-child duo. After his adoption by the Faulkner family, Ricky (Dennison) attempts to settle into his new family, but tragic events scare the boy into the dense New Zealand wilderness. Hec (Neill), Ricky’s foster-parent, tracks the boy down but suffers a debilitating injury in the process. Bonding over their pasts and hope for a freer future, the pair decide to hide away in the brush together. But with a national manhunt underway to find the man and boy, how long can their odyssey truly last? Hunt for the Wilderpeople lives and breathes through Neill and Dennison’s onscreen chemistry, an acting partnership only deepened by Waititi’s rich and emotive script.
Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
Genre: Adventure, Comedy
Stars: Sam Neill, Julian Dennison, Rima Te Wiata
Director: Taika Waititi
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 101 minutes
Spotlight (2015)
An ensemble tour-de-force and a riveting true story are at the heart of Tom McCarthy’s Spotlight. In 2001, Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber) urges the Boston Globe’s “Spotlight” team to relaunch the team’s 30-year-old investigation of Friar John Geoghan, a priest accused of child molestation. When the Spotlight crew gets back to work, they begin unearthing a ring of corruption and cover-ups within the Boston Archdiocese. Winning Oscars for Best Picture and Best Writing, Spotlight sheds a light on the sordid events, but with sincere authenticity and respect for the journalists that did the horrific digging.
Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
Genre: Drama, Biography, Crime
Stars: Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams
Director: Tom McCarthy
Rating: R
Runtime: 128 minutes
Carol (2015)
Based on Patricia Highsmith’s 1952 novel The Price of Salt, Carol stars Cate Blanchett as the titular Carol Aird, a wealthy Manhattan woman, and Rooney Mara as Therese Belivet, an aspiring photographer and department store worker. Stars collide during the 1952 Christmas season when Carol pays a visit to Frankenberg’s, where Therese helps her with a holiday transaction for Carol’s daughter. Carol accidentally leaves her gloves behind, offering a romantically infatuated Therese with a way to get in touch with the esteemed socialite. What follows is a lurid tale of love, sexual identity, and the reality of gayness in a highly taboo era. Todd Haynes’ towering film is a lush performance piece, with Blanchett and Mara at the height of their powers.
Rotten Tomatoes: 94%
Genre: Drama, Romance
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Sarah Paulson
Director: Todd Haynes
Rating: R
Runtime: 118 minutes
Loving (2016)
Written and directed by Jeff Nichols, and inspired by the 2012 HBO documentary The Loving Story, Loving depicts the trials and tribulations of Richard (Joel Edgerton) and Mildred Loving (Ruth Negga), an interracial couple who wanted nothing more than to be wed. But after traveling from Virginia to Washington D.C., to get married, the couple is tracked down by their hometown authorities and charged with violating Virginia’s segregation laws. In order for their prison sentences to be thrown out, the couple must agree to vacate Virginia and not return for 25 years. But the couple doesn’t want to give up on their love. Ruth writes to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, which sets into motion one of the most vital Supreme Court cases in civil rights history.
Rotten Tomatoes: 89%
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Stars: Joel Edgerton, Ruth Negga, Nick Kroll
Director: Jeff Nichols
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 123 minutes
Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Adapted from Matthew Quick’s 2008 novel of the same name, David O. Russel’s Silver Linings Playbook is an ensemble tour de force with a stripped-down Bradley Cooper as its lead. When Patrick Solitano Jr. (Bradley Cooper) is released from eight months of intensive psychiatric care, he moves back in with his parents, Pat Sr. (Robert De Niro) and Dolores (Jacki Weaver). Intent on getting his wife back, Pat meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), a widowed woman with an unspecified disorder of her own. As she and Pat begin to bond, Tiffany asks Pat to enter a dance competition with her, a move that Pat is convinced will get him his wife back. A romantic comedy turned on its head and injected with emotional realism, Silver Linings Playbook explores love, family, and psychosis in ways that other filmmakers would never dare to.
Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Stars: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro
Director: David O. Russel
Rating: R
Runtime: 121 minutes
The Social Dilemma (2020)
Director Jeff Orlowski’s The Social Dilemma is an eye-opening docudrama that puts big tech like Google, Facebook, and Instagram under the microscope. Various talking heads (many ex-employees of big tech) weigh in on social media’s harmful implications — from algorithmic data mining to mental health detriments. The more one watches Orlowski’s film, the more questions one begins asking about their own social media exposure. The Social Dilemma doesn’t stray from its intent, leaving us with all kinds of things to think about (particularly our own social media accounts) once the credits roll.
Rotten Tomatoes: 88%
Genre: Documentary, Drama
Stars: Tristan Harris
Director: Jeff Orlowski
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 94 minutes
Yes, God, Yes (2020)
Stranger Things alum Natalia Dyer stars in writer-director Karen Maine’s Yes, God, Yes, a coming-of-age take on religious repression and burgeoning sexuality. Alice (Dyer) and her friend Laura (Francesa Reale) decide to attend their Catholic school’s annual Kirkos retreat. On their pilgrimage, Alice inadvertently enters into a promiscuous AOL chat when she tries to look up a particular sex act. This puts into place a daisy chain of rumors amongst Alice’s peers, with Alice’s genuine innocence and curiosity put uncomfortably in the middle. Based on her 2017 short film of the same name, Maine’s Yes, God, Yes is a nuanced and mature story of one teenager trying to wade her way through the stigma of sex, featuring a powerful lead performance from Dyer.
Rotten Tomatoes: 94%
Genre: Comedy
Stars: Natalia Dyer, Alisha Boe, Francesa Reale
Director: Karen Maine
Rating: R
Runtime: 78 minutes
Yes Man (2008)
In Peyton Reed’s Yes Man, comedy stalwart Jim Carrey stars as Carl, a repressed divorcee with zero hopes for the future. When Carl reluctantly attends a self-help seminar with his colleague Nick (John Michael Higgins), Carl becomes the center of attention for moderating help guru Terrence (Terence Stamp). Terrence makes Carl promise to answer “yes!” to every single opportunity that comes his way. Carl begins to do so, and many incredible things start falling into place, including a newfound romance with Allison (Zooey Deschanel), a woman he meets at a gas station. But how much “yes!” is too much? Carrey really sinks into his role as Carl, making Yes Man much more than a run-of-the-mill feel-good comedy.
Rotten Tomatoes: 46%
Genre: Comedy
Stars: Jim Carrey, Zooey Deschanel, Terence Stamp
Director: Peyton Reed
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 104 minutes
The Platform (2019)
When Goreng (Ivan Massagué) awakens in a concrete cell, unsure of how he even got there, his cellmate, Trimagasi (Zorion Eguileor), informs him that they’re imprisoned on level 48 of a “Vertical Self-Management Center” where food is delivered to its inhabitants from the top floor of cells to the bottom. No one knows how many levels there are in this prison, but occupants are randomly reassigned, often to the lower levels where the food rarely reaches. Goreng is reassigned several times through the course of this twisted thriller, which functions as a pulse-pounding capitalist and human rights commentary. The Platform delivers again and again as we’re forced to watch Goreng reckon with his imprisonment while fighting to simply survive.
Rotten Tomatoes: 79%
Genre: Sci-Fi, Mystery and Thriller
Stars: Ivan Massagué, Emilio Buale, Antonia San Juan
Director:Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia
Rating: R
Runtime: 94 minutes
The Impossible (2012)
On Christmas vacation in Thailand, the Bennett family, consisting of Maria (Naomi Watts), Henry (Ewan McGregor), Lucas (Tom Holland), Thomas (Samuel Joslin), and Simon (Oaklee Pendergast), are thrust right in the middle of the catastrophic 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The onslaught ravages the resort and separates the family. Maria and Simon awaken together, with Maria having sustained serious injuries. Henry, Thomas, and Simon have also survived but must wade through the chaos and literal ruins of the tsunami to try to find Maria and Simon. Directed by Juan Antonio Bayona, from a script by Sergio G. Sánchez, The Impossible features bold performances from its main ensemble, incredible set pieces, and a powerful true story at its core.
Rotten Tomatoes: 81%
Genre: Drama
Stars: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Tom Holland
Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 114 minutes
Easy A (2010)
When high-school student Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone) lies to her best friend Rhiannon (Aly Michalka) about a weekend date to get out of a camping trip, Olive’s fib balloons into some campus-wide grapevine talk about who Olive is sleeping with. Initially displeased with her newfound attention, Olive decides to embrace her new stigma of “school tramp” when Brandon (Dan Byrd), another one of her friends, asks Olive to pretend to sleep with him so his peers will stop questioning his sexuality. The two seal the deal (a few fake moans behind a closed bedroom door), much to the frustration of Marianne Bryant (Amanda Bynes), the school’s church group leader that wants to “cure” Olive. In retaliation, Olive turns Brandon’s bedroom fake-out into a business plan: Pretend to sleep with guys in exchange for gift cards and other rewards. A modernized adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Easy A seamlessly meshes comedy, drama, and that iconic teen-movie feeling.
Rotten Tomatoes: 85%
Genre: Comedy
Stars: Emma Stone, Amanda Bynes, Patricia Clarkson
Director: Will Gluck
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 93 minutes
Taxi Driver (1976)
An existential odyssey by seedy New York moonlight, Taxi Driver follows Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro), an unmoored Vietnam vet who takes a job as a cab driver. Reeling from the war, Travis becomes enraged by the world around him. From the pimps of child sex workers to the rhetoric of political movers and shakers, Travis’ inner rage begins to boil over, propelling the character from a quiet observer into a darkened vigilante. Directed by Martin Scorsese from a script by Paul Schrader, Taxi Driver helped to pour the template for gritty ’70s realism, serving as inspiration for such modern-day films as Joker and Nightcrawler (also featured in this roundup).
Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
Genre: Drama
Stars: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel
Director: Martin Scorsese
Rating: R
Runtime: 113 minutes
There Will Be Blood (2007)
Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood is a grim character study of one Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis), a burgeoning oil tycoon in early 20th-century California. Daniel is the type of man who would sell his soul to make a buck, which makes the arrival of Paul Sunday (Paul Dano) all the more serendipitous. The boy claims there is oil on his family’s property, and he’ll tell Daniel where it is for cash. The pair transact, and Daniel journeys to the town of Little Boston with his son H.W. (Dillon Freasier) to try and purchase the Sunday Ranch for drilling. What’s waiting for Daniel is a dastardly foe and his family’s cursed land. Or is Plainview the curse himself? There Will Be Blood is a two-hour-plus descent into a hell of business meets faith, featuring an Oscar-winning lead performance from Daniel Day-Lewis.
Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
Genre: Drama
Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Kevin J. O’ Connor
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Rating: R
Runtime: 158 minutes
The Hateful Eight (2015)
The year is 1877. When a blizzard rips through the mountain passes of Wyoming, a band of weary stagecoach travelers decides to hole up at Minnie’s Haberdashery. The pilgrims include bounty hunters John Ruth and Major Marquis Warren (Kurt Russell and Samuel L. Jackson, respectively); Ruth’s bounty, Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh), on her way to the noose; a Confederate loudmouth (Walton Goggins); and their stagecoach driver (James Parks). No one trusts each other, an issue only exacerbated when Minnie’s turns out to be occupied by several other stormbound folks. When personalities begin to clash, the eight occupants start picking sides and losing minds. Quentin Tarantino’s eighth film features a stellar cast, impressive visuals, and plenty of iconic Tarantino dialogue.
Rotten Tomatoes: 75%
Genre: Western
Stars: Kurt Russell, Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Rating: R
Runtime: 168 minutes
The Disaster Artist (2017)
James Franco directs, produces, and stars in The Disaster Artist, an adaptation of Greg Sestero (portrayed in the film by Dave Franco) and Tom Bissell’s non-fiction book of the same name. Both the novel and film are a chronicle of Sestero’s rollercoaster friendship with infamous cult film legend Tommy Wiseau (Franco), an enigmatic actor with Hollywood dreams and plenty of money to pursue them — although no one can figure out why he’s so rich. After being turned down for role after role, Tommy decides to write, direct, and star in his own film called The Room, a bizarre and disjointed melodrama that he also casts Greg in. As the film runs into continued troubles and delays (mostly because of Tommy’s inabilities as a filmmaker), tensions rise between Greg and Tommy, along with the rest of the cast and crew. Whether you’ve seen The Room or not, The Disaster Artist is a mesmerizing examination of one of the strangest film productions of all time.
Rotten Tomatoes: 91%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Stars: James Franco, Dave Franco, Seth Rogen, Alison Brie
Director: James Franco
Rating: R
Runtime: 103 minutes
Rebecca (2020)
In this 2020 Netflix adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s 1938 novel, Lily James is Mrs. de Winter, the new wife of a widowed aristocrat, Maxime de Winter (Armie Hammer). Post-nuptials, Maxime brings Mrs. de Winter back to his noble estate of Manderlay on the English coast. An idyllic romance quickly spirals into lies, secrets, and haunting memories as the phantom of Maxime’s first wife, Rebecca, looms large over the grandiose estate. Writer-director Ben Wheatley had a tough job on his hands, as the romance thriller’s first adaptation was handled none other than by the mystery maestro himself, Alfred Hitchcock. Wheatley’s 2020 iteration is a respectable homage to Hitchcock’s legendary film, but also a wholly new interpretation with powerful performances from the main talent.
Rotten Tomatoes: 47%
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Romance, Drama
Stars: Lily James, Armie Hammer, Kristin Scott Thomas
Director: Ben Wheatley
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 121 minutes
Midnight Special (2016)
Jeff Nichols’ Midnight Special is a brilliant love letter to sci-fi chase films like Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind and John Carpenter’s Starman. The film follows Roy (Michael Shannon), Lucas (Joel Edgerton), and Roy’s son Alton (Jaeden Martell), a trio on the run from the FBI and religious extremists. Why? It turns out that Alton has otherworldly abilities. Glowing blue eyes, literal earthquakes, and satellite explosions are just a few of his tricks. Roadbound by night, it’s up to Roy and Lucas to get the boy to a predetermined latitude-longitude destination in Florida, coordinates spoken in tongues by Alton that the zealots have deciphered as scripture. In essence, Alton is their messiah, and he’s missing. Gripping from start to finish and featuring one of Sam Shepard’s last performances as the prolific cult leader, Midnight Special is a perfect weekend watch.
Rotten Tomatoes: 84%
Genre: Sci-Fi, Mystery, Thriller
Stars: Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst
Director: Jeff Nichols
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 121 minutes
Fargo (1996)
This isn’t the only Coen Brothers film on this list, and that’s no surprise. The writer-director duo has been turning cinema on its head for close to the last 40 years. Four decades later, and Fargo still stands tall as one the greatest examples of Coen cinema: Ordinary people in extraordinary situations. In Fargo, our fidgety everyman is Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy), an Oldsmobile sales manager in some serious debt. Jerry’s idea for getting out of it: Hire two ex-cons to kidnap his wife so his wealthy father-in-law can drop some bounty money. Of course, this is a Coen film, and nothing goes according to plan. Bodies start piling, which launches police chief Marge Gunderson (Francis McDormand) into a homicide investigation. Almost immediately, her trail leads to Jerry, now under watch from both police and two unstable madmen. Iconic beyond its years, in 2014, writer-director-producer Noah Hawley created Fargo (the anthology series) for FX. Season 4 stars Chris Rock and Jason Schwartzman and airs on FX, with new episodes on Hulu the next day.
Rotten Tomatoes: 94%
Genre: Drama, Mystery and Thriller, Crime, Comedy
Stars: Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi
Director: Joel and Ethan Coen
Rating: R
Runtime: 97 minutes
Knock Down the House (2019)
The 2018 race for Congress was something of a pivotal moment in American politics. In this documentary, you’ll go behind the scenes of the campaigns of four determined women, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as they launch grassroots campaigns against well-funded incumbents and seemingly insurmountable odds. Knock Down the House is even more relevant today as Cori Bush recently succeeded in winning the Democratic nomination for Congress in Missouri. Yes, it’s political. But if you have a problem with watching ordinary, idealistic people who want to fight for their communities running for office against disinterested, complacent, fat-cat politicians who have long forgotten their communities, then we don’t know what to tell you.
Rotten Tomatoes: 99%
Genre: Documentary
Stars: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Cori Bush, Joe Crowley
Director: Rachel Lears
Rating: NR
Runtime: 86 minutes
Moonlight (2016)
2016’s Best Picture winner established Mahershala Ali as a tour de force actor and introduced the world to the brilliant Ashton Sanders. Moonlight attempts to convey the Black experience through three defining chapters of one man’s life. Chiron (Sanders) grows up in Miami, surrounded by a community that is full of love and support despite the crack epidemic that is ravaging it. As Chiron is pulled from his biological family by drug abuse and misunderstanding, he’s guided into manhood by Juan (Ali), a man who recognizes the struggles Chiron will face as a gay Black man. Juan tries to help Chiron find peace with his identity.
Rotten Tomatoes: 98%
Genre: Drama, Romance
Stars: Mahershala Ali, Ashton Sanders, Alex R. Little
Director: Barry Jenkins
Rating: R
Runtime: 111 minutes
Marriage Story (2019)
Although it opens on a couple describing all the reasons they love each other, Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story quickly dispels the illusion: This is a story of divorce, of a couple coming to the ultimate realization that the futures they want are simply incompatible and the messy process of sorting out where they go from there. The couple in question is playwright Charlie Barber (Adam Driver) and his actress wife Nicole (Scarlett Johansson). Nicole wants to move back to Los Angeles where a new job awaits, while Charlie would rather state in New York. It’s the latest in a series of tensions, the one that finally breaks them, and the two lawyer up, marshaling their grievances as they divvy up what remains of their life together.
Rotten Tomatoes: 95%
Genre: Drama
Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver, Laura Dern
Director: Noah Baumbach
Rating: R
Runtime: 137 minutes
Da 5 Bloods (2020)
Spike Lee’s newest joint is a Netflix special. Da 5 Bloods tells the story of four African American Vietnam vets who return to Vietnam years after the war to search for the remains of their fallen squad leader. On top of that, though, they’re also seeking buried treasure they believe was left behind after the war. As they battle man and nature alike, they’re forced to confront the lasting ravages of the Vietnam War.
Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
Genre: Drama
Stars: Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters, Chadwick Boseman
Director: Spike Lee
Rating: R
Runtime: 156 minutes
Lady Bird (2017)
One of the few truly great movies to actually capture how high schoolers think, feel, and interact with one another and their elders, Lady Bird is an outstanding directorial debut for Greta Gerwig. Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) has a complicated relationship with her mother (Laurie Metcalf) because they are almost exactly the same in their opinionated, strong-willed ways. Of course, they don’t see it like that. Lady Bird’s mom works tirelessly to keep her family afloat after her husband loses his job, yet Lady Bird wants to fly away to college on the East Coast. Set in Sacramento in 2002, Lady Bird uses one family’s crossroads as a lens into a shifting American economic and cultural landscape.
Rotten Tomatoes: 99%
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Timothee Chalamet
Director: Greta Gerwig
Rating: R
Runtime: 93 minutes
Back to the Future (1985)
Back to the Future is a sci-fi movie that has become so iconic that even blockbuster movies like Avengers: Endgame still openly refer back to it! Michael J. Fox had the cinematic role of his life as Marty McFly, a teenager whose best friend, Dr. Emmett “Doc” Brown (Christopher Lloyd), famously turned a DeLorean into a time machine. After witnessing Doc’s murder in 1985, Marty finds himself trapped 30 years earlier in 1955. To get home, Marty has to convince Doc’s younger self to help him. In the meantime, Marty has to convince his smitten mother, Lorraine (Lea Thompson), to date his father, George (Crispin Glover), or else Marty is history. Now, that’s heavy.
Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
Genre: Sci-fi, comedy
Stars: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Rating: PG
Runtime: 116 minutes
The Devil All the Time (2020)
Written and directed by Antonio Campos (James White, Martha Marcy May Marlene), The Devil All the Time is American Gothic at its most perverse. Set in rural southern Ohio and West Virginia after World War II, the story follows Arvin Russell (Tom Holland), a young man who is determined to protect his loved ones against the corruption and violence that plagues his town. From complete strangers to the most powerful institutions in the area, brutality is pervasive as everyone seeks desperately to assert their own small bits of power in a broken — but recovering — world. Things aren’t getting better for everyone, however, and The Devil All the Time takes its time exploring the generational trauma and cold truths that inhabit this sinister town.
Rotten Tomatoes: 65%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery and Thriller
Stars: Robert Pattinson, Tom Holland, Sebastian Stan
Director: Antonio Campos
Rating: R
Runtime: 138 minutes
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Do you often find that having one Spider-Man just isn’t enough? 2018’s hit animated movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse offers you all the Spider-Men, -Women, and -Pigs you could ask for (and then some). The film follows Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) — who fans of the Ultimate Marvel universe will recognize — a teen who gets a bite from a radioactive spider and develops spider-esque superpowers. When Wilson Fisk (Liev Schreiber) uses an experimental machine to try and move between dimensions, Miles ends up meeting a weary, older version of Peter Parker (Jake Johnson) who agrees to help Miles deal with the universe-collision crisis. They also get some help from an assortment of alternate-universe Spider-Folks, including Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), anime-inspired Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn), and hardboiled gumshoe Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage). Into the Spider-Verse is an adventurous, action movie with a funny superhero, one that has no qualms about throwing weird stuff at the audience.
Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
Genre: Action-adventure
Stars: Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld
Director: Peter Ramsey, Bob Persichetti, Rodney Rothman
Rating: PG
Runtime: 117 minutes
The Irishman (2019)
Martin Scorsese helped codify the gangster genre with films like Goodfellas and Casino, and now he’s returning to the genre with The Irishman, a film that plays many of the same notes as earlier gangster stories, but in a minor key. Based on historical events, the film follows Frank eventually doing jobs for crime boss Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci). Over the years, Sheeran grows closer to union leader Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino), becoming his bodyguard and confidante, which leaves him in an awkward position when the mafia decides Hoffa is more trouble than he’s worth. The Irishman is a meditative crime drama, exploring the lives of its outlaw characters over decades of their lives; stripped of the usual glamor, it emphasizes the slow, routine corruption that drags Sheeran down.
Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
Genre: Drama
Stars: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci
Director: Martin Scorsese
Rating: R
Runtime: 209 minutes
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)
This film adaptation of Jenny Han’s popular young adult novel of the same title became one of Netflix’s biggest rom-com hits. Lara Jean Song Covey’s love life goes from imaginary to completely out of control when the love letters she’s written for every boy she’s ever loved are all mysterious mailed out. Now, five boys suddenly know Lara either had or has a crush on them — and they’re interested.
Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
Genre: Comedy
Stars: Lana Condor, Noah Centineo, Janel Parrish
Director: Susan Johnson
Rating: NR
Runtime: 100 minutes
I Lost My Body (2019)
Based on the novel Happy Hand, this beautifully animated French fantasy movie depicts the story of a severed hand setting out to reconnect with its body. In a hair-raising escapade across Paris, the hand fends off pigeons and rats to reunite with its owner, Naoufel. Guided by memories of Naoufel and his love for Gabrielle provides a poetic backdrop for what caused the hand’s initial separation, while the film artfully paints towards a reunion.
Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
Genre: Animation, Drama, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Stars: Hakim Faris, Victoire De Bois, Patrick d’Assumçao
Director: Jérémy Clapin
Rating: NR
Runtime: 81 minutes
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)
Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is a slacker, but he is also a hopeless romantic rocker. He may not have a job, but he slaps the bass for his band, Sex Bob-omb, and that’s enough for him. That is, until he locks eyes with Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Instantly smitten, Scott sets off to win her heart. Unfortunately, Ramona’s ex-boyfriends are all psychotic and cannot handle the thought of her being with another man. Now, Scott will have to do battle with all of Ramona’s insane exes, from vegan-powered rock gods to sinister skateboarders, to win her heart. Here’s our list of the best romance movies on Netflix if you’re looking for more like this.
Rotten Tomatoes: 82%
Genre: Action & Adventure, Comedy, Romance
Stars: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kieran Culkin
Director: Edgar Wright
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 113 minutes
Roma (2018)
Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma opens quietly, the camera staring, motionless, at a tile floor as the credits play; eventually, water pours over the floor, as the sound of a mop spills in from just offscreen. It’s a boldly mundane opening, fitting for a film about an ordinary woman. Roma follows Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), a maid working in the household of a wealthy doctor, Antonio (Fernando Grediaga) and his wife, Sofia (Marina de Tavira). Cleo cleans the house, tends to the children, and keeps the household running as Antonio and Sofia’s marriage strains. Cleo is the type of character typically relegated to the background of stories like this, but Cuaron makes her the focus, depicting her daily labor and struggles with a surprise pregnancy and unreliable lover. It’s a beautiful film, delicately composed and shot in stark black and white.
Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
Genre: Drama
Stars: Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Rating: R
Runtime: 148 minutes
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
What’s better than a new Western from the Coen brothers? How about six? The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is a sextet of short films, all set in the Wild West. They follow different characters through wild plots that explore the themes of human depravity and cosmic justice (or injustice) that recur so often in the Coens’ works. The stories and protagonists vary wildly. The eponymous sequence follows Buster Scruggs (Tim Blake Nelson), a sharpshooting, guitar-slinging cowboy roaming the West and singing of his adventures. In another, a lonely prospector (Tom Waits) digs for his fortune. The stories in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs fall on the surreal end of the Coen spectrum — they’re somewhat comical, occasionally brutal folk tales that don’t always leave the viewer feeling they’ve learned a lesson. Here’s our list of the best comedies on Netflix to browse if you’re looking for more in this genre.
Rotten Tomatoes: 90%
Genre: Comedy-drama
Stars: Liam Neeson, James Franco, Tim Blake Nelson
Director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 133 minutes
Enola Holmes (2020)
So, you thought Sherlock Holmes was played out? Well, you thought wrong, because you didn’t know he had a little sister. Millie Bobby Brown shines as the title character in this action-packed, fun-filled twist on the classic Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stories. When her mother turns up mysteriously missing, teenage Enola Holmes hits the trail to find her — something her more famous brother is simply too preoccupied to do. As she sniffs out clues, Enola discovers she might just have as much as, or even more of, a knack for this sleuthing thing than her brother, slowly uncovering a dangerous conspiracy that threatens to rattle the English aristocracy.
Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
Genre: Action, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Stars: Millie Bobby Brown, Helena Bonham Carter, Henry Cavill
Director: Harry Bradbeer
Rating: NR
Runtime: 92 minutes
Shadow (2018)
Legendary Chinese director Zhang Yimou followed up his misbegotten The Great Wall with 2018’s Shadow, a beautiful return to form. The film begins when Commander Ziyu (Deng Chao) is defeated in a duel with enemy commander Yang Cang (Hu Jun), losing an important city in the process. This infuriates Ziyu’s king, who demotes Ziyu to commoner status and tries desperately to reclaim the city. Unbeknownst to the king, the actual Ziyu is on the verge of death after the duel, replaced by a body double who must now train to beat Yang Cang. Shadow is a historical epic of grand scope, heavy on intrigue and stylish combat sequences accented by a stark color palette.
Rotten Tomatoes: 95%
Genre: Drama
Stars: Deng Chao, Sun Li, Ryan Cheng
Director: Zhang Yimou
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 116 minutes
Being John Malkovich (1999)
One of the weirder movies to come out of the ’90s, Being John Malkovich is what you get when Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman join forces. Puppeteer Craig Schwartz (John Cusack) is having money problems, so he takes a temp job in an office building. One day, he accidentally discovers a small door behind a cabinet. It just so happens that the door leads to the center of the mind of John Malkovich, star of such films as Con Air, The Killing Fields, and In The Line of Fire. Craig realizes that when he enters the portal, he can actually become Malkovich for a brief spell. Suddenly inspired, he and his coworker Maxine (Catherine Keener) decide to charge admission to spend 15 minutes inside the head of a Hollywood celebrity. While Malkovich (who plays himself, of course) realizes something is happening to him, he can’t do anything to stop it. But as Craig, Maxine, and Craig’s wife Lotte all begin to spend too much time in Malkovich’s head, they soon find that the lines of reality are blurred and feel their romantic attachments and infatuations change seemingly by the moment.
Rotten Tomatoes: 93%
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Stars: John Malkovich, Cameron Diaz, John Cusack
Director: Spike Jonze
Rating: R
Runtime: 112 minutes
Nightcrawler (2014)
Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a driven young man who is desperate to find work in the high-octane world of Los Angeles crime journalism. After discovering a group of freelance camera crews who film crashes, fires, murder, and other mayhem around the city, Lou muscles his way into this world, known as nightcrawling. Now, every police siren equals a possible cash windfall, and Lou begins to see victims as another payday. Aided by veteran newswoman Nina (Rene Russo), Lou thrives in the blood-sport of local TV news, eventually becoming the star of his own story.
Rotten Tomatoes: 95%
Genre: Mystery, Drama
Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed
Director: Dan Gilroy
Rating: R
Runtime: 117 minutes
Ravenous (2017)
Ravenous (originally titled Les Affamés) begins after a mysterious plague has annihilated much of Quebec, turning its victims into shrieking, flesh-eating monsters. The story follows various survivors who eventually band together to fight back the horde, but despite the familiar plot, this isn’t a typical zombie movie; it is a deliberately paced, eerily beautiful horror movie. The protagonist is a man named Bonin (Marc-Andre Grondin), who wanders the countryside, finding other survivors and slaying zombies. As the group grows, the film gives each character proper development, so they feel fully-fleshed out, unlike the stock survivors of many a zombie film. While the film has its gory moments, Ravenous frequently employs an atmosphere of dread built through uncanny imagery, such as when the zombies congregate before a shrine made of furniture.
Rotten Tomatoes: 87%
Genre: Horror
Stars: Marc-Andre Grondin, Monia Chokri
Director: Robin Aubert
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 103 minutes
Uncut Gems (2019)
Uncut Gems is not for the faint-hearted. The Safdie Brothers’ drama about a gambling-addicted jeweler is a relentlessly intense, high-stress ride through the world of high stakes gambling. Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler) is a charismatic New York City jeweler who is always on the lookout for the next big score. When NBA All-Star Kevin Garnett takes an interest in Howard’s most recent high-value acquisition, believing it brings him luck, Sandler makes a series of high-stakes bets that could lead to the windfall of a lifetime. Unfortunately, not everyone in his life is willing to wait for that windfall. Howard has to perform a precarious balancing act between business, family, debt collectors, and more to get the payoff.
Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
Genre: Drama
Stars: Adam Sandler, LaKeith Stanfield, Kevin Garnett
Director: Josh Safdie, Benny Safdie
Rating: R
Runtime: 135 minutes
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
Pan’s Labyrinth is a breathtakingly beautiful and heart-wrenchingly tragic film. Winner of three Academy Awards (on six nominations), Pan‘s Labyrinth launched director Guillermo del Toro onto the American awards show radar and introduced audiences to the blend of sci-fi, horror, and surrealistic elements that characterize his style. Set in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, the film follows an imaginative young girl who also may just be a princess of an underground kingdom. Cast aside by her cruel, militaristic stepfather and isolated from her mother, Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) entertains herself on the grounds of their home in the Spanish countryside. When she stumbles upon a stone labyrinth presided over by a suspicious faun named Pan (Doug Jones), she is asked to complete three life-threatening tasks to prove she is the mythical princess, returned to reclaim her kingdom. Ofelia’s journey is expertly foiled by a guerrilla resistance to the rule of fascist Francisco Franco and the crumbling fragility of her newly formed family.
Rotten Tomatoes: 95%
Genre: Drama, fantasy
Stars: Ivana Baquero, Sergi López
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Rating: R
Runtime: 115 minutes
I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020)
Writer-director Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Synecdoche, New York) is at his most delightfully weird in this Netflix Original. This time- and the perspective-bending story follows a young, nameless woman on a road trip to her new boyfriend’s parent’s house in the middle of a blizzard. When she gets there, she finds the parents (Toni Collette, David Thewlis) are extremely weird, and the house seems to exist in some kind of surreal alternate reality where time and character morph with abandon. Alternatively strange, hilarious, and constantly thought-provoking, I’m Thinking of Ending Things is powered by strong writing and outstanding performances from all the actors involved.
Rotten Tomatoes: 82%
Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery & Suspense
Stars: Jessie Buckley, Jesse Plemons, Toni Collette, David Thewlis
Director: Charlie Kaufman
Rating: R
Runtime: 134 minutes
The Lobster (2015)
Dating is stressful enough in a world of apps and algorithms designed to reduce humans to their crucial data points. What if you had the added pressure of knowing that, if you spend too much time single, society will deem you unfit and transform you into an animal? That’s the premise of Yorgos Lanthimos’ strange, unwieldy black comedy The Lobster. After his wife divorces him, David (Colin Farrell) goes to a retreat where single people can mingle and hopefully find a partner, lest they be turned into an animal (of their own choosing, to be fair). As David skitters from prospect to prospect in search of a lover, he must adopt an increasingly performative persona. The Lobster conjures a bleak dating dystopia, where all the awkward rituals of dating are pushed to soul-shredding extremes, but it still manages to be funny, albeit in a pitch-black way.
Rotten Tomatoes: 87%
Genre: Comedy, drama, romance
Stars: Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Rating: R
Runtime: 119 minutes
Okja (2017)
From Korean director Bong Joon-ho (Parasite), this Netflix original follows Mija (Seo Hyun), a young South Korean girl who, for ten years, has served as caretaker and companion to Okja, a massive, pig-like animal. When the Mirando Corporation kidnaps Okja and transports her to New York, CEO Lucy Mirando (Tilda Swinton) begins making big plans for Mija’s friend — ones that will not end well for Okja. Mija sets off on an adventure across the planet to save her best friend, crossing paths with capitalists, protesters, and consumers, each with their own agendas for Okja. Okja paints a grim, provocative portrait of capitalism and consumerism at its absolute worst. It’s at once a scathing criticism of the cruelty of the meat industry and the short-sighted hypocrisy of even the most well-intentioned people.
Rotten Tomatoes: 86%
Genre: Action-adventure
Stars: Seo Hyun, Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano
Director: Bong Joon-ho
Rating: NR
Runtime: 118 minutes
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Few collaborations are quite so exciting as Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman, and few finished products so absolutely exceed the initial hype. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind thrives with the best of both creators; Gondry’s surrealistic vision showing off through distorted, forbidden memories and Kaufman’s script digging mercilessly into the film’s two protagonists. Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet are more than up to the challenges of this profound film about love, autonomy, and memory. Carrey plays Joel Barish, a man who discovers that his ex-girlfriend Clementine (Winslet) has had her memories of their relationship erased via an experimental procedure performed by Dr. Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson). Bitter and upset, Joel resolves to do the same. But as the procedure begins, he quickly realizes this isn’t at all what he wanted and struggles subconsciously to retain his memories of Clementine rather than lose her forever.
Rotten Tomatoes: 93%
Genre: Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
Stars: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Tom Wilkinson, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood
Director: Michel Gondry
Rating: R
Runtime: 108 minutes
The Social Network (2010)
Everybody knows Facebook now, but once upon a time, it was just a controversial little idea in a Harvard student’s head. Or, multiple Harvard students’s heads, depending on who you ask. Written at Aaron Sorkin’s traditionally breakneck pace, The Social Network tells the story of how Facebook rose from obscurity to become the most revolutionary social phenomenon of all time. With dueling perspectives and clashing truths, The Social Network examines how Mark Zuckerberg’s stubborn myopia led to a culture of deception and backstabbing in Facebook’s early days as he sought to consolidate control over what he believed, rightly, had the potential to be the most valuable company in the world.
Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
Genre: Drama
Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Armie Hammer, Justin Timberlake
Director: David Fincher
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 126 minutes
The Old Guard (2020)
Netflix goes superhero in this action-packed flick about a secret organization of immortals who have protected the Earth from extinction for centuries. But when they are set up on an emergency mission, their powers are mistakenly exposed to the world. Now, they must work together to ensure none of the various powerful competing interests can control them for personal or monetary gain.
Rotten Tomatoes: 81%
Genre: Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Stars: Charlize Theron, KiKi Layne, Chiwetel Ejiofor
Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood
Rating: R
Runtime: 125 minutes
13th (2016)
Ava DuVernay’s documentary on the 13th amendment and the enduring legacy of slavery in the United States is one of the most gut-wrenching and socially important films of all time. It’s a must-see for everyone, especially in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the social movements it reinvigorated. The 13th amendment of the U.S. Constitution reads, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.” If you see a glaring loophole there, you’re right. DuVernay argues that the 13th amendment makes slavery permissible for criminals, has effectively fueled mass criminalization and the prison industrial complex in the 21st century, and emboldened politicians to weaponize law enforcement against African Americans. It’s an incredibly convincing argument.
Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
Genre: Documentary
Stars: Michelle Alexander, Van Jones
Director: Ava DuVernay
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 100 minutes
The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (2017)
David France’s The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson explores, ostensibly, a death. Johnson, a self-identified drag queen and pillar of LGBT activism, died in 1993. Her body was found floating in the Hudson River, and police ruled the death a suicide, a story many who knew Johnson doubted. France’s film follows activist Victoria Cruz as she seeks evidence to reopen Johnson’s case, but the documentary is not just a true-crime story. The film delves into the history of the gay rights movement, particularly the Stonewall riot, and how different factions in the movement are often at odds. It’s an insightful documentary, even if it doesn’t solve the central cold case.
Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
Genre: Documentary
Stars: Kurt Wolfe, Sue Yacka, Catherine Shugrue Dos Santos
Director: David France
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 105 minutes
Snowpiercer (2013)
Now a show on TNT, Snowpiercer originally served as Oscar-winning Korean director Bong Joon Ho’s (Parasite) introduction to American audiences. After a failed global-warming experiment backfires, killing off most life on the planet, all of the world’s survivors live onboard Snowpiercer, a train that travels the globe via a perpetual-motion engine. But although most people are gone, society lives on as normal, with a massive wealth and quality of life disparity between the rich at the front of the train and the poor in the back. When cryptic messages begin appearing on board, the most disadvantaged passengers begin to foment revolt, hurling the train toward disaster.
Rotten Tomatoes: 94%
Genre: Action & Adventure
Stars: Chris Evans, Song Kang Ho, Jamie Bell
Director: Bong Joon Ho
Rating: R
Runtime: 126 minutes
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