There’s good news for everyone this election season: It’s almost over. We can’t guarantee that we’ll have a presidential winner on Election Day, but you don’t have to be glued to the results as they come in. There’s an easy way to escape the endless onslaught of incremental news by taking a few hours to Netflix and chill.
We’ve put together a list of the five great Netflix movies that you should stream this Election Day, and there’s something here for everyone, from action fans to romance and comedy lovers.
We also have guides to the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.
Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024)
For the better part of three decades, Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) have been two of Miami’s top cops in the Bad Boys franchise. But their world comes crashing down in Bad Boys: Ride or Die, because now Mike and Marcus are on the run from the police after being framed for crimes they didn’t commit. They made the mistake of sticking their necks out for their late captain, Conrad Howard (Joe Pantoliano), whose name was dragged through the mud posthumously.
Whoever tarnished Howard’s reputation with corruption charges can’t risk the truth being revealed, and that leaves Mike and Marcus wondering who among their colleagues can still be trusted to watch their backs. It’s a true “ride or die” situation for the boys, but they’ve been through worse.
Watch Bad Boys: Ride or Die on Netflix.
Van Helsing (2004)
Two decades before Deadpool & Wolverine, Hugh Jackman got a chance to headline a revival of the Universal monsters in Van Helsing. Writer and director Stephen Sommers — who previously re-launched The Mummy in 1999 — mixed comedy with action and horror in addition to drastically changing Jackman’s title character from the version of Van Helsing who appeared in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
In this incarnation, Gabriel Van Helsing’s not entirely sure about the man he used to be. But he has been tasked with taking down Dracula (Richard Roxburgh) once and for all alongside Anna Valerious (Kate Beckinsale). Yet even Van Helsing is overwhelmed by the sheer number of monsters waiting for him in Transylvania, including a werewolf (Will Kemp) and Frankenstein’s monster (Shuler Hensley).
Watch Van Helsing on Netflix.
Eurotrip (2004)
If American Pie took a road trip across the Atlantic Ocean, it would probably be a lot like Eurotrip. This teen sex comedy — which just turned 20 in 2024 — follows Scott “Scotty” Thomas (Scott Mechlowicz), a guy who has just been dumped by his cheating girlfriend, Fiona (Kristin Kreuk), in the most humiliating way possible. The reveal of who Fiona was cheating with is so funny that we’re not going to spoil it.
To get away from the disaster that his life has become, Scotty goes to Europe with his friends, Cooper Harris (Jacob Pitts), Jamie (Travis Wester), and Jenny (Michelle Trachtenberg). But what Scotty really wants out of this trip is a chance to make amends with his beautiful pen pal, Mieke Schmidt (Jessica Boehrs), whom he mistakenly believed was a man. Before Scotty and his friends get anywhere near Mieke, they’re going to get in a whole lot of trouble.
Watch Eurotrip on Netflix.
Anyone but You (2023)
For the rom-com lovers, Anyone but You should be a nice election day distraction. This is the film that elevated Twisters‘ Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney (Immaculate) to greater stardom, even though their characters are very much against getting together. Beatrice “Bea” Messina (Sweeney) and Ben (Powell) had a single date that ended badly, and they blame each other.
When Bea’s sister, Halle Spence (Hadley Robinson), plans a destination wedding in Sydney, Australia, Bea is dismayed that Ben is a guest of the other bride, Claudia (Alexandra Shipp). To get back at their respective exes, who are both at the wedding, Ben and Bea agree to pretend to be a couple. They just do it so well that things once again get complicated for them.
Watch Anyone But You on Netflix.
Edge of Tomorrow (2013)
How many times does Tom Cruise have to die to save the world? We lost count in Edge of Tomorrow, but it was enough times for Major William Cage (Cruise) to go from zero to hero. The problem is that no matter how many times Cage goes through his time loop, nothing seems to fundamentally change. Aliens are still invading the Earth, and they’re getting stronger each time the day repeats.
Sergeant Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt) is the one person alive who can appreciate what Cage is going through, since she was also exposed to the alien blood that gave him this ability. Since Rita no longer has the power to repeat the day, she passes along everything she knows about being a warrior to Cage. That only makes things harder for Cage, because he can see Rita’s fate, and it always ends badly. Catch this film first on Netflix, because it’s leaving the streamer on November 6.
Watch Edge of Tomorrow on Netflix.
