Although it’s now only one big player in an even bigger streaming market, Netflix still manages to crank out plenty of stuff to keep its users subscribing. That glut of movies to stream on Netflix is great if all you want is to never get bored, but it can make it difficult to figure out which things are actually worth your time, and which aren’t. If that’s your goal, we’ve got you covered. This list is a combination of great Netflix original movies, and great movies that Netflix is currently housing on its service, and it even includes a few great Netflix action movies. What unites these movies, though, is that they are the very best Netflix movies currently available.
If you’re looking for films to watch on some of Netflix’s competitors, we’ve also found the best Amazon Prime movies, the best Hulu movies, and the best Disney+ movies.
Athena (2022)
The opening minutes of Athena are some of the most visceral, astonishing filmmaking you’ll ever see. The film, which is set in France, follows three brothers who have their lives upended after their younger sibling dies. The movie is about radicalism, violence, and police brutality, and it’s about the way those who are disadvantaged often seem doomed to remain that way. It’s also a shockingly well-directed action movie filled with breathtaking sequences that only underscore just how shocking the violence on display often is.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)
Netflix took a fairly big swing on this German-language remake of All Quiet on the Western Front, and it paid off with one of the best movies on Netflix. The movie tells the story of a group of young soldiers who enlist to fight on behalf of Germany and ultimately discover the real toll that war takes on those who have to live their lives in the trenches. It’s stunningly filmed, and one of the best entries in the long line of immersive war movies from recent years. The Oscars agreed, and nominated it for nine total awards, including Best Picture. All Quiet on the Western Front is one of the most enduring war novels ever written, and this 2022 version reminds us how horrific war is, no matter what side you’re on.
How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
Don't Look Up (2021) new
Mank (2020)
Extraction (2020)
The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)
Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond - Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton (2017)
Marriage Story (2019)
Always Be My Maybe (2019)
The Social Dilemma (2020)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
The Power of the Dog (2021)
The Lost Daughter (2021)
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s first directorial effort was one of the best films of 2021, and it didn’t hurt that she had Olivia Colman by her side. Telling the story of a 40-something Harvard professor (Colman) who goes on vacation and remembers her time raising two daughters, The Lost Daughter is about the difficulty of trying to be a person and a mother, and it’s remarkably prickly about how taxing motherhood can be. Colman is a standout in the central role, but she’s surrounded by excellent performances from the likes of Jessie Buckley and Dakota Johnson as well.
tick, tick...BOOM! (2021)
Adapting a musical of the same name, tick, tick…BOOM! tells the story of Jonathan Larson (Andrew Garfield) in the years before he wrote Rent. With sharp direction from Lin-Manuel Miranda and an incredible soundtrack of Larson originals, the movie has more than enough frenetic energy to tell its story of a struggling artist with winsome verve. Andrew Garfield’s incredible central performance is the icing on the cake of this vibrant musical.
The Irishman (2019)
One of many late-period Martin Scorsese masterpieces, The Irishman tells the story of a mid-level gangster (Robert De Niro) who befriends Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino) and ultimately plays a role in his death. In Scorsese’s hands, though, this becomes an examination of the way one man alienates everyone around him, and ultimately finds himself old, friendless, and totally alone, stuck in a nursing home trying to convince everyone that his life as a gangster is worth remembering.
It Follows (2014)
The kind of horror movie that only comes around every couple of years, It Follows has a remarkably simple premise that it executes on beautifully. The film follows a young girl (Maika Monroe) who discovers she is haunted by a spectral presence that is transferred through sex. As she recruits her friends to take on the force following her, we get to watch along as she tries to find a way to defeat the ghostly presence without simply giving it to someone else.
The Disciple (2020)
Da 5 Bloods (2020)
If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)
The Wonder (2022)
Wendell & Wild (2022)
His House (2020)
Roma (2018)
A delicate portrait of a family, and specifically of that family’s housekeeper, Roma is one of the best autobiographical stories a filmmaker has ever told. That’s in part because Alfonso Cuaron is such a master of framing and shot composition, and in part because the script so delicately weaves together political and personal elements. Every performance in Roma is note-perfect, and although the movie is in Spanish, any English-speaking viewer who takes the time to watch it will undoubtedly be swept away by its sweeping visions of one family’s life in Mexico City in the 1970s.
Psycho (1960)
Editors' Recommendations
- These are the best shows on Apple TV+ to binge tonight
- The best shows on Amazon Prime to binge this week
- These are the best shows you can watch on Hulu right now
- The best movies on Disney+ to binge right now
- The best movies on Paramount Plus: What you should stream next
