This post is updated frequently as movies leave and enter Netflix.
With thousands of movies to choose from and a navigation system/algorithm that doesn’t always make the right choice easy to find, it can be difficult to know what to watch on Netflix. That’s why we’re here, breaking down the 100 best movies on the service at this minute, with regular updates for titles that have been removed and when new ones are added. We’ve done the hard work, so now the only you have to do is sit back and, uh, watch all 100 movies.
13th
Ava DuVernay’s documentary is named after the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which ended slavery. Her brilliant non-fiction work outlines the way that slavery has simply been reshaped and reformed in other societal elements, particularly imbalanced prison sentences and enforcement of laws that more directly impact minorities. It’s a searing, powerful piece of work.
Abducted in Plain Sight
One of the most WTF documentaries you’ll ever see was added to Netflix in early 2019 and has already become something of a streaming sensation. There are a ton of true crime docu-series on the Netflix service, but none will make your jaw drop like this one.
About a Boy
Containing possibly Hugh Grant’s best performance, this delicate adaptation of the Nick Hornby novel tells the story of a grown man who learns how to behave in life through his friendship with a young boy. With great performances by Nicholas Hoult and Toni Collette, along with a script nominated for an Oscar, this is a movie that young viewers may not have caught up with yet but shouldn’t miss.
Across the Universe
Love it or hate it, you really need to see Julie Taymor’s romantic drama inspired by the music of The Beatles. There aren’t many big-screen musicals as out there quite like this trippy, dreamy flick starring Jim Sturgess and Westworld’s Evan Rachel Wood, and Taymor’s theatrical background gives the whole film a larger-than-life magical quality, especially if you’re a fan of Paul, John, George, and Ringo.
Amy
The Oscar-winning documentary about Amy Winehouse not only details the rise and early death of its subject matter but confronts viewers with the way that tabloid culture impacts celebrities who may be prone to addiction. Winehouse was a generational talent, but this is a must-watch not only for chronicling her ability but asking who let her down in ways that made it so we don’t have that ability with us today.
Annie Hall
The public opinion of Woody Allen has certainly changed over the years, but this 1977 romantic comedy remains one of the most essential American films of its era, winning Oscars for Best Picture, Actress, Director, and Screenplay.
Apocalypse Now
One of the most important war movies of all time, Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam-set riff on Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness changed cinema and stands as one of the most stunning examples of cinematic obsession ever made. Coppola went into the jungle with Martin Sheen and Marlon Brando and came back with a classic.
Apostle
There’s so much horror on Netflix, but most of it is pretty horrible. One of the best genre choices you could make on the streaming service is their 2018 movie about a man who travels to a remote island and confronts a cult to save his sister. It’s almost as if one of the surreal masters of the ‘80s like David Lynch or Cronenberg remade Wicker Man. Don’t miss it.
As Good as It Gets
Very few films have won both Oscars for Best Actor and Best Actress. In fact, this romantic comedy, for which stars Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt both too home the big trophies, is the last time it happened. It’s a great example of a film that plays perfectly to the strengths of both of its stars.
Atonement
Joe Wright’s Oscar-nominated adaptation of Ian McEwan’s best book helped turn Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, and Saoirse Ronan into stars. Nominated for seven Oscars, this is one of the most beautiful films you could watch on Netflix. Make sure you stream this one in HD.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Joel and Ethan Coen’s Western anthology series was a part of Netflix’s brand-redefining 2018. Sure, Netflix still has a bunch of junk, but they also landed the latest from Alfonso Cuaron, the Coens, and even Orson Welles. This brilliant Western works as comedy, drama, and even a commentary on the Coens themselves. Don’t miss it.
The Birdcage
Mike Nichols’ remake of La Cage aux Folles has held up much better than most comedies from the mid-‘90s, and resonates as a great reminder of Robin Williams’ comic mastery when he had the right part.
Boyhood
Filmed in pieces over a 12-year span, Boyhood is one of the most ambitious films of the ‘10s, and one of the few films to notch an almost-impossible 100 on Metacritic. When people start listing the essential films of the decade in a few months, this will be on it. Make sure you’ve seen it.
The Breakfast Club
Few films of the ‘80s are more influential to this day than John Hughes’ mega-popular collection of misfits, a comedy that has basically been remade almost every year since it came out. Look at any of the modern teen comedies and you can pick out the Judd Nelsons, Anthony Michael Halls, Molly Ringwalds, and Ally Sheedys. See where a subgenre basically changed forever.
Brother’s Keeper
Joe Berlinger has been buzzed-about lately thanks to his Ted Bundy docu-series (Conversations with a Killer) and upcoming Netflix-obtained movie (Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile), but fans of his recent work should check out his brilliant 1992 feature debut, a true crime hit from Sundance about the murder trial of Delbert Ward. If you’re a true crime fan – and it feels like most Netflix subscribers are – don’t miss this one.
Bull Durham
Sometimes a movie comes along that just catches its cast at precisely the right moment to capitalize on their charisma and that’s the case with Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, and Tim Robbins in this baseball comedy classic. It’s one of the best sports movies ever made.
Casino Royale
Several James Bond movies were recently added to the world’s biggest streaming services, and this is the best of the modern era (and arguably the best, period). Daniel Craig totally reinvigorated the legend of 007 in this 2006 Martin Campbell flick, redefining cinema’s most famous spy for a new generation.
The Cider House Rules
This Oscar-winning adaptation of John Irving’s hit novel hasn’t really been discussed much in the two decades since its release, but it’s worth seeing just for the great Michael Caine performance in it, which won him a second Academy Award.
The Conjuring
The most notable horror franchise of the ‘10s (if you include massive spin-offs like Annabelle and The Nun) started here with the story of Ed and Lorraine Warren and a very haunted house. James Wan’s brilliant use of space and a great ensemble would really change the horror genre in ways reflected all across movies today.
The Constant Gardener
Fernando Meirelles’ adaptation of John le Carre’s novel won Rachel Weisz an Oscar as an activist murdered in Northern Kenya. Ralph Fiennes plays her husband, a man who learns more about his wife after her death than he did while she was alive and gets to the bottom of a deep political conspiracy.
Cool Hand Luke
There aren’t a lot of movies on Netflix made before 1970 but you’ll find a few bonafide American classics on this list – films that used to be on Filmstruck before it tragically rode off into the digital sunset. This is a perfect example, a movie that helped define the legacy of one of the best American actors of all time, Paul Newman.
Coraline
We don’t deserve LAIKA. The company behind Kubo & the Two Strings and Paranorman has never made a bad movie, but this is the only one on Netflix as of right now, a beautifully refined adaptation of a Neil Gaiman book. Lyrical, scary, and unforgettable, this is stop-motion animation for the whole family.
The Dark Knight
Maybe you’ve heard of this one? Christian Bale? Heath Ledger? Arguably the most influential movie of the current millennium. So much of pop culture cinema of the last decade wears the influence of Christopher Nolan’s best film like a badge of honor. You’ve probably seen this, but we thought you should know that you can see it again right now. Our job is done here.
The Departed
Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of Infernal Affairs became something of a controversial entry in his filmography after it won a boatload of Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. Should he have won earlier for masterpieces like Raging Bull and GoodFellas? Sure. Does that make this a bad movie? Nope. It’s still wildly entertaining and as tightly constructed as a steel drum.
District 9
Sharlto Copley stars in Neill Blomkamp’s wildly successful sleeper hit, a movie that really came out of nowhere to become one of the biggest film stories of 2009. Sci-fi movies with no stars from debut directors don’t usually go on to become Best Picture nominees, but District 9 is not your typical sci-fi movie.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Julian Schnabel’s heartbreaking drama tells the true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, a magazine editor who suffered a stroke that was so debilitating that he could only move his left eye. He then wrote an entire book about being locked in his own body, using only eye movement on a screen to form the words. It’s a beautiful, poetic piece of work about the triumph of the human spirit.
East of Eden
Look, another classic! Elia Kazan’s 1955 adaptation of the John Steinbeck classic stars James Dean in a performance for which he was posthumously nominated for an Oscar. The Dean legend may center more on his persona from Rebel without a Cause, but his work here displays the range that we never got to see fulfilled.
The Edge of Seventeen
Hailee Steinfeld stars in one of the few honest movies about modern teenage life in the last few years. She’s great as Nadine, a girl whose life is turned upside when her best friend, played by the wonderful Haley Lu Richardson, starts dating her older brother.
The End of the Tour
James Ponsoldt writes and directs a very unique biopic, capturing only a few days in the life of famous writer David Foster Wallace, played by Jason Segel. Jesse Eisenberg plays a reporter who spends a few days with the reclusive Wallace, and the film says a lot about celebrity and perceived integrity without emphasizing its points in the way biopics traditionally do.
The English Patient
Becoming a joke on Seinfeld didn’t help the reputation of one of the most award-winning films of the ‘90s, but this movie is better than you remember. Sure, it’s cheesy Hollywood classical filmmaking, but sometimes that’s exactly what you want, and it features Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche in roles that emphasize their incredible charisma as performers.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
One of the best films of the ‘00s is just sitting there on Netflix waiting for you to find it and never forget it. Jim Carrey does the best work of his career as a man who attempts to erase a relationship from his memory in Charlie Kaufman and Michel Gondry’s masterpiece.
Ex Machina
Alex Garland’s sci-fi masterpiece already feels like a classic. Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson, and Oscar Isaac star in an examination of the future of artificial intelligence, what it means to be a human being, and how often men seek to control that which they create. It’s a movie that gets better every time you see it.
The Fighter
David O. Russell’s dramatization of the true story of boxer Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) won Oscars for both of its supporting players – Melissa Leo and a transformed Christian Bale. It’s got some beats that already make it feel older than just 2010 but the great cast holds it together.
Final Destination
Netflix recently added the first three Final Destination movies – so consider this an entry that represents the entire trio. Are they traditionally “great” movies? No, but not everything you want to watch needs to be an Oscar winner. Sometimes you want to see people die in an increasingly random and hysterically bizarre ways. This series punches that ticket.
Frances Ha
Before there was Lady Bird, there was Frances Ha, another semi-autobiographical comedy starring and co-written by Greta Gerwig. The delightful actress plays a woman dealing with a quarter-life crisis in NYC in one of Noah Baumbach’s best films.
Gerald’s Game
The Vulture choice for the Best Netflix Original Horror Movie has to be on this list too, right? Especially viewed in the wake of the phenomenon that was The Haunting of Hill House, this movie really works. It’s one of the best Stephen King adaptations on any platform, anchored by a phenomenal Carla Gugino performance.
The Gift
An underrated thriller directed by Joel Edgerton, this flick stars the Aussie actor as a man who befriends a former classmate (Jason Bateman) but may have darker motives for doing so. Bullying, privilege, and toxic masculinity are woven through this entertaining conversation starter.
Goldfinger
There’s a bunch of James Bond on Netflix from all different eras of the most famous movie spy of all time, but this one is possibly the most essential. Most of the legend of 007 still comes from this American classic, a movie that capitalized on Sean Connery as his most charismatic and redefined the spy flick for generations to come.
Gone Baby Gone
Ben Affleck’s adaptation of a great Dennis Lehane thriller stars the actor/director’s brother as a Boston detective investigating the disappearance of a little girl. Affleck’s greatest gift as a filmmaker is with ensemble and this is arguably his best with Casey, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, Michelle Monaghan and the Oscar-nominated Amy Ryan filling out an amazing cast in a riveting thriller. It’s great.
Good Will Hunting
See where the mythos of Affleck and Damon began in the film that won them both an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Matt Damon stars as Will, a janitor at M.I.T. who discovers that he’s smarter than most of the students there but needs to overcome the hurdle of trauma – with the assistance of a therapist played by an Oscar-winning Robin Williams. How you like them apples?
The Graduate
Certain films transcend mere celluloid to become cultural benchmarks and Mike Nichols’ beloved 1967 sophomore outing is certainly one such film. It hasn’t held up as well as some of the works of its era, but few films are still as influential today as the story of a college graduate lost in life and love. You need to see it just so you can pick out its fingerprints on the half-century of comedies that followed.
Heathers
It may look quainter today than it did in the late ‘80s, but Michael Lehmann’s dark comedy felt revolutionary thirty years ago. Winona Ryder stars as a student at a school full of awful people who use their social status to bully those beneath them. Christian Slater does his best Jack Nicholson impression as the loner who teaches her how to kill them.
Heaven Knows What
The Safdie brothers direct this unforgettable chronicle of life on the streets, adapting Arielle Holmes’ true struggles with addiction into this drama. It’s unlike anything else you could watch on Netflix, and, unlike a lot of movies on this list, something you may not have been told to see before.
Hellboy
Before the reboot hits screens, go back to the source in Guillermo del Toro’s 2004 action classic, starring Ron Perlman, John Hurt, Selma Blair, and Rupert Evans. Before GdT was winning Oscars and rocking Twitter, he brought Mike Mignola’s most famous comic character to the screen and lost none of his irascible charm along the way. You got big red shoes to fill, David Harbour.
Hellion
This Sundance drama barely made it to theaters, and so probably ranks as the least-seen film on this list. They can’t all be Oscar winners. Aaron Paul and Juliette Lewis star in a film about the difficulty of raising aggressive boys as brothers are separated in an effort to improve their upbringing. Paul does his best work outside of Breaking Bad.
Her
Spike Jonze’s Oscar winner stars Joaquin Phoenix as a writer who falls in love with a daring new A.I., voiced by Scarlett Johansson. This is not only one of the best films on Netflix, but one of the best films of the ‘10s. Just see it.
Hot Fuzz
One of the best comedies of the ‘00s works so well because it both satirizes and adores action movie clichés at the same time. Before Edgar Wright made Baby Driver, he directed Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in this perfect comedy about a small British town with a deep secret. And a love for Point Break and Bad Boys.
Howards End
Young film lovers may not know why Sir Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson are so beloved in the film community. This is a good place to start. Both are at the top of their game (Thompson won an Oscar, as did Ruth Prawer Jhabvala for her screenplay) in this gorgeous Merchant/Ivory adaptation of the E.M. Forster classic.
The Hunting Ground
You could spend hundreds of hours on Netflix watching documentaries, but the dirty secret is that most of them aren’t very good. This is easily one of the best. Leave the true crime section behind for a couple hours and watch Kirby Dick’s exposé of rape on college campuses. You won’t forget it.
The Immigrant
One of the last films mishandled by Harvey Weinstein, this excellent James Gray drama stars Marion Cotillard, Joaquin Phoenix, and Jeremy Renner. Cotillard plays an immigrant in 1921 embroiled in a love triangle. It’s gorgeous and unforgettable.
Incredibles 2
While Disney works to get their upcoming streaming service off the ground, they’re still regularly releasing new hits to Netflix, including the beloved sequel to one of the most popular Pixar films of all time. Brad Bird’s long-awaited sequel is one of the top films of 2018, and arguably its best animated film (at least that’s not about Spider-man).
The Informant!
Matt Damon stars in Steven Soderbergh’s telling of the true story of Mark Whitacre, a relatively mediocre employee who ended up being a spy for the FBI when his company started illegally price-fixing. It’s a quirky, odd, unforgettable movie with one of Damon’s best performances.
The Invitation
Ever been to a dinner party that just didn’t feel right? We all have. But there’s something even more sinister lurking in Karyn Kusama’s tense thriller starring Logan Marshall-Green, Tammy Blanchard, and John Carroll Lynch.
Jaws
Maybe you’ve heard of it? The movie that changed Hollywood blockbusters forever could start a marathon of all four flicks in the franchise, as they’re all on Netflix. Although you’re probably just better off sticking with the first one.
Justin Timberlake + the Tennessee Kids
There are dozens of concert films on Netflix, but this one is the best. Directed by concert maestro Jonathan Demme, it captures the energy and passion of a Justin Timberlake show in a way that really puts you in the front row. As he did for the Talking Heads and Neil Young, Demme doesn’t just document a concert, he transcends the form.
King Kong
After the Lord of the Rings movies, Peter Jackson could have done anything he wanted, but he went back to one of the movies that shaped his love for cinema. His big-budget remake of King Kong may not be a perfect film, but the passion of its creator shows in every frame.
L.A. Confidential
Curtis Hanson directed this adaptation of James Ellroy’s epic crime novel of 1950s Los Angeles. Starring Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe, Kevin Spacey, and Kim Basinger, it’s a perfect thriller — and, on top of that, one of the best movies of the ‘90s.
Lincoln
It’s not surprising that Netflix plays to Spielberg fans, but it’s nice to see that they include more than the crowd-pleasing blockbusters, also occasionally diving a bit deeper and adding his historical dramas. This is one of his best from that category, featuring an Oscar-winning performance from Daniel Day-Lewis.
Little Women
There have been a dozen or so versions of the Louisa May Alcott classic novel that you probably read in high school, but this 1994 adaptation is easily one of the best, starring Winona Ryder, Claire Danes, Kirsten Dunst, and Susan Sarandon. Ignore the others, just watch this one.
The Magnificent Ambersons
Perhaps to accompany the Netflix presentation of the completed version of one of the most infamously uncompleted films of all time in Orson Welles’ The Other Side of the Wind, the company has added a few other beloved Welles films, including another one with a notorious production. This one was taken away from Welles and heavily edited, but remains a masterpiece nonetheless.
The Master
P.T. Anderson’s drama about an outsider who finds connection under the wing of a mysterious religious leader features two of the best performances from Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman. We still miss him every day. And he may never have been better than he is here.
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
Noah Baumbach’s latest didn’t premiere in theaters, going the Netflix route in 2017. Adam Sandler does arguably the best work of his career in this drama about how family can both connect and divide us, sometimes in the same moment. Sandler is joined by Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, and Emma Thompson in this must-see dramedy. Forget the Sandler Netflix Originals – watch this one instead.
Miami Vice
Probably the most divisive choice on this list, Michael Mann’s adaptation of his TV hit may be too stylish for some, but that’s the exact reason so many people love it. Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell star in the only film version of Crockett and Tubbs that we’re likely to ever see.
Milk
Sean Penn’s last Oscar came for his portrayal of Harvey Milk, the slain activist for gay rights and California’s first openly gay elected official. It’s a movie that has lost none of its dramatic power a decade after its release.
A Most Violent Year
One of the most underrated flicks of the ‘10s, J.C. Chandor’s period crime drama stars Oscar Isaac, Jessica Chastain, and David Oyelowo. Awash in the dread surrounding the most violent year in New York history, this is a crime epic for viewers who like characters more than action in their sagas of men who work both sides of the law.
Mudbound
Arguably Netflix’s first masterpiece, Dee Rees’ period drama is an epic portrait of racism, trauma, and injustice in the post-WWII South. You won’t find a better ensemble in a Netflix Original, anchored by Jason Mitchell, Carey Mulligan, Garrett Hedlund, Jason Clarke, and the amazing Dee Rees.
Mustang
Netflix isn’t exactly great at showcasing the best cinema from around the world (oh, they have a lot of foreign films, but most of them are bad) as those were once the territory of FilmStruck and likely will be on the Criterion Channel. So take this chance to watch one of the best non-English films of the decade, Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s poignant look at repressed youth in northern Turkey.
National Lampoon’s Animal House
One of the reasons that Animal House has persisted in the national consciousness for four decades is that the joyous aspects of its production come through so strongly in the actual film. You can feel the fun it must have been to make this movie, one that’s still shockingly funny. Some films capture lightning in a bottle – finding the right cast in just the right place at the right time. This is one such film.
No Country for Old Men
Joel and Ethan Coen’s adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s crime novel is one of their best movies, a won them three Oscars – directing, writing, and Best Picture of arguably the best year of the ‘00s. If you haven’t seen it since 2007, you may be surprised at how well it’s held up. The exact same film could be released today and it would have the same cultural impact. It already feels timeless.
Obvious Child
If you’re not a fan of Jenny Slate, you probably have yet to see how charming and relatable she is in this Sundance comedy hit. She plays a stand-up comedian whose life is rattled by an unplanned pregnancy. It’s a great comedy – funny, empathetic, and daring.
Okja
God bless Bong Joon-ho. The director of The Host, The Mother, and Snowpiercer – all of which you owe yourself to see – brought arguably his weirdest movie yet to Netflix in this sci-fi dramedy about a giant pig. Say what you will about the film’s flights of fancy – or Jake Gyllenhaal’s truly committed performance – there ain’t nothing else like it on Netflix.
The Other Side of the Wind
It took almost a half-century to complete Orson Welles’ final film, this meta work that blends documentary style, fictional filmmaking, and even the reputation and life of its own creator into something that feels defiantly new – even though most of it was shot before you were born. It took the efforts of dozens over decades to get this out. You can spare two hours to see what all the work was for.
Pan’s Labyrinth
Still the best film from one our best filmmakers, Guillermo del Toro’s fairy tale for adults is a striking example of a visual master working at the top of his form. What more can we say? This is one of the most essential films of the last two decades. See it.
Personal Shopper
Olivier Assayas’ ghost story is not your typical tale of the supernatural. The French filmmaker, working in perfect conjunction with star Kristen Stewart, who has never been better, crafts a film about loss, fear, and longing. It’s not an easy film to dissect or understand, but you won’t forget it.
The Pianist
Roman Polanski’s Holocaust drama won the director and star Adrien Brody Oscars. Brody plays Wladyslaw Szpilman, a unforgettable Polish-Jewish survivor of World War II. Polanski’s film plays out like a piece of music itself, lyrically moving through the major events in Szpilman’s life as he hid to survive the Nazi occupation of Warsaw.
Poltergeist
There are so many truly awful horror films on Netflix that you really should take any opportunity to watch the greats buried in the endless stream of straight-to-streaming junk. Tobe Hooper’s story of an average suburban family who moved into the wrongest home possible hold up almost four decades after its release. (Crazy trivia: This movie is rated PG! You’d think the bathroom face-ripping scene alone would make that illegal.)
Pretty in Pink
Netflix programmers are keenly aware that most of their subscribers are children of the ‘80s, which is why you get so much Steven Spielberg and John Hughes at any given moment. Here’s a film written by Hughes that you may have to stretch to call “great” but it is “iconic,” a great snapshot of ‘80s fashion and suburban adolescence.
Private Life
Tamara Jenkins returned to filmmaking for the first time since The Savages with this personal portrait of the struggle faced by people going through fertility procedures. With an amazingly truthful performance by Kathryn Hahn, this is the kind of film that feels both delicately specific and universal to the struggle of so many couples.
Pulp Fiction
There are certain tentpoles of American film history that changed the form forever, and this is undeniably one. Heck, we’re still getting Tarantino riffs over twenty years later, as everyone wants to make a movie as effortlessly cool as his masterpiece.
Punch-Drunk Love
Look, another Adam Sandler movie on this list that’s not one of his Netflix Originals! P.T. Anderson’s delicate Sandler vehicle could kind of be called a rom-com, but it’s not like any rom-com you’ve ever seen. It’s one of PTA’s best movies, a funny, strange, unforgettable story of two outsiders finding a way to be inside together.
Quiz Show
Robert Redford’s best film as a director is the story of the investigation by a young attorney (Rob Morrow) into the possibility that the country’s most popular quiz show winner, Charles Van Doren (Ralph Fiennes), cheated. It’s a fantastic drama with a razor-sharp script by Paul Attanasio and a true story that you probably didn’t know much about beforehand.
Roma
Alfonso Cuaron’s deeply personal story of the servant who really helped raise him is Netflix’s first nominee for Best Picture and a movie that has really altered the way the streaming service will be seen on the film landscape. It’s also a masterpiece, a heartbreaking, mesmerizing piece of filmmaking that really operates on Roger Ebert’s belief that great cinema is an “empathy machine,” a way to experience lives that you otherwise never would.
Schindler’s List
More Spielberg! Arguably his best historical drama, this Best Picture winner stars Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler, a man who saved numerous Jewish lives during World War II. Everyone here is working at the top of their game, including Spielberg, Neeson, Ben Kingsley, and Ralph Fiennes. It’s the kind of movie you see once and never forget.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Sure, we all know how much fun Edgar Wright’s adaptation of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novels is, but has anyone else noticed how many careers this movie helped launch? It’s amazing to watch it nearly a decade after it was released and consider how much people like Anna Kendrick, Alison Pill, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Evans, Brie Larson, Mae Whitman, and Jason Schwartzman have done since then.
Serenity
No, not the wacky Matthew McConaughey movie – the sci-fi one. It’s clear now that we’re never gonna get a return of FOX’s brilliant-but-canceled Firefly, but at least we got this cinematic piece of closure to make the pain hurt a little less. A little.
A Serious Man
More Coen brothers! When Netflix added Buster Scruggs, they dropped a few earlier films as well, including this underrated comedy about a man dealing with the inequity of life after his wife leaves him. With a great performance by Michael Stuhlbarg, this one has some of the Coen’s best darkly comic bits in the back half of their career.
She’s Gotta Have It
Spike Lee had “it” from the beginning, as you can see in his 1986 debut comedy, recently loosely adapted into a Netflix Original series. It’s incredible to see how much of Lee’s voice as a filmmaker was already there in this passionate, daring independent flick that really announced one of American cinema’s most important filmmakers.
Shirkers
Documentaries that aren’t about serial killers can be a tough sell to a Netflix audience, but just trust us on this one. Sandi Tan’s story of a film she made with some friends in Taiwan back in the ‘90s seems at first like just another document of creative young people but becomes something much more complicated as it comments on ownership, toxic masculinity, and the need for closure.
Silence of the Lambs
Movies don’t get much better than Jonathan Demme’s adaptation of Thomas Harris’ chilling thriller about Clarice Starling and Dr. Hannibal Lecter. With career-defining performances from Jodie Foster and Sir Anthony Hopkins, this movie still absolutely slays a quarter-century after it was released.
Silver Linings Playbook
Some of the ways in which David O. Russell’s rom-com handles mental illness could be considered questionable, but this is a textbook example of finding a cast at their most extremely likable. Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence went to another level of stardom with this Best Picture nominee, and you also get Robert De Niro’s best performance of his later years. At least until The Irishman.
The Strangers
Loosely based on a true story, this home invasion thriller is effective thanks in large part to its relatable simplicity. We’ve all been creeped out late at night, wondering what that sound was in the dark. It’s a tight, solid thriller – and there aren’t a lot of those on Netflix.
Street Fight
As Cory Booker prepares his run for the White House, take a look at this fascinating documentary about his run for mayor in Newark, New Jersey way back in 2002. It’s an insightful piece about how politics were already shifting and changing at the turn of the millennium, and, who knows, it may be the prologue to a Presidency.
The Terminator
James Cameron’s 1984 classic is still a pop culture reference point, and for more than just “I’ll be back.” If you somehow haven’t seen it, you need to correct this hole in your ‘80s canon. If you have seen it, you may be surprised at how well it holds up.
The Truman Show
Peter Weir probably looked at the preponderance of reality TV and realized this Jim Carrey vehicle about a man living in a TV show without knowing it would have some staying power, but even he couldn’t have known what would come. With so many people living their lives in the public eye, The Truman Show feels as current as ever.
We the Animals
Jeremiah Zagar’s adaptation of the hit Justin Torres book is a major player at the 2019 Independent Spirit Awards and the kind of film that a streaming service like Netflix could really help bring to a wider audience. It’s a story of adolescence, a tough upbringing through the eyes of three brothers. It’s somehow poetic and genuine at the same time.
The Wild Bunch
You may have seen a lot of Westerns, but you haven’t seen anything much like Sam Peckinpah’s ultra-violent tale of a group of over-the-hill outlaws looking for one final score. Peckinpah’s look at a dying West would forever change the genre, impacting everyone from Clint Eastwood to Quentin Tarantino. It’s an essential American film.
Y Tu Mama Tambien
Likely added to accompany Roma, this is a great piece of work to watch after that one as it’s another obviously personal film from Alfonso Cuaron. Two teenage boys – Gael Garcia Bernal & Diego Luna – fall for an older woman who has a secret. It’s a sweet, moving film from a modern master.
Zodiac
Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., and Mark Ruffalo star in David Fincher’s 2007 masterpiece about the search for the infamous Zodiac killer who terrorized San Francisco. However, this is no mere murder mystery. It’s more about the price we pay for obsession, and it’s one of the most chilling, unforgettable films of the ‘00s. Fincher’s craftsman level of detail turns out to be the perfect partner for a film about trying to grab something that is always just out of reach.
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