The 30 Best Movies on Netflix Right Now

This post is updated regularly as movies leave and enter Netflix. *New additions are indicated with an asterisk.

With hundreds of films from around the world on the streaming giant that changed the game, how does one even know what to watch when they fire up their Netflix? Start here! We’ve gone through the many films available on the platform and pared down the selection to 30 must-see titles, including acclaimed dramas, action films, comedies, horror flicks, and even stuff for the whole family, with Netflix Originals peppered in throughout, alongside its licensed films. No algorithm nonsense here: Our picks represent the personal favorites of seasoned movie critics, and they’re updated every week and month to include or remove films that join or depart from the streaming service. This list represents the best of Netflix’s movie offerings, and it starts with a new rotating critic’s pick of the week.

This Week’s Critic’s Pick

Carol

Year: 2015
Runtime: 1h 58m
Director: Todd Haynes

Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara star in Todd Haynes’ poignant and heartbreaking drama about a love affair between two women at a time when that wasn’t allowed. It’s a beautifully made film with phenomenal performances from the entire cast, especially the two leads. You won’t forget it.

How We Pick Our Films

Critic Brian Tallerico watches and writes about movies and TV every day. To curate this list, he dives into Netflix’s catalogue to surface acclaimed, surprising, or otherwise noteworthy titles — using his taste and a lifetime of cinema study as his guide, instead of whatever the algorithm happens to be pushing. After triple-checking to make sure they’re still available, he watches each, organizes them by category, then writes his recommendation. We highlight more than just Oscar winners or popcorn flicks: These films present interesting ideas, made an impact on cinema, and changed our culture. Read on to find something to watch.

Drama

Aftersun

Year: 2022
Runtime: 1h 41m
Director: Charlotte Wells

What a beautiful movie this is, one of the best of the 2020s so far and it’s nowhere else for streaming subscribers. Paul Mescal earned an Oscar nomination for his work as the father of an 11-year-old girl, played by the wonderful Frankie Corio. Aftersun is actually a memory piece, a drama about that moment in life when you realize your parents are human too. It’s gorgeous.

Before Sunset

Year: 2004
Runtime: 1h 20m
Director: Richard Linklater

Nine years after Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) met on one fateful European night, Richard Linklater reunited them for the equally special sequel, catching up with them in the city of Paris. With sharp dialogue, palpable chemistry, and a gorgeous backdrop, Before Sunset is one of the most romantic movies ever made. And that ending!

Collateral

Year: 2004
Runtime: 2h
Director: Michael Mann

Tom Cruise gives one of his most fascinating performances as Vincent, the passenger to Jamie Foxx’s L.A. cab driver on a very fateful night. It turns out that Vincent is hitman and he needs Foxx’s character to drive him on a killing spree in this tense, gorgeously shot thriller from the masterful craftsman Michael Mann.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Year: 2004
Runtime: 1h 47m
Director: Michel Gondry

Michel Gondry directed Charlie Kaufman’s script into one of the best films of the ‘00s, a story of romance and regret. Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet are breathtaking as an estranged couple who have decided to erase the memory of their relationship from their minds. Would you remove a formative part of your life because the heartbreak was too painful? This is a straight-up masterpiece.

Field of Dreams

Year: 1989
Runtime: 1h 45m
Director: Phil Alden Robinson

If you build it, he will come. One of the best baseball movies ever made is really a story about fathers and sons. Phil Alden Robinson directed Kevin Costner to one of the most beloved performances of his career as an average Iowan who hears a voice that tells him to build a baseball field. Redemption, U.S. history, and, of course, a love of America’s pastime intertwines in this moving drama with an incredibly loyal fan base.

Glengarry Glen Ross

Year: 1992
Runtime: 1h 40m
Director: James Foley

For a long time, it felt like David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1984 masterpiece was unfilmable, but Foley, working with the playwright as screenwriter, figured it out, assembling one of the best ensembles of the ‘90s to do so. Alec Baldwin notoriously steals his one scene, but the entire cast here is a stunner, especially Al Pacino (who was Oscar-nominated), Alan Arkin, and Jack Lemmon.

His Three Daughters

Year: 2024
Runtime: 1h 44m
Director: Azazel Jacobs

What a gorgeous, moving piece of dramatic filmmaking this is. An acting showcase for three stunning performers, this tearjerker almost unfolds like great theatre as Carrie Coon, Elizabeth Olsen, and Natasha Lyonne (doing the best work of her career) play three sisters who have come home for the final days of their father’s life. Funny, tender, and incredibly emotional, it’s one of the best films of 2024.

The Long Game

Year: 2023
Runtime: 1h 52m
Director: Julio Quintana

If you’re looking for an old-fashioned, effective sports drama, look no further than this modest adaptation of the book Mustang Miracle, about a Mexican-American golf group who became the Texas state champions in 1957. Dennis Quaid is the draw as the irascible coach, but it’s the young cast who makes this work, along with solid, tender direction from Julio Quintana. It’s an easy, heartwarming watch.

May December

Year: 2023
Runtime: 1h 57m
Director: Todd Haynes

Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman star in the latest from Carol and Far from Heaven director Todd Haynes, a stunning character study of an actress who discovers that some people are impossible to figure out. Portman plays a star who tries to get under the skin of Moore’s character, a woman who raped a child when she was a teacher, and later married that young man. Charles Melton is phenomenal as the now-grown victim, stuck in perpetual adolescence.

The Nest

Year: 2020
Runtime: 1h 47m
Director: Sean Durkin

A victim of the pandemic, this was one of the best films of 2020. Carrie Coon and Jude Law star as a married couple with two kids who move from New York City to London in the 1980s and watch as the divides in their union start to widen. A great character study amplified by Durkin’s sharp visual language, this is a fantastic domestic drama, and the best movie on this list that you probably haven’t seen.

The Power of the Dog

Year: 2021
Runtime: 2h 6m
Director: Jane Campion

The film that finally won an Oscar for Jane Campion for directing is one of the most acclaimed in the history of the streaming giant. Campion helmed this adaptation of the novel of the same name by Thomas Savage, the story of a vicious landowner (Benedict Cumberbatch) who torments the new wife (Kirsten Dunst) of his brother (Jesse Plemons). A drama that plays like a thriller, this gorgeously rendered period piece unpacks themes of toxic masculinity and manipulation in a way that makes it impossible to turn away.

The Teachers’ Lounge

Year: 2023
Runtime: 1h 38m
Director: Ilker Catak

One of the best films of 2023, this Oscar nominee is about a teacher (the phenomenal Leonie Benesch) who ends up in a cycle of blame and confusion after a series of thefts. When she suspects that it may be a fellow teacher who is doing the stealing, things spiral out of control in this single-setting drama that plays like a thriller. Owing a great deal to Michel Haneke’s dissections of power, it’s a smart, fantastic piece of filmmaking.

*Woman of the Hour

Year: 2024
Runtime: 1h 35m
Director: Anna Kendrick

One of the best thrillers of the year also marks the directorial debut of Anna Kendrick, who stars as a woman who had a brush with a maniac. Serial killer Rodney Alcala was notoriously a contestant on The Dating Game before anyone knew he was a maniac. Kendrick uses the appearance to enhance a commentary on misogyny, culture, and violence against women. It’s a smart, tense piece of filmmaking.

Action

1917

Year: 2019
Runtime: 1h 59m
Director: Sam Mendes

This Oscar winner doesn’t land on streaming services very often, so take this chance while you can. Sam Mendes directs a visceral recounting of a personal story told to him by his grandfather about his time in World War I, allowing the harrowing journey of a British soldier (George MacKay) to unfold in one unforgettable, unbroken shot.

Baby Driver

Year: 2017
Runtime: 1h 53m
Director: Edgar Wright

It’s a little harder to watch this movie now given the allegations against some of its cast members, but it’s still a remarkably well-made piece of action filmmaking, the kinetically unforgettable story of a getaway driver who knows all the best tunes. Ansel Elgort, Jamie Foxx, and Lily James may be the stars of this movie, but it’s Wright’s showmanship that really steals the spotlight.

Godzilla Minus One

Year: 2023
Runtime: 2h 5m
Director: Takashi Yamazaki

Netflix stunned people when they stealthily dropped this worldwide hit on their service, making a movie that wasn’t even on VOD finally available at home. The winner of the Oscar for Best Visual Effects, Godzilla Minus One is a masterful blend of action and social commentary, considered by many to be among the best in this generations-spanning franchise.

The Hateful Eight

Year: 2015
Runtime: 2h 47m
Director: Quentin Tarantino

Debate among yourselves if this should be on the movie or TV list, but it’s still basically the same venture that was released in theaters, only slightly re-edited by Quentin Tarantino into episodes, so we say it’s a movie (and both versions of the film are now on Netflix). And it’s an underrated one, overshadowed by the way it deals with race and gender when it was released. Almost a decade later, it looks almost prescient about how divided the country would become, and it contains some of the best performances in QT’s entire filmography.

The Killer

Year: 2023
Runtime: 1h 59m
Director: David Fincher

Michael Fassbender gives his best performance in years as an icy hired assassin who struggles to hold things together when a job goes horribly wrong. It’s a movie about a self-proclaimed perfectionist who is constantly defying his own voiceover, a great film that’s alternately hysterical and thrilling. One of the best of 2023.

Oldboy

Year: 2003
Runtime: 2h
Director: Park Chan-wook

It’s hard to explain to people how this movie moved through the film-loving world before Film Twitter was a thing. Recently restored for its 20th anniversary, Oldboy has now been dropped on Netflix again, and it’s lost none of its searing power. It’s the tale of a man who is kidnapped, and its genius is that it’s not a whodunit as much as a whydunit, forcing viewers and protagonists to wonder about a truly grisly motive until the final unforgettable act.

Rebel Ridge

Year: 2024
Runtime: 2h 11m
Director: Jeremy Saulnier

Future superstar Aaron Pierre stars in the latest from the phenomenal director behind Blue Ruin and Green Room, proving again that he is one of the best at tight action filmmaking. Wasting no time, Rebel Ridge opens with Pierre’s character essentially robbed by smalltown cops while he’s trying to take bail money to his cousin. The former military specialist doesn’t take that well. This is one of the best Netflix originals in a long time. (Streaming September 6.)

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Year: 2023
Runtime: 2h 20m
Director: Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson

What a gift to Netflix subscribers for this to already be on the service, mere weeks after playing in theaters and landing on Blu-ray. This is how you do a big-budget blockbuster sequel, developing the themes of the first movie and setting up the stake for what now appears will be one of the best trilogies in superhero history. Packed with so much detail and creativity, it’s a film Netflix subscribers will want to watch over and over again. Do so while you still can.

Comedy

Hit Man

Year: 2024
Runtime: 1h 55m
Director: Richard Linklater

Future superstar Glen Powell co-wrote and stars in this comedic gem that reminds one that movies can still be made for adults. With echoes of noir and the kind of sexy romantic dramedies that don’t get made much anymore, this is the story of an undercover cop named Gary (Powell) who talks a desperate young woman (Adria Arjona) out of having her husband murdered, setting in motion an unpredictable, funny, riveting series of events. This is one of the best films of 2024.

Will & Harper

Year: 2024
Runtime: 1h 54m
Director: Josh Greenbaum

A huge hit for Netflix already, this comedy/documentary features mega-star Will Ferrell in a very different role, playing himself. Ferrell documents a road trip he spent with his friend Harper Steele over 17 days, as the pair traveled the country to see how Harper’s transition impacted their relationship, and how she’s seen in small-town America. It’s smart, tender, and funny.

Horror

The Babadook

Year: 2014
Runtime: 1h 33m
Director: Jennifer Kent

One of the best horror films of the 2010s has not been widely available for streaming subscribers, so take the chance this October to watch it while it’s on Netflix. Jennifer Kent’s directorial debut centers on a mother (Essie Davis) who struggles to raise her problem child alone after the death of her husband. Oh, and there’s also a real monster in the boy’s room.

Gerald’s Game

Year: 2017
Runtime: 1h 43m
Director: Mike Flanagan

Before he helmed The Haunting of Hill House, Mike Flanagan co-wrote and directed one of the best Netflix Original horror films in this adaptation of Stephen King’s 1992 novel of the same name. Carla Gugino is phenomenal as a woman who gets handcuffed to her bed by her toxic husband…and then he has a heart attack. As she tries to figure out how she will survive, she accesses the trauma of her past.

Jaws

Year: 1975
Runtime: 2h 3m
Director: Steven Spielberg

The movie that ushered in the blockbuster era is often viewed more in terms of how it changed the industry than the fact that it’s, well, perfect. Seriously, isn’t a single false frame, line reading, or edit in Jaws, a film that works to raise tension from its very first scene.

*A Quiet Place Part II

Year: 2021
Runtime: 1h 38m
Director: John Krasinski

It was a good year for the growing Quiet Place franchise with the well-received Day One and even a video game (The Road Ahead), but Netflix only has the second film in this growing franchise. This one brings Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, and Noah Jupe back as they leave the family home and try to find new safety and community. It’s a very different film from the other two, but it has its ardent supporters, who can now watch it on Netflix.

For Kids & Family

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

Year: 2022
Runtime: 1h 56m
Director: Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson

The Oscar-winning director took his visionary skills to stop-motion animation with this instant classic, a retelling of the beloved fairy tale about the wooden boy who longed to be real. With spectacular voice work, this version reimagines Pinocchio during the period before World War II, allowing del Toro to explore his themes of innocence and violence again. It’s a deeply personal, beautiful film.

*Kubo & the Two Strings

Year: 2016
Runtime: 1h 42m
Director: Travis Knight

Great Laika films drop in and out of the streamers, but this masterpiece has actually been one of the hardest to see. Revisit the story of a young boy on a journey to defeat his evil aunts with the power of his strings, and the partnership of a snow monkey and a beetle. Yeah, it’s crazy, but it’s also gorgeous and deeply moving, one of the best family films of the 2010s.

Wendell & Wild

Year: 2022
Runtime: 1h 46m
Director: Henry Selick

The director of A Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline finally returned this year with this clever and twisted tale co-written by Oscar winner Jordan Peele. The comedian also co-stars as one of the title characters, the literal demons for a girl who blames herself for the death of her parents. Selick is a master of stop-motion animation and this project allows him to stretch his visual prowess in new, gross ways. It’s a new Halloween classic (that can be watched any time, of course!)

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