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The 30 Best Movies on Netflix Right Now

Everything Everywhere All at Once
Everything Everywhere All at Once. Photo: A24

Netflix Movies by Category

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

*Everything Everywhere All at Once

Year: 2022
Runtime: 2h 19m
Directors: The Daniels

After a brief stint on Amazon Prime, this is the first Netflix drop for the 2023 Best Picture winner, a movie that defies categorization as it tells a story of alternate realities and butt plugs. A film that debuted at SXSW, this daring piece of work built an audience through 2022 until it won multiple Oscars, including Best Picture and Director. It’s like nothing else. Anywhere.

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Drama

Chinatown. Photo: Courtesy of the Studio

Chinatown

Year: 1974
Runtime: 2h 10m
Director: Roman Polanski

Forget it Jake, it’s Chinatown. One of the best movies of the ‘70s, this Best Picture nominee (and Best Screenplay winner) tells the story of Jake Gittes, played unforgettably by Jack Nicholson, as he investigates an adulterer and finds something much more insidious under the surface of Los Angeles. It’s a must-see, as important as almost any film from its era.

Chinatown
The Conversation. Photo: Paramount Pictures

The Conversation

Year: 1974
Runtime: 1h 53m
Director: Francis Ford Coppola

One of the best directors of the ‘70s took a break from The Godfather movies to write, produce, and direct one of his masterpieces, a study in paranoia that gave Gene Hackman a chance to deliver arguably his best screen performance. The legendary actor plays a surveillance expert who stumbles onto what could be a potential murder, leading him down a rabbit hole of violence and paranoia. The Conversation is a must-see that’s as powerful today as when it was released.

The Conversation
Devil in a Blue Dress. Photo: Sony Pictures Releasing

Devil in a Blue Dress

Year: 1995
Runtime: 1h 41m
Director: Carl Franklin

Carl Franklin wrote and directed one of the most underrated Denzel Washington performances of all time in this 1995 adaptation of the novel of the same name by Walter Mosley. Washington plays Easy Rawlins, a World War II vet in 1948 who gets drawn into a mystery that classic noir filmmakers would have adored. Charming and riveting, the only crime here is that there wasn’t a whole franchise of films with Washington playing Easy.

Devil in a Blue Dress
Glengarry Glen Ross. Photo: New Line Cinema

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.

Glengarry Glen Ross
L.A. Confidential. Photo: Warner Bros.

L.A. Confidential

Year: 1997
Runtime: 2h 17m
Director: Curtis Hanson

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 one of the best movies of the ‘90s. So many films since this one have tried to mimic the tough-talking thrills of it and fallen completely flat. It’s harder than it looks to be this cool.

L.A. Confidential
Moneyball. Photo: Columbia Pictures

Moneyball

Year: 2011
Runtime: 2h 13m
Director: Bennett Miller

One of the best baseball movies ever made was adapted from the 2003 book by Michael Lewis, which recounts the management of the 2002 season of the Oakland Athletics, and how they changed the way the game is run by bringing analytics into the mix. Brad Pitt gives one of his best performances as general manager Billy Beane, a man who knew he would have to find a new way to evaluate talent if the A’s were going to compete. This is a rich, smart, riveting movie that’s extra-interesting given what the Oakland franchise is going through in 2024.

Moneyball
Photo: Rocket Science

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.

May December
The Novice. Photo: IFC Films

The Novice

Year: 2021
Runtime: 1h 36m
Director: Lauren Hadaway

Isabelle Fuhrman is stunning in this drama about a young woman who becomes obsessed with her performance on the university rowing team. Sort of a variation on the committed intensity seen in Whiplash, it’s a drama that plays almost like a thriller, and it earned five Independent Spirit nominations, including Best Film and Best Director. Don’t miss this one.

The Novice
The Power of the Dog. Photo: KIRSTY GRIFFIN/NETFLIX

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. It’s not just one of the best Netflix Original films, it’s one of the best, period, of the 2020s so far.

The Power of the Dog
Whiplash. Photo: Daniel McFadden

Whiplash

Year: 2014
Runtime: 1h 46m
Director: Damien Chazelle

Chazelle may still be startled by the divisive response to last year’s Babylon, but he can go back to the near-universal praise for the film that really broke him, earning one of its stars an Oscar and getting a nomination for Best Picture. Damien Chazelle’s drama about a perfectionist drummer and his militaristic teacher thrilled viewers from the minute it premiered at Sundance. It was a major piece of pop culture, a film that feels like it’s being referenced more every year.

Whiplash

Action

Gravity. Photo: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures/? 2013 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Gravity

Year: 2013
Runtime: 1h 30m
Director: Alfonso Cuarón

Alfonso Cuarón’s Oscar winner has rarely been on streaming services so take this chance to watch his sci-fi masterpiece while you can. Sandra Bullock gives arguably her best performance as an astronaut who gets stranded in space, forced to find her way back to Earth on her own. Yes, it plays best in theaters, but it’s a movie worth watching in whatever manner possible.

Fury. Photo: Sony Pictures Releasing/ANSA

Fury

Year: 2014
Runtime: 2h 15m
Director: David Ayer

The director of Suicide Squad (the first one) is one of our more divisive blockbuster filmmakers, but everyone seems to agree that this 2014 war movie is among his best. Not only is the story of an American tank crew tightly made, but it features one of Ayer’s strongest cast, and one of the strongest of any war movie in the modern era, including Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Pena, and Jon Bernthal, all totally bringing it.

John Wick. Photo: Lionsgate

John Wick

Year: 2014
Runtime: 1h 41m
Director: Chad Stahelski

The one that started it all! Actually, all of the first three films in the series about the assassin who destroys worlds when his dog gets murdered are on Netflix, just waiting for the excellent fourth film to join them. Have a marathon and admire the incredible stunt choreography and charismatic leading man work from Keanu Reeves. There’s not a bad film in this franchise.

John Wick
Jurassic Park. Photo: Universal Pictures

Jurassic Park

Year: 1993
Runtime: 2h 6m
Director: Steven Spielberg

An instant classic when it was released in 1993, Steven Spielberg’s dinosaur blockbuster spawned a franchise that’s still humming almost three decades later with the 2022 release of the wildly successful Dominion. The first three films in the series, including Spielberg’s sequel The Lost World, are on Netflix right now, alongside the pretty fun Camp Cretaceous.

Jurassic Park
Photo: Tartan Films

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.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Photo: Sony Pictures Animation

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.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
The Woman King. Photo: Ilze Kitshoff/Sony Pictures Releasing

The Woman King

Year: 2022
Runtime: 2h 14m
Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood

Living legend Viola Davis stars in this retelling of the all-female warriors of the kingdom of Dahomey in the 19th century. She plays General Nansica, who trains young women to follow in her footsteps, and leads a rock star ensemble of future stars that includes Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, and Sheila Atim. You’ll know all their names soon enough.

The Woman King

Comedy

Blazing Saddles. Photo: Warner Brothers

Blazing Saddles

Year: 1974
Runtime: 1h 32m
Director: Mel Brooks

The ultimate “could they make that movie anymore” conversation piece remains one of the funniest films ever made. Cleavon Little plays the new Sheriff in town as Brooks and his team skewer Western genre conventions and race relations in a way that’s unforgettably hysterical. It’s quite literally one of the funniest movies ever made.

Blazing Saddles
The Blues Brothers. Photo: Universal Pictures

The Blues Brothers

Year: 1980
Runtime: 2h 12m
Director: John Landis

One of the most beloved comedies of all time, this musical classic stars John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as Jake and Elwood Blues, characters they developed together on Saturday Night Live. The humor in John Landis’ classic has held up, but the music really holds it together, including appearances from James Brown, Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, John Lee Hooker, and Chaka Khan.

The Blues Brothers
Lady Bird. Photo: A24

Lady Bird

Year: 2017
Runtime: 1h 33m
Director: Greta Gerwig

The Barbie director’s last Best Picture nominee is one of the most personal and striking coming-of-age films in years. Saoirse Ronan stars as the titular character, a young Californian who longs for someplace cooler than her own hometown. It’s a heartfelt and very smart film, buoyed by great performances throughout, including Ronan, Tracy Letts, Timothee Chalamet, Lucas Hedges, Beanie Feldstein, and Laurie Metcalf, who was robbed of that Oscar.

Lady Bird
Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Photo: EMI Films/Cinema 5 Distributing

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Year: 1975
Runtime: 1h 29m
Director: Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones

During a hiatus between the third and fourth seasons of Monty Python’s Family Circus, the gang of mega-talented comedians decided to make movie history. Inspired by the King Arthur legend, Holy Grail is a timeless comedy, the rare kind of film that will still be making people laugh hundreds of years from now. And while the Monty Python boys were already famous, this film took them to another level, cementing their place in movie history.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Pineapple Express. Photo: Sony Pictures Releasing

Pineapple Express

Year: 2008
Runtime: 1h 52m
Director: David Gordon Green

Seth Rogen gives one of his best performances as Dale Denton, an average guy who just wants to get high. He visits his dealer (played perfectly by James Franco) on the wrong night as the pair cross paths with hitmen and a police officer on the wrong side of the law. This is an incredibly funny movie, and you don’t need to be high to love it.

Pineapple Express
School of Rock. Photo: Andrew Schwartz/Paramount/Scott Rudin Prods/Mfp/New Century/Sor Prods/Kobal/Shutterstock

School of Rock

Year: 2003
Runtime: 1h 49m
Director: Richard Linklater

Richard Linklater directed Jack Black to the best comedy of his career in this movie about a guitarist who becomes a substitute teacher at a prep school and teaches the stuck-up kids there how to rock. It’s a smart, funny family comedy with a huge heart and one of Black’s most truly wonderful performances.

School of Rock
Step Brothers. Photo: Courtesy of Studio

Step Brothers

Year: 2008
Runtime: 1h 37m
Director: Adam McKay

The pinnacle of Will Ferrell and Adam McKay’s comedy career remains this modern classic, a movie that’s as rewatchable as anything you could possibly find on any streaming service. One of the reasons for that is the fearless joy with which Ferrell and John C. Reilly literally throw themselves into the roles of stepbrothers who start as enemies and end as family.

Step Brothers

Horror

The Babadook. Photo: Causeway Films

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 to watch it again 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.

The Babadook
Gerald’s Game. Photo: Netflix

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.

Gerald’s Game

For Kids & Family

Pinocchio. Photo: Netflix

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.

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Photo: DreamWorks

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Year: 2023
Runtime: 1h 42m
Director: Joel Crawford

No one would have predicted that the presumed-dead Shrek franchise had another spin-off sequel of this caliber yet to be released, but December 2022 saw the critical and commercial success of arguably the best film in the entire series. Using a style more reminiscent of Into the Spider-verse than typical DreamWorks, The Last Wish is a gorgeous and surprisingly moving story of the title character dealing with something he never expected to face: mortality. It’s funny, clever, and memorable.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Wendell & Wild. Photo: Netflix

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!)

Wendell & Wild

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The 30 Best Movies on Netflix Right Now