From comedy classics to recent Oscar winners, these are the titles you don’t want to miss.
The 25 Best Movies on Netflix Right Now 28 Days Later Director: Danny Boyle Genre: Horror Notable cast: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson, Christopher Eccleston, and Megan Burns MPA rating: R Rotten Tomatoes: 87% Metacritic: 73 With its recent legacy sequel, 28 Years Later, also on Netflix , folks need no reminding that Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later is still the modern era’s peak zombie movie.
Shot with gritty early digital photography, it changed old genre rules of how the undead behave—we simply must let the zombies be fast!—to become a worthy heir to George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. The film is even more resonant in our post-COVID climate, with its realistic emotional stakes and ever increasing sense of paranoia. While the sequels have focused on world-building and enhancing the lore of the rage virus that infects the zombies, the original still packs a punch with its sheer innovation. Apollo 13 Director: Ron Howard Genre: Historical drama Notable cast: Tom Hanks, Ed Harris, Gary Sinise, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, and Kathleen Quinlan MPA rating: PG Rotten Tomatoes: 94% Metacritic: 78 Ron Howard’s recounting of a failed NASA mission to the moon, and the rescue mission that followed, is the kind of middlebrow, full-orchestra Americana that we reduce to its own subgenre: dad movie. In fact, Apollo 13 is the ultimate dad movie: It’s much less stodgy and dusty than you might remember, and it manages to keep us riveted by the moment-to-moment process of well-documented history. Even if its big, broad strokes of emotionality belong to a different era of Hollywood filmmaking, we still invest in the human story of three astronauts stuck in space and the effort to bring them home. And for Oscar nerds out there: Howard missing out on a best-director nomination remains one of the most consequential snubs in the awards’ history. That decision stopped the film’s best-picture chances in their tracks, making way for…a bad kind of dad movie to win instead. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret Director: Kelly Fremon Craig Genre: Teen Drama Notable cast: Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, Abby Ryder Fortson, and Benny Safdie MPA rating: PG-13 Rotten Tomatoes: 99% Metacritic: 84 Based on Judy Blume’s indelible 1970 coming-of-age novel, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret follows Margaret Simon as she faces all the milestones on the road to becoming a young adult. There are the tumultuous upheavals of friendship, religion, puberty, and understanding a parent as their own full-fledged person for the first time. “Honestly, her spiritual journey is very much the reason I wanted to make the film in the first place,” said director Kelly Fremon Craig. “I was really struck and moved by the fact that she carves out her own sense of spirituality.” But the film’s surprise is a fully lived-in performance from Rachel McAdams as Margaret’s mother, a portrayal that Vanity Fair said “deftly paints a thorough and compelling picture of a woman of the era—someone who, like Margaret, is stuck between who she was and who she seems to be becoming.” Atlantics Director: Mati Diop Genre: Drama Notable cast: Mame Bineta Sane, Amadou Mbow, and Ibrahima Traoré MPA rating: PG-13 Rotten Tomatoes: 96% Metacritic: 85 Achingly romantic and fiercely original, Atlantics is a shape-shifting ghost story of sorts that defies simple categorization. Mati Diop’s first feature follows a young woman set to marry a man she does not love, while her lover flees their native Senegal by sea in search of work. Overnight, spirits begin to possess the townsfolk, seeking revenge against an exploitative corporation. Never less than captivating, the film features unforgettable visuals and an arresting blending of themes that make for one of the most daring Netflix originals—and signal Diop as one of the major breakthrough directors of the past decade. Boyz n the Hood Director: John Singleton Genre: Drama Notable cast: Laurence Fishburne, Cuba Gooding Jr., Ice Cube, Angela Bassett, Regina King, Nia Long, Morris Chestnut, and Tyra Ferrell MPA rating: R Rotten Tomatoes: 96% Metacritic: 96 John Singleton’s landmark film about young adulthood in South Central Los Angeles set a high bar for 1990s coming-of-age films at the start of the decade, and it’s one that other coming-of-age films have been chasing ever since. At the center is the story of three reunited childhood friends, Tre, Doughboy, and Ricky, whose plans for the future fatefully collide with the violence in their community. On top of featuring a staggering ensemble of future major stars, Boyz N the Hood launched Singleton as a major voice—making him both the youngest-ever nominee for best director at the time and the first Black director nominated for the award. What has endured is a highly influential and still emotionally powerful film about the Black American experience, and a new-era must-see classic. Bridesmaids Director: Paul Feig Genre: Comedy Notable cast: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne, Chris O’Dowd, Ellie Kemper, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Jon Hamm, and Jill Clayburgh MPA rating: R Rotten Tomatoes: 89% Metacritic: 75 Back in the day, Vanity Fair assessed Bridesmaids as the best comedy of 2011. But that’s a bit modest for my taste—it’s the best and funniest comedy of that decade. The film follows Kristen Wiig as a depressed baker experiencing a slow-motion meltdown when her closest friend becomes engaged. Melissa McCarthy may have deservedly been Oscar-nominated for playing a contently abrasive sister-in-law, but Rose Byrne should have been nominated alongside her as Rudolph’s rich and power-playing new bestie. What unfolds is a comedy-set-piece masterclass—from Jon Hamm’s sexual lunacy to the notorious food poisoning sequence to a colonial woman churning butter on the wing of an airplane—that has only gotten funnier in the years since it became a phenomenon. If annual rewatches haven’t maxed you out on Bridesmaids, hold on for one more play. Charlie’s Angels Director: McG Genre: Action comedy Notable cast: Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu, Bill Murray, Sam Rockwell, Kelly Lynch, Crispin Glover, Matt LeBlanc, Luke Wilson, LL Cool J, Melissa McCarthy, and Tim Curry MPA rating: PG-13 Rotten Tomatoes: 68% Metacritic: 52 Question: How do you feel about this movie, a revamp of the 1970s television classic starring the dynamic combo that is Lucy Liu with my girl Drew, Cameron D, and Destiny ? While the film’s production and legacy remain somewhat complicated, the Charlie’s Angels franchise reboot remains a fun, carefree time for the girls and gays. Destiny’s Child’s “Independent Women Part I” may be the element most imprinted on the culture 25 years later, but credit is due to Cameron Diaz working a Soul Train and Liu wielding a riding crop. The film came during a post-girl-power, post–Austin Powers moment in time when uplifting zaniness ruled the day, and our current era of overly serious blockbusters could learn a thing or two from it. Dick Johnson Is Dead Director: Kirsten Johnson Genre: Documentary MPA rating: PG-13 Rotten Tomatoes: 99% Metacritic: 89 Kirsten Johnson is always breaking the boundaries of what we think a documentary can be—never more so than in her deeply moving yet not-depressing tribute to her father on the eve of his death. Between candid interviews with her father, Dick, Johnson stages his death in various, surreally funny scenarios, such as a fall down the stairs or being struck by a rogue air conditioner. The director told Vanity Fair that making the film was an act of coping with her beloved parent’s dementia: “How can my father and I together confront the fact that he, who is irreplaceable, will disappear?” The effect is whimsical, profound, and restorative, making for the wildest study of love and loss in Netflix’s vast stable. E.T. the Extra Terrestrial Director: Steven Spielberg Genre: Science fiction Notable cast: Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore, and Peter Coyote MPA rating: PG Rotten Tomatoes: 99% Metacritic: 92 Steven Spielberg has never been lacking for blockbusters to call your personal favorite. But we have maybe forgotten that the baron of blockbuster is also the best in the business at giving us big feelings in a big way. And he has never been more powerful at wringing out our emotions than with this mega-smash about a child of divorce who finds a friend in an Earth-stranded alien. E.T. is probably most enduringly imprinted on our cultural consciousness for its catchphrases and imagery, but none of that matches how deeply it makes you feel. Did Vanity Fair once rate the film shockingly low among Spielberg’s films? Yes. But will you start sobbing the second you hear John Williams’s heart-soaring score? Also yes. Frances Ha Director: Noah Baumbach Genre: Comedy Notable cast: Greta Gerwig, Mickey Sumner, Adam Driver, Michael Zegen, Charlotte d’Amboise, Josh Hamilton, and Grace Gummer MPA rating: R Rotten Tomatoes: 92% Metacritic: 82 A gorgeous and sardonic fable about a screwup who stumbles her way toward getting her life together, Frances Ha remains the most essential collaboration between Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig. In an absolutely must-watch performance, Gerwig plays New York dancer Frances as she loses connection with her best friend, Sophie , and as her rapidly approaching 30s begin to catch up to her. The joy of Frances Ha comes from its romantic vantage on New York City living and Frances’s antics: twirling herself through the streets to David Bowie, having boy roommates, taking an ill-advised trip to France. But it also possesses a sly quotability that leaves gems hiding in plain sight. Happy as Lazzaro Director: Alice Rohrwacher Genre: Drama Notable cast: Adriano Tardiolo, Sergi López, and Alba Rohrwacher MPA rating: PG-13 Rotten Tomatoes: 91% Metacritic: 87 Director Alice Rohrwacher earned a legion of new fans from 2023’s Josh O’Conner–led La Chimera—but prior to that masterpiece, she made another with this idiosyncratic fable. Another foray into symbolic magical realism, the story of frozen-in-time sweetheart farmhand Lazzaro is used by Rohwacher to weave a magical examination of class and exploitation. Around its midpoint, the film takes a daring leap that recontextualizes everything we have seen as more than meets the eye, setting the tender Lazzaro on a course for tragedy to come. It’s one of Rohrwacher’s bespoke visual wonders that seem to commune with some kind of cinematic deity, casting a spell that lingers long after viewing. Happy Christmas Director: Joe Swanberg Genre: Comedy Notable cast: Melanie Lynskey, Anna Kendrick, Joe Swanberg, Mark Webber, and Lena Dunham MPA rating: R Rotten Tomatoes: 75% Metacritic: 70 Remember mumblecore? While most of that indie subgenre’s films have been forgotten, it’s safe to say we could all call Joe Swanberg its unchallenged king. His best film, the character dramedy Happy Christmas, came as that indie film movement was on the outs. Yellowjackets’ Melanie Lynskey stars as a writer whose life and sense of self are interrupted when her husband invites his younger, partying sister to live with them. The film’s modesty belies how satisfying the movie is, filled with the kind of messy but honest character detail at which both Lynskey and Kendrick excel. And given that the airwaves are about to be clogged with schlocky, disposable holiday films, you’re going to need a fresh alternative to combat the sugar. His Three Daughters Director: Azazel Jacobs Genre: Drama Notable cast: Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen, Jovan Adepo, and Jay O. Sanders MPA rating: R Rotten Tomatoes: 98% Metacritic: 83 Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne, and Elizabeth Olsen give three revelatory performances as diametrically opposed estranged siblings—the dictator, the hippie, and the burnout, respectively. They cram together in a tiny New York City apartment as they await the death of their father. They battle over groceries, monologue about the Grateful Dead, and try to keep their many past resentments at bay. Sure, His Three Daughters is at times a painful watch, brimming with claustrophobic tension and biting wit. But writer-director Azazel Jacobs gives this chamber piece on death and family a light touch, lifting it off into something unexpected in its emotional depth and making for one of 2024’s best films. The Irishman Director: Martin Scorsese Genre: Crime Notable cast: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel, Bobby Cannavale, Ray Romano, Stephen Graham, Jesse Plemons, Jack Huston, Marin Ireland, and Anna Paquin MPA rating: R Rotten Tomatoes: 95% Metacritic: 94 Martin Scorsese’s epic fable on legacy, loyalty, and unions follows the life of Mob hit man Frank Sheeran, played by Robert De Niro. As Vanity Fair put it, “There’s something crucial about sitting with the same actors for so long. It communicates the weight and ravages of time more keenly than if the actors had been swapped out halfway through.” Much was made of the de-aging visual effects that allowed De Niro to play the character at all stages of Sheeran’s life, as was about Netflix’s refusal to play ball with the theater chains for the film’s limited theatrical release. Now that all that dust has settled, what remains is one of the defining masterpieces of this late stage of Scorsese’s career, one with a lot to say about where to place your loyalties and priorities in life. Judas and the Black Messiah Director: Shaka King Genre: Biographical drama Notable cast: Daniel Kaluuya, LaKeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons, Dominique Fishback, Ashton Sanders, Martin Sheen, and Lil Rel Howery MPA rating: R Rotten Tomatoes: 96% Metacritic: 84 A kinetic Hollywood retelling of the life, impact, and betrayal of Black Panther chairman Fred Hampton, this film earned two Oscars, including for Daniel Kaluuya’s mesmerizing performance as Hampton. “Judas and the Black Messiah is richer and more engaging than a standard biopic,” said Vanity Fair. “The film is a robust examination of time and place, damning in its critique of the FBI and the American institutions that abetted the bureau .” Director Shaka King instantly drew notice for his story of American corruption and injustice, with an epic scope inspired by the likes of such greats as Martin Scorsese and Spike Lee. May December Director: Todd Haynes Genre: Drama Notable cast: Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, Charles Melton MPA rating: R Rotten Tomatoes: 91% Metacritic: 86 Todd Haynes’s darkly comedic, sleazy satire stars Natalie Portman as an actor who becomes obsessed with the real-life figure she is about to play: a former teacher who became a tabloid fixture for her sexual relationship with a teenage student . As much as the film skewers tabloid culture , it’s also a darkly comedic look at performance and the lies we tell ourselves. In calling it one of the best films of 2023, Vanity Fair wrote, “May December could probably be endlessly unpacked, so varied are its tones and textures and piercing insights.” Parasite Director: Bong Joon Ho Genre: Drama Notable cast: Song Kang-ho, Choi Woo-shik, and Park So-dam MPA rating: R Rotten Tomatoes: 99% Metacritic: 97 If you haven’t already seen the international sensation and first non-English-language winner of the best-picture Academy Award, what’s wrong with you? If you have, revisiting the film only confirms how right we all were to make such a big deal about it in 2019. Director Bong Joon Ho’s tragicomic class satire is a modern-day classic, with a socially conscious point of view that has proven to be immediately influential. After Netflix made hits out of non-English-language fan favorites in both film and television , the “one-inch-tall barrier” of subtitles that Bong spoke about at the Oscars now makes Parasite right at home on the streamer. It’s always going to be a good time to rewatch Parasite. Phantom Thread Director: Paul Thomas Anderson Genre: Romance Notable cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Vicky Krieps, Lesley Manville, and Harriet Sansom Harris MPA rating: R Rotten Tomatoes: 91% Metacritic: 90 The reclusive Daniel Day-Lewis gives what was then billed as his final performance as the fictional couturier Reynolds Woodcock. As Woodcock falls in love and unravels at the demands of being in a relationship, the character spews forth an ego to rival that of a previous Day-Lewis and Paul Thomas Anderson character collaboration, There Will Be Blood’s Daniel Plainview—though Woodcock is less violently inclined. It may seem like a showcase for one of the greatest living actors , but its greatest surprise lies in a less familiar performer in a major breakthrough role: the luminous Vicky Krieps as Reynolds’s beloved Alma. Phantom Thread is a darkly hilarious, deeply romantic swoon of a movie and perhaps the most revealing of Anderson’s formidable career. The Power of the Dog Director: Jane Campion Genre: Drama Notable cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Thomasin McKenzie, Keith Carradine, and Frances Conroy MPA rating: R Rotten Tomatoes: 94% Metacritic: 89 Jane Campion’s big-screen return earned high praise for its psychologically intense study of masculinity in the American West. It’s never quite the movie you expect: In calling it one of 2021’s best films, Vanity Fair critic Richard Lawson said this “stately and mysterious film isn’t quite a character-study drama, not quite a thriller, and not really a Western. It is an elusive and mesmerizing thing unto itself.” An all-consuming visual experience, The Power of the Dog features top-to-bottom outstanding performances from its cast, including Benedict Cumberbatch as one of the most terrifying movie villains in recent memory. It’s not just one of the best movies on Netflix right now; it’s one of the best movies ever. Private Life Director: Tamara Jenkins Genre: Comedy Notable cast: Paul Giamatti, Kathryn Hahn, Molly Shannon, John Carroll Lynch, Kayli Carter, and Denis O’Hare MPA rating: R Rotten Tomatoes: 94% Metacritic: 83 In one of Netflix’s best movies and most overlooked masterworks, Kathryn Hahn and Paul Giamatti star as an infertile New York City couple who, after several unsuccessful attempts at fertility treatment, consider surrogacy with their wayward niece . It’s only the third entry in writer-director Tamara Jenkins’s filmography, but it’s maybe the best showcase of her bittersweet comic pathos yet: There’s nude ranting, people shoving their feet in their mouths, and bits about overly specific lox portions. If the film’s final shot doesn’t heal whatever ails you, please consult your doctor. All that, plus a powder keg, career-best performance from Hahn–before she would become a household name with her MCU debut as Agatha in WandaVision–makes this essential viewing. Shirkers Director: Sandi Tan Genre: Documentary MPA rating: PG-13 Rotten Tomatoes: 99% Metacritic: 88 When filmmaker Sandi Tan was a young adult, she participated in a production that would have been Singapore’s first road movie. But after filming, the footage and Tan’s eccentric producer disappeared. The resulting documentary charts Tan’s quest for the footage, bringing the footage back from the dead to make something entirely fascinating and deeply personal. This thoughtfully crafted production considers what was lost through the theft of the original film, both for Tan and for Singaporean film culture at large. Shirkers delights both as a personal investigative documentary and as a uniquely film-obsessed story for movie lovers. Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit Director: Bill Duke Genre: Musical comedy Notable cast: Whoopi Goldberg, Kathy Najimy, Wendy Makkena, Mary Wickes, Lauryn Hill, Maggie Smith, Barnard Hughes, James Coburn, Michael Jeter, Alanna Ubach, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and Sheryl Lee Ralph MPA rating: PG Rotten Tomatoes: 19% Metacritic: 38 Yes, the original Sister Act is also available on Netflix and retains its status as a classic. But its unjustly critically rebuked sequel is just as much of a good time. This time, Deloris Van Cartier returns to teach a misbehaving high school music class at a school where her nun friends from the first film are working. Is she on the run from the Mob again? No, she’s just doing this as a favor! With Back in the Habit, it’s best to keep any plot questions between you and God, but it is a great time nevertheless! The sequel trades in Motown/hymnal mash-ups for more 1990s-centric hip-hop and show choir jubilance, with Lauryn Hill as Whoopi Goldberg’s resentful star pupil. Glee is deeply indebted to this film, and if you haven’t seen it yet, you must not have been in a public school choir in the 2000s. Strong Island Director: Yance Ford Genre: Documentary MPA rating: Unrated Rotten Tomatoes: 100% Metacritic: 86 Yance Ford tackles his own family history and the injustice of the legal system with this nonfiction stunner, a recounting of his brother’s 1992 murder and how the killer went free. Where other documentaries navel-gaze at the details of a murder, Strong Island is more interested in the aftermath of the crime—how his brother’s killer going free shaped both his identity and his family’s. Ford approaches such personal subject matter with a sober and unflinching formal rigor, including in some audacious moments where he directly addresses the camera. The result is a film that’s something of an antidote to the rise of the exploitative true-crime documentary, a deeply intimate and searingly introspective portrait of a still-grieving family denied justice. Tenet Director: Christopher Nolan Genre: Action Notable cast: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Kenneth Branagh, Himesh Patel, Martin Donovan, and Clémence Poésy MPA rating: PG-13 Rotten Tomatoes: 70% Metacritic: 69 Tenet’s fraught COVID-era release means you still might not have seen this daring, delightfully absurd action epic—likely the most unabashedly out-there movie of Christopher Nolan’s entire career. The film stars John David Washington as an agent trying to stop the end of the world. How to grasp anything beyond that simple premise in this serpentine, time-bending thriller is best and hilariously summarized by one of its characters: “Don’t try to understand it—feel it.” Here, Nolan offers us the head-spinning spectacle of backward-and-forward car chases, explosions, and Robert Pattinson in various scarves. Tenet might not make much sense, but it makes for a fascinating footnote for one of the world’s favorite filmmakers. Y Tu Mamá También Director: Alfonso Cuarón Genre: Drama Notable cast: Maribel Verdú, Gael García Bernal, and Diego Luna MPA rating: Unrated Rotten Tomatoes: 90% Metacritic: 89 After a few financial misfires, director Alfonso Cuarón catapulted to global acclaim with this Mexican drama about two teenage friends who take a sexually charged road trip with an older woman . Cuarón would be even more lauded for later flashier films, including Oscar-winning Netflix original Roma, but perhaps none of them match the fiery spark of this breathtaking erotic drama. Blending explicit sex scenes with swoon-worthy visual beauty and evocative social commentary, the film hasn’t lost its ability to surprise in the more than 20 years since it arrived.
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