The 100 Best Movies on Netflix Right Now

This post is updated regularly to reflect the latest movies to leave and enter Netflix. *New additions are indicated by an asterisk.

With thousands of movies to choose from, and a navigation system and algorithm that don’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 thing you have to do is sit back and, uh, watch all 100 movies. (And if you’re more of a TV person, check out the 50 best TV shows on Netflix.)

*Airplane!

Movies just don’t get much funnier than this 1980 classic from David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, and Jim Abrahams. Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, and Leslie Nielsen star in a parody of the disaster flicks of the ‘70s but this film has far transcended its roots to become one of the most quotable and beloved comedies of all time. It’s held up.

*Ali

Michael Mann directed this 2001 biopic of one of the most important figures of the twentieth century, Muhammad Ali. Will Smith does possibly the best film work of his career as the legendary boxer, civil rights icon, and all-around role model, and Mann approaches the life of Ali with his own unique craftsmanship.

American Honey

Andrea Arnold’s 2016 teen epic about a runaway (Sasha Lane) who finds herself a part of a crew of young people bouncing their way across the country — including Shia LaBeouf and Riley Keough — is the best movie on Netflix that you probably haven’t seen. With propulsive energy, an amazing soundtrack, and beautiful cinematography of the heart of America, this is a fascinating movie that deserves a look.

The Artist

One of the Best Picture winners that seems to have faded from memory more quickly than others is on Netflix now waiting for a reappraisal. It may not be as good as its multiple Oscars suggests, but it’s also probably more fun and cleverer than the subsequent backlash may have led you to believe.

As Good As It Gets

Believe it or not, this is the last movie to win both the Oscar for Best Actor (Jack Nicholson) and Best Actress (Helen Hunt). James L. Brooks’ romantic comedy is a perfect example of a movie that caught its cast at just the right moment, getting one of the last Nicholson performances that could be called charming and supporting it with great work from Hunt and Greg Kinnear. Some of it is a bit dated, but it catches just enough lightning in a bottle in terms of casting to justify another look.

Atlantics

Mati Diop’s directorial debut is a tender, mesmerizing study of life on the coast of Senegal, where men often venture out for more prosperous shores, leaving the women behind. It’s a delicate, beautiful film that plays like a romance, ghost story, and study of inequality all at the same time. See it before someone recommends it to you.

The Back to the Future Trilogy

Robert Zemeckis directed all three movies in one of the most beloved trilogies of all time. The story of a teen who goes back in time turned Michael J. Fox into a household name and still serves as the template for how to do this kind of family/sci-fi adventure. The two sequels may not be as good but they’re better than you remember.

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 it 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.

Blackfish

A select few documentaries actually change the world. This is one of those films, a movie that pulled back the curtain on the awful conditions at aquatic theme parks and changed them forever. No one can watch this movie and ever go back to Sea World without a protest sign in their hand.

The Bling Ring

Sofia Coppola directed this 2013 true story about a group of young people in Los Angeles who decided to start robbing celebrities. It’s an underrated dramedy about privilege and desire, filtered through the vibrant viewpoint of its filmmaker and talented young cast, including Emma Watson and Taissa Farmiga.

Blue Ruin

Jeremy Saulnier wrote and directed this 2013 breakthrough, a great little thriller that’s reminiscent of the Coen Brothers’ classic Blood Simple in its blunt, darkly humorous approach. Macon Blair plays Dwight, a vagrant who learns that the man who murdered his parents is about to be released from prison. Dwight takes action – that’s all you need to know. This is a vicious thrill ride of a movie.

Blue Valentine

Michelle Williams just won her first Emmy, but so far, her deserved Oscar remains just out of reach. One of her best performances on the big screen is in this intimate, devastating dissection of the dissolution of a marriage, which also just so happens to contain arguably Ryan Gosling’s best performance to date. They’re both masterful here. You won’t forget it.

Burning

The best foreign-language film of 2018 is already on Netflix, hopefully indicating a deeper commitment by the company to present the best of international cinema to American audiences. Lee Chang-dong adapts a novella by Haruki Murakami into a riveting dissection of class and gender in modern Korea. Steven Yeun is mesmerizing as the mysterious Ben, someone who our protagonist starts to think might be a killer. Don’t miss this one.

*Da 5 Bloods

Spike Lee’s first Original Netflix is one of the master filmmaker’s best works to date. The story of five men searching for gold in the jungle is more of a commentary on two wars that never ended – the Vietnam War and the struggle for civil rights.

*Django Unchained

Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar winner reimagines both the Old West and the Italian film series Django into something that only QT could make. It features one of Jamie Foxx’s best performances as the title character, a slave who escapes and teams up with a bounty hunter played by Christoph Waltz, who won an Oscar for his amazing work here.

Dolemite Is My Name

Eddie Murphy is back! It’s been a long time since we saw this version of Eddie, who reminds us how funny and charismatic he can be with the right part. That part is the flashy personality that was Rudy Ray Moore, a washed-up musician who transformed himself into the character of Dolemite. Like The Disaster Artist and Ed Wood, this is an ode to DIY filmmaking with not just a great performance from Murphy, but Wesley Snipes and Keegan Michael Key too.

*Donnie Brasco

Mike Newell directed this telling of the true story of Joseph D. Pistone (Johnny Depp), an FBI agent who went undercover in the Bonanno crime family in New York City in the 1970s. There, Pistone meets Lefty Ruggiero, played by Al Pacino in one of his most nuanced and underrated performances.

Drive

Remember when no one was cooler than Ryan Gosling in his bad-ass scorpion jacket? Dripping with macho style, Nicolas Winding Refn’s best film stars Gosling as a stunt driver who gets caught up in the problems of a single mother, played by Carey Mulligan. Albert Brooks almost steals the movie, but this Refn’s movie through and through, and one of the best L.A. Movies of the ‘10s.

*Elf

It doesn’t have to be the holidays to watch one of Will Ferrell’s most joyous and lovable movies. Before Iron Man, Jon Favreau directed this glorious fable about a human raised by Santa’s elves and the trouble he gets into on a trip to New York City to find his biological father. It works any time of the year.

End of Watch

Jake Gyllenhaal gives one of his best performances in this gritty cop drama from David Ayer. He co-stars with Michael Peña in an intense story of two partner police officers in modern-day Los Angeles. With a visceral style and grounded performances from its leads, this is the rare cop drama that feels like it’s doing more than recycling tropes.

*E.T.

A lot of the family streaming attention has been diverted to Disney+ and HBO Max, but there are surely still some homes with kids out there who are Netflix-exclusive. If you’re one of those, you can’t do much better than one of the most magical family films of all time, Steven Spielberg’s story of a boy who befriends an alien and helps him get home again.

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 Firm

Sydney Pollack directed this adaptation of the hit 1991 novel by John Grisham and delivered one of the most beloved legal dramas of all time. Tom Cruise plays Mitch McDeere, a Harvard Law School grad who gets offered a job at an exclusive law firm, discovering the toxic culture of evil that it not only protects but engages in. This has held up much better than most mid-‘90s blockbusters, in part because of the way it confronts a corruption that has only flourished in the time since its release.

The Florida Project

One of the best films of the 2010s is this heartbreaking character study from Sean Baker, a story of people on the edge of the Happiest Place on Earth as seen through the eyes of a child. It’s a beautiful movie with unforgettable performances and poetic realism throughout.

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.

*Frost/Nixon

Peter Morgan adapted his own play into this Ron Howard-directed Best Picture nominee that also earned an Oscar nod for its star, Frank Langella. Along with co-star Michael Sheen, the actors who originated the roles in London and on Broadway stepped into the characters of David Frost and Richard Nixon, using their legendary interview as an analysis of image and power.

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.

Get on the Bus

Spike Lee directed this brilliant little drama about a group of Black men travelling cross-country on a bus to be a part of the Million Man March in 1995. It’s a wonderful character piece that really captures a major event in a way that only Lee could do with great performances by Charles S. Dutton, Ossie Davis, Andre Braugher, Bernie Mac, Henry Lennix, and more.

A Ghost Story

David Lowery’s experimental film is one of the most unusual movies you could watch on Netflix tonight. It stars Rooney Mara as a grieving widow after her husband, played by Casey Affleck, suddenly dies, but it becomes something much stranger and more ambitious when it becomes a decades-spanning look at a lost soul in a world filled with grief and trauma. It’s a beautiful movie about loss.

The Gift

Joel Edgerton should make another thriller. The last time he directed one, it became one of the biggest sleeper hits of 2015. Edgerton co-stars with Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall in the story of a man who works his way back into the life of an old friend, but he may have ulterior motives.

Good Time

If you loved Uncut Gems like most people (or even if you hated it, you monster), then you should check out the Safdie brothers’ previous venture, this crime drama starring Robert Pattinson. The actor plays a guy whose brother gets caught after a bank robbery and so he spends the rest of the night trying to get the money together to bust him out. Like Sandler, Pattinson has a nervous energy that fits the Safdie aesthetic perfectly. It’s stressful and exhilarating in equal measure.

Groundhog Day

Relive one of the best comedies of all time over and over again on Netflix. Believe it or not, this 1993 Bill Murray vehicle wasn’t that rapturously received critically or commercially when it came out, but it’s become a beloved genre classic. Murray stars as a weatherman forced to relive the same day over and over again until he gets it right. It’s not just the clever premise but how much co-writer/director Harold Ramis and Murray inject humanism and truth into it. And it’s held up so much better than most early ‘90s comedies.

The Hateful Eight

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 reedited by Quentin Tarantino into episodes, so we say it’s a movie. And it’s an underrated one, overshadowed by the way it deals with race and gender when it was released. Just a few years later, it looks almost prescient about how divided the country would become, and it contains some of the best performances in Q.T.’s entire filmography.

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.

High Flying Bird

Steven Soderbergh very rarely makes bad movies and he’s not about to start with Andre Holland and Zazie Beetz in his court. The two star in the first excellent Netflix movie of 2019, an analysis of the game on top of the game that makes the NBA work. The man who almost directed Moneyball crafts a razor-sharp, incredibly entertaining, and humane basketball/corporate-media/labor drama that will appeal to hoops fanatics and the sports-averse alike. And the entire thing was shot on an iPhone!

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.

Hugo

Netflix keeps cycling Martin Scorsese movies in and out of its collection, and one of the latest additions is this 2011 adaptation of Brian Selznick’s novel that was originally released in 3-D. Nominated for 11 Oscars (and winning five), this is one of Scorsese’s most acclaimed and beloved films, which should further put to rest any of those dumb insinuations that the legendary director only knows how to make mob movies. This is a whimsical, delightful film that you can watch with the entire family. It may not be in 3-D on Netflix, but you can still enjoy its endless visual glory.

Incredibles 2

While Disney works to get its upcoming streaming service off the ground, it’s 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).

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

There’s a lot of Steven Spielberg on Netflix, but this is one of the best choices you could make from the filmography of one the best American filmmakers. Maybe you’ve heard of it? All four Indy films are actually still on Netflix. Do a marathon while you still can. Yes, you can skip the last one if you want.

Inglourious Basterds

Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood recently divided Film Twitter and made a fortune at the box office on the back of rave reviews. So naturally someone at Netflix realized this might be a good time to add a few QT films to the catalogue. As of this writing, you can check out one that’s widely considered to be among his best: the Oscar-winning Inglourious Basterds. If you somehow haven’t seen it, you really should before seeing Once, as it does a lot of the same melding of history and Tarantino’s vision.

*Inside Man

Spike Lee is having an overdue moment after his Oscar win for BlacKkKlansman and the excitement over his upcoming Da 5 Bloods, and so it’s time to revisit some of his best films. This is one of his most underrated, a clever heist film starring Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, and Jodie Foster. It’s not one of Lee’s most personal films but it is so finely constructed, the kind of thriller that can entertain even when you know its twists and turns.

The Irishman

Netflix’s most ambitious and expensive project to date is this 3.5-hour epic based on the life of Frank Sheeran, errand boy for the Mafia and friend of Jimmy Hoffa. Martin Scorsese directs living legends like Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci to some of the best work of their career. It is epic, elegiac, and unforgettable — a commentary on a violent life and, really, the filmmaker’s entire body of work.

Jerry Maguire

One of Cameron Crowe’s best films became something of a punchline with its heavily quoted lines (“Show me the money,” “You had me at hello,” everything that cute kid says), but it’s actually a wonderful romantic comedy that has held up incredibly well in the quarter-century since its release. Tom Cruise plays the title character, a sports agent who is pushed into starting his own agency while he falls in love with a single mother, played by Renee Zellweger. It’s sweet, smart, and funny.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer

A man who likes to play God meets a boy who likes to play Satan in this twisted horror film from Yorgos Lanthimos, the daring director of The Lobster and The Favourite. Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman head the cast of a film that owes more to ‘70s psychological horror than slasher pics. It’s unforgettable.

Killing Them Softly

Andrew Dominik reunited with Brad Pitt after their collaboration on The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford for this adaptation of George V. Higgins’ Cogan’s Trade. At the time, audiences wanted something a little more action-driven than this character study delivers, but it’s developed a loyal cult following since 2012 and contains one of the late great James Gandolfini’s best screen performances.

The Lobster

Comedy doesn’t get much darker than this 2015 offering from the 2019 Oscar-nominated Yorgos Lanthimos. The Greek director co-wrote and directed the story of a place where single people go to hook up with others looking for love. The catch? If they don’t find a partner within 45 days, they are turned into animals. As dry and deadpan as comedy gets, there are still some very funny beats in Lanthimos’s exaggerated look at the folly of human connection.

Locke

Steven Knight wrote and directed this 2013 drama that contains one of Tom Hardy’s career-best performances. It’s an actor’s showcase in that it contains no one else on-screen other than Hardy, who plays the title character, someone juggling various issues in his life as he drives through the night to reach his in-labor girlfriend. Hardy is charismatic and brilliant, proving he’s one of the few actors of his generation who could carry a one-man show like this.

Marriage Story

Noah Baumbach returns to Netflix with his best film to date, the story of the dissolution of a marriage between a theatre director (Adam Driver) and his lead actress (Scarlett Johannson). The two leads also do the best work of their careers in a smart, moving piece of work about how divorce turns you into a person you never thought you’d become, and how you have to move on as that new person. It’s one of the best films of 2019.

The Master

One of P.T. Anderson’s best films, and one of the best films of the 2010s by anybody, is this drama starring Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams. Originally seen as a dissection of the creation of Scientology, The Master is a lot more than that, breaking down leader/follower relationships, trauma, and doubt in ways that only one of our best filmmakers could. It’s a masterpiece.

*Mean Streets

Martin Scorsese’s big breakthrough came with this 1973 crime film about a pair of New York friends, unforgettably played by Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro. Marty’s muse gives one of his best performances as Johnny Boy, a New York tough guy who ends up being the weak link for his buddy Charlie, played by Keitel. The film bristles with unforgettable energy, making it clear that Scorsese would be an important filmmaker for decades to come.

The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)

This Noah Baumbach film didn’t premiere in theaters, instead 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.

*Million Dollar Baby

Clint Eastwood directed this 2004 sports drama that gained such a critical and commercial following, it won the Oscar for Best Picture (along with Actress, Director, and Supporting Actor). Based on the short stories by F.X. Toole, it tells the tale of an amateur boxer named Maggie Fitzgerald, played by Hilary Swank, and the trainer who helps her go pro before unforgettable tragedy strikes. It’s a film that doesn’t seem as remembered now as other ‘00s award winners but seems ready for a reappraisal.

Miracle

There are so few great sports movies that audiences really embrace the ones that do come along like this underrated 2004 film from Gavin O’Connor. Kurt Russell gives a truly fantastic performance as Herb Brooks, the coach of the U.S. Men’s Hockey team that made everyone believe in miracles when they defeated their heavily favored Russian counterparts.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Movies don’t get much funnier than the best offering from the Monty Python troupe, a comedy that spawned a quoting fandom that still roams the hills saying, “Not dead yet,” and, “I fart in your general direction.” It’s possible there’s a young generation yet to appreciate the comedic brilliance of the men of Monty Python. Start here and then move on to the sketches and other movies, some of which are also on Netflix.

Moonlight

Barry Jenkins’ 2016 drama might be the most shocking Best Picture winner of all time, and not just for the way it went down on Oscar night. Envelope-gate somewhat overshadowed how crazy it is that such a small, gentle, personal film won the biggest prize in movies. If you have somehow never seen it, correct that oversight now. And, if you have, watch it again. It’s a movie that grows richer with each viewing.

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.

Mud

Remember the McConaissance? Now that it appears to be over, we can appreciate the tentpoles of Matthew McConaughey’s comeback to be taken seriously as an actor, including True Detective, Dallas Buyers Club, and this indie gem, in which McConaughey plays a drifter stumbled upon by a couple of Arkansas kid. Jeff Nichols’ coming-of-age drama is a great example of a filmmaker who uses setting as a character and how good McConaughey can still be in the right material.

Mudbound

Arguably Netflix’s first masterpiece, Dee Rees’s 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.

No Direction Home: Bob Dylan

Martin Scorsese directed this masterful documentary, one of the best music films ever made. It’s the story of the life of Bob Dylan, told over more than 200 minutes of interviews, archival footage, and analysis of Dylan’s impact on pop culture and even politics. Even if you don’t like Dylan, you’ll like this.

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 it to 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 Guys

Is this Will Ferrell’s last great comedy? Capping off a decade that included Anchorman, Old School, Step Brothers, and Talladega Nights, the SNL alum co-stars with Mark Wahlberg as two cops forced to step into the spotlight after the hysterical death of the two most popular officers on the force. Ferrell and Wahlberg are great in one of Adam McKay’s funnier comedies. He should reunite with his best leading man and make another one.

The Other Side of the Wind

It took almost a half-century to complete Orson Welles’s 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

Arguably more fantasy than horror, Guillermo Del Toro’s masterpiece has just enough nightmare fuel to qualify, and that’s not even including the incredibly dark “real-world” themes with which GDT is playing here. Del Toro’s first Oscar winner blends the fantasy world of a girl named Ofelia and the abject cruelty of her stepfather, a Captain during the Spanish Civil War. Even in a movie that features a child-eating creature called the Pale Man, the real monster may be human.

The Pianist

Adrien Brody won the Oscar for Roman Polanski’s true story of the life of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish-Jewish pianist who survived the Holocaust. Moving and gripping, The Pianist captures something rarely seen in historical documents — how much survival was often dictated by chance encounters and downright luck. Polanski also won the Oscar for Best Director.

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.

Public Enemies

Michael Mann directed Johnny Depp as John Dillinger and Christian Bale as the FBI Agent who pursued him, Melvin Purvis. Shot in Chicago on digital film, it’s a riveting piece of work visually and contains an incredible supporting cast that includes Marion Cotillard, Stephen Dorff, Stephen Graham, Billy Crudup, Jason Clarke, Bill Camp, and many more. It’s an epic portrait of the end of a gangster era.

The Queen

Helen Mirren won an Oscar for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth in the days after the death of Princess Diana. Stephen Frears directed her and the great Michael Sheen as Tony Blair. How the Royal Family deals with the media and their people was deftly captured in a film for which Mirren basically won every award that they give out for this sort of thing.

Raising Cain

This 1992 thriller is one of Brian De Palma’s most divisive movies. Yes, a lot of this is clunky (and the recut version released by Shout Factory in 2016 is fascinating) but no one can deny the fearless John Lithgow performance at the center of this crazy movie. It’s not perfect but it’s also unforgettable.

Roma

Alfonso Cuaron’s deeply personal story of the domestic worker 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

Steven Spielberg’s personal masterpiece is the saga of Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), who saved the lives of hundreds of Jewish refugees in Poland during the Holocaust. Spielberg is one of our greatest film historians, telling chapters of world history in a way that only he can, and this remains one of his most notable achievements, a reminder of the power of extreme good even in the face of extreme evil.

School Daze

What sophomore slump? Spike Lee followed his breakthrough with She’s Gotta Have It with this exuberant 1988 comedy with an incredible ensemble that includes Larry Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, Tisha Campbell, and Ossie Davis. It’s a little sloppy at times but it’s a reminder of how confident and expressive Lee was at even such a young age.

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.

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 Coens’ best darkly comic bits in the back half of their career.

A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon

There aren’t a lot of great kids movies on Netflix, especially as so many family subscribers are moving over to Disney+, so we should take the chance to watch the best ones as much as possible. And maybe if you watch this very funny, clever Aardman movie over and over again, they’ll make more of them. The great silent comedy of Shaun the Sheep meets science fiction in this riff on E.T. that’s very sweet and very funny.

The 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

Sometimes a director finds a cast at just the right time and that’s exactly what happened when David O. Russell tapped Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, and Jacki Weaver in this romantic dramedy. They’re all perfect, making this one of the more likable and easy-to-watch movies you could possibly bring up on Netflix.

Sin City

Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez, and Quentin Tarantino adapted this stylish version of Miller’s beloved graphic novel about violent men and femme fatales. The star power here is one draw (including Bruce Willis, Clive Owen, Mickey Rourke, Benicio del Toro, and Elijah Wood), but the best reason to watch this is that there’s never been anything else quite like it.

The Social Network

One of the best movies of the 2010s has returned to Netflix to remind people how wildly far ahead of its time this movie was when it was released. With a razor-sharp screenplay by Aaron Sorkin and some of the best direction of David Fincher’s career, this is a flawless movie, one that resonate even more now in the era of constant internet than it did a decade ago.

Song of the Sea

Tomm Moore’s gentle Irish fable, a nominee for Best Animated Film at the Oscars, is the kind of movie you can feel comfortable putting on for the entire family. It’s the story of an Irish boy who learns that his sister is a selkie and contains some of the most gorgeous animation of the 2010s.

Snowpiercer

Bong Joon-ho is about to have a major cultural moment with the release of his Palme d’Or-winning Parasite. Why not go back and check out what is arguably his most popular movie to date, this 2013 adaptation of a groundbreaking French graphic novel? The concept is wonderfully simple — an always-moving train is divided into class with the 1% at the front and the poorest people in the back. Those in the caboose, including Chris Evans and Song Kang-ho, plan to move up a few train cars. It’s smart, action-packed, memorable sci-fi action, and it’s the kind that also has something to say.

The Spectacular Now

James Ponsoldt’s 2013 adaptation of Tim Tharp’s 2008 novel was one of the biggest hits to come out of that year’s Sundance Film Festival, and helped launch the careers of Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, and Brie Larson. On paper, it’s another romantic dramedy about two very different teenagers who find themselves falling in love, but Ponsoldt and his cast imbue the film with a truth that’s so often missing from this genre. It’s a legitimately great movie. A bit of trivia: this film was the last one reviewed by Roger Ebert, who gave it four stars.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

The Best Animated Film Oscar for 2018 went to this unexpected treat, one of the best superhero movies of the modern era. It’s got a little bit of everything. First, it replicates the comic-book aesthetic in ways we’ve never seen before. Second, it is a leap forward in terms of representation in superhero movies. Third, it is just an unbelievable amount of fun, the kind of movie that you can watch again and again. It will hold up for generations to come.

The Squid and the Whale

Noah Baumbach’s personal 2005 drama dissects the impact of divorce on an average family and offers the suggestion that the flaws of parents will only be amplified in their children. Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney, and Jesse Eisenberg all give excellent performances in a film that feels both specifically revealing and universal in its themes.

*Swimming Pool

Even with the notable works that would follow, Francois Ozon’s best film is still this 2003 erotic thriller that actually earns the over-used adjective Hitchcockian. The master would have loved the way Ozon bounces his characters off each other, including a British crime novelist played by Charlotte Rampling, a publisher played by Charles Dance, and the young woman who causes a stir, played by Ludivine Sagnier. Dripping with style, it’s like nothing else on Netflix.

Starship Troopers

This movie is a fascinating litmus test as to how people read cinema. Invite some friends over, put it on, and then discuss what Paul Verhoeven is going for with his story of interstellar killer aliens and, more importantly, the space force of beautiful people put together to stop them. Suggest that maybe there’s more going on than just sci-fi/action. Or just sit back and enjoy the ride provided by one of the most purely entertaining genre pics of its era.

Taxi Driver

One of Martin Scorsese’s early masterpieces, this is the wildly influential story of a man pushed off the edge of sanity, featuring a fearless performance from a young Robert De Niro. Few movies from this era are cited more than this one, and it’s not just because it touches on themes that remain timeless but that it does so in such a riveting, harrowing way. It’s unforgettable and the rare masterpiece that holds up every single time you watch it.

There Will Be Blood

One of the best films of the ‘00s, Paul Thomas Anderson’s adaptation of Upton Sinclair’s Oil! won Daniel Day-Lewis his second Oscar as the unforgettable Daniel Plainview. As detailed and epic as great fiction, Anderson’s movie is one of the most acclaimed of its era, a film in which it’s hard to find a single flaw. Even if you think you’ve seen it enough, watch it again. You’ll find a new reason to admire it.

Tigertail

Alan Yang of Master of None and Little America film makes his directorial debut with this nuanced, tender, personal story of Taiwanese immigration. Tzi Ma (The Farewell) is stunning as Pin-Jui, a man looking back on his life and examining the formative chapters in it. With gorgeous flashbacks films in 16mm and a big heart, this a tearjerker that earns its emotions.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Gary Oldman stars in one of the best adaptations of the master of literary espionage, John le Carré. It’s a period piece – with incredible ‘70s detail – about the hunt for a Soviet double agent. It’s a film that works because of its incredible attention to the little things, and an amazing ensemble that also includes Tom Hardy, Colin Firth, John Hurt, Mark Strong, and Benedict Cumberbatch.

Tootsie

It may not be accepted in 2020, but Sydney Pollack’s comedy about a man who dresses as a woman to finally make it in his career was a blockbuster hit when it was released almost four decades ago. Watch it now for the incredible comic timing of Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, and Bill Murray, among others. It’s one of those ‘80s comedies that really shattered all expectations, making over $175 million (in 1982 movie) and even winning an Oscar for Lange. It was nominated for ten Academy Awards! That just doesn’t happen for comedies anymore.

*Total Recall

Paul Verhoeven directed this 1990 blockbuster that unleashed Arnold Schwarzenegger on a short story by Philip K. Dick called “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale.” Ah-nuld plays a construction worker who becomes involved in a crazy power struggle on Mars…or does he? Verhoeven’s blend of social commentary and undeniable craft with action have allowed this to hold up better than most thirty-year-old action movies.

Troy

Wolfgang Petersen rode his fame as an action director to make a massive, big-budget version of Homer’s Iliad, and it ended up being one of the highest grossing films of 2004. Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, and Orlando Bloom lead a massively talented ensemble in an old-fashioned epic film that recalls the era of Ben-Hur and The Ten Commandments. It’s better than you remember, a great example of action-adventure filmmaking.

The Two Popes

Fernando Meirelles (City of God) directs this fascinating two-hander starring Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins as the last and current Popes. The majority of Anthony McCarten’s script is a conversation between the two in the days when Pope Benedict handed off papal duties to Pope Francis, using that context to examine modern faith and how it has to change in the new century. Hopkins is very good but the real draw here is arguably the best performance of Jonathan Pryce’s remarkable career.

*Uncut Gems

Adam Sandler earned some of the best reviews of his career for this tense drama/thriller about a New York jeweler who has a little bit of a gambling problem. As he spirals the drain of life, he tries to sell a rare gem and make money on a Celtics playoff game. Vibrant and anxiety-inducing, it’s one of the best movies of 2019, and it’s already on Netflix.

Under the Skin

A trippy, sci-fi masterpiece, this flick stars Scarlett Johansson as an alien being exploring the world around her and, well, doing some terrifying things to the men she comes into contact with. Although that only scratches the surface of why this is a special movie, a terrifying tone piece that has more in common with Twin Peaks than Species. It’s unforgettable and brilliant.

*United 93

Paul Greengrass takes a you-are-there approach to the tragedy that took place United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11th and produced arguably the best drama about that horrible day. With shaky, handheld camerawork, you feel like you’re really on the plane when it’s taken over by terrorists as it unfolds in terrifying real time.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Both versions of the Roald Dahl classic are on Netflix but take Gene Wilder over Johnny Depp every time. This movie is a beloved classic for a reason, carried effortlessly by Wilder’s charm and the Dahl’s unforgettable story. Everyone has seen this at some point in their life. It’s a rite of passage in childhood for a reason.

The Witch

Robert Eggers’s Sundance hit is a master class in sound design and limited perspective. Using testimony from the Salem witch trials, the concept of Eggers’s script is beautifully simple — what if one of those trials was about a legitimate witch? The sound of branches hitting each other from the wind, the sound of footsteps on the leafy ground — this is a movie that understands that horror is often sensory more than purely conveyed through storytelling. It’s a modern genre masterpiece.

Y Tu Mama También

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 Cuarón. Two teenage boys — Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna — fall for an older woman who has a secret. It’s a sweet, moving film from a modern master.

*Zodiac

One of the best films of the ‘00s stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., and Mark Ruffalo as three men who become individually obsessed with the unsolved mystery of the Zodiac Killer. David Fincher directed this masterpiece that’s as detailed as any film of this type and nuanced in the way it dissects that which we can never really know about true evil.