Netflix has plenty of movies to watch. Maybe too many. Sometimes finding the right film at the right time can seem like an impossible task. Let us help you. Below is a list of some of our favorites currently on the streaming service—from dramas to comedies to thrillers.
If you decide you’re in more of a TV mood, head over to our collection of the best TV series on Netflix. Want more? Check out our lists of the best sci-fi movies, best movies on Amazon Prime, and the best flicks on Disney+.
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Troll 2
Probably no one save for director Roar Uthaug (2018's Tomb Raider) had "Norwegian kaiju" down as an emerging genre, but this follow-up to 2022's original Troll makes a case for its improbable existence. Years after dealing with one rampaging titan unearthed from Norway's depths, paleontologist Nora Tidemann (Ine Marie Wilmann) is living in seclusion researching the creatures—until the government needs her advice on the hibernating "Megatroll" it has locked away. Soon, Nora—reunited with allies Andreas Isaksen (Kim Falck) and Major Kris Holm (Mads Sjøgård Pettersen)—is caught in another desperate race to prevent a trollpocalypse. This time though, there's an edge of Indiana Jones at work, with a madcap ancient conspiracy to decode alongside the troll-smashing action. Troll 2 is a bit more tongue-in-cheek than its predecessor, and ventures into so-bad-it's-good territory in places, but it knows exactly what it is and what it's offering: giant rock monsters beating the boulders off of each other. Don't overthink it and you'll have a smashing time.
Behind the Curtain: Stranger Things—The First Shadow
If you want to catch up on every facet of Stranger Things now that the fifth and final season is here, this fills in one gap that even binge-watching the entire show again won't: a behind-the-scenes documentary focused on production of the West End stage show The First Shadow. The film doesn't give the whole production away—though it's a prequel, set in 1959 and exploring how the sleepy town of Hawkins became ground zero for all things supernatural—but it's a fascinating look at the technical wizardry that went into bringing the show to life. It also explores how director Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliott, Netflix's The Crown) and legendary theater producer Sonia Friedman worked with the Duffer Brothers to root everything in the lore and history of the series, making this an important piece of the larger puzzle.
A House of Dynamite
If you knew an intercontinental ballistic missile was heading somewhere in middle America, potentially carrying a nuclear warhead, you'd probably hope that the US government and military would be on top of the situation. At the very least, you'd expect them to know who launched the strike, from where, and how to intercept it. In A House of Dynamite, the most terrifying thing is how much might not be known in such a nightmarish scenario, and how the very systems we think will protect us from nuclear war might not be up to the job. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) and featuring a powerhouse cast including Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Tracy Letts, and Anthony Ramos, this triptych explores the same nightmarish 18 minutes after an unidentified missile is detected from three different perspectives, each chapter likely filling you with mounting existential dread. The film that pissed off the Pentagon, this political thriller is absolutely not for the faint-hearted.
Brick
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