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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The Rip
When a Miami narcotics squad uncovers a $20 million stash in the walls of a drug den, protocol is to count it on-site. But with that much money in your hands, would you trust anyone? That’s the simple hook of this murky crime drama, and writer-director Joe Carnahan brilliantly expands on it with a blend of police corruption, heist movie high stakes, and explosive action as the situation inevitably descends into chaos. Still, it’s the endlessly engaging onscreen chemistry between coleads Matt Damon and Ben Affleck that makes The Rip such a gripping watch. Loosely based on real events, The Rip feels like a throwback to the action epics of the 1980s and ’90s but with a grittier, grimier modern edge.
Cosmic Princess Kaguya!
Finding an abandoned baby is enough to shake up anyone’s day, but when music student Iroha discovers an infant girl in a glowing telephone pole, her life changes forever. As the baby rapidly grows into a young woman named Kaguya, Iroha notes the similarity to the events of the 1,000-year old Japanese folktale, The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. But unlike the fairy-tale Kaguya, this mysterious child is intent on writing her own story. Drawn into the virtual world of Tsukuyomi, Iroha and Kaguya compete to become beloved idols, winning hearts to try to prevent Kaguya from being forcibly taken back to wherever she came from. While the same fable inspired Isao Takahata’s glorious Studio Ghibli masterpiece The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, this gorgeously psychedelic anime movie from director Shingo Yamashita could scarcely feel more different—a wild cyberspace adventure where the mythological and the mortal mingle.
Good Night, and Good Luck: Live From Broadway
A live recording of George Clooney’s Broadway debut, this stage play adapts Clooney’s 2005 film of the same name, centered on CBS journalist Edward R. Murrow and his on-air battles with Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s. It’s not a beat-for-beat re-creation though—beyond Clooney stepping into the lead role of Murrow, it extends the original movie’s examination of the role of media and journalism right up to the present day, for a powerful contrast of McCarthy’s spurious Communist witch hunts with present day politics. Darkly, depressingly resonant, but a powerful piece of theater that’s now accessible without the hefty ticket price.
Okja
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