In just 10 years since releasing its first original film Beasts of No Nation, Netflix has evolved into a power player in the movie scene, earning honors at award shows like the Oscars and Golden Globes.
The streaming giant received 18 Oscar nominations in 2025 and took home three: two for Emilia Perez and one for best documentary short with The Only Girl in the Orchestra. Popular action films and comedies such as Sicario, Havoc and Hit Man have also helped make Netflix a destination for reliable, fun hits. Titles often come and go on the platform, and this week we're spotlighting one that's leaving soon -- Todd Haynes' Carol, starring Cate Blanchett -- along with a new arrival: Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window, one of several of his films now available to stream.
Whether you love drama, comedy, blockbusters or quiet, independent films, check out what we consider to be the best movies you can watch on Netflix right now. If you'd rather go with a series, peruse our picks for the best TV shows to watch on Netflix.
Read more: Where to Watch All the 2024 Oscar Winners
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The Weinstein Company Carol (2015) Set in the 1950s, Carol is the story of a forbidden affair between an aspiring female photographer (Tooney Mara) and an older woman, played by Cate Blanchett. Patricia Highsmith -- who wrote The Talented Mr. Ripley -- also wrote the novel that Carol is based on, The Price of Salt, a semi-autobiographical story of a relationship Highsmith had as a young woman. The critically lauded film has developed a cult following since its release. Catch it now before it leaves the platform on June 17.
Paramount Pictures Rear Window (1954) While some might call Psycho Alfred Hitchcock's most famous film, Rear Window may be his most highly regarded. The 1954 thriller stars James Stewart as a photojournalist who finds himself confined to a wheelchair -- and his apartment -- after an injury. With nothing better to do than spy on his neighbors with his long-lensed camera, he becomes convinced that one of his neighbors has murdered his wife. Grace Kelly co-stars as Stewart's girlfriend/peeping accomplice. Rear Window arrived to Netflix this June as part of a larger Hitchcock collection that also includes Vertigo, The Birds, The Man Who Knew Too Much and others.
Sony Pictures One of Them Days (2025) One of Them Days is pure comedy gold. It's the perfect (R-rated) film when you're looking for something silly and fun and packed with great jokes and performances. The movie is part of the "desperate best friends embark on a mission with a deadline" genre (see also: Booksmart, Plan B) as best friends, Dreux (Kiki Palmer) and Alyssa (SZA in her film debut) try to track down the rent money that was stolen by Alyssa's boyfriend before the end of the day. When they realize the money is gone, they desperately try to make all the money they need in one day, leading them to sell a pair of stolen Jordans and staging an art show to sell some of Alyssa's paintings. The film, which arrived to Netflix in March, features hilarious cameos from Katt Williams, Janelle James and Lil Rel Howery, among others.
ESPN 30 For 30: June 17, 1994 30 For 30, the great ESPN documentary franchise, has put out dozens of great movies that cover some of the most incredible stories in sports, some of them overlooked and others focused on specific, infamous moments in history. One of the best films to come out of the series is the 2010 documentary June 17, 1994, a date that is best remembered by many as the day of O.J. Simpson's slow-moving police chase in a white Ford Bronco. The televised chase would have been notorious enough, but what the doc points out is that that date was a huge moment across several sports, and many of those moments, including Game 5 of that year's NBA finals, Arnold Palmer's final appearance at a PGA tour, and Ken Griffey Jr. tying Babe Ruth's homerun record that day, were interrupted by one of the most famous live news broadcasts in history.
Netflix Havoc (2025) Havoc was one of this April's biggest releases on Netflix (it's currently still dominating the platform's Top 10 movie list), thanks to Tom Hardy's magnetic screen presence. Hardy plays Walker, a detective who's being pursued by a crime syndicate and fellow cops after getting involved in a drug deal gone wrong. Violence and gore abound in this action-packed thriller that finds Walker battling corrupt politicians, criminals and his own past. Timothy Olyphant, Jessie Mei Li, Justin Cornwell and Forest Whitaker also appear.
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