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The best movies on Netflix right now

From new Netflix originals to classic films from decades past, we've got streaming recommendations for every taste.

By Kevin Slane

July 16, 2024

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With a library of more than 3,500 films and a labyrinth of oddly specific categories and recommendations, finding the best movies on Netflix can be a chore.

To help you with your streaming decisions, we’ve compiled a list of some of the best movies on Netflix right now, ranging from new Netflix originals to classic films from decades past.

To further assist your nightly watching decisions, we’ve sorted our best-of list into genres, so you can immediately navigate to the best horror movies on Netflix or the best comedies on Netflix using the links below. We’ll also be adding movies that are new on Netflix to the top of the article each month.

Think our list is missing something? Email [email protected] with suggestions, whether it’s about ways to make this list more user-friendly or your personal favorite best movies on Netflix that we overlooked.

New on Netflix
Drama
Comedy
Horror
Action
Documentary
For Kids

Best new movies on Netflix (July ’24)

“Aftersun” (2022)

Runtime: 101 min.
Starring: Paul Mescal, Frankie Corio, Celia Rowlson-Hall

First-time director Charlotte Wells’ semi-autobiographical tale follows Sophie (Frankie Corio), a pre-teen Scottish girl on vacation with her 31-year-old dad, Calum (Paul Mescal, “Normal People”), in Turkey. Wells layers on the melancholy as Sophie’s recognition of her father’s worries and struggles drives a wedge between them, one which neither can fully articulate or acknowledge. The film’s finale packs an emotional wallop, one that still stings nearly two years after its initial release.

Watch “Aftersun” on Netflix

“Call Me by Your Name” (2017)

Runtime: 132 min.
Starring: Armie Hammer, Timothée Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar

Luca Guadagnino’s coming-of-age 2017 romance is a work of intoxicating beauty, telling the story of a summer fling between precocious teen Elio (Timothee Chalmet) and confident grad assistant Oliver (Armie Hammer), who is staying with Elio’s family at their Northern Italy villa. Watching the film will leave you with a sense of yearning — whether it’s for the sun-drenched Italian countryside, the sumptuous dinner spreads, or a summer love of years gone by. Chalamet is transcendent, but don’t sleep on Michael Stuhlbarg (“A Serious Man”) as Elio’s knowing father.

Watch “Call Me By Your Name” on Netflix

“Magic Mike XXL” (2015)

Runtime: 115 min.
Cast: Channing Tatum, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, Amber Heard, Donald Glover, Gabriel Iglesias, Andie MacDowell, Elizabeth Banks

For “Magic Mike XXL,” the juiced-up second entry in the male stripper — or, as one character repeatedly says, “male entertainer” — franchise, director Steven Soderbergh (“Traffic,” “Ocean’s 11”) handed the reins over to longtime collaborator Gregory Jacobs. The result is a film that is light on plot and heavy on stripper setpieces — which to be clear, is not a bad thing. Choreographer Alison Faulk ups the ante throughout the film as Magic Mike (Channing Tatum) and company workshop their show-stopping routines in the hopes of landing a lucrative, life-changing payday at a nationwide stripping convention. Every single person on screen appears to be having a blast, and if you give in to the fantasy world “XXL” creates, so will you.

Watch “Magic Mike XXL” on Netflix

Best movies on Netflix: Drama

“The Breakfast Club” (1985)

Runtime: 97 min.
Starring: Emilio Estevez, Paul Gleason, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy

Out of all the John Hughes “Brat Pack” films that filled multiplexes in the ’80s, none has stood the test of time as well as “The Breakfast Club,” which allowed generations of teenagers to see bits of themselves in the five high schoolers stuck in detention. All five actors transcend the reductive labels they’re given — “a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal” — and discover their shared humanity during a nine-hour Saturday detention. To this day, few screenwriters/directors have captured the voice of the youth like Hughes, who did it repeatedly (“Sixteen Candles,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Pretty in Pink,” “Home Alone”) in his tragically short career.

Watch “The Breakfast Club” on Netflix

“The Irishman” (2019)

Runtime: 210 min.
Starring: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel

Martin Scorsese’s 210-minute crime saga follows the life of Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro), who goes from driving trucks to leading a union, all while “painting houses” (killing people) for the likes of mobster Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci) and protecting the interests of infamous union boss Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino). Instead of simply rehashing “Goodfellas,” Martin Scorsese goes deeper and darker, examining the life of a gangster who lived the life and is contemplating what it was all for.

Watch “The Irishman” on Netflix

“La La Land” (2016)

Runtime: 128 min.
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone

Thanks to the Oscar gaffe to end all Oscar gaffes, Damien Chazelle’s love letter to the movie musical will be inextricably tied to “Moonlight” for decades to come as a trivia question. The film stands on its own merits, though, thanks to memorable music by Justin Hurwitz, showy camera work from Linus Sandgren, and beautiful performances from Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. Building on their chemistry in “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” the pair feel like a modern-day Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers — or the closest we’ll get in the current era, anyway.

Watch “La La Land” on Netflix

“The Lost Daughter” (2021)

Runtime: 121 min.
Starring: Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal

Based on the Elena Ferrante novel of the same name, “The Lost Daughter” is yet another masterful performance from Olivia Colman, who won a Best Actress Oscar in 2019 for “The Favourite” and could have easily won a Supporting Actress award 2020’s “The Father.” In this psychological drama from actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colman plays a prickly college professor on vacation in Greece who inserts herself in the lives of a young mother (Dakota Johnson) and her 3-year-old daughter. “The Lost Daughter” may have missed out on a Best Picture nomination, but it’s certainly among 2021’s best.

Watch “The Lost Daughter” on Netflix

“Maestro” (2023)

Runtime: 129 min.
Cast: Carey Mulligan, Bradley Cooper

From the moment he first steps on screen in “Maestro,” Bradley Cooper is utterly magnetic as composer Leonard Bernstein. The life of the party wherever he goes, “Lenny” quickly begins a courtship with Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan), each glance and one-liner delivered like he’s starring in his own sitcom. Even after decades of marriage, Bernstein still feels like he’s putting on a performance at all times, a function of both his gargantuan ego and the massive pressure of hiding his relationships with other men. As Montealegre, Mulligan sublimely captures a woman who willingly discards her own needs to support a generational talent. When Bernstein takes the stage to conduct Gustav Mahler’s “Resurrection Symphony,” with Montealegre watching in the wings, we understand why.

Watch “Maestro” on Netflix

“May December” (2023)

Runtime: 117 min.
Cast: Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, Charles Melton

Director Todd Haynes walks an incredible tightrope act with “May December,” mixing dark comedy, melodrama, and psychological thrills to (unofficially) tell the lurid, ripped-from-the-headlines story of Mary Kay Letourneau. Actress Elizabeth Barry (Natalie Portman) shows up at the home of long-married couple Gracie (Julianne Moore) and Joe (Charles Melton, “Riverdale”) in order to shadow Gracie for a movie based on the couple’s tabloid-worthy romance. Moore and Portman have rarely been better, and Melton is a revelation — his child-like nature both amusing and heartbreaking. Not only does Haynes plumb the fragile psyche of the couple, but he also uses Portman’s Elizabeth to show how callous the Hollywood moviemaking factory can be in the pursuit of creating entertainment out of someone’s lived experiences. Portman, as it turns out, is better at playing a self-absorbed, talentless actress than most actors are at playing “real” people.

Watch “May December” on Netflix

“Moneyball” (2011)

Runtime: 133 min.
Cast: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Chris Pratt

Not only one of the best movies filmed at Fenway Park, “Moneyball” is One of the best baseball movies ever made, full stop. Brad Pitt gives a career-best performance as Oakland As general manager Billy Beane, who must lean into an analytics-heavy approach to push his cash-strapped team into contention. Aaron Sorkin’s script would be a career-best for most scribes, and Jonah Hill — playing a fictionalized version of Paul DePodesta — gave audiences an early glimpse of his upcoming decade of meaty dramatic roles.

Watch “Moneyball” on Netflix

“Phantom Thread” (2017)

Runtime: 130 min.
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Vicky Krieps, Lesley Manville

By all indications, “Phantom Thread” will be the final film of Daniel Day-Lewis (“There Will Be Blood”), the peerless actor who announced his retirement following the completion of Paul Thomas Anderson’s historical drama. As fussy dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock, Day-Lewis delivers subtle pinpricks that devastate those around him. But he also makes space for the real star of the film in Alma (Vicky Krieps), his new muse. Though she appears unassuming, Alma matches Reynolds every step of the way, creating a messy but passionate partnership.

Watch “Phantom Thread” on Netflix

“The Power of the Dog” (2021)

Runtime: 126 min.
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee

Jane Campion’s Oscar-winning Western drama centers around two ranch-owning brothers, Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch, “Dr. Strange”) and George (Jesse Plemons, “The Irishman”). When George marries innkeeper Rose (Kirsten Dunst, “Bring It On”), Phil makes life difficult for her and her son, Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee, “The Road”). Smit-McPhee is a revelation in the role, and Campion’s film is dark, foreboding, depressing, and utterly unmissable.

Watch “The Power of the Dog” on Netflix

“Traffic” (2000)

Runtime: 147 min.
Starring: Michael Douglas, Don Cheadle, Benicio del Toro, Dennis Quaid, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzmán

Steven Soderbergh made history at the 2001 Academy Awards, becoming the first filmmaker since 1938 to be nominated for Best Director for two different films in the same year, with “Erin Brokovich” and “Traffic.” Soderbergh ended up winning for “Traffic,” a gritty ensemble drama that explored the U.S.-Mexico drug trade from a multitude of perspectives. The film jumps from the halls of power — where a recently appointed “drug czar” (Michael Douglas) has his hands full with his addict daughter — to the streets of Mexico, where a Mexican police officer (Benicio del Toro) unwittingly becomes a pawn in a cartel turf battle. Years before “The Wire” or “Sicario” were released, Soderbergh told a suspenseful story that showed just how futile the War on Drugs turned out to be.

Watch “Traffic” on Netflix

Best movies on Netflix: Comedy

“Beverly Hills Cop” (1984)

Runtime: 105 min.
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Lisa Eilbacher

Fun fact: “Beverly Hills Cop,” the genre-defining 1984 action comedy movie from Martin Brest, was originally developed for Sylvester Stallone, and had almost no jokes in it. Watching the movie, you can tell that the violent, gripping action scenes would have worked well in a Stallone police procedural. But Murphy’s streetwise Detroit detective Axel Foley, smooth-talking his way through Beverly Hills in search of his best friend’s killer, is what makes “Beverly Hills Cop” endure 40 years later. At a time when studios were genuinely terrified of letting a Black man lead a movie by himself — even one as popular and charismatic as Murphy — the “SNL” star created the template for the action-comedy genre. Will Smith, Chris Tucker, Martin Lawrence, and so many others have Murphy to thank for paving the way.

Watch “Beverly Hills Cop” on Netflix

“Easy A” (2010)

Runtime: 92 min.
Cast: Emma Stone, Penn Badgley, Amanda Bynes, Thomas Haden Church, Patricia Clarkson, Lisa Kudrow, Stanley Tucci

After shining in ensemble roles in “Superbad” and “Zombieland” (which is also currently streaming on Netflix), Emma Stone fully broke through with 2010’s “Easy A,” a clever coming-of-age modernization of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter.” Instead of facing the wrath of puritanical Massachusetts colonists for committing adultery, Olive Penderghast (Stone) faces the equally daunting judgment of her high school peers after false rumors spread about her promiscuity. Olive decides to lean into her false reputation as a commentary on misogynistic double standards, but her performance art has unintended consequences. “Easy A” is the movie that made Stone a star, but a strong supporting cast — including Amanda Bynes and Stanley Tucci — helped ensure its endless rewatchability.

Watch “Easy A” on Netflix

“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” (2022)

Runtime: 139 min.
Starring: Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn

More madcap and funny than the 2019 original, the characters and locale of “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” shift from an old-money New England mansion to a new money vacation compound, with Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig of James Bond fame) as the only holdover. This mystery concerns Elon Musk-esque tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton, “Fight Club”), who invites a group of his longtime friends to his private Greek island in the midst of the pandemic. As fashion entrepreneur Birdie Jay, Kate Hudson gets the most consistent laughs throughout the film, from insisting that everyone at her raucous 200-person apartment party is “in her pod” to her pathological desire to post career-ending tweets. Norton is a winner as well, playing the kind of billionaire who cultivates a worldly image that could nevertheless be deflated by a particularly clever child, a la “The Emperor’s New Clothes.”

Watch “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” on Netflix

“Monty Python and the Holy Grail” (1975)

Runtime: 92 min.
Starring: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle

Almost 50 years after its initial release, everything about “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” feels out of another world. The broad satires of the time from the British comedy troupe and others like Mel Brooks are few and far in between these days, which is a shame. In this screwball comedy set in Arthurian England, the Python’s mix of high and low comedy is on full display. You’ll find brilliantly constructed jokes, sly satire, and full-blown absurdity and slapstick. Most importantly, you’ll see a group of comedy legends at the apex of their powers.

Watch “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” on Netflix

Best movies on Netflix: Horror

“Gerald’s Game” (2017)

Runtime: 103 min.
Cast: Carla Gugino, Bruce Greenwood

Salem native Mike Flanagan (“Midnight Mass”) helms this Stephen King adaptation in which a handcuffed woman named Jessie (Carla Gugino) must escape a remote lake house after her husband suffers a fatal heart attack. This already daunting task is made tougher when Jessie begins to hallucinate, unlocking memories of her controlling husband’s behavior and a traumatizing incident from her youth. Flanagan’s deft touch and Gugino’s gutsy performance makes “Gerald’s Game” stand out as a contemporary take on the survival horror genre.

Watch “Gerald’s Game” on Netflix

“It Follows” (2014)

Runtime: 100 min.
Starring: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Olivia Luccardi

“It Follows” sounds like a story dreamed up by an overzealous nun: If you have sex with the wrong person, a demonic entity will follow you to the ends of the Earth until it kills you. In the hands of director David Robert Mitchell, however, “It Follows” is less a morality tale and more a straightforward scare-fest. No one casts judgement on the film’s characters as they pass along this sexual chain letter of death. Instead, you’ll leave thinking deeply about the nature of giving yourself to another, of sharing love with the world, and what following those natural instincts can portend.

Watch “It Follows” on Netflix

Best movies on Netflix: Action

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (2022)

Runtime: 139 min.
Cast: Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, James Hong, Jamie Lee Curtis

Emerson alums Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (known collectively as Daniels) have been putting out some of the weirdest mainstream work of the past decade, whether it’s the music video for DJ Snake’s “Turn Down for What” or their first feature “Swiss Army Man,” which starred Paul Dano as a man who befriends a farting corpse played by Harry Potter himself (Daniel Radcliffe). The duo goes even further afield with “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” a movie that’s ostensibly about an immigrant mother named Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh) trying to file her taxes, but is really about everything everywhere all at – well, you know. There’s multiverses, talking rocks, hot dog fingers, Jamie Lee Curtis in full prosthetics, and a brilliant return to the Hollywood fold from Ke Huy Quan (Short Round in the “Indiana Jones” franchise). It’s hard to describe, and even harder to forget.

Watch “Everything Everywhere All at Once” on Netflix

“Godzilla Minus One” (2023)

Runtime: 125 min.
Starring: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada

Set in 1950s Tokyo, “Godzilla Minus One” follows the journey of former kamikaze pilot Koichi (Ryunosuke Kamiki), who, by failing to die at the hands of Godzilla during World War II, lives in shame and is seen as a coward. He’s part of a nontraditional nuclear family, raising an orphaned child (Minami Hamabe) with another woman who lost everyone during the war (and subsequent Godzilla rampage). When the government seeks volunteers to help stop Godzilla, Koichi sees a chance for redemption. “Godzilla Minus One” is so much more than a standard monster movie, telling a hero’s tale that doesn’t hew to Western standards while interrogating how Japanese social attitudes pre- and post- atom bomb shifted. Not to worry, though: Godzilla still smashes and roars with the best of them, and looks better than his American counterpart on a fraction of the budget.

Watch “Godzilla Minus One” on Netflix

“Hit Man” (2024)

Runtime: 115 min.
Starring: Glen Powell, Adria Arjona

Starring the breakout actor from Richard Linklater’s 2016 film “Everybody Wants Some!!,” “Hit Man” is loosely based on a true story about a nebbish college professor named Gary (Glen Powell) who moonlights as a faux hit man for the New Orleans Police Department. Gary, so afraid of breaking his low-stakes routine, takes the undercover duties as a chance to be someone else. When he meets an alluring woman (Adria Arjona, “Andor”) while in his hit man persona (this time a tough guy named Rod), the id and the superego (also the names of Gary’s cats) collide. Powell, who co-wrote the screenplay with Linklater, carefully modulates his performance as the line between Gary and Rod blurs — though not necessarily in a bad way. “Hit Man” is sexy, thought-provoking, and funny. And for a film about a fake hit man in over his head, it’s surprisingly grounded in reality when it comes to contemplating the nature of love, hate, and self.

Watch “Hit Man” on Netflix

“Spider-Man” (2002)

Runtime: 121 min.
Starring: Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco

After watching approximately 7,000 superhero movies this century, 2002’s “Spider-Man” still stands out in 22 years later for its tone, humor, and the vision of director Sam Raimi. As Peter Parker, Tobey Maguire is the right blend of gawky and savvy as he grapples with his new powers. As girl next door Mary Jane Watson, Kirsten Dunst resists being a two-dimensional character. And Willem Dafoe nearly steals the film, playing the Jekyll and Hyde dynamic of meek scientist Norman Osborn and maniacal villain Green Goblin to perfection.

Watch “Spider-Man” on Netflix

“The Woman King” (2022)

Runtime: 135 min.
Starring: Viola Davis, Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch

One of the bigger shocks of the 2023 Academy Awards nominations was that “The Woman King” didn’t receive a single nod from AMPAS. Starring Viola Davis, the historical drama tells the story of the Agojie, an all-female warrior group that protected the Dahomey empire in West Africa for hundreds of years. Set in the 1820s, “The Woman King” follows General Nanisca (Davis) as she trains the next generation of fighters amid incursions from rival kingdoms and slave traders. Davis is exceptional as always, but Thuso Mbedu (“The Underground Railroad”), as a hard-headed trainee, nearly steals the movie from her.

Watch “The Woman King” on Netflix

Best movies on Netflix: Documentary

“Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution” (2020)

Runtime: 108 min.
Directors: Nicole Newnham, James Lebrecht

The 1960s were a time of political revolution in America, from the protests against the Vietnam War to landmark Civil Rights demonstrations. Less remembered but equally impactful were a series of protests held by Disabled in Action (DIA), an activist group that helped push reforms for the tens of millions of Americans with disabilities. The activist spirit is captured in “Crip Camp,” a documentary about a revolutionary summer camp that exposed disabled people to the free love and rock-‘n-roll lifestyle of the decade while, more importantly, treating them like human beings.

Watch “Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution” on Netflix

“Descendant” (2022)

Runtime: 109 min.
Director: Margaret Brown

Produced by Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions, “Descendant” follows members of an Alabama community known as Africatown whose ancestors were brought to America aboard the Clotilda, the last known slave ship to illegally transport slaves to the states shortly before the Civil War in 1860. The importation of slaves had been banned by Congress in 1807. After remnants of the ship were found in 2019, the film reveals how the residents of Africatown grapple with the implications the ship’s discovery has on their heritage and knowledge of self.

Watch “Descendant” on Netflix

“Dick Johnson Is Dead” (2020)

Runtime: 90 min.
Director: Kirsten Johnson

Death is not an easy thing to approach, especially when it comes to those we love most. In “Dick Johnson Is Dead,” documentary filmmaker Kirsten Johnson confronts the cognitive and physical decline of her father in a darkly comic way, filming her father dying over and over again, often in hilariously macabre circumstances. While Kirsten uses stunt doubles for some of the more physically taxing deaths, her father is with her the whole way, smiling and laughing as he helps support his daughter’s vision. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll be reminded that everyone’s grieving process manifests itself in different ways.

Watch “Dick Johnson Is Dead” on Netflix

Best movies on Netflix: For Kids

“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” (2023)

Runtime: 140 min.
Cast: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Vélez, Jake Johnson

The animated sequel finds Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) increasingly struggling with the isolation of being the only Spider-Man in his universe after meeting so many Spider-verse compatriots he could relate to in the 2018 original. When he has a chance to join a multiverse Spider-person task force, he leaps at the opportunity. The “Spider-verse” art style is gorgeous, the script from Phil Lord and Chris Miller (“The Lego Movie”) is clever without being arch, and the opening 15 minutes will leave you positively giddy. (Note: This is the middle film in a trilogy, so don’t be upset when Spidey leaves you hanging by a thread.)

Watch “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” on Netflix

“The Mitchells vs. the Machines” (2021)

Runtime: 114 min.
Starring: Abbi Jacobson, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph

Originally slated to be released in theaters by Sony Pictures under the title “Connected,” “The Mitchells vs. The Machines” ended up on Netflix instead due to the pandemic. After technophobic father Rick (Danny McBride, “Pineapple Express”) breaks his daughter Katie’s (Abbi Jacobson, “Broad City”) laptop before she leaves for college, he insists on canceling her flight to school and driving across the country together in order to repair their relationship. As they go, the family unwittingly becomes humanity’s last hope when a rogue AI begins to take over the world. Featuring a gorgeous animation style that evokes Sony’s “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” the film has the perfect mix of kid-friendly characters and laughs that will appeal to all ages.

Watch “The Mitchells vs. the Machines” on Netflix

“Paddington” (2014)

Runtime: 95 min.
Starring: Ben Whishaw, Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters

While 2017’s “Paddington 2” is the superior film (just ask Pedro Pascal and Nicolas Cage), 2014’s “Paddington” is well worth a watch as well, introducing viewers to the well-mannered, accident-prone, marmalade-loving bear voiced by Ben Whishaw (“Skyfall”). After leaving his home in the Peruvian jungle for London, the red-hatted bear ends up living with the Brown family. There’s an adjustment period for all involved, but by the end, the whole family is united in helping Paddington escape the clutches of a rare animal taxidermist.

Watch “Paddington” on Netflix

Note: This list contains movies available to U.S. subscribers to Netflix’s Standard or Premium plans. Viewers outside of the U.S. or subscribers to Netflix’s ad-supported Basic plan may not have access to these titles.