It can be hard to find the best movies on Netflix. We all understand the struggle of scrolling time—hours lost to wading through all of the Netflix movie options that could instead have been spent, you know, watching something. Or maybe something has been sitting patiently on your queue, waiting for someone to give you a nudge to finally press play. So, like a beacon in the night, here’s a guide to 25 of the best films within Netflix’s huge selection—including everything from landmark films to cult classics to Netflix-original hidden gems—updated monthly as films appear on and leave the platform. Take that, decision fatigue. (And if you want a list of the best shows on Netflix, we’ve got one of those too.)
The Age of Innocence (1993)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Genre: Romance
Notable cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Winona Ryder
MPA rating: PG
Rotten Tomatoes: 88%
Metacritic: 90
Though it was initially overshadowed by other entries in his filmography, Scorsese’s adaptation of Edith Wharton’s tragic romance has been rising in favor in recent years. And no wonder, because its sumptuousness is undeniable. There’s unsparing 19th-century period design by Dante Ferretti and Robert J. Franco, a lush Elmer Bernstein score, and a dazzling barn burner performance from Pfeiffer at the top of her game. The film’s heartbreaking emotional blows are as brutal as anything in the entire Scorsese canon, even though they come in corsets and coaches. The maestro may have made The Irishman for Netflix (and that movie ranks among the best options on the platform too), but the rest of his filmography is more than worth a watch as well.
Atlantics (2019)
Director: Mati Diop
Genre: Drama
Notable cast: Mame Bineta Sane, Amadou Mbow, Ibrahima Traoré
MPA rating: PG-13
Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
Metacritic: 85
Achingly romantic and fiercely original, Atlantics is a shape-shifting ghost story of sorts that defies simple categorization. Mati Diop’s first feature follows a young woman set to marry a man she does not love, while her lover flees their native Senegal by sea in search of work. Overnight, spirits begin to possess the townsfolk, seeking revenge against an exploitative corporation. Never less than captivating, the film features unforgettable visuals and an arresting blending of themes that make for one of the most daring Netflix originals—and signal Diop as one of the major breakthrough directors of the past decade.
Boyz n the Hood (1991)
Director: John Singleton
Genre: Drama
Notable cast: Laurence Fishburne, Cuba Gooding Jr., Ice Cube, Angela Bassett, Regina King, Nia Long, Morris Chestnut, Tyra Ferrell
MPA rating: R
Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
Metacritic: 76
John Singleton’s landmark American film about young adulthood in South Central Los Angeles set a high bar for coming-of-age movies at the start of the 1990s—and it’s one that other coming-of-age films have been chasing ever since. At the center is the story of three reunited childhood friends: Tre, Doughboy, and Ricky, whose plans for the future fatefully collide with the violence in their community. On top of featuring a staggering ensemble of future major stars (it’s one of Angela Bassett’s first feature-film credits!), Boyz n the Hood launched Singleton as a major voice–making him the first Black filmmaker to be nominated for the best-director Oscar, as well as the youngest-ever nominee for that award at the time. What has endured is a highly influential and still emotionally powerful film about the Black American experience— a new-era must-see classic.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Genre: Horror
Notable cast: Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins, Keanu Reeves, Richard E. Grant, Cary Elwes, Tom Waits, Sadie Frost
MPA rating: R
Rotten Tomatoes: 69%
Metacritic: 57
Speaking of high bars: Want to watch the gold standard for all modern vampire movies? Somewhere between the refined precision of The Godfather and the batshit audacity of Megalopolis lies Bram Stoker’s Dracula, a reimagining of the iconic horror novel told with Francis Ford Coppola’s distinct brand of nerve. Gary Oldman stars as the titular count in various states of horrifying makeup, including as a man-size bat. But one of the morbid delights of the film is that it’s secretly a gothic romance, with peak-era Winona Ryder as Dracula’s time-defying love. Eiko Ishioka’s demonically intricate and maximalist (and Oscar-winning) costumes are a spectacle all their own. It’s lush, horny, and entirely high on its own supply—simply one of the most wildly decadent genre films of the past 50 years.
Bridesmaids (2011)
Director: Paul Feig
Genre: Comedy
Notable cast: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne, Chris O’Dowd, Ellie Kemper, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Jon Hamm, Jill Clayburgh
MPA rating: R
Rotten Tomatoes: 89%
Metacritic: 75
Back in the day, Vanity Fair (correctly) assessed Bridesmaids as the best comedy of 2011. But that’s a bit modest for my taste: It’s the best and funniest comedy of that decade. The film follows Kristen Wiig as a depressed baker experiencing a slow-motion meltdown after her closest friend (played by Maya Rudolph) gets engaged. Melissa McCarthy may have deservedly been an Oscar nominee for playing a contently abrasive sister-in-law, but Rose Byrne should have been nominated alongside her as Rudolph’s character’s rich and power-playing new bestie. What unfolds is a comedy-set-piece master class—from Jon Hamm’s sexual lunacy to the notorious food poisoning sequence to a colonial woman churning butter on the wing of an airplane—that has only gotten funnier in the years since it became a phenomenon. If annual rewatches haven’t maxed you out on Bridesmaids, hold on for one more play.
Chicken Run (2000)
Director: Peter Lord and Nick Park
Genre: Animated comedy
Notable cast: [whispers] Mel Gibson, [shouts] Julia Sawalha, Miranda Richardson, Timothy Spall, Imelda Staunton, Phil Daniels, Jane Horrocks
MPA rating: G
Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
Metacritic: 88