Stuck staring at the Netflix home page and wondering what to watch next? We've all been there. While the best Netflix TV shows may steal the headlines and dominate office conversations, there are some great movies on Netflix that are worth staying in for.
So if you're in the mood for the magic of a full-length film, you're in luck. We've picked out 11 of the best movies on Netflix that you may or may not have realised are buried in the streaming behemoth's quite gargantuan library. Each one has some combination of 4K, HDR (Dolby Vision if your TV supports it) and Dolby Atmos, so you can put your TV (or projector) and sound system through their paces while you enjoy your at-home blockbuster.
From illuminating documentaries to escapist sci-fi films and zany comedies, there's guaranteed to be something here to distract you from doing something – heaven forbid – more productive.
All Quiet On The Western Front (2021)
If for no reason other than its moral and educative purposes, we’d thoroughly recommend putting yourself through a proper screening of All Quiet On The Western Front, Netflix’s boldly grim adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque's timeless anti-war polemic that does its utmost to recreate the terror of being a young soldier navigating the inhumane barbarity of full-scale mechanised slaughter.
Edward Berger’s adaptation feels like a movie that is almost literally dragging you through the mud, blood and barbed wire, leaving you utterly exhausted as it attempts to capture the utter hell unleashed during the carnage of the First World War. It isn’t for the faint-hearted, but like the best anti-war works, it is precisely those things that we find so heart-rending and repugnant within All Quiet that should serve as its most vital reasons to seek it out.
Put it on a proper screen, pair up some decent accompanying speakers and step into no man’s land.
Glass Onion (2022)
It does sometimes feel as though Knives Out was the film to reinvigorate the Agatha Christie-inspired whodunnits of old. Aside from the continuing infatuation with all things Sherlock Holmes, there had been something of a dearth of proper, twisty-turny murder mysteries, that is until Rian Johnson and his ensemble cast of suspects arrived and reinvigorated the genre with a bold, stylish bang.
Unfortunately, the original Knives Out has now left Netflix, but its sequel, Glass Onion, is still available and is almost as good. Aside from being expertly put together, deliciously snarky and showcasing just the right degree of elbow-nudging self-awareness, Glass Onion is a treat for the eyes thanks to its carefully curated set design, picture-perfect costumes and lavish mis-en-scene.
It’s also probably the best thing that Daniel Craig has ever done as he chews chunks off the scenery as Southern-fried detective Benoit Blanc, demonstrating a range far beyond the bounds of Bond and birthing a new sleuthing icon in the process.
The Dig (2021)
If you like the idea of Ralph Fiennes taking up as lead archaeologist in an episode of Britain's Biggest Dig, this movie is for you. It's actually based on a true story – the 1939 excavation of Edith Pretty's rural estate in Sutton Hoo, near Woodbridge, UK.
Local, self-taught excavator Basil Brown (Fiennes), who left school at 12 and was taught the trade by his father, is given the task of tackling the large burial mounds on Pretty's grounds.
And much to everyone's surprise – especially Brown's employers, who want him back at his regular job at the Ipswich Museum – the dig reveals genuine, priceless Anglo-Saxon treasures. Annoyingly, World War II is approaching fast, Pretty's health is declining and, upon seeing what Brown has uncovered, various other noted archaeologists try to intervene and take credit for Brown's work.
For anyone keen on Anglo-Saxon or World War II history, The Dig is an engaging watch, served with a generous dash of English restraint and stunning sweeping landscape scenes.
News of the World (2020)
As if any of us can resist a mature, bearded Tom Hanks at his even more principled and paternal best. In this Western drama set in 1870, Hanks plays Civil War veteran and widower, Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, who now earns a crust travelling from town to town, reading newspaper stories to locals for 10 cents a pop. En route to his next gig, Kidd stumbles upon an overturned wagon and a scared, white, blonde little girl who can only speak the Native American language, Kiowa. Soon enough, it becomes apparent that the girl needs Kidd's help.
If the pace here is just a tad slow, it only gives Hanks – and Helena Zengel, who won a Golden Globe for her inspired portrayal of Johanna – more room to shine. News of the World was also nominated for best cinematography and best original score at the most recent British Academy Film Awards in April 2021, so expect sound and visuals to put your home cinema set-up through its paces.
Hit Man (2024)
If you’re really into your movies – and we assume you are given the fact that you’re checking out this list – you may find yourself frustrated by the fact that a flick from the man who gave the world Dazed and Confused, School of Rock, the Before trilogy and Boyhood didn’t earn a full theatrical release.
Fronted and co-written by Glen Powell (like Godzilla, also everywhere), Hit Man is the sort of zany, comedy-drama-crime-with-a-bit-of-romance-thrown-in that might put you in mind of Sam Rockwell and Anna Kendricks’ Mr. Right or Martin McDonagh’s Seven Psychopaths. Irreverent, stylish, layered and acting as a superb showcase for Hollywood’s (H)it man Glen Powell, the story of faux-assassin Gary Johnson is easily one of the best movies of 2024.
The Old Guard (2020)
Want to see if your TV can handle fast-paced fight sequences without succumbing to shimmer or jitter? This 2020 film is the one. Charlize Theron stars as Andy, leader of a clandestine group of tight-knit hired guns with the shared super-power of immediate regeneration and the inability to die.
The gang have used this unexplained gift of immortality to protect us muggles for centuries, but when they break their own rule of never working for the same employer twice, they're rumbled – the job is a ruse and the former CIA operative who re-hired them has this time filmed their regeneration.
Luckily there's a new recruit, Nile (whom they locate via, uh, bad dreams) in Afghanistan who is quickly enlisted to help them push back against those who now want to study and torture them, with a view to weaponising and monetising their immortal powers.
Based on the graphic novel by Greg Rucka and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball, Beyond the Lights), The Old Guard is refreshingly gritty and grounded for a superhero flick.
Uncut Gems (2019)
Uncut Gems follows Howard (played by Adam Sandler), a jeweller in New York's frantically paced Diamond District, as he attempts to auction off a rare Ethiopian opal for a massive return.
The film opens with Howard getting a colonoscopy, and we quickly realise that that’s a minor discomfort within the scheme of his life. He is maintaining a fake marriage to his wife while hiding his girlfriend from his children, and he’s $100,000 in debt to a particularly nasty loan shark. Selling the opal is his escape plan, but unfortunately, the rock catches the eye of basketball player Kevin Garnett wants to borrow it as a good look charm for his next match, offering his valuable championship ring as collateral. Howard can’t refuse, and this sets of a chain of bad decisions, each more infuriating than the last.
It’s never stated, but Howard is clearly addicted to gambling. As he continues to fall from one debt laced predicament to another, each time using the source of his problems as the solution, there is a sense of a modern Greek Tragedy playing out.
There’s even a Greek Chorus in the meditative vocalisations of the synth-heavy score that permeates the action offering judgment and ridicule. Dialogue is spoken naturalistically, and the music doesn’t dip during scenes. Instead, the sound design walks a fine line between unwatchably overwhelming and grippingly immersive. Shot mainly in low light with a grainy film texture punctuated by saturated fluorescents and neon, Uncut Gems is as claustrophobic to watch as it is to listen to. The footage is often shot at extreme close up or as if from a security camera, adding to the general confusion and constant danger of Howard’s chaotic lifestyle.
After being so tightly enveloped in Howard’s world, the audience slowly starts to root for this Willy Loman styled anti-hero to the point that when he is finally faced with the consequences of his actions, it is genuinely shocking.
The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)
In a post-apocalyptic world where a sentient voice assistant (picture a very sassy Siri voiced by Olivia Coleman) has overthrown their hoodie-wearing creator, the Mitchell family have managed to evade capture from the evil robot regime and are now the human race’s only hope for survival.
Unfortunately, the Mitchells have enough of their own problems, as tensions between aspiring film student Katie and her technophobe dad Rick have reached breaking point and his hapless attempts at rebuilding a relationship with his daughter only serve to alienate her further.
As you would expect from the team that bought us both The Lego Movie and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, The Mitchells vs The Machines has a sparkling script full of insightful humour and an anything-goes plot backed up by mesmerising and innovative visuals.
The animation mixes 2D and 3D watercolour styles with overlays indicating Katies own ‘directors’ point of view, and there’s a vivid handpainted look to even the slickest of action sequences. But all the textures, light and movement are still deeply realistic, and when combined with the Dolby Atmos soundtrack, create a captivating, exciting adventure caper full of dramatic flair and just the right amount of heartfelt sincerity. And if none of that appeals, there’s a Furby uprising so cinematic that it puts Godzilla to shame.
Godzilla: Minus One (2023)
Godzilla, like our beloved Taylor Swift or global political turmoil, is just so big right now. Everyone’s favourite city-smashing reptile is back as the kaiju du jour; when he’s not duking it out with King Kong or teaming up with the great ape to fight a greater foe on behalf of the American studios, he’s enjoying success in standalone movies across the water in his native Japan. The guy is everywhere – he’s like a 100-foot-tall Tom Holland.
Have no fear that oversaturation has meant a dip in quality. Of all the media and movies in which the mighty ‘Zilla has made an appearance, it’s hard to think of one that tops the majesty of Minus One. Blending quite staggering set pieces with resonant social and political commentary, it truly feels like an iconic character hitting its apex, no small feat considering Godzilla has been around for roughly 70 years.
If you’re looking for an epic visual spectacle with some serious bite, Minus One should be added immediately to your shortlist.
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)
Aaron Sorkin writes and directs this courtroom drama based on the true account of charges of conspiracy and inciting riots bought against eight men following the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where anti-war protestors were denied the right to demonstrate coming up instead against police brutality.
Seven of the defendants are a ragtag bunch of revolutionaries united only by their differing opinions on how to incite change: there’s clean-cut Tom Hayden (Eddie Redmayne) who believes in acquiescing to authority to gain power and his friend Rennie Davis (Alex Sharp) from the Students For A Democratic Society; Abbie Hoffman (Sacha Baron Cohen) a radical rebel rockstar of the Youth Intern National Party (the Yippies) and his co-leader Jerry Rubin (Jeremy Strong); middle-aged pacifist David Dellinger (John Carroll Lynch), and bit players John Froines (Danny Flaherty) and Lee Weiner (Noah Robbins) who aren’t sure why they’re being charged but knowingly quip that in the “Academy awards of protest, it’s an honour just to be nominated”.
The eighth man on trial, Black Panther Bobby Seale (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), has been included in the group as a politically motivated scapegoat, and despite seeking a mistrial as his lawyer is ill, he is repeatedly denied the right to speak or defend himself by the bigoted judge Julius Hoffman, played odiously by Frank Langella.
The film is crisply written and hits all the emotional beats of a Spielberg blockbuster, who was incidentally initially attached to direct. Still, beyond the kitschy protest montages and squabbles of would-be reformers, it derives its gripping drama from the shocking real-life sham of a trial and tense struggle of wills played out between Seale, the deranged judge and the attorney for the seven white defendants William Kunstler (Mark Rylance). Stylistically the film may verge on sentimental, but the questions it poses on the divisiveness of ideology, the fragility of free speech and whether there is a way to take on the ruling classes without becoming them are unfortunately both timely and timeless.
Extraction (2020)
Chris Hemsworth plays Tyler Rake, a Black Ops mercenary who is on a mission to rescue the kidnapped son of an Indian drug lord. It's a thriller, not to mention a Netflix Original, so you won't be able to see all the action anywhere else. Because it's based on a graphic novel, expect a little more in the way of character development than the usual mindless gung-ho heroics (although there's plenty of this too!). Crack open the popcorn and enjoy.
And if you just can't get enough of a big, handsome Australian beating the holy proverbial out of some very nasty brutes, the equally mile-a-minute Extraction 2 is also on Netflix. Check it out if you like all things kicking, punching and helicopter exploding.
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