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.)
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret (2023)
Director: Kelly Fremon Craig
Genre: Teen Drama
Notable cast: Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, Abby Ryder Fortson, and Benny Safdie
MPA rating: PG-13
Rotten Tomatoes: 99%
Metacritic: 84
Based on Judy Blume’s indelible 1970 coming-of-age novel, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret follows Margaret Simon (breakthrough star Abby Ryder Fortson) as she faces all the milestones on the road to becoming a young adult. There are the tumultuous upheavals of friendship, religion, puberty, and understanding a parent as their own full-fledged person for the first time. “Honestly, her spiritual journey is very much the reason I wanted to make the film in the first place,” said director Kelly Fremon Craig. “I was really struck and moved by the fact that she carves out her own sense of spirituality.” But the film’s surprise is a fully lived-in performance from Rachel McAdams as Margaret’s mother, a portrayal that Vanity Fair said “deftly paints a thorough and compelling picture of a woman of the era—someone who, like Margaret, is stuck between who she was and who she seems to be becoming.”
Atlantics (2019)
Director: Mati Diop
Genre: Drama
Notable cast: Mame Bineta Sane, Amadou Mbow, and 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, and Tyra Ferrell
MPA rating: R
Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
Metacritic: 96
