We’re in the dark months. We’re in the dark months for a lot of reasons, sure, but specifically, I’m talking about a dark month for films. It’s an awkward spot: The gray area between early winter’s awards-season movies and the summer blockbusters that pick up around springtime. For those of you following along at home? It’s one of the hardest months to find something to watch that doesn’t feel like a total money grab.
Thankfully, Netflix has about a billion-and-one movies for your perusal. Not every one is a hit (looking at you, The Kissing Booth—yeah, I said it), but there’s plenty worth watching. You have Chadwick Boseman’s Golden Globe-winning final performance in Ma Rainey‘s Black Bottom. Plus, one of Morgan Freeman’s greatest performances of all time as Nelson Mandela in Invictus. We sifted through Netflix for the best films on the platform.
I Care A Lot
Is this a true story? Is it actually possible? Is she really still alive? How do I choose between human trafficking and abusing the elderly?
These are all questions you will ask while watching I Care a Lot. Starring Rosamund Pike, Peter Dinklage, and Chris Messina’s very specific suit line up, the crime thriller from Netflix is one of the most egregious, devious films to debut in years. And it’s delicious.
Training Day
Netflix tells you that this movie is Gritty. But Training Day is also Denzel. And that’s all you need to know.
Invictus
Sure, Invictus is more than worth a watch, if only to see Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela. But it’s also a testament to how sports (rugby, this time) can capture a nation.
Speed Cubers
You might remember the kid from your middle school who thought he was the goddamn shit because he knew his way around a Rubix Cube. Now, that kid has a Netflix documentary. Fuck that kid.
Malcolm & Marie
Sure, Malcolm & Marie didn’t quite live up to the hype built by Euphoria mastermind Sam Levinson. But that doesn’t mean Malcolm & Marie—which, to warn you, is basically a two-hour-long couple’s fight—should be slept on. The black and white film is worth a watch, if only for the powerhouse performances from leads Zendaya and John David Washington.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
In this film adaptation of one of August Wilson’s most unforgettable plays, Chadwick Boseman delivers his final performance. Starring alongside a just-as-stellar Viola Davis, Boseman plays the troubled trumpeter Levee, which should squarely put him in the favorite position for an Oscar this year.
Miracle
The Trial of the Chicago Seven
Aaron Sorkin’s newest creation for Netflix is proving to be a massive contender at the 2021 Oscars. Starring Sacha Baron Cohen and Mark Rylance in award-winning turns, the film is based on the story of seven defendants charged with conspiracy against the government.
There Will Be Blood
He! Drinks! Your milkshake! He drinks it up!
Paul Thomas Anderson’s epic from 2007 is an instant classic. Starring Daniel Day Lewis and Paul Dano, the film dives into the dark early days of oil tycoons. Unnerving and haunting, the film is a slow burn of how greed and prosperity eventually overcomes good will.
Mank
David Fincher was never out of the game—just merely waiting in the wings for the next perfect project. That came in the form of Mank, the story of how Citizen Kane was written. With big performances from Gary Oldman and Amanda Seyfried, Fincher captures the Golden Age of Hollywood and the drama between Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles.
Spotlight
Spotlight is a truly great Best Picture winner, even if it doesn’t always get its due. The film follows the group of dogged journalists from The Boston Globe who were largely responsible for blowing the lid off the Catholic church and its ongoing crimes of pedophilia and child abuse. With the likes of Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, and Rachel McAdams starring, it’s was born to be a massive hit.
American Murder The Family Next Door
In case you’re one of the few who does not know about the Watt family murders (Don’t feel bad! You’re not alone), this 90ish minute documentary uses found footage to unravel the devastating deaths of Shannan Watt and her two daughters. What starts out as a heartbreaking disappearance quickly takes an even more gruesome turn, especially when you consider that it’s Shannan’s social media videos that narrate a large part of the documentary.
David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet
Just that name alone should sell this film. Attenborough has been doing environmentally-focused documentary work for years, and in a time where we really could be paying more attention to our environment, his Netflix documentary is a must watch. Not only does it offer some keen perspective on Attenborough’s life, but it highlights just how much nature has changed since the natural historian has been alive.
Uncorked
Courtney B. Vance and Niecy Nash alone should be enough to get anyone onboard with Uncorked, one of Netflix’s best reviewed dramas of the year. It tells the story of a young man caught between his parents’ expectations that he take over the family barbecue restaurant and his dream of becoming a master sommelier.
Athlete A
One of the most powerful moments of the Me Too era occurred when more than 150 women faced convicted sexual predator Larry Nassar in court to deliver emotional impact statements. But horrifyingly, those women represented just a fraction of the former USA Gymnastics doctor’s 500 victims. This documentary from Netflix examines abuses in the gymnastics world, and just how Nassar was able to get away with his crimes for decades.
The Old Guard
For super heroes, the humanity-protecting members of the Old Guard aren’t really all that super. They can be shot or stabbed, and they’re not super strong or fast. But what they can’t do is die: The band of warriors, led by Charlize Theron’s Andy, is fated to walk across millennia as guardians for mankind. Until, that is, a corrupt pharma exec gets ahold of their billion-dollar secret.
A Secret Love
Terry Donahue and Pat Henschel fell in love in 1947 and built a relationship that spanned six decades, all while hiding the truth of their romance from friends and loved ones in the face of rampant homophobia. You might think you’re made of tough stuff if you can make it through the trailer without welling up, but there’s no way anyone could sit through the whole film without getting teary.
Django Unchained
Quentin Tarantino’s seventh stars Jamie Foxx as a recently freed slave who teams up with Christoph Watltz’s bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz to find and free Django’s wife Broomhilda from her brutal new owner Calvin J. Candie, played by Leonardo DiCaprio.
13th
Before she told us America’s story of mass incarceration through the eyes of the Exonerated Five in When They See Us, Ava Durvernay took it on in 13th. Featuring interviews with Van Jones, Grover Norquist, and Lisa Graves, 13th compares our criminal justice system to American slavery—showing how for-profit systems have corrupted our jails, with corporations making money from the mass incarceration crisis.
The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson
Stonewall was a riot first and foremost. Those with an interest in the LGBTQ rights movement know that on that fateful June day in 1969, it was Marsha P. Johnson, a trans woman of color, who threw a brick and helped launch the Stonewall riots into the annals of history. What most don’t know is that her suspicious death in 1992 has gone unsolved, and the NYPD has neglected to provide answers for her untimely end. The Life and Death of Marsha P. Johnson looks into the mysterious passing and all the stones left unturned by those who were responsible for solving her murder.
Uncut Gems
Man, is Adam Sandler ever going to get that Oscar he’s due? Uncut Gems is probably the closest he’s gotten so far. Playing a smarmy, yet lovable New York City jeweler, Sandler dives into the world of dirty gambling in hopes of making big money and saving himself and his family from financial ruin. By the time he’s in the thick of his own scheme, he comes to realize the payoff may not even be worth the risk.
Disclosure
Featuring interviews with Laverne Cox, Susan Stryker, Alexandra Billings, Jamie Clayton, Chaz Bono, and many more, Disclosure looks at Hollywood’s depiction of transgender people on screen told by the artists and storytellers who are making great strieds for inclusion today.
Becoming
Former First Lady Michelle Obama’s first memoir, Becoming, was an instant success and New York Times bestseller, so it’s no surprise that her documentary of the same name is equally compelling. The Netflix original documentary takes viewers on a deeper dive of her life, beginning in the Southside of Chicago through her time as First Lady. Living under a microscope, she accurately notes that much of the world only knows her for the eight years she spent living in the White House. Becoming seeks to offer the truths of what happened on her way there.
Lady Bird
Saiorse Ronan has had more incredible performances in her 26 years of life than most actors will have in their entire career. Toward the top of the heap is her role as Christine McPhereson, a bull-headed teenager who prefers to be referred to by her chosen name, “Lady Bird.” Determined to escape the throes of suburban life, the film follows Lady Bird through her senior year and the complex relationship she has with her mother.
The Social Network
Often regarded as one of the defining films of the first 20 years of the 21st century (and perhaps the most relevant), the rise of Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook is a compelling watch, no matter how often you use the site anymore. Jesse Eisenberg dives into the role of Zuckerberg and makes you question exactly who is the underdog in this salacious origin story.
Pan’s Labyrinth
Pan’s Labyrinth is a tour de force of the acclaimed filmmaker Guillermo del Toro’s affinity for all things phantasmagorical. Set in post-Civil War Spain, the film follows a young girl through her discovery of an underground realm of which she realizes she might be the princess. No big deal.
Crip Camp
Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution tells of the spirited and subversive history of Camp Jened in the 1970s. A camp based in the Catskills for young adults with developmental disabilities, Camp Jened became known for its liberating approach to fostering community and empowering its campers.
Taxi Driver
(Film majors have entered the chat.) Robert DeNiro and Jodi Foster star in this classic Martin-Scorsese drama, which follows an ex-marine in his life as a nightshift cab driver in 1970s New York City.
The Florida Project
The Florida Project is a true A24 film in all the best ways: gorgeous color palettes, perfectly-executed shots, nuanced characters, and, in special cases, an appearance from Willem Dafoe. Set in Orlando, Florida, at a motel nestled just before the highway exit for Disney World, The Florida Project is a distinct portrait of childhood amidst warm, vibrant, and harsh surroundings.
Silver Linings Playbook
David O. Russell’s bittersweet comedy about mental illness is one of the best of the past decade. Starring Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, the film tackles the struggle of loss, the joy of finding new love, and the very complicated path that is being a Philadelphia Eagles fan. Go birds.
Velvet Buzzsaw
Velvet Buzzsaw is a glorious mess. Part gay fantasia, part art snobbery, and part horror, the film manages to be so uneven and ridiculous that it’s a perfectly acceptable wild ride. Bonus: Toni Collette is perfect.
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
Let it be noted: Adam Sandler can be a good actor. This literally had Oscar buzz. An Oscar. For Adam Sandler.
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before came out after Set It Up to prove that Netflix knows how to put together a rom-com. Based on the book of the same name, the film is a pitch perfect look at what the rom-com genre can be in 2018.
Always Be My Maybe
In this rom com, two childhood sweethearts reconnect after years apart, and as you can imagine… the sparks return. But the most important part is that Ali Wong and Randall Park are incredible at carrying a rom-com.
Beasts of No Nation
Beasts of No Nation, a war film released in 2015, was one of Netflix’s first bona fide award contenders. Though it didn’t fully get off the ground, it was a great vehicle for Idris Elba and an even better flex for Netflix.
Barry
The story of President Barack Obama was always going to be clamored over, and though multiple films have come out about the president’s life, Barry is proof that Netflix can do a decent job with a biographical film.
Miss Americana
In her most vulnerable outing to date, Taylor Swift is featured in the Netflix documentary, Miss Americana, detailing the wild (and very public) ride the singer went on between creating Reputation and 1989.
Tallulah
Tallulah never got its due, but the Allison Janney/Ellen Page film follows a woman who takes a child from its irresponsible mother and raises it as her own.
Okja
In a way, Okja feels like Netflix’s first breakaway hit, an environmentalist tale that pits big business against environmental morality made Netflix worthy of being looked at as a contender in the film space.
Dolemite is My Name
There was a time when Eddie Murphy was one of the most famous actors (if not the most) in the world. And after over a decade of largely out-of-form work, it took Dolemite is My Name—where Murphy plays a struggling entertainer, full of heart and humor—to remind us of that.
I Lost My Body
In a category usually packed with children’s movies, I Lost My Body—the story of a… dismembered hand—was a pleasant surprise when it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Even though it didn’t take home the Oscar (it still takes a hell of an effort to dethrone Toy Story), the creative, weird, and brilliantly animated film is more than worth the watch.
The Irishman
Yes, we heard you: The Irishman is too long. Got it. If you’re willing to get over that, let us direct you to a holy grail of performances from Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci, in another all-timer of a mob epic from the mind of Martin Scorsese.
The Two Popes
There are few things that would make the film version of the complicated real-life relationship between Pope Benedict and Pope Francis a must-watch. Casting heavyweights Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce, respectively, as the former (and current) leaders of the Catholic church is one of them.
Marriage Story
In this moving film written and directed by Noah Baumbach, Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver portray an actress and stage director slogging through a grueling, bi-coastal divorce, which forces them to confront the long-held resentments that simmered throughout their marriage. Compassionate, funny, and deeply specific, Marriage Story is a portrait of how marriage changes us over time, and of how divorce turns us into our worst selves.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
The Coen Brothers teamed up with the streaming service for this Netflix original, an anthology film featuring six stories set in the American west that’s full of outlaws, pioneer women, double-crossing, and one singing cowboy.
Casting JonBenet
Decades after the still-unsolved murder of JonBenét Ramsey, director Kitty Green goes to Boulder, Colorado to cast local actors in a film about the murder—only to discover the lasting impact the little girl’s murder has left on the area’s residents.
Howards End
This lush Merchant-Ivory adaptation of the classic E.M. Forster novel follows two families with opposing worldviews who are thrust together when their children become romantically attached.
Kicking and Screaming
Noah Baumbach’s breakthrough movie follows a group of aimless friends in their first year after graduating from college, which sees them stuck in their college town trying to avoid adulthood.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
The Authurian legend get the parody treatment in this absurd—and endlessly quotable—cult classic in which the Monty Python players star as the Knights of the Roundtable on the search for the legendary treasure.
Moonlight
The controversial Best Picture winner that bested La La Land is powerful on more than a couple levels. Diving into the complexity of being queer in the black community, Moonlight follows a young black man as he comes of age and grapples with his sexual identity and the pressures that his world impresses upon him.
Mudbound
Dee Rees’s Academy Award-nominated drama tells the story of two families—one white, one black—who are linked by their neighboring land in post-World War II Mississippi and are caught in the complicated racial tensions of the era.
Other People
A gay man (Jesse Plemons) returns home to his conservative family to be with his cancer-stricken mom (Molly Shannon) in this sweetly comic semi-autobiographical film written and directed by Chris Kelly.
The Other Side of the Wind
Roma
Alfonso Cuarón’s gorgeous autobiographical film follows Cleo (Oscar nominee Yalitza Aparicio), a live-in maid for a middle-class Mexico City family, throughout one year as both her life and the lives of her employers are changed forever.
She’s Gotta Have It
Spike Lee’s first feature film is an indie black-and-white comedy starring Tracy Camilla Johns as a young woman in Brooklyn who juggles three potential boyfriends.
Strong Island
Director Yance Ford’s Oscar nominated feature looks into the 1992 murder of his brother William and the ensuing case, which saw an all-white grand jury chosing not to indict the white man who killed him.
Like Father
If you can get past the fact that a cruise line definitely bought a share of this movie as sponsored content, then Like Father becomes a really touching tale of an estranged father and daughter played by two of the most likable performers in Hollywood today. But seriously: it’s very much sponcon.
Wet Hot American Summer: 10 Years Later
This ensemble-driven cult classic spoofed raunchy ’80s teen comedies and made stars out of Elizabeth Banks, Amy Poehler, Bradley Cooper, and Paul Rudd. And Netflix has revived the film with the full original cast in two spinoffs, starting with 10 Years Later.
What Happened, Miss Simone?
This film examines the career of Nina Simone, the acclaimed singer, songwriter, and activist whose tumultuous life influenced her fierce and dynamic artistry—but, at times, proved too intense for Simone herself.
Justin Kirkland is a writer for Esquire, where he focuses on entertainment, television, and pop culture.
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