50 best movies to watch on Netflix right now – RadioTimes

Whether youre looking for a horror movie, edge-of-your-seat drama or good, old-fashioned romcom, we guarantee therell be something on the streaming giant Netflix for you to enjoy.

Cinemas may be opening their doors once again, but some people will prefer to stay at home and work their way through the platforms huge catalogue.

If the thought of choosing a film is overwhelming, let us to the hard work for you weve compiled a list of the best Netflix movies we think you should check out.

Theres some big Hollywood classics on this list, along with some new Netflix originals, scary movies you might need a cushion to hide behind and even some laugh-out-loud comedies.

If youre after something a little shorter, have a look at our handy list of the best TV series on Netflix though we cant promise you wont spend hours binging them too!

So, take a look at our list and see what you fancy and keep checking back here as we keep this page up to date with the hottest picks.

Last updated 1st September 2020

The latest Spike Lee picture seems to have flown under the radar somewhat, but thats a crying shame as it truly is a superb and timely watch.

Da 5 Bloods follows a group of Vietnam war veterans as they return to the country in the present day, searching for the remains of their fallen commander and the treasure he left behind. Its an emotional journey that will see them confront their traumatic memories of the brutal conflict and the men it turned them into, while also exploring broader themes about the experiences of black people in the United States.

Delroy Lindo (The Good Fight), Clarke Peters (The Wire), Norm Lewis (Scandal), Isiah Whitlock Jr (BlacKkKlansman) and the late and much-missed Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther) play the original Bloods, with Jonathan Majors representing the next generation. Its a fantastic ensemble cast that provide strong performances across the board, some of which could well be recognised during this years awards season so get ahead of the curve and watch Da 5 Bloods now.

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Joseph Gordon Levitt and Leonardo DiCaprio in Inception

Christopher Nolans Tenet is currently wowing and confusing cinema-goers in equal measure, and Inception is another of the directors mind-bending movies. But it really does have the capacity to make your brain hurt, so youll need to remove all distractions.

Leonardo DiCaprio stars as a talented thief uses hi-tech devices to enter other peoples dreams so he can steal their secrets. An industrialist hires him to perform a far more challenging job to implant an idea into a corporate heirs mind, so he will think it is his own. However, the mission is compromised by the thiefs own troubled psyche

Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Caine and Cillian Murphy also feature in the all-star cast.

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Read our full Inception review

Recently turned into a TV series by HBO, this is Zack Snyders silver-screen adaptation of the critically acclaimed 1980s comic-book mini-series by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons an alternate world of masked vigilantes, what-if politics and thorny moral dilemmas.

At the height of the Cold War, former superheroes driven into retirement by public outcry are confronted with the murder of one of their number. As they face the possibility of a conspiracy to eliminate them, they must contend with a world edging closer to the brink of nuclear war. Those unfamiliar with the work may be completely bewildered, but stick with it this is a bold take on one of the genres sacred cows that stands up to repeat viewings.

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Read our full Watchmen review

Chris Hemsworth in Extraction (Netflix)

This Netflix action movie, released back in April, proved so popular that a second instalment is already in the works. From first-time feature director Sam Hargrave, with Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Antony Russo serving as executive producers (and Joe also having written the script), Extraction stars Thors Chris Hemsworth and tells the story of black-market mercenary Tyler Rake, who is sent to Bangladesh to rescue the kidnapped son of a drug lord. Its tense, well paced, a solid star vehicle for Hemsworth and contains just the right amount of genuinely exciting action to keep most viewers firmly glued to their seats.

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Read our full Extraction review

Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver in Marriage Story (Netflix)

On the face of it, Marriage Story shouldnt be as an enjoyable watch as it is, given that its about a relationship falling apart and all the emotions that come with that. Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver play the couple who decide to get divorced in this award-winning masterpiece from writer/director Noah Baumbach and put in some of the best performances of their career, which really deserved more award attention than they got.

It will make you laugh. It will make you smile. And if you are married, it will make you pray that you never get divorced

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Read our full Marriage Story review

Noah Centineo and Lana Condor in To All The Boys Ive Loved Before (Netflix)

A sweet, precisely executed romcom, which serves as an homage to the best films of the genre from the 1980s and 90s. Lana Condor stars as Laura Jean Covey, a Korean-American high-schooler whose world is turned upside-down when a box of private love letters that she penned to her crushes is distributed to its intended recipients. Based on the YA trilogy by Jenny Han, it became one of Netflixs most successful original films in 2018. Watch out for a break-out performance from mini Mark Ruffalo, Noah Centineo (as Peter Kavinsky).

Once youve watched this, the long-awaited sequel PS I Love You is waiting for your attention, and theres a third and final instalment on the way.

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Jennifer Kent terrified millions with her feature directorial debut The Babadook in 2014 and she returned four years later with something altogether different but no less remarkable.

The Nightingale which stars Aisling Franciosi and Sam Claflin tells a story set against the cruel backdrop of colonial atrocities in 1830s Tasmania, as a young Irish woman seeks revenge against a sadistic lieutenant who raped her and killed her husband and baby.

In doing so she teams up with a local Aboriginal tracker named Billy for help with navigation and protection, and although they bicker at first, the two bond over their shared mistreatment at the hands of their colonial oppressors. Its a brutal, unflinching watch but an extremely rewarding and unforgettable film.

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Netflix

A passion project long in the making, Netflixs The Irishman sees director Martin Scorsese reunited with Robert De Niro for their ninth collaboration.The gangster biopic centres on Frank The Irishman Sheeran (De Niro), who recalls his involvement in the disappearance of his longtime friend Jimmy Hoffa (played by Al Pacino). The film was constantly in the news up to its release; from its CGI de-aging used on De Niro, Pacino and Joe Pesci, to the sheer unwieldy length of this epic (its a whopping 3 hours 30 minutes, so youll need plenty of popcorn).

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The Irishman review: Scorseses film is a meditative, remorseful gangster epic

13th, Netflix

Following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and subsequent Black Lives Matter protests across the world, Netflix recently made racial inequality documentary 13th free to watch to non-Netflix subscribers, which has seen a 4,000% increase in streams.

The title of this potent film refers to the 13th Amendment: Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States. Punishment for crime is the key qualifier here, as Ava DuVernays (When They See Us) documentary explores the injustices at the heart of Americas penal system.

13th secured Netflix its first BAFTA.

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Read our full 13th review

Roma is written and directed by Alfonso Cuarn

Winner of three Oscars, Gravity director Alfonso Cuarns semi-autobiographical film about a maid working for an upper-middle class family in Mexico City in the 1970s is visually stunning, deeply moving and well worth your time. The director, known for Gravity and Children of Men, brings this beautiful story to life as we follow housekeeper Cleo as she, and her family, face societal and political issues. Largely touted as one of the best films of 2018 and applauded by critics globally it also scooped two Golden Globes, for best director and best foreign language film. Unmissable.

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Read our full Roma review

Mathematician Alan Turing possessed one of the greatest minds of his generation, and one that helped win the Second World War. Benedict Cumberbatch gives an Oscar-nominated turn as the genius whose heroic efforts at Bletchley Park were shrouded in secrecy, and whose homosexuality eventually deprived him of the liberty he fought for. New to Netflix this month.

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Read our full The Imitation Game review

Adam Sandler stars in Uncut Gems on Netflix

We should probably start by warning you youre in for a tense and stressful two hours if you choose to watch Uncut Gems in one sitting. The Safdie brothers (Good Time) film takes funnyman Adam Sandler and turns him into a New York City jeweller risking everything to banish his debts and escape the collectors after him. Sandler is unrecognisable, but thats no bad thing. Wed go as far as to say he was robbed this award season.

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Adam Sandler responds to 2020 Oscars snub for Uncut Gems

Would you pay $1 million to sleep with Demi Moore? Robert Redford thinks shes worth it, as he puts the proposal to Moores husband, Woody Harrelson, after learning they need the money. The interesting would you do it? premise of Adrian Lynes drama goes slightly awry as the moral issues are dumped in favour of all three main characters simply showing how selfish they are, and as a result this is probably best viewed as a commentary on the excesses and emptiness of the early 1990s. But, with these leads, who are we to quibble? Just tune in to watch Redford and Moore doing what they do best, with Harrelson giving them a run for their money.

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A recent addition to Netflix, Spike Lee here is in raging and righteous form as he relays the extraordinary story of Ron Stallworth, the black police officer who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in 1972 with the assistance of Jewish cop Flip Zimmerman. As playful as it is political, the vibe is authentic, the period detail tasty, yet BlacKkKlansman burns with contemporary anger and concludes on an impossibly affecting, painfully relevant note.

Winners of the best adapted screenplay gongs at both the Oscars and the BAFTAs in 2019.

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Read our full BlacKkKlansman review

Tom Hanks in The Green Mile Warner Bros

In this hard-hitting 1930s crime drama, Tom Hanks plays death row officer Paul Edgecomb, who forms an unlikely friendship with condemned black prisoner John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan), sentenced to death for murdering two little girls.

Adapted from Stephen Kings 1996 novel, The Green Mile is an emotionally powerful look at capital punishment with a supernatural twist and an absorbing effort from director Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption).

The drama is a must-watch and with the late Michael Clarke Duncans heartbreaking performance as misunderstood and gentle Coffey, its impossible to leave the film without shedding a tear.

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Read our full The Green Mile review

Florence Pugh in Fighting with My Family

This feel-good charmer following the true journey of superstar wrestler Paige (Florence Pugh) from her humble beginnings in Norwich to becoming the youngest ever Divas Champion is an unqualified smackdown success. Written/directed by Stephen Merchant and executive produced by Dwayne Johnson, its an unapologetic soap opera in spandex

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Read our full Fighting with My Family review

While the seventh Tom CruiseMission Impossible movie may be delayed due to COVID-19, in the meantime we can reminisce with Ethan Hunt and his IMF team, as they (mostly Cruise) defy the laws of gravity as they attempt to save a mission thats gone wrong and prevent a nuclear disaster in 2018 instalment Mission: Impossible Fallout.

The film, which also co-stars Rebecca Ferguson and Superman actor Henry Cavill, includes Cruises real-life death-defying jump from one building to another in London which saw the actorbreak his ankle.

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Read our full Mission: Impossible Fallout review

Prepare to cry if you watch this heartwarming tale from Bong Joon-Ho (if he sounds familiar, thats because he recently dominated award season with his latest film Parasite).

Okja is a slightly odd story following a girl and her best friend, a huge, weird animal called Okja. Soon the pair find themselves battling the CEO (Tilda Swinton) of a huge company who wants to take Okja away. Theres a clear agenda underlying the story, animal activism is a strain throughout, and the film doesnt shy away from that. Joon-Hos wonderfully refreshing odd style blends with slight preachy notes, but it comes together to give you a beautiful film.

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Read our full Okja review

Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson in Twilight

Netflix recently added all five films from the franchise Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn: Part One and Breaking Dawn Part Two based on Stephenie Meyers bestselling fantasy novel series to its service.

Meyer claims that the idea for the Twilight quartet came to her in a dream about a human girl and a vampire boy whose love was forbidden. They became flesh as Washington-state high-schooler Bella Swan (immortalised here by Kristen Stewart) and more-than-a-century-old (but forever trapped in the body of a 17-year-old) hunk Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). And their on-off relationship lies at the heart of a saga whose books have sold well over 100 million copies the majority to young adults (as publishers respectfully categorise hormonal teens) which in turn became a hugely successful film series.

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Tim Blake Nelson in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Netflix)

This was meant to be six individual episodes for a Netflix TV series, but when you get movie legends the Coen brothers you kinda have to see where they take you. The result is this, an elegant anthology of frontier tales that affectionately celebrates the Western in inimitable style. Although the opening comic yarn starring Tim Blake Nelson (O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Syriana) as a singing prairie hero in a white Stetson gives the film its potentially misleading title, its hardly typical of what follows, but then again nothing is

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Read our full The Ballad of Buster Scruggs review

Admittedly, it helps to be an Abba fan watching these movies, but youd have to have a heart of stone to fail to be touched by the heartwarming, feel-good messages. And the starry cast sing to varying degrees of success, which is all part of the fun.

Meryl Streep plays ageing rock chick-turned-hotel owner Donna, whose daughter Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is about to get married on the Greek island where they live. But the wedding is thrown into chaos when three of Donnas ex-lovers (Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgrd) turn up. Each has a case for being Sophies father, but only one stakes a claim on Donnas heart.

The original film was followed up ten years later by Here We Go Again!, which was recently added to Netflix. It follows a familiar fairy-tale formula, but its a musical worth taking a chance on.

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Read our full Mamma Mia! review

Read our full Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again review

Idris Elba is best known for star-making turns as a drug dealer in US TV series The Wire and as troubled cop John Luther in the acclaimed BBC drama, but this role is altogether more sinister. He plays a commander of child soldiers in West Africa for this extraordinary Netflix film from the director of the first season of HBOs True Detective. Based on the highly acclaimed novel by Nigerian author Uzodinma Iweala, the movie brings to life the gripping tale of Agu, a child soldier torn from his family to fight in the civil war of an African country.

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Read our full Beasts on No Nation review

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50 best movies to watch on Netflix right now - RadioTimes