Best Movies On Netflix, Best Netflix Movies

Spider-Man:

Into the Spider-Verse After The Amazing Spider-Man 2 effectively killed a franchise as we knew it, it came as a bit of a shock when Sony Pictures announced — after agreeing to share the rights to the web-slinging one with Marvel — they'd be moving forward with a new Spider-Man project. That task seemed all the more daunting when Spider-Man: Homecoming arrived like the John Hughes Spider-flick we didn't know we needed.  To the shock of many, Sony's animated

- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was about to prove the universe (nay, multi-verse) was vast enough for alternate Spider-Men, and even big enough for a half a dozen others. Into the Spider-Verse also breathed welcome life into both the rapidly tiring superhero genre and the stagnating medium of feature animation. That life arrived via street smart teen Miles Morales, who — after inadvertently gaining "spidery" abilities — seeks to replace the recently deceased Spider-Man of his world, only to discover that there are several Spider-Folk spread across multiple dimensions, and that a singular threat is about to disrupt each of their realities. If that synopsis makes your head hurt, please know that matters become much clearer throughout Into the Spider-Verse. Know as well that said story (suffused with equal parts drama, comedy, and soul) unfolds in an electrifying visual style designed to literally bring comic book pages to life. That hearty combination of style and substance makes Into the Spider-Verse unlike any superhero flick you've seen of late.

- Moonlight

Over the past decade, A24 Films has transformed itself from the little indie studio that could into a bonafide powerhouse that regularly challenges big-time studios for box office supremacy and awards season glory. They've done so by continuing to release a near-immaculate slate of films that vary from high-minded genre fare (The Witch, Under the Skin, Midsommar, High Life) to complex human dramas and comedies (The Lobster, Lady Bird, Good Time, The Souvenir).  In a "grand scheme" sort of way, 2016 was the year A24 became a legit player in the Hollywood landscape. That was the year the studio released the sophomore film from a then all but unheard of filmmaker by the name of Barry Jenkins. The film was, of course, Jenkins' heartfelt and harrowing coming-of-age drama Moonlight, a film that cleaned up at the box office, blew the critics away, and stormed the Oscars by claiming three Academy Awards, including that infamous Best Picture win.      We're not gonna waste much of your time bestowing more praise on Moonlight here. That's mostly because so much has already been said about the film's dramatic virtue and artistic integrity, there's not much we can add. But just for the record, with its pitch-perfect performances, stylistic mix of hauntingly naturalistic and boldly expressionistic photography, and its awe-inspiring original score, Moonlight is every bit the immaculately executed human drama you've likely heard. If you've yet to experience it for yourself, there's really no time like the present to bask in the lush, lavish glow of Moonlight. 

- The Hateful Eight

Quentin Tarantino's eighth film needs little introduction. In the aftermath of the Civil War, eight people get snowed in at a roadside pitstop, and as the title asserts, none of them are particularly savory characters. There's a lot of talking, a lot of bloodshed, and a lot of Tarantino-ness all around. Perhaps too much, according to some critics. With a 74 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, The Hateful Eight is one of Tarantino's worst-reviewed films. As a Western, sure, The Hateful Eight is no Fistful of Dollars. But as Nerdist very effectively argues, it's not a Western at all—it's a horror movie. For starters, as Tarantino himself explained, it was most directly inspired by John Carpenter's 1982 body horror film The Thing. The pieces are there—the icy landscape, the claustrophobic setting, people trapped in close quarters by a raging blizzard, and the undercurrent of someone in the group who isn't what they seem. Also, Kurt Russell. On top of that, the musical score includes Ennio Morricone tracks from The Exorcist II and The Thing, deliberately adding to the sense that monsters are lurking, even if they turn out to be human after all. Now Netflix viewers also have the added option of watching The Hateful Eight as an extended miniseries — broken into four episodes, with at least 25 minutes of new footage spliced in. "Some sequences are more similar than others compared to the film, but it has a different feeling," said Tarantino. "It has a different feeling that I actually really like a lot." -

- Hellboy

In case you didn't notice — and judging from the film's anemic box office take, not many of you did — that David Harbour-starring reboot of Hellboy didn't exactly light a fire in the hearts of moviegoers. Truth be told, the movie wasn't great. But it wasn't all that bad either, and Harbour was actually pretty good in the role. The bigger problem with the Hellboy reboot is that Harbour is not Ron Perlman, Neil Marshall (who directed) is not Guillermo del Toro, and fans were really just not ready to move on from that pairing's take on the beloved comic book creation. There's good reason for that. Released on a largely unsuspecting public in 2004 (4 years ahead of the MCU superhero boon, and sandwiched between Del Toro's Blade II and Pan's Labyrinth), Hellboy is a near-flawless distillation of everything that made Mike Mignola's comics such a delight to thumb through. In short, the film is action-packed, but never short on character. It deals in steampunk insanity and historical revisionism, but always keeps its feet firmly planted in the "real" world. It's silly, and sappy, and unabashedly sweet. And it's often creepy as all hell. That's as much as anyone could rightfully expect of a film about a cat-loving demon conjured to bring about the apocalypse, but who ends up fighting evil (and fate) instead. 15 years after its release, Hellboy still packs one hell of a wallop. And it remains a touchstone movie in helping shape the superhero genre as we've come to know it. Back in 2003, Quentin Tarantino's jaw-dropping genre stew Kill Bill Vol. 1 essentially set the bar for what female-fronted action movies could be. It did so by conjuring a tough-as-nails heroine with a heart of gold who could literally beat down or out-wit even the toughest S.O.B.'s among planet Earth's criminal underworld. En route to delivering an enigmatic action film fantasia, Tarantino almost single-handedly authored the blueprint for the current wave of movies putting ass-kicking ladies front and center. Though produced on a much smaller scale, Steven Soderbergh's star-studded 2011 actioner

- Haywire

took the Kill Bill blueprint (i.e. a female assassin betrayed by her bosses) and ran with it, transporting it to the world of international espionage and forging a fruitful, propulsive narrative every bit as smart, fun, and action-packed as Tarantino's opus. We know, Steven Soderbergh is hardly a name one would typically equate with the action movie set. But the infamously dexterous filmmaker executed his first foray in to full-on action cinema with undeniable grace, utilizing a whip-smart screenplay from Lem Dobbs (see also Soderbergh's masterful The Limey), and a stoically tenacious performance from MMA fighter-turned-actor Gina Carano (see also The Mandalorian on Disney+) to deliver a full-throttle, '90s-tinged action flick with style and energy to burn. The final product very easily could've turned into the sort of female James Bond type franchise the film world has been clamoring for of late, had anybody actually seen it in theaters.

- Inception

Hollywood has always had an affinity for movies about making movies. While that playfully meta approach to cinema has delivered its share of gems — see Singin' In The Rain, 8 1/2, The Player, and Ed Wood — Christopher Nolan's mind-bending sci-fi confection Inception is not usually listed among them. That's an egregious oversight, as Inception is about as pure a distillation of the complexities of filmmaking as you'll find. It just happens to be dressed up as a noirish caper picture about invading people's dreams and extracting and/or implanting information. If you're not seeing the "movie about making movies" connection, we'd encourage you to envision Dom Cobb's crack crew of master thieves as a film crew, with Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) operating as director, Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) working as producer, Ariadne (Ellen Page) playing the production designer, and Eames (Tom Hardy) appearing as the actor. You, naturally, are the audience, watching the dreamscape insanity unfold right alongside the crew's mark, Cillian Murphy's Robert Fisher. There's a lot more going on in the serpentine narrative that drives Inception, of course, with Cobb and crew dealing with intense personal dramas, the perilous instability tri-level dreamscapes, and the complex science of the subconscious along the way. We're guessing you know that already, because you've probably seen Inception before. With that in mind, we'll simply hope this idea can take root in your mind — Inception is a first-rate movie about making movies, and rewatching it can be as rewarding as seeing it for the first time. With new classics hitting theaters or streaming platforms almost every week, genre fans are experiencing what appears to be a full-on horror renaissance — and Robert Eggers' haunting, New England-set folktale

- The Witch

is one of the films that helped set the bar for current horror trends. Eggers' masterfully executed chiller wowed audiences at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, and actually made a few bucks in its initial theatrical release, even if it didn't exactly set the box office on fire. It didn't fare quite as well when the folks at A24 cleverly re-released the film on 666 screens a couple of months later. Behind marvelous critical buzz and equally solid word of mouth, The Witch has more than found its audience after the fact, with many hailing it as the one of the best horror films of the decade. We're inclined to agree. Eggers' film follows a 17th century family whose devoutly puritanical existence falls apart under the weight of unspeakable tragedies, which may or may not be the cause of an evil lurking in a nearby forest and a demon spirit inhabiting the family goat. That last bit may sound silly, but there's nothing to scoff at in The Witch. Eggers' film is a bleak, intensely atmospheric study in gothic Americana that features a star-making turn from Ana Taylor-Joy. It's the sort of film that you simply have to see to believe. And if you haven't, well, prepare thyself to live deliciously.

- Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

In the pantheon of video game movies, there have been far more misses than hits. There was a time when the same could've been said about graphic novel adaptations as well. That Scott Pilgrim vs. The World arrived in theaters as both a video game flick and a graphic novel adaptation was reason enough to get excited about it in 2010. That the film was also directed by Edgar Wright — then a burgeoning cult icon hot off the success of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz — was reason to be downright impatient for the film. Wright delivered the goods with Pilgrim, crafting an action-packed, genre-busting romantic comedy with enough razor-sharp wit and eight-bit charm to claim success on both the video game and adaptation fronts. It also featured a hip young cast including Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth WInstead, Kieran Culkin, Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, and Jason Schwartzman, not to mention scene-stealing appearances from future MCU stars Chris Evans and Brie Larson. With that pedigree (and reviews to match), Scott Pilgrim vs. The World seemed destined for box office glory. That didn't happen. In fact, the film was an outright bomb that seemed doomed to claim little more than "cult classic" status. Luckily, Wright's hipster opus found second life on video, and is now counted amongst the director's best work. If you've been sleeping on that fact, now's the time to get into the game.

- Her

One of the primary functions of cinema is to act as a sort of mirror image of the real world. In the case of science fiction cinema, the scope of that mirroring seeks to show not just the world as is, but the world as it may become. If Spike Jonze's wildly romantic, Oscar-winning sci-fi drama Her is any indication, artificial intelligence is going to complicate our lives in ways we cannot yet fathom — and probably sooner than we think.  Set in a vividly realized, not-too-distant future, Her follows a kind, lonely man who finds love in a most unexpected place — with an AI-driven operating system named Samantha. On paper, that plot sounds a bit ridiculous, and in the hands of a lesser filmmaker, it probably would've been. With Jonze at the helm, Her's potentially silly setup becomes a tenderly observed study of longing for and finding connection in a tech-obsessed world driven to isolationism.  At the center of that world is a transcendent performance from Joaquin Phoenix, who brings a warmth, wit, and compassion to this role barely glimpsed in his prior work — not to mention a scene-stealing turn from Amy Adams and dynamic voice work from Scarlett Johansson, who makes a fully developed character of her artificial persona. As a sci-fi film, Her is a towering, deeply personal achievement in style and substance. As a social document, it's an all-too-prescient reflection on the world as it likely will be. If you don't believe that, just ask Alexa what she thinks.

- The Endless

In 2015, Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead teamed up to deliver a wildly innovative, Lovecraftian romance about a young man falling in love with a mysterious woman while traveling in Europe. It was called Spring, and despite scoring well with critics — who lauded its genre-bending ambition — not many people actually saw it. Those who did likely discovered Spring on Netflix, where the film eventually garnered its well-deserved "cult classic" status.  Fans of that film were quick to hail Benson and Moorhead as filmmakers to watch, anxiously awaiting the duo's next innovative offering. It arrived in The Endless, another critically acclaimed, mind-bending genre mashup that finds Benson and Moorhead following a similarly grounded, slow-burning dramatic approach to horror/sci-fi tropes while expanding their cinematic palette in ways their genre peers have yet to dare.   This go-round, Benson and Moorhead spin a complex tale of two brothers who make the fateful decision to revisit the "alien death cult" they managed to escape in their youth. That's all the synopsis you're gonna get from us, because part of The Endless' narrative magic is uncovering the film's unnerving existential mysteries for yourself. Just know that whatever you think you know as the film untangles its intricately woven web, you're probably wrong. That's a good thing, by the way — and further proof that The Endless is almost certain to cement Benson and Moorhead as two of the most daring genre/cult filmmakers of this generation.

- Enemy

Netflix has long been a haven for independent cinema. More often than not, it's the primary source for indie movie lovers to discover lesser known films and filmmakers. Netflix recently doubled down on that legacy by adding almost the entire slate of films produced by indie powerhouse A24, including gems like Ex Machina, Green Room, and Under the Skin. One of the more unsung films in the A24 lineup is Denis Villeneuve's harrowing mindbender of a thriller Enemy. Based on a novel from subversive Portuguese scribe Jose Saramago, and starring Jake Gyllenhaal in a revelatory dual performance, the film follows a quiet man who unwittingly finds his doppelgänger and proceeds to have a full-blown crisis of identity. Along the way, the pair's lives become a tangled web of secrets, obsessions, and lust that threatens to upend each of their existences. Just FYI, those lives are upended in ways we can't even begin to cover in a simple blurb. Enemy is an artistically and narratively ambitious film worthy of the sort of in-depth examination typically reserved for great works of literature, and Villeneuve utilizes the film's setup to craft one of the most hauntingly ambiguous thrillers you'll ever see, with a bold blend of stark visuals and a near-suffocating sense of atmospheric dread. Enemy is a vividly realized, surprisingly satisfying art film that you'll never be able to unsee — especially if you're afraid of spiders.

- The Irishman

Few names in the history of cinema inspire as much respect and awe as Martin Scorsese. Now well into the fifth decade of his all but unimpeachable career, Scorsese has somehow managed to maintain his fiercely independent vision while cranking out more genuine cinematic masterpieces than pretty much any filmmaker who's ever lived. The Irishman is Scorsese's 26th feature film, and it's certain to go down as one of his late-game masterworks. At three and a half hours, The Irishman is also the longest film of Scorsese's career. Shockingly, it seems the film almost never happened, with Scorsese relenting that — even with iconic titles like Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Goodfellas to their credit — no studio was interested in properly financing a new Scorsese film with Robert De Niro in the lead. Luckily, Netflix jumped at the chance to add the latest Martin Scorsese picture to their in-house catalog. Anchored by a powerhouse turn from De Niro, with equally compelling work from Harvey Keitel, Joe Pesci, and Scorsese first-timer Al Pacino, The Irishman finds the legendary director in surprisingly subtle form, delivering a melancholic, decades-spanning slow-burner of a gangster flick culled from a real-life story about ruthless mobsters, scheming teamsters, fractured families, and the corrosive legacy of violence and betrayal that ultimately undid a sprawling underground empire. Yes, The Irishman may look like a typical Martin Scorsese gangster flick. We can assure you it's anything but, and proves that even 50 years into his career, Scorsese still has a few new tricks up his cinematic sleeve. 

- Killing Them Softly

Nearly a decade has passed since Andrew Dominik released the followup to his flawless anti-Western The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, and we're betting most of you probably haven't seen it. Yes, you should rectify that, because Dominik's overtly political powder keg of a crime flick Killing Them Softly is every bit as impressive. In some ways, Killing Them Softly is actually the better film. Make no mistake, Killing Them Softly is a spectacular slice of socially-conscious crime cinema. Set amid the darkness of 2008's housing collapse, the film follows a pair of low-level criminals (Scoot McNairy and Ben Mendelsohn) who rip off a mob-protected card game. That act leads to the hiring of a stoic hitman (played with unflappable cool by Brad Pitt) to restore order in the local criminal underworld. Upon his arrival, Killing Them Softly becomes a glib, supremely stylish, unabashedly opinionated little crime drama that's as much a down-and-dirty gangster movie as a scathing indictment of American socioeconomic structures. It also features a bravura supporting turn from the late, great James Gandolfini, and one of the all-time greatest final lines in movie history. Don't believe us? It's high time to find out for yourself.

- The Death of Stalin

If you've been to the movies in the past decade, you're well aware there's been a fairly noticeable comedy drought at the cineplex. In fact, prior to the release of Armando Iannucci's venomous, laugh-out-loud historical dramedy The Death of Stalin, we really couldn't recall the last time we'd seen a genuinely great comedy film. To be clear, The Death of Stalin is inarguably a great comedy — one that continues to eclipse all comedic comers even two years after it left theaters in terms of savage wit, outlandish language, and socio-political savvy. Of course, if you're among the viewers who stumbled blindly into Iannuci's latest pitch-perfect political farce (see also 2009's In The Loop, and HBO's Veep) you already know it's the sort of rapid fire laugh riot that all but demands repeat viewings because you simply cannot take in every immaculately written one-liner, calculatingly cock-eyed performance, or scrupulously executed set piece in a single viewing. We'd even posit you couldn't catch them all in three or four screenings. The good news is you'll find something different to love and laugh hysterically at no matter how many times you watch The Death of Stalin. And with each new viewing, the film's acerbic, utterly absorbing, politically charged narrative (fueled by shrewdly astute work from a very English-speaking ensemble cast including Steve Buscemi, Jeffrey Tambor, Jason Isaacs, and Andrea Riseboroughh) carries as much dramatic weight as it does on the first.