Netflix remains the streaming subscription service with the most subscribers and the best movies on Netflix remain some of the best available to stream online. While Netflix’s selection of acquired movies has waned from its peak, with the streamer opting more and more to focus on their own original content, it still has a number of cinematic classics as well as high-quality originals. Some Netflix original movies have been highlights of the last decade of cinema, making these exclusives almost enough of a reason to subscribe by themselves.
Despite a reduction in available 3rd party movies since its inception, Netflix still plays host to some truly great films, ranging all the way from relatively recent action thrillers to classics from the past to major award winners to films starring notable Oscar-winning cast members. From epics and classic masterpieces to emotional dramas like Marriage Story to animated greats like The Mitchells vs. The Machines, Netflix has a varied and impressive library.
75 A Man Called Otto (2022)
- Directed by Marc Forster
- Runtime: 2h 6m
- Genre: Comedy-Drama
- Starring: Tom Hanks, Mariana Trevino, Rachel Keller, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo
The 2022 comedy-drama A Man Called Otto is one of the newer movies on Netflix, but thanks to a great performance by Tom Hanks in the lead role, it remains one of the best movies on Netflix as well. Directed by Marc Forster (Monster’s Ball), the movie has Hanks play against type as an older, unfriendly man who mostly wants to live life and be left alone. A widow, he decides he will take his own life after his job forces him into retirement, so he can join his wife, but then he meets a new neighbor and her daughter, and it is their outlook on life that starts to change how he sees the world.
74 Army Of The Dead (2021)
- Directed by Zack Snyder
- Runtime: 2h 28m
- Genre: Action Horror
- Starring: Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Ana de la Reguera, Theo Rossi
When Zack Snyder left the DCU, he signed up with Netflix to start creating a new shared movie universe. To do so, he went back to the zombie genre that helped him break out so many years ago when he remade Dawn of the Dead to great acclaim. The first movie with Netflix was Army of the Dead, which ended up as one of the most-streamed movies in Netflix history. It also convinced Netflix to stick with Snyder, as he followed the movie up with Army of Thieves, a prequel to the zombie movie. While reviews were mixed, there was no ignoring the success of this streaming release.
73 My Girl (1991)
- Directed by Howard Zieff
- Runtime: 1h 42m
- Genre: Drama
- Starring: Dan Aykroyd, Jamie Lee Curtis, Macaulay Culkin, Anna Chlumsky
While most people know Macaulay Culkin as the kid from Home Alone, he also appeared in a beloved coming-of-age movie from 1991 called My Girl. Dan Aykroyd stars in this movie as a widow who operates a funeral parlor. When his daughter, Vada, develops an infatuation with death, he has no idea how to deal with it. However, it is when she befriends an awkward kid from school (Culkin) that she finally starts to open up. This is a tear-jerker, so be prepared, but the movie is a touching look at mortality from the eyes of a child, one of the best movies on Netflix.
72 The Mist (2007)
- Directed by Frank Darabont
- Runtime: 2h 6m
- Genre: Horror
- Starring: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden, Andre Braugher, Toby Jones, William Sadler
When it comes to Stephen King movies, they are often hit or miss with both fans and critics. However, none have been as polarizing as The Mist, directed by Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption). The people who love it, defend it relentlessly, thanks to a bleak ending that even Stephen King himself praised. However, the people who hate it, hate it because of that ending, which many viewers felt betrayed their trust and time spent getting to know these characters who fought to survive monsters in an incoming fog, known as the mist.
71 The Cable Guy (1996)
- Directed by Ben Stiller
- Runtime: 1h 36m
- Genre: Comedy
- Starring: Jim Carrey, Matthew Broderick, Leslie Mann, George Segal, Jack Black
Jim Carrey became one of the most bankable comedy stars in the world in the 1990s with movies like Ace Ventura and Dumb and Dumber. However, one of his more overlooked movies is also one of the best movies on Netflix right now. In 1996, Carrey starred in The Cable Guy, a movie directed by Ben Stiller. In this movie, Carrey stars as Chip, a cable installation worker who becomes infatuated with one of his customers (played by Matthew Broderick). The movie received mixed reviews since it had Carrey star against type as a deranged and almost evil stalker. However, in the years since, it has gained a cult following who appreciate the dark comedy.
70 This Is The End (2013)
- Directed by Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg
- Runtime: 1h 47m
- Genre: Comedy
- Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, Michael Cera, Emma Watson
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg created one of the best meta-comedies of all time in 2013 with This is the End. The movie starred some of Hollywood’s most recognizable stars as exaggerated versions of themselves. This included Jay Baruchel, who returned to Los Angeles to spend some time with his friend Seth Rogen. However, when Rogen convinced him to go to a party at James Franco’s house, the end of the world started and these actors had to fight to survive an apocalyptic event. The movie was a box office success and picked up mostly positive reviews and is now one of the best movies on Netflix.
69 Inside Man (2006)
- Directed by Spike Lee
- Runtime: 2h 9m
- Genre: Thriller
- Starring: Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, Christopher Plummer, Willem Dafoe, Chiwetel Ejiofor
Spike Lee went outside his wheelhouse in 2006 and directed his most commercial movie, Inside Man. Denzel Washington re-teamed with the director for this movie about a bank heist and the NYPD hostage negotiator called in to deal with the criminals. Washington was the hostage negotiator and Clive Owen starred as the man who orchestrated the heist. The movie received positive reviews and had a good box office take, the most money any Spike Lee movie ever made in its theatrical run, at $184.4 million on a $45 million budget (via Box Office Mojo).
68 Leon: The Professional (1994)
- Directed by Luc Besson
- Runtime: 1h 50m
- Genre: Action
- Starring: Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, Natalie Portman, Danny Aiello
Leon: The Professional is the movie that introduced the world to Natalie Portman, who played a 12-year-old girl whose family is murdered by corrupt DEA agents. Without a family, and needing help, she enlists the aid of a hitman who lives in her apartment building named Leon (Jean Reno). Directed by Luc Besson, this action thriller remains one of the best movies on Netflix and also stars Gary Oldman in top form as the man villain that Portman’s Mathilda and Leon have to deal with. The movie picked up mostly positive reviews and is a cult classic to this day.
67 Zombieland (2009)
- Directed by Ruben Fleischer
- Runtime: 1h 28m
- Genre: Horror Comedy
- Starring: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin
The zombie movie genre was really heating up in 2009 when Ruben Fleischer released his zombie-comedy Zombieland. The movie was a breath of fresh air, delivering something unique to a genre that was becoming more bloody and depressing. In this movie, two survivors in a zombie apocalypse hooked up to find food and stay alive. When they met up with two sisters who also survived, they ended up finding that it was just as hard to trust each other as it was to avoid a zombie attack. It ended up as one of the highest-grossing zombie movies at the time and picked up a sequel 10 years later.
66 Starship Troopers (1997)
- Directed by Paul Verhoeven
- Runtime: 2h 9m
- Genre: Science Fiction
- Starring: Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer, Denise Richards, Jake Busey, Neil Patrick Harris, Patrick Muldoon, Michael Ironside
Paul Verhoeven adapted the Rober A. Heinlein novel into a movie that was very unlike the book on which it was based. While Heinlein’s novel was mostly a pro-military novel, Verhoeven instead created a satire that lived in a fascist utopia, making it one of the most misunderstood movies ever made. Thanks to Verhoeven’s open admission that he was making fun of the source novel in his movie, it has since become a cult classic and has become more popular as the years roll on. The movie even spawned four sequels.
65 Friday Night Lights (2004)
- Directed by Peter Berg
- Runtime: 1h 58m
- Genre: Sports Drama
- Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Derek Luke, Jay Hernandez, Lucas Black, Garrett Hedlund, Tom McGraw
There are a lot of sports dramas to choose from, but one of the best movies on Netflix is the 2004 drama about West Texas football, Friday Night Lights. While many people might be familiar with the TV series based on the H.G. Bissinger novel, the movie is well worth the watch. This covers the Odessa, Texas high school, Permian High School, and its run to the 1988 State Championship against state powerhouse, Dallas Carter High School. This is an interesting movie because the team fans followed didn’t win, but that isn’t what this movie was about. The movie about teamwork and friendship won the ESPY Best Sports Movie Award.
64 Okja (2017)
- Directed by Bong Joon-ho
- Runtime: 2h
- Genre: Drama
- Starring: Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Ahn Seo-hyun, Byun Hee-bong, Steven Yeun, Lily Collins, Yoon Je-moon, Shirley Henderson, Jake Gyllenhaal. Giancarlo Esposito
Bong Joon-ho won an Oscar for his 2019 movie Parasite and also directed the beloved monster movie, The Host in 2006. However, one of the best movies on Netflix is his 2017 release, Okja. The movie has a strong cast, both with South Korean actors and American stars known for major Hollywood movies. Tilda Swinton stars as a CEO of a company wanting to profit from the “super pig program” while Mija is a young farm girl who helps raise Okja, one of the super pigs. When it comes time for the company to take Okja, Mija sets out to rescue her pig and save it from the unethical corporation.
63 Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery (1997)
- Directed by Jay Roach
- Runtime: 1h 29m
- Genre: Comedy
- Starring: Mike Myers, Elizabeth Hurley, Michael York, Mimi Rogers, Robert Wagner
Mike Myers struck gold with his Austin Powers franchise, and it all started with the 1997 movie, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. The movie had Myers starring as a secret agent from the 1960s who was frozen in cryostasis in case the world needed him in the future. Thirty years later, he was unfrozen when his nemesis Dr. Evil (also played by Myers) showed up again. The movie spoofed the James Bond franchise and picked up two sequels, with the second also receiving favorable reviews and three times the box office of the original.
62 Dawn Of The Dead (2004)
- Directed by Zack Snyder
- Runtime: 1h 40m
- Genre: Horror
- Starring: Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Mekhi Phifer
Zack Snyder became a beloved director thanks to his work in the DCU, with movies like Man of Steel and Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice helping him develop a very loyal fanbase. However, the movie that helped him break out was a remake of one of the most beloved zombie movies in history. It seemed like a can’t-win situation, but Snyder’s remake of George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead ended up as a massive success, a box-office hit with positive reviews, and it remains one of the best movies on Netflix in the zombie genre.
61 The Son (2022)
- Directed by Florian Zeller
- Runtime: 2h 3m
- Genre: Drama
- Starring: Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby, Zen McGrath, Anthony Hopkins
The Son is the follow-up to the Oscar-nominated The Father, which won Anthony Hopkins an Oscar for his performance. Hopkins is back here in a small role but as a different character. This movie is about a father named Peter who is married to his second wife, with a new baby. However, when his ex-wife shows up with his 17-year-old depressed son Nicholas, who just dropped out of school, Peter realizes he wasn’t there for him and tries to make up for it, even though it might be too late. Hugh Jackman earned a Golden Globe nomination for playing Peter.
60 Easy A (2010)
- Directed by Will Gluck
- Runtime: 1h 32m
- Genre: Comedy
- Starring: Emma Stone, Penn Badgley, Amanda Bynes, Thomas Haden Church, Patricia Clarkson, Cam Gigandet, Lisa Kudrow, Malcolm McDowell, Stanley Tucci
Emma Stone took the lead role in the coming-of-age teen comedy Easy A. The movie takes its title from the Nathaniel Hawthorne novel The Scarlet Letter. When Stone’s Olive lies to her best friend about losing her virginity, she develops a bad reputation at the school. Instead of fighting this, she starts to dress in sexy clothes and wears the letter “A” everywhere she goes. With a great cast, including Amanda Bynes as the overly religious classmate and Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci as Olive’s hippy parents, the movie hits on all tracks while also paying homage to 80s teen movies along the way. Stone earned a Golden Globe nomination.
59 The Adam Project (2020)
- Directed by Shawn Levy
- Runtime: 1h 46m
- Genre: Sci-Fi
- Starrin: Ryan Reynolds, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Garner, Zoe Saldana
Shawn Levy teamed up with his Free Guy star Ryan Reynolds in the Netflix original sci-fi movie The Adam Project. The movie has Reynolds as a time traveler from the future who returns to the present day to save the future from ultimate destruction. While there, he encounters his 12-year-old self and the two go on the adventure together, while also taking a touching moment to go visit their deceased father in the past. While the movie received average reviews, it remains one of the best movies on Netflix in popularity, with over three million people watching it in its first weekend alone. It also won the People’s Choice Award for Best Comedy.
58 Darkest Hour (2017)
- Directed by Joe Wright
- Runtime: 2h 5m
- Genre: Period Drama
- Starring: Gardy Oldman, Lily James, Kristin Scott Thomas
In 2017, Joe Wright directed Darkest Hour — a historical drama focusing on Winston Churchill in his early days as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. This period was when Nazi Germany was advancing through Western Europe and Churchill refused to sign a peace treaty with Hitler, instead doubling down on the Allied resistance. Gary Oldman took on the role of Winston Churchill and picked up several acting nominations for the role, including winning the award at the Oscars and the Golden Globes Award for the portrayal. Darkest Hour earned a total of six Oscar nominations but only won two of them (although this doesn’t detract from it being one of the best movies on Netflix).
57 The Croods (2013)
- Directed by Chris Sanders & Kirk DeMicco
- Runtime: 1h 38m
- Genre: Animated
- Starring: Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener, Cloris Leachman, Clark Duke
DreamWorks Animation does not have the same reputation as Pixar or Disney, but it has released some of the most successful animated movies in the last two decades. One of the franchises that garnered both a sequel and an animated cartoon series is the 2013 release The Croods. The movie follows a family of cavepeople whose daughter wants to get out and see the world while her dad knows how dangerous that can be. With a fantastic voice cast and some gorgeous animation, the movie picked up an Oscar and Golden Globes nomination, and it remains one of the best movies on Netflix.
56 The Nice Guys (2016)
- Directed by Shane Black
- Runtime: 1h 56m
- Genre: Crime Action Comedy
- Starring: Ryan Gosling, Russell Crowe
Shane Black originally made his name in the 1980s when he wrote the script for Lethal Weapon and followed up with several similar action movies as the screenwriter. In 2005, Black made his directorial debut with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and one of the best movies on Netflix right now is his third directorial effort with The Nice Guys. Ryan Gosling stars as a private investigator named Holland who reluctantly teams up with a violent enforcer to find a missing porn star. The movie picked up solid reviews on release and remains both a cult favorite and one of the best movies on Netflix.