Although it’s now only one big player in an even bigger streaming market, Netflix still manages to crank out plenty of stuff to keep its users subscribing. That glut of good movies on Netflix is great if all you want is to never get bored, but it can make it difficult to figure out which things are actually worth your time, and which aren’t. If that’s your goal, we’ve got you covered. This list is a combination of great Netflix original movies, and good movies to watch that Netflix is currently housing on its service, and it even includes a few great Netflix action movies. What unites these movies, though, is that they are the very best Netflix movies currently available.
If you’re looking for films to watch on some of Netflix’s competitors, we’ve also found the best Amazon Prime movies, the best Hulu movies, and the best Disney Plus movies. You can also check out some new Netflix movies at the bottom of this post.
Dune (2021)
Adapted from Frank Herbert’s totemic novel of the same name, Dune tells the story of a young nobleman living in the distant future who finds his life upended after his family is attacked and his father is murdered. The details of the plot are too complex to dive into here, but thanks to an incredible cast headlined by Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, and Oscar Isaac, and Denis Villeneuve’s incredible direction, this Dune fully lives up to the book it’s based on. While it may just be the first half of the story, Dune has the kind of epic scope that will keep you watching it over and over again.
Jaws (1975)
You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah (2023)
Athena (2022)
The opening minutes of Athena are some of the most visceral, astonishing filmmaking you’ll ever see. The film, which is set in France, follows three brothers who have their lives upended after their younger sibling dies. The movie is about radicalism, violence, and police brutality, and it’s about the way those who are disadvantaged often seem doomed to remain that way. It’s also a shockingly well-directed action movie filled with breathtaking sequences that only underscore just how shocking the violence on display often is.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)
Netflix took a fairly big swing on this German-language remake of All Quiet on the Western Front, and it paid off with a truly good movie on Netflix. The movie tells the story of a group of young soldiers who enlist to fight on behalf of Germany and ultimately discover the real toll that war takes on those who have to live their lives in the trenches. It’s stunningly filmed, and one of the best entries in the long line of immersive war movies from recent years. The Oscars agreed, and nominated it for nine total awards, including Best Picture. All Quiet on the Western Front is one of the most enduring war novels ever written, and this 2022 version reminds us how horrific war is, no matter what side you’re on.
Don't Look Up (2021) new
Mank (2020)
Extraction (2020)
The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)
Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond - Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton (2017)
Marriage Story (2019)
Always Be My Maybe (2019)
The Social Dilemma (2020)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
The Power of the Dog (2021)
The Lost Daughter (2021)
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s first directorial effort was one of the best films of 2021, and it didn’t hurt that she had Olivia Colman by her side. Telling the story of a 40-something Harvard professor (Colman) who goes on vacation and remembers her time raising two daughters, The Lost Daughter is about the difficulty of trying to be a person and a mother, and it’s remarkably prickly about how taxing motherhood can be. Colman is a standout in the central role, but she’s surrounded by excellent performances from the likes of Jessie Buckley and Dakota Johnson as well.
tick, tick...BOOM! (2021)
Adapting a musical of the same name, tick, tick…BOOM! tells the story of Jonathan Larson (Andrew Garfield) in the years before he wrote Rent. With sharp direction from Lin-Manuel Miranda and an incredible soundtrack of Larson originals, the movie has more than enough frenetic energy to tell its story of a struggling artist with winsome verve. Andrew Garfield’s incredible central performance is the icing on the cake of this vibrant musical.
The Irishman (2019)
One of many late-period Martin Scorsese masterpieces, The Irishman tells the story of a mid-level gangster (Robert De Niro) who befriends Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino) and ultimately plays a role in his death. In Scorsese’s hands, though, this becomes an examination of the way one man alienates everyone around him, and ultimately finds himself old, friendless, and totally alone, stuck in a nursing home trying to convince everyone that his life as a gangster is worth remembering.
The Disciple (2020)
Da 5 Bloods (2020)
The Wonder (2022)
Wendell & Wild (2022)
His House (2020)
Roma (2018)
A delicate portrait of a family, and specifically of that family’s housekeeper, Roma is one of the best autobiographical stories a filmmaker has ever told. That’s in part because Alfonso Cuaron is such a master of framing and shot composition, and in part because the script so delicately weaves together political and personal elements. Every performance in Roma is note-perfect, and although the movie is in Spanish, any English-speaking viewer who takes the time to watch it will undoubtedly be swept away by its sweeping visions of one family’s life in Mexico City in the 1970s.
Mudbound (2017)
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020)
The Killer (2023)
What movies are leaving Netflix in December?
December 1
- A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish
- About Last Night
- American Made
- Arrival
- Baby Dolls
- Cut Bank
- Dear John
- Effie Gray
- Fences
- Groundhog Day
- High End Yaariyan
- Hook
- Jindua
- Kung Fu Panda 2
- Lakeeran
- Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted
- Mahi NRI
- Matilda
- New in Town
- Peppermint
- Pitch Perfect
- Qismat
- Rainbow Time
- Sad Hill Unearthed
- Sex and the City 2
- Sex and the City: The Movie
- Solace
- Spider-Man
- Spider-Man 2
- Spider-Man 3
- Stuart Little
- Stuart Little 2
- Superbad
- Surf’s Up
- Takers
- Teefa in Trouble
- The Amazing Spider-Man
- The Amazing Spider-Man 2
- The Devil’s Own
- The Guest
- The Happytime Murders
- The Punisher
- Thug Life
- Transporter 3
- U-Turn
- Up in the Air
- Vertical Limit
December 2
- For the Love of Spock (2016)
December 3
- Between Maybes
- Brother in Love
- Bygones Be Bygones
- Deliha 2
- Kids on the Block
- Locked on You
- My Travel Buddy 2
- The Best of Me
December 5
- You Are My Home
December 6
- One in a Billion
December 7
- Ava
December 8
- 100 Days My Prince
- Bobbleheads The Movie
- Other People
December 9
- Kalel, 15
December 10
- Children of Adam
- Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives
- Funny Boy
- Juman
- Just The Way You Are
- Once Upon a Time
- She’s the One
- The Panti Sisters
December 11
- Asperger’s Are Us
- Av: The Hunt
December 13
- Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America
December 14
- Tammy
December 15
- The Reason I Jump
- Sand Storm
December 16
- Andhadhun
What will the new movies on Netflix be in December?
December 1
- Man of Steel
- Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice
- Suicide Squad
- Wonder Woman
- Justice League
- Shazam!
- Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)
- Wonder Woman: 1984
- The Suicide Squad
- DC League of Super-Pets
- The Batman
- Shazam! Fury of the Gods
- Hunter Killer
- May December
- Lucy
- Radical Wolfe
- She’s The Man
- The Meg
- Who We Become
December 3
- The Commuter
- The Super Mario Bros Movie
December 5
- I Can Only Imagine
- Christmas As Usual
December 7
- The Archies
December 8
- Leave The World Behind
December 9
- Love and Monsters
December 12
- Kevin Hart & Chris Rock: Headliners Only
December 15
- Face to Face with ETA: Conversations with a Terrorist
- Familia
- Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
December 20
- Maestro
December 22
- Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire
Editors' Recommendations
- NYT Games: Connections hints and solutions for December 20, 2023
- Make shopping easy: The best gifts for men (no matter what he’s into)
- Sate your wanderlust with the best travel shows and documentaries on Netflix
- Jurassic Park, Men in Black, The Matrix, and more: The best ’90s sci-fi movies
- Everything we know about the Mad Max prequel, Furiosa, starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth
