Best Movies to Watch on Netflix This Month

Quick Answer:

The article provides a comprehensive guide to the best movies to watch on Netflix this month, covering action, thrillers, comedy, drama, horror, romance, family, animation, and hidden gems. Top recommendations include Knives Out, Extraction 2, Marriage Story, Hereditary, Klaus, Purple Hearts, and Paddleton. It also offers practical tips for discovering great movies using Netflix genre codes, IMDb, JustWatch, watchlists, and international films.

Introduction

Let's be honest — we've all been there. You grab your popcorn, get comfortable on the couch, scroll through Netflix for 45 minutes, and somehow still end up rewatching The Office for the fifth time. Sound familiar?

Finding the best movies to watch on Netflix this month shouldn't feel like a second job. That's exactly why we've done all the hard work for you. Whether you're in the mood for heart-pounding action, spine-chilling horror, laugh-out-loud comedy, or a good old-fashioned tearjerker, Netflix has something incredible waiting for you — and we're here to point you straight to it.

In this guide, we've curated a comprehensive list of the top Netflix movies you absolutely cannot miss right now. From blockbuster hits to underrated hidden gems, this roundup covers every genre and every mood. So put down the remote, stop second-guessing yourself, and let's dive in.

Why Netflix Remains the King of Streaming

With dozens of streaming platforms competing for your attention — Disney+, HBO Max, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Apple TV+ — you might wonder why Netflix still sits at the top of the food chain. The answer is simple: content variety, original programming, and sheer volume.

Netflix currently boasts a library of thousands of titles spanning movies, documentaries, TV shows, stand-up specials, and anime. More importantly, Netflix invests billions of dollars every single year into original content that you simply cannot find anywhere else.

Here's what makes Netflix stand out in 2024:

• 🎬 Award-winning original films that rival Hollywood studio productions
• 🌍 International content from Korea, Spain, India, France, and beyond
• 📅 Fresh additions every month keeping the library constantly updated
• 🎯 Smart recommendation algorithms that learn your taste over time
• 📱 Cross-device compatibility so you can watch anywhere, anytime

Whether you're a casual viewer or a hardcore cinephile, Netflix continues to deliver an unmatched streaming experience month after month.

How We Picked the Best Movies This Month

Before we jump into the list, let's quickly explain our selection criteria. We didn't just randomly throw titles together — our picks are based on a thoughtful combination of factors:

• IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes ratings — We prioritized films with strong critical and audience scores
• Netflix trending charts — Movies that are currently generating buzz and conversation
• Genre diversity — We made sure every type of viewer has something to look forward to
• Rewatchability factor — Films that are worth your time even on a second or third viewing
• Freshness — Newer additions that deserve immediate attention
• Hidden gems — Underrated titles that flew under the radar but deserve a spotlight

With that out of the way, let's get into the good stuff.

Best Action Movies on Netflix This Month

🔥 Extraction 2 (2023)

• Genre: Action / Thriller
• Runtime: 2h 2min
• Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Golshifteh Farahani, Adam Bessa
• IMDb Rating: 7.3/10
• Rating: R

Chris Hemsworth returns as Tyler Rake in this pulse-pounding sequel that raises the bar even higher than the first film. With jaw-dropping stunt sequences, a breathtaking single-take action scene spanning nearly 21 minutes, and a gripping storyline set across multiple countries including Georgia, Austria, and Finland, Extraction 2 is a must-watch for action lovers. Directed once again by Sam Hargrave, this film proves that Netflix can deliver action sequences that rival anything Hollywood's biggest studios have to offer.

Why Watch It: Non-stop adrenaline, world-class action choreography, and Hemsworth at his absolute best. The record-breaking one-take sequence alone is worth the entire runtime.

🔥 The Gray Man (2022)

• Genre: Action / Spy Thriller
• Runtime: 2h 2min
• Starring: Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas
• IMDb Rating: 6.5/10
• Rating: PG-13

The Russo Brothers — directors of Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War — bring us this star-studded action spectacle featuring three of Hollywood's biggest names. Ryan Gosling plays Court Gentry, a highly skilled CIA mercenary codenamed "Sierra Six" who uncovers dark agency secrets and becomes the target of a psychopathic assassin played by a wonderfully villainous Chris Evans. Ana de Armas rounds out the cast as a sharp CIA handler caught in the middle. Pure blockbuster entertainment from start to finish with globe-trotting set pieces across Prague, Croatia, and Bangkok.

Why Watch It: Explosive set pieces, a charismatic and perfectly cast ensemble, and slick spy thriller energy that makes for a highly entertaining two hours.

🔥 Red Notice (2021)

• Genre: Action / Comedy / Heist
• Runtime: 1h 58min
• Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot
• IMDb Rating: 6.3/10
• Rating: PG-13

Netflix's most-watched original film ever features three of the biggest stars on the planet in a wildly entertaining globe-trotting heist adventure. An FBI profiler (Dwayne Johnson) reluctantly teams up with the world's most wanted art thief (Ryan Reynolds) to catch an even more elusive criminal (Gal Gadot). Shot across Italy, Russia, Argentina, and Bali, it's light, fun, genuinely funny, and packed with enough twists to keep you entertained all the way through. Critics weren't kind but audiences absolutely loved it — and sometimes that's all that matters.

Why Watch It: Pure fun — turn your brain off, enjoy the spectacular chemistry between the three leads, and let the ride take you wherever it wants to go.

Best Thriller & Mystery Movies on Netflix This Month

🔍 Knives Out (2019)

• Genre: Mystery / Comedy / Thriller
• Runtime: 2h 10min
• Starring: Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis
• IMDb Rating: 7.9/10
• Rating: PG-13

Rian Johnson's modern masterpiece of the whodunit genre is one of the most entertaining and brilliantly written films of the last decade. When famous crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead at his estate after his 85th birthday celebration, celebrated detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig, doing a hilarious Southern drawl) is mysteriously hired to investigate. The entire dysfunctional Thrombey family becomes suspect, and what unfolds is a mystery that constantly and delightfully subverts your expectations at every single turn. A star-studded ensemble cast, razor-sharp witty writing, and masterful direction make this an absolutely unmissable cinematic experience.

Why Watch It: Witty, clever, endlessly entertaining, and smarter than almost anything else on the platform. This is filmmaking at its absolute finest.

🔍 The Woman in the Window (2021)

• Genre: Psychological Thriller / Mystery
• Runtime: 1h 40min
• Starring: Amy Adams, Julianne Moore, Gary Oldman, Anthony Mackie
• IMDb Rating: 5.7/10
• Rating: R

Amy Adams delivers a compelling and deeply committed performance as Dr. Anna Fox, an agoraphobic child psychologist who has been confined to her New York City brownstone for months. When a new family moves in across the street, she becomes obsessed with watching them — until one night she believes she witnesses something horrifying through her window. Inspired by classic Hitchcock films like Rear Window, this psychological thriller keeps you questioning what is real and what is imagined right alongside the increasingly unreliable protagonist. Despite mixed reviews, Adams elevates the material considerably.

Why Watch It: Amy Adams is absolutely riveting in every scene, and the mystery — while flawed — will keep you glued to your seat until the final reveal.

🔍 Bird Box (2018)

• Genre: Thriller / Horror / Post-Apocalyptic
• Runtime: 2h 4min
• Starring: Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, John Malkovich, Sarah Paulson
• IMDb Rating: 6.6/10
• Rating: R

Sandra Bullock delivers one of her most intense and physically demanding performances as Malorie, a woman trying to survive in a world where mysterious supernatural entities cause anyone who sees them to immediately lose their mind and commit suicide. Blindfolded and terrified, she must navigate a treacherous river journey to reach a rumored safe haven — all while protecting two young children. Bird Box sparked a massive cultural moment and a viral challenge when it dropped on Netflix in 2018 and remains one of the platform's most iconic and widely-discussed original films to this day.

Why Watch It: Relentlessly tense and suffocating in the best possible way, emotionally gripping, and anchored by a Sandra Bullock performance that demands your complete attention.

Best Comedy Movies on Netflix This Month

😂 Murder Mystery 2 (2023)

• Genre: Comedy / Mystery / Action
• Runtime: 1h 30min
• Starring: Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, Mark Strong, Mélanie Laurent
• IMDb Rating: 5.6/10
• Rating: PG-13

Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston reprise their wonderfully charming roles as Nick and Audrey Spitz — former New York cop turned full-time amateur detective duo — who are now running their own private detective agency. When their billionaire friend the Maharajah (Adeel Akhtar) is kidnapped at his lavish island wedding, the Spitzes are suddenly thrown into an international criminal conspiracy that takes them from Paris to exotic locations across the globe. This sequel is funnier, bigger in scope, and more adventurous than the first, with laughs genuinely packed into nearly every scene. Critics dismissed it but audiences embraced it warmly.

Why Watch It: Light, breezy, genuinely funny, and anchored by the irresistible real-life chemistry between Sandler and Aniston. The perfect stress-free movie night choice.

😂 The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)

• Genre: Animated / Comedy / Adventure
• Runtime: 1h 53min
• Starring: Abbi Jacobson, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Mike Rianda (voices)
• IMDb Rating: 7.7/10
• Rating: PG

Produced by the same team behind Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, this criminally underrated animated gem is one of the funniest, most inventive, and most heartfelt family comedies in years. When Katie Mitchell (voiced brilliantly by Abbi Jacobson) is about to leave for film school, her socially awkward father Rick insists on one final family road trip. But their vacation is immediately derailed when a tech mogul's AI assistant triggers a global robot apocalypse — and the wonderfully chaotic Mitchell family becomes humanity's only hope. Visually inventive with a unique mixed-media animation style, endlessly funny, and surprisingly emotional.

Why Watch It: Hilarious, heartwarming, visually unlike anything else in animation — an absolute modern gem that both kids and adults will absolutely love.

😂 Do Revenge (2022)

• Genre: Dark Comedy / Teen Drama / Thriller
• Runtime: 1h 58min
• Starring: Camila Mendes, Maya Hawke, Austin Abrams, Sophie Turner
• IMDb Rating: 6.6/10
• Rating: TV-14

A sharp, stylish, sun-drenched, and surprisingly clever dark comedy set at an elite Miami prep school. Former "it girl" Drea (Camila Mendes) teams up with new student Eleanor (Maya Hawke) in a brilliantly devious pact — they'll each take down the other's tormentor. What starts as a straightforward revenge fantasy quickly evolves into something far more complex, layered, and self-aware. Think Heathers meets Cruel Intentions meets Clueless with a sharp modern social media and cancel culture twist. Mendes and Hawke have absolutely electric chemistry and the script is far smarter than the premise initially suggests.

Why Watch It: Witty, self-aware, beautifully styled, and way smarter and more subversive than it appears at first glance. A genuine standout in the teen comedy genre.

Best Drama Movies on Netflix This Month

🎭 The Power of the Dog (2021)

• Genre: Drama / Western / Psychological
• Runtime: 2h 6min
• Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee
• IMDb Rating: 6.8/10
• Rating: R

Jane Campion's Academy Award-winning masterpiece — she won Best Director, becoming only the third woman ever to do so — is a slow-burn psychological drama of extraordinary depth and craft. Benedict Cumberbatch gives the performance of his career as Phil Burbank, a brutal, brilliant, and deeply repressed Montana rancher who cruelly torments his brother's new wife (Kirsten Dunst) and her sensitive teenage son (Kodi Smit-McPhee). Shot in stunning New Zealand landscapes doubling as 1920s Montana, the film builds with incredible patience toward a final revelation that completely recontextualizes everything you've witnessed. Prestige cinema at its most uncompromising and rewarding.

Why Watch It: Exceptional performances across the entire cast, breathtaking cinematography, and a deeply layered and psychologically rich story that rewards patient viewers immensely.

🎭 Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020)

• Genre: Drama / Musical / Historical
• Runtime: 1h 34min
• Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Viola Davis, Glynn Turman, Colman Domingo
• IMDb Rating: 7.4/10
• Rating: R

Adapted from August Wilson's celebrated stage play and directed by George C. Wolfe, this searing and deeply powerful film is set almost entirely during a single 1927 Chicago recording session for legendary blues singer Ma Rainey (a ferocious Viola Davis). Tensions simmer and eventually explode between Ma Rainey, her ambitious young trumpet player Levee (Chadwick Boseman in his final, transcendent screen performance), and the white music producers trying to control her art and her legacy. Boseman is simply extraordinary — electric, heartbreaking, and utterly alive in every single frame. The fact that he completed this performance while battling colon cancer makes it all the more devastating and remarkable.

Why Watch It: One of the greatest final performances in cinema history — this is not optional viewing. Chadwick Boseman's Levee is a character you will never forget.

🎭 Marriage Story (2019)

• Genre: Drama / Romance
• Runtime: 2h 17min
• Starring: Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, Laura Dern, Ray Liotta
• IMDb Rating: 7.9/10
• Rating: R

Noah Baumbach's deeply personal and emotionally devastating portrait of a marriage slowly coming apart at the seams is widely considered one of Netflix's greatest original films ever produced. Theater director Charlie (Adam Driver) and actress Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) are divorcing — and what begins as a civil, even loving uncoupling gradually descends into a bitter legal battle that forces both of them to become versions of themselves they never wanted to be. Both lead performances are staggering in their emotional honesty and specificity. The film's now-legendary argument scene between Driver and Johansson is one of the finest pieces of screen acting in recent memory.

Why Watch It: Devastating, achingly beautiful, and so emotionally honest that it will make you feel things you weren't prepared for. An absolute masterwork of modern cinema.

Best Horror Movies on Netflix This Month

👻 Hereditary (2018)

• Genre: Horror / Drama / Supernatural
• Runtime: 2h 7min
• Starring: Toni Collette, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro, Gabriel Byrne
• IMDb Rating: 7.3/10
• Rating: R

Ari Aster's extraordinary directorial debut is frequently cited by horror critics and enthusiasts as one of the scariest and most disturbing films ever committed to celluloid. When the Graham family's secretive grandmother passes away, they begin to unravel cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets about their family's dark heritage. Toni Collette gives a performance of such raw, unhinged intensity that it remains one of the great Oscar snubs of modern times — she was inexplicably not nominated despite delivering what many consider the greatest horror performance in film history. Hereditary operates on multiple levels simultaneously: as a visceral horror film, as a study of grief, and as a portrait of generational trauma.

Why Watch It: Pure, sustained, suffocating dread that builds to one of the most shocking and disturbing third acts in horror history. This will stay with you for weeks.

👻 Fear Street Trilogy (2021)

• Genre: Horror / Slasher / Supernatural
• Runtime: Part 1: 1h 47min / Part 2: 1h 49min / Part 3: 1h 38min
• Starring: Kiana Madeira, Olivia Scott Welch, Benjamin Flores Jr., Ashley Zukerman
• IMDb Rating: 6.6/10 (Part 1)
• Rating: R

Netflix's ambitious and wildly entertaining horror trilogy — released on consecutive weekends in the summer of 2021 — spans three different time periods: 1994, 1978, and 1666, weaving together an interconnected supernatural saga about a curse plaguing the fictional town of Shadyside. Directed with tremendous energy and genuine affection for the genre by Leigh Janiak, and loosely inspired by R.L. Stine's beloved book series, the trilogy lovingly channels the slasher films of the 1980s and 90s while delivering surprisingly heartfelt emotional storytelling alongside the blood and scares. Watch all three parts back to back for the full experience.

Why Watch It: Three complete movies, one brilliantly interconnected supernatural story — a unique and totally binge-worthy horror event that delivers scares, heart, and genre nostalgia in equal measure.

👻 The Ritual (2017)

• Genre: Horror / Supernatural / Survival
• Runtime: 1h 34min
• Starring: Rafe Spall, Arsher Ali, Robert James-Collier, Sam Troughton
• IMDb Rating: 6.3/10
• Rating: TV-MA

Four British friends embark on a hiking memorial trip through the remote forests of northern Sweden to honor a deceased friend, only to take a shortcut through the ancient, foreboding woods and encounter something utterly terrifying. Directed by David Bruckner (The Night House, Hellraiser 2022), The Ritual is a masterfully atmospheric and genuinely unsettling horror film that combines Scandinavian folk horror with deep psychological guilt and grief. The creature design alone is among the most distinctive and horrifying in recent horror history. Criminally underseen and one of Netflix's best horror offerings.

Why Watch It: Atmospheric, deeply unsettling folk horror with genuine scares, a compelling emotional core, and one of the most terrifyingly original monster designs in modern horror cinema.

Best Romance Movies on Netflix This Month

💕 Purple Hearts (2022)

• Genre: Romance / Drama / Military
• Runtime: 2h 2min
• Starring: Sofia Carson, Nicholas Galitzine, John Hartman, Chosen Jacobs
• IMDb Rating: 6.1/10
• Rating: PG-13

Struggling singer-songwriter Cassie (Sofia Carson) and conservative Marine Luke (Nicholas Galitzine) couldn't be more different in their beliefs, values, and personalities. But when Cassie needs health insurance for her diabetes and Luke needs financial stability before deployment, they agree to a marriage of convenience — a strictly transactional arrangement with clear boundaries. Predictably, inevitably, and yet somehow still emotionally satisfying, those boundaries begin to dissolve as real feelings emerge. Purple Hearts became one of Netflix's most-watched films ever upon its release — spending weeks at the top of the global charts — and it's easy to understand why. Sofia Carson also contributes genuinely beautiful original songs to the soundtrack.

Why Watch It: Surprisingly moving, deeply romantic, and anchored by genuine chemistry between its two leads. A thoroughly satisfying love story that earned its massive audience.

💕 To All the Boys: Always and Forever (2021)

• Genre: Romantic Drama / Coming-of-Age
• Runtime: 1h 55min
• Starring: Lana Condor, Noah Centineo, Jordan Fisher, Ross Butler
• IMDb Rating: 6.2/10
• Rating : TV-G

The beloved To All the Boys trilogy — one of Netflix's most successful and culturally impactful original film franchises — reaches its warm and satisfying conclusion as Lara Jean (Lana Condor) and Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo) face their most daunting challenge yet: the very real possibility of attending different colleges on opposite sides of the country. A senior trip to New York and a family vacation to Seoul force Lara Jean to confront what she truly wants from her future. Sweet, sincere, nostalgic, and genuinely moving in its final moments, this is a worthy farewell to characters that millions of viewers fell completely in love with across three films.

Why Watch It: Warm, feel-good, and emotionally satisfying — the perfect conclusion to one of Netflix's most beloved rom-com franchises.

💕 The Kissing Booth 3 (2021)

• Genre: Romantic Comedy / Teen Drama
• Runtime: 1h 55min
• Starring: Joey King, Jacob Elordi, Joel Courtney, Meganne Young
• IMDb Rating: 5.4/10
• Rating: PG-13

The third and final chapter of Netflix's massively popular Kissing Booth franchise concludes Elle Evans' (Joey King) sun-soaked romantic journey as she spends one last summer at the beach house before heading to college. Torn between attending Harvard with her long-distance boyfriend Noah (Jacob Elordi) or pursuing her own dreams at Berkeley, Elle must make the most difficult decision of her young life — while also navigating her complicated friendship with Lee (Joel Courtney). Critics have never been kind to this franchise but its enormous, passionate fanbase has never cared even slightly. It's sweet, nostalgic, and exactly what its devoted audience wants from it.

Why Watch It: Pure comfort-watch romance built for fans who fell in love with these characters from the very beginning. Ideal for a cozy girls' night in.

Best Family & Animated Movies on Netflix This Month

👨‍👩‍👧 Klaus (2019)

• Genre: Animated / Family / Christmas
• Runtime: 1h 36min
• Starring: Jason Schwartzman, J.K. Simmons, Rashida Jones, Joan Cusack (voices)
• IMDb Rating: 8.2/10
• Rating: PG

Arguably the greatest animated film Netflix has ever produced and one of the most visually stunning animated features of the modern era, Klaus is a breathtakingly beautiful and emotionally resonant reimagining of how the legend of Santa Claus came to be. When spoiled postal academy graduate Jesper (Jason Schwartzman) is sent to the frozen, feuding town of Smeerensburg as punishment, he reluctantly forms an unlikely friendship with reclusive toymaker Klaus (a perfectly cast J.K. Simmons). Together they accidentally start a tradition that will change the world. The hand-drawn animation style — enhanced with revolutionary lighting technology — creates a visual experience unlike anything in modern animation, giving scenes a luminous, almost painterly quality.

Why Watch It: Visually stunning, emotionally beautiful, genuinely funny, and deeply heartwarming. An instant classic that transcends the holiday film genre. Watch it immediately.

👨‍👩‍👧 Matilda the Musical (2022)

• Genre: Musical / Family / Fantasy
• Runtime: 1h 57min
• Starring: Alisha Weir, Emma Thompson, Lashana Lynch, Stephen Graham
• IMDb Rating: 7.0/10
• Rating: PG

Roald Dahl's timeless and much-beloved story of the extraordinary little girl with magical telekinetic powers receives a spectacular and thoroughly joyful big-screen musical treatment based on the award-winning Royal Shakespeare Company stage production. Young Alisha Weir is simply captivating as Matilda Wormwood — precocious, brilliant, fiercely independent, and wonderfully rebellious. Emma Thompson disappears completely into the grotesque villain Miss Trunchbull in a deliciously over-the-top performance, while Lashana Lynch brings warmth and grace to the kind-hearted Miss Honey. The original songs from composer Tim Minchin are catchy, clever, and genuinely brilliant, and the film's visual design is candy-colored perfection.

Why Watch It: Joyful, empowering, brilliantly performed, and absolutely delightful for audiences of every single age. One of the best family films Netflix has ever offered.

👨‍👩‍👧 Over the Moon (2020)

• Genre: Animated / Musical / Family
• Runtime: 1h 35min
• Starring: Cathy Ang, Phillipa Soo, Ken Jeong, John Cho (voices)
• IMDb Rating: 6.6/10
• Rating: PG

Directed by Glen Keane — the legendary Disney animator who created Ariel, Beast, Aladdin, and Pocahontas — Over the Moon is a vibrant, colorful, and emotionally rich musical adventure deeply rooted in Chinese mythology and folklore. Determined young Fei Fei (voiced by Cathy Ang) builds a rocket ship fueled by sheer willpower and scientific ingenuity to fly to the Moon and prove the existence of the legendary Moon Goddess Chang'e (a magnificent Phillipa Soo). But the journey reveals far more about grief, acceptance, and the beauty of letting go than Fei Fei ever anticipated. The lunar world sequences are dazzling in their imagination and visual invention.

Why Watch It: Culturally rich, visually dazzling, and far more emotionally resonant and thematically mature than it appears from the outside. A hidden gem of Netflix animation.

Hidden Gems You Shouldn't Miss

Sometimes the best movies are the ones nobody's talking about. Here are some incredible under-the-radar picks that deserve far more love and attention:

💎 Atlantics (2019)

• Genre: Drama / Romance / Supernatural
• Runtime: 1h 46min
• Starring: Mama Sané, Ibrahima Traoré, Aminata Kane
• IMDb Rating: 7.0/10
• Rating: TV-MA

Mati Diop's hauntingly beautiful and utterly singular debut feature — Winner of the Grand Prix at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival and Senegal's first film directed by a Black woman — is unlike almost anything else you'll find on Netflix. Set in a suburb of Dakar, Atlantics follows Ada, a young woman in love with Souleiman, a construction worker who joins a group of young men setting off across the Atlantic Ocean seeking better opportunities in Europe. When those men disappear into the sea, something otherworldly begins to stir in the community they left behind. Part romance, part ghost story, part searing social commentary about poverty and migration, Atlantics is a film of devastating poetry and rare beauty.

Why Watch It: A genuinely unique and unforgettable cinematic experience that operates on the emotional frequency of a dream. One of the finest films of its entire decade.

💎 The Half of It (2020)

• Genre: Comedy / Romance / Coming-of-Age
• Runtime: 1h 44min
• Starring: Leah Lewis, Daniel Diemer, Alexxis Lemire, Wolfgang Novogratz
• IMDb Rating: 7.4/10
• Rating: PG-13

Alice Wu's quietly wonderful, deeply intelligent, and genuinely moving coming-of-age film is one of Netflix's most underappreciated originals by a considerable distance. Ellie Chu (Leah Lewis, in a breakthrough performance) is a shy, academically brilliant Chinese-American teenager in a small Pacific Northwest town who makes extra money writing other students' essays. When gentle but lovably inarticulate jock Paul (Daniel Diemer) hires her to write love letters to his crush Aster (Alexxis Lemire), Ellie finds herself developing her own complicated feelings for Aster. A beautifully observed film about longing, identity, connection, and the courage required to truly be yourself.

Why Watch It: Warm, intelligent, quietly subversive, and genuinely moving. One of the most underrated romantic coming-of-age films of the past several years.

💎 I Lost My Body (2019)

• Genre: Animated / Drama / Fantasy
• Runtime: 1h 21min
• Starring: Hakim Faris, Victoire Du Bois, Patrick d'Assumçao (voices)
• IMDb Rating: 7.5/10
• Rating: TV-MA

Winner of the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival's Critics' Week, I Lost My Body is a French animated film of such startling originality and emotional power that it permanently changes your sense of what animation can achieve as an art form. The film follows a severed human hand making a desperate, dangerous journey through the streets of Paris to reunite with its body — while the story of how Naoufel, a young Moroccan immigrant, lost his hand in the first place unfolds in parallel. Brutally honest, visually poetic, and emotionally devastating, this is adult animation at its most ambitious and its most profound.

Why Watch It: Utterly unique, breathtakingly crafted, and deeply moving — a masterpiece of animation that demands to be discovered by far more people.

💎 Calibre (2018)

• Genre: Thriller / Drama
• Runtime: 1h 41min
• Starring: Jack Lowden, Martin McCann, Tony Curran, Ian Pirie
• IMDb Rating: 7.2/10
• Rating: TV-MA

Holding a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and yet barely known by the wider streaming audience, Calibre is a lean, relentlessly tense, and superbly crafted Scottish thriller that deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as the finest British crime films ever made. Two old friends — Vaughn (Jack Lowden) and Marcus (Martin McCann) — travel to a remote Scottish Highlands village for a weekend hunting trip. A catastrophic accident in the woods forces them to make a terrible moral decision, and the village's tight-knit community begins to close in around them in ways that suggest people know more than they're letting on. The mounting paranoia and dread is extraordinarily well-sustained.

Why Watch It: A perfectly constructed, unbearably tense thriller that proves British independent cinema can produce work that rivals absolutely anything Hollywood puts out.

💎 Paddleton (2019)

• Genre: Drama / Comedy / Friendship
• Runtime: 1h 29min
• Starring: Mark Duplass, Ray Romano, Christine Woods, Dendrie Taylor
• IMDb Rating: 7.4/10
• Rating: R

One of the most quietly devastating and emotionally honest films in Netflix's entire library, Paddleton stars Mark Duplass and Ray Romano as Michael and Andy — two socially awkward, deeply introverted neighbors and best friends who have built a small, complete, and comfortable world entirely around each other. When Michael is diagnosed with terminal cancer and decides to pursue assisted suicide, Andy must help him obtain the medication from a distant pharmacy while both men try to process what is coming and what they mean to each other. Romano has never been better, delivering a performance of extraordinary subtlety and heartbreak.

Why Watch It: Heartbreaking, achingly honest, and deeply human — a profoundly beautiful film about friendship, mortality, and what it means to truly love someone.

Pro Tips for Finding Great Movies on Netflix

Don't want to rely on algorithmic recommendations that keep showing you the same handful of titles? Here are our expert tips for consistently discovering great content on Netflix:

Use Netflix's Secret Genre Codes

Netflix has hundreds of hidden genre categories accessible via specific URL codes that never appear in standard browsing. For example, appending /browse/genre/4370 to Netflix's base URL takes you directly to the "Critically Acclaimed Films" section. Other useful codes include 8711 (Foreign Art House), 5475 (Documentary Films), and 8883 (Independent Thrillers). A quick Google search for "Netflix secret codes" will give you a comprehensive master list.

Always Check IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes First

Before committing to a film, spend 30 seconds checking its scores on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes. As a general rule of thumb, aim for films with an IMDb score above 7.0 and a Rotten Tomatoes "Fresh" rating above 70%. Pay special attention to the audience score alongside the critic score — sometimes they tell very different stories.

Build and Maintain a Watchlist

Use Netflix's "My List" feature religiously. Whenever you see a recommendation — whether from a friend, a review site, or a social media post — add it to your list immediately before you forget. This eliminates aimless browsing and ensures you always have a curated queue of films you're genuinely excited about.

Actively Explore International Films

This is perhaps the single most valuable tip on this list. Don't limit yourself exclusively to English-language content. Korean, Spanish, French, Japanese, Indian, and Scandinavian films on Netflix are frequently exceptional and consistently underappreciated by English-speaking audiences who simply don't venture there. Turn on subtitles and open your world.

Follow Dedicated Film Publications

Sites like IndieWire, Roger Ebert's website (RogerEbert.com), The A.V. Club, Letterboxd, and Sight & Sound magazine are outstanding resources for discovering films that mainstream Netflix algorithms will likely never surface for you.

Use JustWatch

JustWatch is a free streaming aggregator website and app that lets you search for movies by platform, genre, year, IMDb score, and more. It's an incredibly powerful tool for discovering high-quality films specifically available on Netflix right now.

Join Film Communities

Some of the best movie recommendations in existence come from passionate film communities. Reddit's r/NetflixBestOf, r/movies, and r/TrueFilm subreddits are goldmines, as is the Letterboxd social network where you can follow reviewers whose taste consistently aligns with yours.

Conclusion

There you have it — your definitive, fully comprehensive guide to the best movies to watch on Netflix this month. Whether you're craving heart-stopping action, brain-twisting mysteries, genuine laugh-out-loud comedy, prestige drama that stays with you for days, spine-chilling horror, swoon-worthy romance, or magical family entertainment, Netflix's extraordinary library has exactly what you're looking for right now.

The secret to a truly great Netflix experience has never been simply having access to thousands of titles — it's knowing precisely where to look, what to prioritize, and how to think beyond the algorithm's standard recommendations. By bookmarking and revisiting guides like this one, actively exploring international and independent content, using smart discovery strategies like secret genre codes and JustWatch, and trusting critically acclaimed films over whatever happens to be trending on a given Tuesday, you'll never waste another precious evening aimlessly scrolling again.

Every film on this list has been carefully selected to offer you something genuinely worth your time — whether that's a mainstream blockbuster with crowd-pleasing thrills or a quiet hidden gem that might just become your new favorite film of all time. The next movie that changes you is already waiting on Netflix right now. You must see our entertainment category for more fun.

So close this tab, open Netflix, pick something from this list, and hit play. Your couch is calling.

Happy watching! 🍿

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