50 best films to watch on Netflix right now

If you need some ideas for your next movie night, streaming giant Netflix has plenty to explore, as you'd imagine.

Desert power! The epic second part of the blockbuster Dune series is now on the service. After the downfall of his family, Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) trains up with the natives of desert planet Arrakis and grows closer to warrior Chani (Zendaya). Giant sandworms, political schemes and a downright awesome fight scene involving Austin Butler's villainous Feyd-Rautha are just some of the memorable sights in this eye-popping sci-fi. Part Three hits cinemas this Christmas.

Pharrell Williams takes a colourful new approach to the biopic genre with Piece by Piece, which tells the musician's life story through the medium of animated Lego pieces. Stuffed with great vocal cameos from famous friends including Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z, it's a joyful bit of work with, obviously, a cracking soundtrack.

A new addition to the service is Sean Baker's Oscar-winning comedy drama Anora, which stars Mikey Madison as a young Brooklyn woman whose whirlwind romance with the son of a Russian oligarch takes an increasingly chaotic turn. By turns funny, unpredictable and poignant, Anora became a stand-out film of 2024.

Inspired by an unconventional teacher, a group of teenagers in 1990s upstate New York set out to make a student film and instead uncover a toxic waste scandal affecting their community. Acclaimed documentary Teenage Wasteland revisits their remarkable investigation three decades later and explores its lasting impact.

Oscar- and Bafta-nominated animated adventure The Wild Robot tells the story of ROZZUM 7134, who washes up on an island and must learn to adapt to her new, natural surroundings. It's a gorgeous bit of world-building with some poignant messages about parenting... as well as a good dose of cartoonish whimsy.

Ridley Scott's Gladiator II has recently arrived on Netflix. The director revisits one of his most successful films in this satisfying revenge tale, with Paul Mescal as the long-lost son of Maximus who is taken to Rome and forced to fight under stable master Denzel Washington.

Read on for our latest picks of the best films on Netflix – from recent releases like Train Dreams and Anniversary to classics like Jurassic Park and originals such as Roma – or head over to our guides to the best series on Netflix and best documentaries on Netflix.

Alternatively, check out our helpful list of Netflix secret codes, which can help you unlock hidden movies and TV shows.

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• Epic sci-fi drama starring Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya. With the evil Harkonnen family back in charge of Arrakis, deposed heir Paul Atreides and his mother have taken refuge with the native Fremen in the planet's perilous desert wasteland. Paul becomes close with Fremen warrior Chani and begins to demonstrate powers that persuade her people to aid in the young man's plan to avenge his father and take back control.

• Pharrell Williams tells the story of his life - through the lens of Lego animation. With an all-star cast, including Kendrick Lamar, Gwen Stefani and Snoop Dogg

• In 1991, an eccentric teacher and his students exposed a toxic waste conspiracy through a DIY documentary. Decades later, they look back on its impact.

• Comedy drama starring Mikey Madison. New York erotic dancer Ani is overjoyed when a young and extremely wealthy Russian client, Ivan, proposes to her. The two are quickly married, but this fairy-tale ending curdles when it transpires that the immature Ivan has a powerful family that wants the union annulled - immediately.

• During the last month of summer before high school begins, a Taiwanese American boy decides to learn what his family can't teach him: how to skate, how to flirt, and how to love your mom. Comedy, starring Izaac Wang, Joan Chen, Shirley Chen and Zhang Li Hua

• Comedy from Bridesmaids director Paul Feig, starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy. A neurotic FBI Special Agent and a foul-mouthed Boston cop are forced to work together to bring down a notorious drugs lord.

• Animated adventure featuring the voices of Lupita Nyong'o, Kit Connor and Pedro Pascal. Washed up on the shore of an island, robot "Roz" learns to cope with the environment. When she encounters orphaned gosling Brightbill, Roz and wily fox Fink join forces to raise the runt.

• Psychological horror drama starring Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine. As a child, Owen is isolated and awkward, but he finds a friend in fellow outcast Maddy, who introduces him to her favourite TV show: The Pink Opaque. This dark and sometimes troubling fantasy series exerts a strange pull on the pair, and the boundary between reality and the world of the show soon appears to blur.

• After losing his home, Lucius, the son of a slain Roman General, is forced to enter the Colosseum in an attempt to bring glory back to Rome. Ridley Scott's historical drama sequel, starring Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington, with Connie Nielsen and Derek Jacobi reprising their roles from the first film

• After 93-year-old Thelma is conned by a phone scammer, she embarks on a risky journey across LA with only one thing on her mind - revenge. Comedy, starring June Squibb, Fred Hechinger, Parker Posey, Clark Gregg and in one of his final films, Richard Roundtree

• A mother and her two daughters move to Taipei to open a noodle stand at a vibrant night market, but family secrets and tradition test their fresh start.

• Murder mystery directed by Clint Eastwood, and starring Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon. Three childhood friends are forced to confront a horrific secret from their shared past after one of their daughters is brutally murdered.

• Animated sci-fi comedy featuring the voices of Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen and Hugh Laurie. Susan Murphy is in love and about to marry her weatherman fiancé Derek when she is struck by a meteorite that endows her with extraordinary powers. Codenamed Ginormica, she is enlisted by the military to join other "monsters" in defending the Earth from alien invasion.

• Horror thriller starring James McAvoy and Mackenzie Davis. American couple Ben and Louise befriend the less uptight British couple Paddy and Ciara on holiday in Italy, and later accept an invitation to spend a weekend at their remote farmhouse in Devon. The family are warmly welcomed on arrival, but the behaviour of their hosts becomes ever-more unsettling.

• Sci-fi adventure starring John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki and Kenneth Branagh. A former CIA operative is recruited to help save the world from a dangerous arms dealer who has access to a device that can reverse time. In order to foil this threat, our hero must master the act of chronological "inversion" - but is it already too late?

• Science-fiction drama starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner. After 12 alien spacecraft land in locations around the world, linguistics professor Louise Banks is called in to try to decipher the visitors' language and open a line of communication. Do they come in peace or is humankind on the brink of war?

• Mystery adventure sequel following Millie Bobby Brown as the titular hero investigating a new case alongside Henry Cavill’s Sherlock Holmes in Victorian London.

• Desperately seeking to save his marriage, Brendan goes to the nail salon every day where Tam does more than scrub his hands clean of the oil stains from working as a mechanic. She offers him advice on how win his wife's love again. But soon, they find themselves drawn to each other, an attraction which becomes harder and harder to resist.

• Period comedy drama based on the novel by Jane Austen, starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Johnny Flynn and Josh O'Connor. Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever and rich, is determined to be the local queen of matchmaking, much to the irritation of her widowed father and neighbour Mr Knightley. But it gradually dawns on the young busybody that she is equally in need of advice in her own romantic inclinations.

• Oscar-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro reinvents the classic story of a wooden puppet brought to life in this stunning stop-motion musical tale. Animated family drama, with the voice of Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Gregory Mann and Finn Wolfhard

• Musical comedy prequel to Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, starring Timothée Chalamet. Young Willy Wonka yearns to produce his own confectionary, but finds trouble in the form of a shady cartel of chocolatiers and a mysterious thief.

• Oscar-winning comedy drama starring Tom Hanks, Gary Sinise and Robin Wright. Forrest Gump wasn't born with a lot of smarts, but he is encouraged by his mother to realise his full potential. He attends college on a sports scholarship, meeting President Kennedy in the process, joins the army and is sent to Vietnam. As the years pass and his life changes, he maintains contact with his childhood friend Jenny Curran.

• Biographical musical drama starring Taron Egerton and Jamie Bell. From the safety of an addiction rehab group, a flamboyantly dressed man recalls the highs and lows of his childhood and transformation from talented young pianist Reggie Dwight into global superstar Elton John.

• A newly widowed father's quest to take his son to his first baseball game becomes a day-long journey of strength and resilience in this moving drama.