The 50 Best Netflix Original Movies, Ranked
Four animated films, two documentaries, two Adam Sandler movies, and twenty-seven films produced outside of the United States.
10. The Night Comes for Us (2018, Indonesia)
Action movies don’t typically land atop these kinds of all-inclusive lists, but exceptions must be made for one of the best action movies of the past decade. What started with Garth Evans’ The Raid (2011) continues with Timo Tjahjanto‘s gleefully violent and mesmerizingly choreographed action epic. A bad guy discovers his conscience, an old friend abandons his own, a highly talented woman seeks justice (and a sequel… come on Timo, give us more of The Operator!), and the walls of every building in town are painted red with blood. The basic plot may be familiar to genre fans, but the action is a tidal wave of bone-breaking visual splendor that demands cheers, rewinds, and multiple watches.
9. Klaus (2019)
When you think of animated films, names like Disney, Studio Ghibli, and Pixar come most often to mind, but Netflix is making some strides to join their ranks. They recently announced an ambitious slate of six new animated features per year, and if 2019’s Klaus is any indication that’s very good news indeed. This Christmas-friendly tale explores the history of the holiday’s central figure in a fresh way, and it tells that story with some truly stunning hand-drawn animation. It’s a sweet film that delivers presents to characters and viewers alike in the form of humor, life lessons, and some genuinely touching moments. More, please.
8. On My Skin (2018, Italy)
The reality that the criminal justice system is home to inequality, inefficiency, and cruelty isn’t news, but stories about that truth are no less powerful for the knowledge. This true story from Italy brings to life the tragic and preventable death of a young man arrested for a minor crime in 2009, and it’s a sad, raw, powerful watch. Director/co-writer Alessio Cremonini makes no attempt to sugarcoat the story and instead lets it unfold naturally and painfully capturing the choices made, the truths missed, and the outcome for young Stefano Cucchi, his family, and the system that failed him.
7. Dolemite Is My Name (2019)
Eddie Murphy‘s career is punctuated with more than one resurgence over the years, but that means he’s also known downturns in popularity too. Who better, then, to bring the story or Rudy Ray Moore to life? Moore was an entertainer who found the unlikeliest of onscreen successes with a series of outrageous blaxploitation films in the 70s starting with Dolemite (1975) and ending with Disco Godfather (1979). It wasn’t an easy road, but as explored and honored in Craig Brewer‘s film, it was an extremely inspirational journey for anyone struggling to make it in Hollywood. The film is a love letter to indie filmmakers hustling their way through their days just so they can shoot all through the night. Murphy is in top form delivering laughs and heart in equal measure, and the film keeps up through to the very end.
6. The Half of It (2020)
Scoff if you must at the inclusion of a “mere YA rom-com” in this top ten, but you do so at your own ignorance. Alice Wu‘s endlessly smart, witty, and heartfelt film seems at first to be the expected riff on Cyrano de Bergerac, but it shifts before your eyes into its own beautifully rendered tale. Young love, self-identity, and the absolute value of friendships — whether it be with friends, family, or lovers — are championed here in a story about a teenager acknowledging and appreciating her own sexuality. The cast excels throughout, but Leah Lewis captivates as loner Ellie Chu in a small town where she stands out and stands up in every possible way.
5. 13th (2016)
Documentaries aren’t typically the kind of films worth re-watching as their impact lessens after the passing of factual information — although I’ve seen Dear Zachary (2008) three times now and am devastated each and every time, so take that with a grain of salt — but Ava DuVernay‘s 13th demands to be watched and re-watched. Every American should see this film in grade school and again in high school and yet again as a requirement for graduation from college. It’s our history, one too many of us are unfamiliar with, and it’s a necessary trail of knowledge if we ever hope to address and reverse the systematic inequality this nation was built on.
4. Marriage Story (2019)
Noah Baumbach‘s ironically titled look at the disintegration of a marriage really shouldn’t be as loving, warm, and funny as it is. Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver are both exquisite in moments both painful and sweet, and supporting turns from Ray Liotta, Alan Alda, and Laura Dern elevate the quality even further. There’s real anger here at the process of divorce and the cretins who profit from it, but Baumbach keeps his film’s focus centered squarely on the couple at its heart. It hurts at times, and it’s laugh-out-loud funny at others, but through it all remains a hopeful honesty.
3. The Platform (2019, Spain)
A future prison tower is home to hundreds of prisoners with only two per floor, and once per day a platform stocked and stacked with a feast of culinary delights lowers down from above — moving from the top slowly down to the bottom. The people above eat well, but those below? They’re left with scraps and bodily fluids if they get anything at all. One man thinks the lucky ones should help the less fortunate, but humanity has never been known for being all that humane. Is the metaphor more on the nose than a nostril? Yes, yes it is, but that doesn’t stop this from being one hell of a ride. The Platform is a thrilling, disturbing, and fascinating dissection of humanity with just a sliver of cautious optimism. There are moments of terror, disgust, and levity set against an exquisitely rendered dystopian backdrop, and it is mesmerizing in its horrifying accuracy.
2. Happy as Lazarro (2018, Italy)
Some movies hit hard but fade from your thoughts over time. Others, like this deceptively damning film from Italy, stay with you and occasionally return to the forefront of your mind when least expected. Alice Rohrwacher‘s gorgeously shot condemnation of capitalism, greed, and willful ignorance could easily have become a mean-spirited diatribe against humanity’s worst impulses. That it instead tells its tale with warmth, humor, and the unlikeliest of lead characters is a major accomplishment. There will always be people who treat others poorly, and there will always be people who let others treat them poorly — we’re not required to be either.
1. I Lost My Body (2019, France)
Imagine Oliver Stone’s The Hand (1981), but from the severed hand’s perspective, and you’ll still have very little idea what to expect from this stunningly beautiful and affecting animated feature debut by Jérémy Clapin. A hand “awakes” in a fridge, escapes, and heads out on a journey to reunite with its owner, and it’s one fraught with danger and memory. Running parallel is the story of a young man haunted by tragedy, lost in life, and clumsily trying to pursue love. None of it goes where you expect as it leads toward a finale that’s as breathtaking and perfect as you hope. It’s an animated film, beautifully so, but don’t for a second think that lessens the emotional impact in the slightest.
