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Another evening, another scroll through a "best movies on Netflix" list.
But this isn't just any best movies on Netflix list. Oh no. This list has slightly more to offer: a rundown of what's new each week and whether they're watch-worthy. Plus, the list itself is confined to movies that have scored a lucrative 70 or more on Metacritic. Metacritic is, according to its About page, an aggregator of the "opinions of the most respected critics writing online and in print."
Basically, it's more snooty than Rotten Tomatoes. Here are this week's new releases and the list of absolute best movies on Netflix, at least according to highly rated critics.
What's new this week (Feb. 6 to 12)
Note: These movie descriptions have been pulled straight from Netflix press releases and occasionally IMDb.
Tuesday
- Thunivu (2023): Action/adventure. "A mysterious mastermind -- Daredevil and his team forms a plan and commits bank heist to find the corporate looted people's money."
Wednesday
- Bill Russell: Legend (2023): Documentary. "Winningest NBA champion and civil rights icon Bill Russell builds a larger-than-life legacy on and off the court in this biographical documentary."
- The Substitute (2022): Drama. "A substitute teacher gets involved when one of his students is threatened by a drug kingpin."
Thursday
- Dr. Jason Leong: Ride with Caution (2023): Stand-up. "In this stand-up special, former doctor Jason Leong gives his diagnoses on the nonsense of traditional healers, business-class show-offs and more."
Friday
- 10 Days of a Good Man (2023): Turkish mystery. "A lawyer turned private investigator takes on a missing person case, propelling him on an unexpected and life-altering quest."
- Your Place or Mine (2022): Romcom. "When best friends and total opposites Debbie and Peter swap homes for a week, they get a peek into each other's lives that could open the door to love."
Read more: The Best TV Shows on Netflix
The full list of best Netflix original movies
At time of writing, these films all score at least 70 on Metacritic.
Action/Adventure
2017's Okja comes from Parasite director Bong Joon-ho -- which should be incentive enough to watch it. Part cheeky dark comedy, part surreal environmental thriller, Okja follows a young South Korean farmer girl whose pet pal is a genetically enhanced super-pig. But Okja is the target of a big corporation that wants her delicious flesh. With an English supporting cast including the likes of Tilda Swinton and Jake Gyllenhaal, Okja sucks you in with its sweetness before showing you a distressing close-up of the meat industry.
Thriller
Inspired by a true story, this crime drama out of Australia is an effectively unsettling -- and grim -- psychological thriller. Sean Harris stars as a man suspected of the abduction and murder of a teenager. Joel Edgerton plays an undercover cop tasked with drawing out the truth via an unlikely friendship.
I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020)
A psychological thriller that dives deep into the surreal. I'm Thinking of Ending Things definitely won't be for everyone, but it connects you to the frustrations of the young woman (Jessie Buckley) at its heart, who grapples with breaking off her seven-week-relationship with her boyfriend Jake (Jesse Plemons). While it overstays its welcome a little, I'm Thinking of Ending Things always keeps you on your toes, with atmospheric cinematography and strong performances from Toni Collette and David Thewlis as Jake's fairly odd parents. Fans of director-writer Charlie Kaufman will be pleased.
Two movies named The Call came out in 2020. Watch the South Korean one, a time travel thriller revolving around, yep, a phone call. Twenty-eight-year-old Seo-yeon finds a phone buried in a closet in her childhood home. It rings -- and the caller, it turns out, is living in the same house 20 years earlier. Twists right up to the final moment, plus a wild cat-and-mouse chase that alters the past and present make this a must-watch.
This taut thriller set in the remote Scottish Highlands is far from an idyllic getaway. Prepare for a full-on nerve-wringing nightmare that its protagonists are desperate to wake up from. Vaughn and Marcus set out on a lads' weekend hunting trip, but after a night of drinking, they find themselves facing events they never could have planned for. Calibre lives up to its name, delivering a slick package of grim, gripping drama. Let the full force of this one wallop you.
First They Killed My Father (2017)
The fifth film on Angelina Jolie's directing CV turned out to be her best. Based on Cambodian author and human rights activist Loung Ung's memoir, the biographical thriller recounts the horrors Ung suffered as a child under the rule of the deadly Khmer Rouge. With an empathetic lens framing a shocking story from the perspective of a child, First They Killed My Father is a unique war movie made with control and finesse.
I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017)
If you've had a bad day, this might be the movie for you. When the police refuse to help with a robbery, nursing assistant Ruth and her weird neighbor Tony take matters into their own hands. I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore spots the idiosyncrasies of everyday life, before escalating its story into dark places with even darker humor. With a touch of Coen Brothers' flair, its perfectly packed 96 minutes will leave you surprisingly emotional.
Crime/War
All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)
The third time Erich Maria Remarque's classic novel about World War I has been adapted into a film. The 2022 version, directed by Edward Berger, adds the perspective of a German official trying to negotiate an armistice to end the war. Mainly, we follow 17-year-old Paul Bäumer, an idealistic young German soldier who's confronted by the painful realities of war. A visual spectacle that can, unsurprisingly, be distressing.
Spike Lee's fierce war drama follows a group of aging Vietnam War veterans who return to the country in search of the remains of their squad leader -- as well as buried treasure. With a frenzied energy coursing through it, Da 5 Bloods gives you a look at the Vietnam War through Black experiences, delivering an all-too-timely critique of racism and warfare.
Spanning the lives of its mobsters over multiple decades, The Irishman pulls off a 3-and-a-half-hour crime saga. But don't worry -- you can break up this tour de force if you need to. Always clever and entertaining, with Martin Scorsese favorites Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci commanding the screen, The Irishman creeps up on you, offering a haunting look at aging mobsters and the havoc they wreak.
Beasts of No Nation (2015)
Director Cary Joji Fukunaga gives you a sobering look at the life of a boy who becomes a child soldier in a West African country embroiled in civil war. Idris Elba stars as the ruthless Commandant along with the astonishing Abraham Attah as the young Agu. A confronting yet quietly hopeful snapshot of war from a human perspective, Beasts of No Nation needs to be on your radar if it isn't already.
Mystery
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
Some would say Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is better than 2019's Knives Out. Some. Rian Johnson's followup to his masterfully subversive whodunit wisely puts on a different coat. It sends Daniel Craig's benevolent private investigator Benoit Blanc abroad to a mysterious get-together with tech billionaire Miles Bron and his friends. The satirical characters are big, the laughs are big and there's even a stunning message about bending the truth. Is it at least comparable to 2019's Knives Out? Definitely.
Comedy
Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical (2022)
The film adaptation of Tim Minchin's hit musical, based on Roald Dahl's classic book. It offers something different from the 1996 movie starring Mara Wilson -- what you want when retreading familiar territory. Alisha Weir plays Matilda, the child genius who stands up to a stunningly realized Miss Trunchbull, played by Emma Thompson. A clear theme of how to handle bullies runs through this retelling, with impressive child performers and surprisingly pump-you-up tunes. Not as memorable as the original, but still a supremely entertaining time.
The Forty-Year-Old Version (2020)
The title of this comedy-drama might sound familiar, but its focus is an unconventional tale. The Forty-Year-Old Version follows Radha, a playwright and teacher who finds herself drawn to the forgotten passion of her youth: rapping. Inspired by writer, director and star Radha Blank's real life, this beautiful diary of a struggling artist will inspire and hit home, with relatable themes of failure and unfulfilled potential.
Tennis-playing buddies Michael (Mark Duplass) and Andy (Ray Romano) receive devastating news: Michael has terminal stomach cancer. Struggling to let go of his dying friend, Andy joins Michael's road trip in search of medication to end things before they get too painful. Folding comedy into melancholy, Paddleton eases the touching friendship at its core into deftly-affecting places.
Dolemite Is My Name (2019)
Eddie Murphy returned from his acting break with a glorious performance as Rudy Ray Moore, a comedian who played a character called Dolemite in stand-up routines and blaxploitation films from the '70s. Dolemite Is My Name follows Moore from his job at a record store to the big screen. Tracking Moore's rise to fame and its bizarre and enthralling turns, Dolemite Is My Name does justice to both Moore's and Murphy's talents.
Paul Giamatti and Kathryn Hahn starring in a comedy-drama with something to say about modern marriage? Private Life is a unique and relatable slice of a New York middle-age couple's struggles with different avenues to have a child. But because Hahn and Giamatti are in it, it sparkles with wit and charm. Add Kayli Carter to the mix as Sadie, a college dropout, and you have another layer to this compelling movie about the unpredictability of heading into a new stage of life.
Jake Johnson co-writes this comedy from prolific indie director Joe Swanberg (he was behind the Netflix anthology TV series Easy as well). Win It All follows Eddie, a gambling addict who agrees to stash a duffel bag of cash for a local thug heading to prison. Making one of many questionable decisions, Eddie dips into the funds. If you're a fan of simple, grounded storytelling with a focus on character, Win It All is a delight that brings out Johnson's humor and charisma.
The Meyerowitz Stories (2017)
The Meyerowitz Stories is a bittersweet comedy-drama told through Noah Baumbach's grounded lens. The titular stories concern dysfunctional adult siblings, played by Adam Sandler and Ben Stiller, trying to live in the shadow of their father. An effervescent cast, including Dustin Hoffman, play these intelligent, albeit miserable, characters as they weave their poignant tales.
This indie gem might have flown under the radar, so if you're looking for a modern romcom overflowing with charm, definitely give Tramps a watch. Callum Turner and Grace Van Patten star as Danny and Ellie, a sincere good kid and a streetwise girl who attempt to carry out a shady deal for a little cash. Tightly scripted and deftly avoiding hackneyed territory, Tramps will effortlessly win your heart.
Animation
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022)
Guillermo del Toro rarely disappoints and his take on Pinocchio is no exception. More than just a kids' story, del Toro unfurls a trademark moving gothic fairy tale rooted in what it means to be alive. With significant deviations from the story we all know and memorable new creature creations, including skeletal rabbits and an ethereal wood sprite, this version of Pinocchio might just be the very best -- not least because it keeps the astonishing art of stop-motion animation alive. A must-watch. Warning: You will shed a tear at least once.
The Sea Beast joins Netflix's collection of stellar family-friendly animated adventures. A young girl named Maisie (Zaris-Angel Hator) stows away on the ship of sea monster hunter Captain Crow (Jared Harris), becoming wrapped up in a thrilling journey through uncharted waters. Bringing originality to the high seas and swashbuckling characters, The Sea Beast is a must-watch chapter of enchanting fantasy.
The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)
One of the best family movies on Netflix. From some of the same people who made Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse comes this adventure to save the world involving Mom, Dad, the kids and their slobbery, bug-eyed dog. But amid the robot apocalypse, led by Olivia Colman's sinister Siri, really The Mitchells vs. the Machines is about a strained relationship between movie-loving daughter Katie and her technophobe father. The technology-inept parent gags are rife, the colors frenetic and the character growth moving. A near-perfect package with the timeless message that embracing your weirdness is a superpower.
This award-winning French film begins with a severed hand escaping a refrigerator in a laboratory and embarking on a Paris-wide search for the rest of its body. What an opening! With a few flashbacks and elegant animation, this strange, satisfying story delves into loss, both physical and emotional, in the most poetic of ways.
Horror
Vampires vs. the Bronx (2020)
Vampires vs. the Bronx is a unique comedy-horror in more ways than one. Set in the New York borough of the Bronx, it follows young Miguel Martinez, a big-hearted kid helping to raise money for his struggling local bodega. But it's not just new designer clothing stores threatening to move in: Creepy pale residents with a taste for blood are eating up people and their properties. A commentary on gentrification with goofy charm, twists and thrills, Vampires vs. the Bronx is a fresh, entertaining spin on the genre.
His House is a horror flick that, yep, hits close to home. Revealing its supernatural evils through a harrowing human story, it follows Bol and Rial, a refugee couple from Sudan, who struggle to adapt to their new life in an English town. Don't expect straightforward jump scares -- His House plays into the psychological specters of the past, adding even more corridors of torment. A heartrending, powerful piece.
This smart psychological horror is partially drawn from co-writer Isa Mazzei's experiences as a camgirl (or webcam model). Yet Cam is no documentary, following Alice Ackerman, a young camgirl who one day discovers an exact replica of herself has taken over her show. This unique thriller flashing red with the threat of technology is an excellent feature to hit play on.
One of the more successful Stephen King adaptations, this horror drama based on the novella 1922 is a slow burn with a mesmerizing performance at its core. Thomas Jane, who you'll also know from