The best Netflix original films you (probably) haven’t seen
James R | On 10, Jan 2022
This week Netflix turned 10 years old – at least, it did in the UK and Ireland, where it first launched in January 2012. Since then, it has transformed the film landscape as we know it, whether it’s making the Christmas movie genre (previously the purview of Hallmark) mainstream, helping to usher in an era of shorter theatrical windows or making excellent films from around the world accessible globally at the touch of a button. Except, of course, the challenge lies in finding those gems amid its ever-expanding library of films where things can easily be lost or overlooked.
Even when you’ve gone through the best Netflix original films the streamer’s produced or acquired in the past decade, there are still more to be discovered that are well worth your time – and the good news is that they aren’t going anywhere any time soon. From unexpected surprises you’d normally scroll past to festival favourites that haven’t had their turn in the spotlight, here’s our guide to the best Netflix original films you probably haven’t seen:
Blood Red Sky
This surprising airborne thriller is a gripping and unexpectedly moving ride. Read our full review
Moxie
Amy Poehler’s wonderfully sincere tale of teen rebellion is optimistic and inspiring. Read our full review
The Christmas Chronicles
Kurt Russell is your new favourite Santa in Netflix’s funny, surprising and charming Christmas adventure. Read our full review
The Guilty
An intense turn from Jake Gyllenhaal anchors this grippingly simple remake. Read our full review
Army of Thieves
Matthias Schweighöfer shines in this slick, entertaining heist flick that’s more caper than zombie prequel. Read our full review
I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore
“What do you want?” Ruth (Lynskey) is asked halfway through I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore. “For people to not be assholes,” she replies. It’s the cry of someone who’s had enough, who wants to do something about it, but who doesn’t have a clue what that is. It’s a recipe for unpredictable chaos, in the best possible way. The result is a film in which a ninja star gets lodged in someone’s face. In which a woman throws dog poo at Elijah Wood. And someone steals a tiger. Macon Blair’s directorial debut is an enjoyably unpredictable indie comedy that’s full of dark humour, brutal violence and warm empathy. Read our full review
Virunga
“I have accepted to give the best of myself, so that wildlife can be safeguarded beyond all pressure,” says Rodrigue Mugaruka Katembo, a warden of Virunga National Park. The park is one of the only refuges in the world for the remaining population of mountain gorillas. The documentary Virunga follows the people who work to keep this sanctuary safe. Over 100 rangers have so far died doing so. A testament to how much of a difference people (be they park rangers, reporters or campaigners) can make, this is powerful, passionate, important filmmaking. Read our full review
Been So Long
Michaela Coel shines in this likeable, open-hearted musical set in modern day London, which brings to life the streets of Camden for a tale of love, resilience and redemption. At its best moments, this earnest musical pops with an adorable, electrifying sincerity. Read our full review
Mercenary
Sacha Wolff’s powerfully simple sports drama is a impressive debut for both the director and his blisteringly intense star. Read our full review
They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead
In 2018, Netflix released Orson Welles’ final ever film, after funding its restoration and completion 48 years after Welles tried to make it. Morgan Neville, of 20 Feet from Stardom, pieces together this documentary to give us a vital account of the end of Welles’ career and a useful guide to the patchwork swan-song of a fanatically ambitious filmmaker. Presented with delicious wit by Alan Cumming, and brilliantly edited with a self-aware style, this is an essential companion piece to The Other Side of the Wind that not only enlightens and entertains, but actually improves the director’s own movie. Read our full review
Shirkers
In 1992, Sandi Tan and two friends made a cult classic of modern Singaporean cinema. Or, at least, they would have, if their film wasn’t stolen from them. The trio found their filmmaking dream taken away by Georges Cardona, their enigmatic collaborator from the USA. A tutor, friend, and fellow artist, he was their trusted confidante and creative partner… until he vanished with all of their 16mm stock. Shirkers is Tan’s quest to find out what happened. This dazzlingly personal meta-documentary is a cult classic literally in the making, as we see a woman reclaim her own story, and her own creativity, from a past that has haunted her for years. A making-of documentary about a film that doesn’t exist, this meta-puzzle combines intertextual, internal and inspirational threads to weave something entirely unique. Read our full review
Tramps
Director Adam Leon continues to be one to watch with this Netflix Original that shouldn’t be overlooked. Read our full review
Divines
This ruthless depiction of French youth abandoned by the system is a brutal and heart-breaking debut for director Houda Benyamina. Read our full review
Imperial Dreams
John Boyega is magnificent in this drama that manages to be both gritty and uplifting. Read our full review
Brahman Naman (2016)
A trio of quiz-obsessed nerds attempt to lose their virginity in this entertaining Indian teen sex comedy set in 1980s Bangalore. Read our full review
Cam (2018)
Set in the world of a webcam sex work, this Blumhouse-produced horror follows Alice, an ambitious camgirl who wakes up one day to discover she’s been replaced on her show with an exact replica of herself. The result is thought-provoking, unsettling and unique. (Read our interview with directors Isa Mazzei and Daniel Goldhaber here.)
Burning Sands (2017)
A bold, brutal, provocative drama about modern masculinity, identity and history. Read our full review
Cargo
Martin Freeman is magnificent in this moving, low-key zombie drama. Read our full review
Dumplin’
With a sprinkle of glitter and some Dolly Parton magic, this refreshing story will tug on your heartstrings one moment, and make you laugh the next. Read our full review
Barry
A rare portrait of a political figure with actual depth of feeling. Read our full review
The Summit of the Gods
Based on a best-selling manga, this visually stunning animation about a Japanese journalist who hunts for a missing camera that holds the answer to who first climbed Everest is a study of obsession that unpacks its themes with documentary-like heft.
Bad Trip
The words “hidden camera comedy” sounds like something from the 90s, but this inventive romp from Eric Andre and Lil Rel Howery blends narrative comedy – two friends go on a road trip to reach Andre’s high school crush while being pursued by his prison-escaping sister – with pranks featuring unsuspecting members of the public. The result is depraved and sometimes dubious but worryingly entertaining.
The Disciple
This moving Indian drama follows a young student hoping to prove himself as a Hindustani singer, a quest that demands total devotion – but is also near-impossible to realise in this modern world where rents are due as well as hard work.
The Half of It
Alice Wu’s follow-up to Saving Face is a fresh, tender take on Cyrano de Bergerac. Read our full review
The Forty-Year-Old Version
Funny, fresh and innovative, this sensational debut from Radha Blank is one of the best films of 2020. Read our full review
Velvet Buzzsaw
Dan Gilroy’s satirical horror is more surface than substance, but what deliciously gruesome surface it is. Read our full review
Someone Great
Gina Rodriguez, Brittany Snow and DeWanda Wise are fantastic in Netflix’s sweet comedy. Read our full review
Wine Country
Amy Poehler’s amusing directorial debut, about a group of old friends who go on a Napa getaway to celebrate a 50th birthday, is full of spiky, honest details about friendship.
See You Yesterday
Stefon Bristol’s teenage time travel tale fuses sci-fi and social commentary to entertaining effect. Read our full review
Dolemite Is My Name
Craig Brewer’s infectiously fun making-of meta-movie shows brothers (and one sister) doing it for themselves in 70s America. Read our full review
American Son
Kerry Washington leads a strong cast in this hard-hitting play about racial prejudice and justice. Read our full review
The King
With an excellent cast and enjoyably grubby action, this revision of Henry V is far from Shakespeare, but far from dull. Read our full review
Let It Snow
An earnest cast and sincere script make Netflix’s festive teen flick a surprisingly charming affair. Read our full review
The Two Popes
This divinely unlikely bromance is a masterclass in acting from Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce. Read our full review
Knock Down the House
This portrait of four women is trying to make a difference in politics is an inspiring, electrifying watch. Read our full review
American Factory
A Chinese company re-opens a shuttered American factory in this riveting culture clash documentary. Read our full review
Tallulah
The feature debut of writer/director Sian Heder, this nuanced, moving drama watches as Elliot Page’s homeless young woman kidnap a toddler – an act that, inevitably, brings the police into the frame and leaves the child’s mother distraught. Page is excellent, and is joined by Allison Janney as her absent boyfriend’s mother, Margot, who becomes a surrogate mother of sorts for both. The result is a quietly thought-provoking drama about maternity and morality that plays out across generations. Read our full review
Apostle
Gareth Evans’ slow-burn cult movie is a period allegory for patriarchy’s modern toxicity. Read our full review
Mudbound
Period tales rarely feel so relevant as this marvellous, weighty piece of filmmaking, which offers a rallying cry for empathy. Read our full review
The Dig
Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan are wonderful in this handsomely moving drama about the way the past lives on in the present. Read our full review
Annihilation
This strange, beautiful, cerebral sci-fi cements Alex Garland as one of genre cinema’s finest living practitioners. Read our full review
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