The 50 best Netflix original films
David Farnor | On 09, Jan 2022
Netflix turns 10 years old in the UK and Ireland this weekend, with the streaming giant launching on this side of the pond on 9th January 2012. Since then, it has increasingly stepped up its original film production arm, winning 15 Academy Awards in the process – including three Oscars for Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma (the first streaming movie to win an Oscar for Best Director).
Coupled with some notable acquisitions, some of them during the Covid-19 pandemic, the result is a growing slate of impressive exclusives. Not sure where to start with Netflix’s films? Read on for our guide to the 50 best Netflix original movies so far. Already watched the lot? See our guide to the best underrated Netflix original films that you (probably) haven’t seen.
50. Calibre
Director Matt Palmer makes an impression with this low-budget tale powered by excellent turns from Jack Lowden and Tony Curran and a strong sense of location and tension. Following two life-long friends fighting for their lives in an isolated country setting, the hunting-vacation-gone-wrong thriller grips like a vice. Read our full review
49. Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
This winningly sincere comedy about Eurovision is a warm-hearted surprise. Read our full review
48. Gerald’s Game
Stephen King’s unfilmable novel is filmed with panache, confidence and gripping intensity by Oculus and The Haunting of Hill House director Mike Flanagan. Read our full review
47. Outlaw King
Violent, brutal and thrilling, Netflix’s Robert the Bruce biopic is a historical epic with heft – and a cracking lead turn from Chris Pine. Read our full review
46. High Flying Bird
Steven Soderbergh’s basketball drama throws us into the middle of a trade dispute in America’s NBA, with a pay deal between the players’ union and the league owners far from being agreed – a lockout that leaves nobody on the court and everybody out of pocket. That lack of money, though, affects some more than others: for the slimy owner of one team (Kyle MacLachlan), it’s a trifling inconvenience; for Erick (Melvin Gregg), a rising talent who’s on the cusp of his dream career, it’s a major financial blow. Enter Ray (Andre Holland), the agent who has just signed Erick. We met him as he scolds his client for resorting to using a loan shark to make ends meet, then watch him as he swoops into action, spying an opportunity amid the messy arguments to bring about a change. The result is a slick anti-sports movie tackles capitalism and commodification with confidence and purpose. Read our full review
45. David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet
“I am 93. This is my witness statement.” David Attenborough gets personal in this environmental wake-up call delivered with alarming urgency. Read our full review
44. Army of the Dead
Zack Snyder’s zombie heist flick is a brazenly entertaining ride. (The safe-cracking caper spin-off, Army of Thieves, is also a delight.) Read our full review
43. Okja
How to Train Your Dragon meets something truly unique, Bong Joon-ho’s bonkers, moving story of a young girl and her friendship with a genetically engineered super-pig is a globe-trotting epic packed with eccentric performances, impressive effects, and an earnest message about vegetarianism that’s enough to make you stop eating bacon for at least a week. Read our full review
42. The White Tiger
This razor-sharp rags-to-riches satire is a gripping, propulsive thriller. Read our full review
41. Atlantics
Mati Diop’s absorbing, atmospheric directorial debut is part melancholic romance, part ghost story. Read our full review
40. 7 Prisoners
This riveting, eye-opening drama about an impoverished teen trying to escape the clutches of modern slavery packs a documentary-like punch.
39. A Cop Movie
This bold, unpredictable and riveting dissection of policing and corruption is a playful documentary with a serious point. Read our full review
38. The Lost Daughter
Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley are exceptional in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s prickly, complex drama. Read our full review
37. Extraction
Proof that Netflix can deliver blockbusters on its own term, this adrenaline-fuelled thriller starring Chris Hemsworth delivers an onslaught of visceral action. Read our full review
36. Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution
This warm portrait of a groundbreaking summer camp for teens with disabilities is an inspiring, moving watch. Read our full review
35. The Trial of the Chicago 7
Aaron Sorkin’s timely political drama turns a show trial into a witty cinematic circus. Read our full review
34. Mank
33. Dick Johnson Is Dead
This surprising, funny, profound and strangely life-affirming documentary is unlike anything else you’ll see. Read our full review
32. The Old Guard
Gina Prince-Bythewood’s lean, mean comic book thriller is a promising franchise starter. Read our full review
31. Fear Street Trilogy
Honeymoon director Leigh Janiak trilogy, based on RL Stine’s Fear Street horror books, is a thrillingly bloody brew of carnage and teen hormones. Read our full review
30. Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened
Schadenfreude took on a whole new meaning in 2017, when the much-hyped Fyre Festival opened its doors to hordes of fans – only for them to find a mess far from the paradise they were promised. At best, a colossal, disorganised failure, and at worst, fraud, the resulting omnishambles caught the public eye – and (rightly) the eyes of the federal court too. Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, a documentary from Netflix, dissects the disorder with skilful, hugely entertaining precision. Read our full review
29. Private Life
Over a decade after The Savages, director Tamara Jenkins returns with this drama about a couple who are trying to have a baby. Played with heart and humour by Paul Giamatti and Kathryn Hahn, the spikily funny fertility drama is smart, frank filmmaking from an accomplished director. Read our full review
28. Space Sweepers
This eye-popping Korean space opera is bursting with imagination, action and fun. Read our full review
27. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
Based on Jenny Han’s bestselling novel of the same name, this wonderfully charming rom-com stars Lana Condor as Lara Jean, the middle child in the Covey family, who has a habit of writing letters to the boys she crushes on. The catch? She signs and seals them, but never delivers – they’re hers to keep hidden in a box in her room. When they all get sent out by accident, she finds herself locking lips with Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo) and things are set in motion for embarrassment and affection in equal measure. Making instant stars out of its two leads, this is a fresh, funny teen movie that’s destined to be a classic. Read our full review
26. His House
Remi Weekes’ directorial debut is a chilling, timely tale of a house haunted by more than ghosts. Read our full review
25. The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
Noah Baumbach is on typically prickly form with this tragi-comic family drama about a dysfunctional bunch of relations. Dustin Hoffman plays Harold, the strong-filled patriarch of the Meyerowitz family, and he’s joined by an impeccable cast, including Ben Stiller, Elizabeth Marvel and Adam Sandler (on Punch-Drunk Love form), as Harold’s wayward offspring. The resulting clash of feelings, both spoken and unspoken, and study of a man whose shadow looms large over his children’s lives, is as hilarious as it is melancholic. Read our full review
24. Casting JonBenet
In December 1996, six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was found dead in her home. The young beauty pageant queen had been strangled, her skull crushed. This true crime documentary deconstructs that case, and the general true crime trend, to mesmerising effect, as it delves into a mystery where we don’t what the answer is. The dizzying tapestry of half-truths climaxes in a jaw-dropping montage of possible versions of events overlapping and intersecting, like a remake of Making a Murderer by Charlie Kaufman. It’s a bravura piece of cinema that turns a real crime scene into a living museum of breathing ghosts and haunting reenactments – an endless cycle of speculation, rumour and morbid onlookers that audiences have helped to create. Stunning.
23. Beasts of No Nation
Directed by Cary Fukunaga and starring Idris Elba, Netflix’s first original feature is a harrowing, important watch.
22. Pieces of a Woman
Vanessa Kirby delivers a remarkable performance in this heart-wrenching meditation on grief. Read our full review
21. The Harder They Fall
Jeymes Samuel’s thrilling, trailblazing Western is an absolute blast. Read our full review
20. The Incredible Jessica James
“I’m tall. I’m pretty. I’m smart. Obviously, I will have many great loves in my life.” That’s Jessica James, an aspiring playwright in New York who juggles relationships, professional goals and general life problems with laughs and heart aplenty. Director Jim Strouse wrote the film for Williams specifically, and she jumps at the chance to show all the skills she’s got. She’s funny, moving, stylish and breathlessly chaotic, creating a character-driven gem and a hugely winning showcase. Read our full review
19. The Square
Jehane Nohaime’s documentary follows the Egyptian protests in 2011, which overthrew President Mubarak. Cutting between shots among the crowd and overhead panoramas of The Square, Jehane captures the unity of the protestors with a breathtaking elation. “Only we can tell our stories,” says one near the start, as they erect an open-air cinema in the middle of Cairo. This is what a revolution looks like and feels like – live. Read our full review
18. Tick, Tick… Boom!
Andrew Garfield is electric in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s dynamic, swooning, foot-stomping ode to creativity. Read our full review
17. Chasing Coral
Chasing Ice director Jeff Orlowski delivers an urgent, inspiring call to wake up to climate change. Read our full review
16. Passing
Rebecca Hall’s remarkable directorial debut is a complex, thoughtful, thrilling drama about identity, performance and perception. Read our full review
15. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis lead an electrifying ensemble in this timely chamber piece that resonates long after its final note. Read our full review
14. The Power of the Dog
A triumphant return to feature filmmaking for Jane Campion, this is a brooding Gothic Western that simmers with slow-burn menace. Read our full review
13. Disclosure
This vital deconstruction of trans representation in film and TV is accessible, insightful, entertaining and essential. Read our full review
12. Annihilation
This strange, beautiful, cerebral sci-fi cements Alex Garland as one of genre cinema’s finest living practitioners. Read our full review
11. Klaus
Netflix’s gorgeously old-fashioned animation is simple and sweet enough to charm the stockings off the humbuggiest of viewers. Read our full review
10. Strong Island
Strong Island’s story began a quarter of a century ago, when William Ford Jr. was killed by a white mechanic in New York. Although William was unarmed, he became the prime suspect in his own murder. 25 years later, director Yance Ford turns the camera upon the Ford family to explore how William died – and ask why. A powerful deconstruction of race and grief, this bracingly subjective documentary will stay with you for days. Read our full review
9. The Mitchells vs the Machines
This robo-dystopian-road-trip-comedy is a relentlessly funny and endlessly inventive ride for the whole family. Read our full review
8. Uncut Gems
Adam Sandler is sensational in this intense, nail-biting, adrenaline-fuelled thriller. Read our full review
7. Always Be My Maybe
Fresh Off the Boat showrunner Nahnatchka Khan’s hilarious romantic comedy starring Ali Wong and Randall Park – plus Keanu Reeves – oozes with charm and wit. Read our full review
6. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
The Coen brothers team up with Netflix for this wonderful collection of short films, all taking place on the frontier of the Wild West. From solo outings and romantic dramas to chilling fables and charming musicals, the finely tuned anthology is a delightful collection of mini-masterpieces. Read our full review
5. Da 5 Bloods
Spike Lee’s bold epic of racial injustice and reparation is uncompromising, urgent, thrilling and powerful cinema. Read our full review
4. The Irishman
A mature, thoughtful reflection on the consequences of past actions, Scorsese’s patient crime drama is a masterclass in restraint. Read our full review
3. 13th
Ava DuVernay’s incredibly powerful documentary charts the historical and social ties between slavery in the USA and the modern prison system. It’s hard to watch, but that only makes it even more essential to do so. Read our full review
2. Marriage Story
Noah Baumbach’s remarkable, heartfelt masterpiece about divorce aches with comedy and compassion. Read our full review
1. Roma
“We’re on our own!” cries Sofia (Marina de Tavira) halfway through Roma, Alfonso Cuaron’s heart-wrenching latest. It’s an outburst, part painful realisation, part rallying cry, that doesn’t need saying to her housemaid, Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), who has already been left to face the dramas of day-to-day life by herself. Together, they provide a moving, quietly remarkable lens through which to glimpse 1970s Mexico – a window with a cracked pane and no money to fix it. One of the best films of 2018, Alfonso Cuaron’s personal love letter to the woman who raised him is an epic with a heart on its sleeve. Read our full review