The 50 best movies on Netflix right now

Netflix offers thousands of movies via its streaming platform. Although the service can be surprisingly accurate with its suggestions, it’s often still tough to find something worth watching amid the deluge of choices. So we’ve taken the time to wade through Netflix’s robust catalog in order to bring you a list of some of the best movies on Netflix right now. Whether you’re into poignant documentaries or Scorsese’s latest mobster flick, our list has you covered.

Looking for something else? We’ve also rounded up the best shows on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime, and the best movies on Disney+.

Back to the Future (1985)

One of the most beloved and influential sci-fi movies of all time is officially on Netflix. (As is Part II!) Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) is an ordinary high schooler with a somewhat unpleasant life. He’s browbeaten by his principal at school, must endure the strained relationship between his nerdy father (Crispin Glover) and beautiful mother (Lea Thompson), and sees his father pushed around by middle-aged bully Biff (Thomas F. Wilson), Marty’s dad’s supervisor. However, when Marty’s eccentric scientist friend Doc (Christopher Lloyd) turns a DeLorean into a time machine, he inadvertently sends Marty back to the 1950s, just before his now-teenaged parents met and fell in love. Of course, his presence causes a stir, and it’s up to him to make sure his parents come together in the end or he will cease to exist.

Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
Genre: Action & Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Stars: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Rating: PG
Runtime: 116 minutes

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Marriage Story (2019)

Although it opens on a couple describing all the reasons they love each other, Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story quickly dispels the illusion: This is a story of divorce, of a couple coming to the ultimate realization that the futures they want are simply incompatible and the messy process of sorting out where they go from there. The couple in question is playwright Charlie Barber (Adam Driver) and his actress wife Nicole (Scarlett Johansson). Nicole wants to move back to Los Angeles where a new job awaits, while Charlie would rather state in New York. It’s the latest in a series of tensions, the one that finally breaks them, and the two lawyer up, marshaling their grievances as they divvy up what remains of their life together.

Rotten Tomatoes: 95%
Genre: Drama
Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver, Laura Dern
Director: Noah Baumbach
Rating: R
Runtime: 137 minutes

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Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

There have been a few entries in the Indiana Jones franchise over the decades, but the first remains the best. Set in the 1930s, Raiders of the Lost Ark follows Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford), a professor of archaeology who moonlights as an adventurer, exploring ancient ruins and plundering their treasures in the name of science. When he learns that Nazis are seeking the legendary Ark of the Covenant, Jones and his former lover Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) head to Egypt to find the Ark first. Raiders of the Lost Ark is a pitch-perfect throwback to classic pulp adventure stories, with a charming, wisecracking hero, nefarious villains, and spectacular set pieces sprinkled throughout a tight script.

Rotten Tomatoes: 95%
Genre: Drama
Stars: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman
Director: Steven Spielberg
Rating: PG
Runtime: 115 minutes

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Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

Roman Polanski’s first American film is adapted from Ira Levin’s horror bestseller and endures as one of the most admired and disturbing horror films of all time. When Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow) and her struggling actor husband, Guy (John Cassevetes), move into the Bramford, an old New York City building with only elderly residents and an eerie reputation, Rosemary becomes suspicious of neighbors and strange noises around the building. After Guy scores a Broadway role, Rosemary has a horrifying dream of being raped by a beast. As she becomes increasingly isolated and sickened during her pregnancy, Rosemary begins to lose her mind as it becomes clear that this is no ordinary baby. Widely considered a masterstroke of direction and production design, Rosemary’s Baby was a defining film of its era.

Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
Genre: Horror
Stars: Mia Farrow, Ruth Gordon, John Cassavetes
Director: Roman Polanski
Rating: R
Runtime: 137 minutes

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Zodiac (2007)

The Zodiac killer, who terrorized San Francisco in the ‘60s and ‘70s, remains one of the most notorious uncaught criminals in history. David Fincher’s 2007 film Zodiac doesn’t attempt to solve the crime; instead, it uses the case as the impetus for a character study, focusing on the obsessions of three men trying to catch the killer. The protagonist is Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal), a puzzle-obsessed cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle, who jumps at the chance to decode a message the killer sent to the paper’s editors. Together with crime reporter Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.) and homicide detective David Toschi (Mark Ruffalo), Graysmith tries to piece together the clues the killer leaves behind. Despite its length, Zodiac is a tense, gripping thriller, with superb direction from Fincher.

Rotten Tomatoes: 89%
Genre: Drama
Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr.
Director: David Fincher
Rating: R
Runtime: 157 minutes

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Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

Do you often find that having one Spider-Man just isn’t enough? 2018’s hit animated movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse offers you all the Spider-Men, -Women, and -Pigs you could ask for (and then some). The film follows Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) — who fans of the Ultimate Marvel universe will recognize — a teen who gets a bite from a radioactive spider and develops spider-esque superpowers. When Wilson Fisk (Liev Schreiber) uses an experimental machine to try and move between dimensions, Miles ends up meeting a weary, older version of Peter Parker (Jake Johnson) who agrees to help Miles deal with the universe-collision crisis. They also get some help from an assortment of alternate-universe Spider-Folks, including Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), anime-inspired Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn), and hardboiled gumshoe Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage). Into the Spider-Verse is an adventurous, funny superhero movie, one that has no qualms about throwing weird stuff at the audience.

Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
Genre: Action-adventure
Stars: Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld
Director: Peter Ramsey, Bob Persichetti, Rodney Rothman
Rating: PG
Runtime: 117 minutes

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The Irishman (2019)

Martin Scorsese helped codify the gangster genre with films like Goodfellas and Casino, and now he’s returning to the genre with The Irishman, a film that plays many of the same notes as earlier gangster stories, but in a minor key. Based on historical events, the film follows Frank eventually doing jobs for crime boss Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci). Over the years, Sheeran grows closer to union leader Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino), becoming his bodyguard and confidante, which leaves him in an awkward position when the mafia decides Hoffa is more trouble than he’s worth. The Irishman is a meditative crime drama, exploring the lives of its outlaw characters over decades of their lives; stripped of the usual glamor, it emphasizes the slow, routine corruption that drags Sheeran down.

Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
Genre: Drama
Stars: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci
Director: Martin Scorsese
Rating: R
Runtime: 209 minutes

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Dolemite is My Name (2019)