The Best Films On Netflix UK Right Now
Netflix has plenty of movies to watch but there's a real mixed bag on there. Sometimes finding the right film at the right time can seem like an impossible task. This is particularly the case now Netflix's film rating system is a percentage rather than a numerical rating. So, to help you in this most important of tasks, we've compiled a list of the good films on Netflix.
If you decide you're in more of a TV mood, head over to our best Netflix TV series or picks of the best documentaries. We have a whole separate list of the best sci-fi movies, the best films on Amazon Prime UK and the best Disney+ movies.
365 Days/DNI
Massimo is a member of the Sicilian Mafia family and Laura is a sales director. She does not expect that on a trip to Sicily trying to save her relationship, Massimo will kidnap her and give her 365 days to fall in love with him.
Mid90s
A24
Jonah Hill’s directorial debut is far from the comedy hits like The Wolf of Wall Street and 21 Jump Street that made his name in Hollywood. Mid90s is the touching story of Stevie, a lonely 13-year-old who becomes skateboard-obsessed and finds friendship in a group of older skaters. But Stevie’s idolising of the group comes at a price, in longing to find a sense of community, he starts to grow up a little fast for his age and is soon faced with some very adult realities. Sunny Suljic gives a touching performance as Stevie, and the rest of the cast give equally nuanced turns. Mid90s a very human story that uses subtlety to progress the plot and its characters. Hill has managed to layer in themes of racism, poverty and self-harm in a film that on the surface looks to be about skating bros, but in reality is about the small details of life that can make or break us.
Your Name
Every now and again a foreign film transcends its boundaries and becomes an international hit. Japanese animation Your Name isn’t quite Parasite, but Makoto Shinkai’s wistful melodrama about a teenage city boy and a country girl who magically switch bodies without warning was a surprise hit outside its native country, and a genuine phenomenon within it. The girl in a boy’s body, boy in a girl’s body theme is played for some predictable (but effective) laughs and there’s an infectious feelgood energy throughout, even when events turn more serious. It’s worth watching to see there’s life beyond Miyazaki in Japan’s prodigious animation industry and while the themes and execution are quite different to the master’s, there’s no less joyful escapism. Predictably, there's a western live action remake in the works, produced by J.J Abrams, but don't let that deter you from watching the charming and fun original first.
Kiki’s Delivery Service
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Kiki is a witch. She runs a delivery service. So starts and ends the plot to Kiki’s Delivery Service, a film that is perhaps one of the most joyous animations ever made. This is a coming of age film where complex themes are handled with confidence and style. The animation is classic Studio Ghibli: rich, detailed and fascinating, while the characters of Kiki, and her sarcastic cat Jiji, are impossible not to like. It’s the perfect slice of escapism.
Big Night
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The owner dishes out risotto from sharing platters, a woman reclines on the table, everyone's dancing and the chef kisses his timpano pasta dish for luck as it leaves the kitchen. No it's not a fever dream of your favourite dinner spot, it's Big Night, a cosy, 90s foodie movie. It stars Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub as two Italian brothers relying on one spectacular dinner to drum up business for their failing Jersey shore restaurant. A no reservations endorsement.
The Social Network
Columbia Pictures
Look on helplessly as Mark Zuckerberg unleashes The Facebook on an unsuspecting world. Jesse Eisenberg gives an uncanny portrayal – both physically and behaviourally – of Zuck, the flawed entrepreneur. Written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by David Fincher, The Social Network is all quick dialogue and lingering, artful frames. And, as the horror unfolds, you realise that Facebook's unstoppable rise was pretty much all your fault. Is it totally accurate portrayal of events? Certainly not. But it's hard to look away.
Mean Streets
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"You talk about penance and you send this through the door." This being Robert De Niro's Johnny Boy. He's tucking his shirt in and slow motion sauntering into a red-lit bar with a girl on each arm, towards Charlie (Harvey Keitel), all to the sound of the Stones' Jumpin' Jack Flash. MARTY. This early (1973) Scorsese is more shambolic than most Scorsese's but you won't be able to take your eyes off this Little Italy flick. With Goodfellas and The Irishman also both on Netflix right now, you've got the makings of a Marty marathon. Sadly Casino has gone walkabout.
Flight
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Flight opens with one of the most spectacular air crash scenes ever put to film – it's worth watching the first 15 minutes alone if you've never seen it. But what follows is equally worthy. Denzel Washington plays the genius pilot responsible for saving hundreds aboard his flight, but his predilection for booze and drugs is tearing his life apart and makes him a target for investigators. Washington excels as the arrogant, flawed pilot who is determined to avoid the truth about himself.
Space Jam
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So what if none of Space Jam is in space? Your eyes will literally pop right out of your head – doiinnnngggg – as Michael Jordan plays baseball and namechecks 90s brands for 90 minutes. Oh and gets yoinked into a game of b-ball to help the Looney Tunes take on some small then big then small theme park aliens. So what if there's no Mel Blanc on voices, for a $80m movie it's fairly slapdash and Jordan can't act? The charisma of the 'Tunes makes up for it and this goofy go-to, that you can stick on while you wait for more episodes of The Last Dance documentary, is in many ways the perfect kids film. Welcome to the jam.
Princess Mononoke
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Almost all Studio Ghibli films are now available to watch on Netflix, and Princess Mononoke should definitely be near the top of your list. Released in 1997, the film follows a young prince who is cursed by a demon boar and leaves his village to search for a cure — and try to find out what is causing upset to the forest and its creatures. His travels draw him into a conflict between the animals and spirits of the forest and the human inhabitants of a nearby mining town, with the eponymous princess existing somewhere between the two. Director Hayao Miyazaki is known for environmentalist themes, and Princess Mononoke explores the relationship between humans and the planet with a greater level of complexity than some of his other works. The film has an adult sensibility, with a fair amount violence and death, but there are plenty of cute animated creations too.
Tell Me Who I Am
Netflix
A sometimes verbose but engrossing documentary about brotherhood and trauma – both psychological, and pretty physical. The latter and the former collide when Alex Lewis, a 18-year-old from the home counties, has a motorcycle accident, hits his head and forgets everything about his life; well, not quite everything: he remembers that the young man standing at his bedside is his identical twin, Marcus, and that he can trust him. Back in his family home, Alex asks Marcus to help him reconstruct his past: does he have a girlfriend? How is his relationship with their parents? Why does her mum keep inviting strange people to their home? For over ten years, Alex lives in an idyllic world of Marcus’s making. But after their mother’s death, the amnesiac twin realises that his brother might have sugar-coated the past a little...
I, Tonya
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In the 90s, Tonya Harding was at the top of the figure skating game. She was a world silver medallist and was recognised as the first female skater to successfully land a triple axel in competition. Then it all went wrong. Her ex-husband orchestrated an attack on a fellow skater to try and get her to the Winter Olympics and Tonya was banned from skating for life. Margot Robbie plays the lead role in this part-mockmentary, part-dramatisation of the events that transpired. Alison Janney won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in her role as Tonya’s mother.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
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Ferris decides he doesn’t want to go to school one day so tricks his parents into believing he’s sick. He convinces his friend Cameron to borrow his dad’s Ferrari and hatches a plan to drag his girlfriend out of school. They head to Chicago for a fun day out, but the school principal is hot on their scent. Ferris’ classmates all believe that he has come down with a life-threatening illness, when in reality he is singing ‘Twist and Shout’ in a parade. Ferris Bueller is an 80s classic with pure feel-good energy, starring Matthew Broderick as Ferris and Jennifer Grey (Dirty Dancing) as his sister.
Lost Girls
Mari Gilbert is at war with the police. Her daughter is missing and because of their bias against sex workers, they aren’t being of help. Mari decides to start her own investigation, which leads her to the discovery of more than a dozen unsolved murders of sex workers. She joins together with their families to start a campaign to make sure these girls aren’t forgotten, and she holds the police to account. Lost Girls is based on a tragic true story and shows how hard it is to get the police to help when they simply don't want to listen to you.
It (2017)
Pennywise the clown is back to haunt a new generation of children in this 2017 remake of It. Based on the novel by Stephen King, It is about the small town of Derry, Maine being terrorised by an evil presence. It causes people to see the thing they fear the most – evil phantoms, fountains of blood and Pennywise himself. Seven children join together to try and stop It despite not being believed by the adults of the town. It stars Sophia Lillis, who recently played Sydney in I Am Not Okay With This, and Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard.
The King's Speech
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Colin Firth plays a stutter-prone King George VI in this heart-warming story of the monarch's struggles to overcome being suddenly thrust into the limelight after the abdication of his older brother. Geoffrey Rush is electric as the King's speech therapist, and the heart of the movie is in the interactions between the stiff, solemn royal and the loose, thespian Lionel Logue. The Crown has changed things, but in 2010 this level of insight into Britain's ruling family was unusual – and the film picked up four Oscar wins, including Best Picture.
Ingrid Goes West
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In the age of Instagram, you can feel like you’re good friends with someone you haven’t ever met. Ingrid, played by Aubrey Plaza, takes this one step further, and uses what she learns from her latest obsession’s Instagram to move to California and integrate herself into her life. Her mother has recently passed away, so Ingrid uses her inheritance to rent an apartment, dye her hair and recreate herself. But as the lies mount up, it becomes harder to maintain the cool-girl facade and things start to crumble. This black comedy cracks open that classic Los Angeles narcissism and shows that you should be careful what you post online.
The Two Popes
At first glance, The Two Popes is not a gripping proposition: a film where two very old men in dresses talk a lot, walk around a little bit, and then talk some more. But two top-notch performances from Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins and a stellar script from Anthony McCarten turn this prosaic premise into a film worth watching. Set in the wake of the Vatican leaks scandal and loosely inspired by true events it follows Cardinal Bergoglio as he tries to convince Pope Benedict XVI to accept his resignation. The two men couldn't be more different – Benedict is an archconservative desperate to cling to tradition while Bergoglio is seen as a dangerous liberaliser who might erode the Church's authority. While the two men battle out their differences, the future of Catholicism hangs in the balance.
Uncut Gems
A24
If you've written off Adam Sandler as the doyen of crass, forgettable comedies then prepare to have your pigeonhole well and truly blown apart. The actor puts in a career-best performance as Howard Ratner, a charismatic, fast-talking New York jeweller who is certain he's about to pull off the biggest deal of his life. All he needs is his precarious plan to go off without a hitch. What follows is a frenetic whirl of a film that careens deliciously between chaos and mirth, taking in an arresting film debut from former NBA player Kevin Garnett. You'll finish the film exhausted, entertained and exhilarated.
Atlantics
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A Senegalese romance, a story of construction workers turned migrants and a paranormal revenge tale; Mati Diop's genre-busting Atlantics won the Grand Prix at Cannes last year. Netflix showed its impeccable taste in international films by picking it up. The first time feature director takes her time as she follows seventeen year-old Ada, who is in love with Soulemaine – one of the workers at sea – but obliged to marry another man and Issa, a police officer who gets mixed up in the lives of Ada and the women left behind in Dakar. Diop uses genre tropes and traditional folklore to get under the skin of families, corruption and class in urban Senegal.
American Son
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Don't pay attention to the reviews – American Son is well worth a watch on a rainy afternoon when you can't afford tickets to the theatre. This stage adaptation of a black mother's anguish over her missing son has changed little from a traditional play: it is claustrophobically contained inside the waiting room of a police station, which serves as the main setting for the show. Kerry Washington is masterful as Kendra, a mother openly desperate to find out where her 18 year old son is and blocked at every turn by an openly racist police officer. It tackles segregation, racism, sexism and police brutality in one hour and 30 minutes in a way that will make your stomach churn. The film, like the play before it, generated a wealth of critics that felt its one note of anger and sometimes laboured dialogue failed to adequately tackle modern day racism. Does it fail as an important look at race relations? Yes. But it provides plenty to think about in a way that sticks in your mind long after it's over – and you'll watch a play in the the best seat in the house.
Dunkirk
Warner. Bros.
Christopher Nolan is but one man orchestrating this Dunkirk evacuation but he's also got the stunning work of cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema on the ground and composer Hans Zimmer soaring overhead. Suitably daring, both visually and conceptually, the cast is a mix of Nolan regulars (Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy) young faces you probably won't recognise and Harry Styles doing just fine. This is a tense World War II retelling, which sees the writer-director permitting the warmth and compassion of Dunkirk into his cold, intellectual heart. And in an age where every film seems to clock in at way over two hours, kudos to Nolan for bringing his three interweaving Operation Dynamo strands to an affecting close in one hour and 45 minutes.
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