34 best films on Netflix for your next movie night
Searching for the best films on Netflix can be a bit of a chore when you don't know what you're looking for – but you can always count on the streaming giant to offer something for everyone, whatever our mood.
Most of us have pretty much worked our way through the streaming service's extensive catalogue of films, but if you still feel like there are quite a few movies you still haven't had the chance to catch, then fear not – because we've researched the best films you absolutely need to watch on Netflix UK, including cult classics like Lost In Translation and Jaws.
There are also sad movies based on complex, real-life societal issues that have us working our way through a tissue box, such as The Trial Of The Chicago 7.
But we get it, sometimes you just want to head to Netflix for the best feel-good films, and Enola Holmes, starring Millie Bobby Brown, doesn't disappoint. So we're saving you an hour, we're saving you an argument, we're giving you fail-safe options for guaranteed entertainment with the following list of best films on Netflix. You are most welcome.
Scroll down for GLAMOUR's pick of the 34 best films on Netflix right now…
If you're still after more specific entertainment options, check out our galleries on the best sad movies (if you want a good cry), the best romantic comedies, or the best Korean drama and Scandi crime series on Netflix for some international flair. If you're after shorter instalments, here's our round-up of the best TV series (to binge-watch to your heart's content), and in times of need, here are some much-appreciated movies for hangovers…
Courtesy Everett CollectionBefore I Go To Sleep
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Mark Strong, Colin Firth
What's it about? Kidman plays a woman living with amnesia after a traumatic accident. But soon she starts to question what actually happened to her, as well as if she can trust the people closest to her – including her own husband.
NetflixJoy
Starring: Bill Nighy, Thomasin McKenzie, James Norton, Tanya Moodie, Joanna Scanlan
What's it about? A gorgeous British story, which follows the incredible team who pioneered the science and medicine necessary to bring IVF into the world. It also explores the societal attitudes that opposed these developments, and how it affected the team behind it and the women who participated in their experiments.
Ana Carballosa/NetflixAtlas
Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Simu Liu, Lana Parrilla
What's it about? Atlas Shepherd (Lopez) plays a data analyst who mistrusts AI. But when she finds herself on a mission go wrong, she has to align herself with the technology to survive.
Brian Roedel/Netflix © 2024Hit Man
Starring: Glen Powell, Adria Arjona, Austin Amelio
What's it about? A classic boy meets girl – except not really. Glen Powell plays professional killer Gary Johnson who breaks the rules when he starts to fall for the wife of the man he's been tasked to kill.
Sasidis Sasisakulporn/Netflix © 2024Mother of the Bride
Starring: Brooke Shields, Miranda Cosgrove, Chad Michael Murray, Benjamin Bratt, Rachael Harris
What's it about? Lana (Shields) faces all kinds of awkward situations and feelings when she finds out that the man her daughter is engaged to is the son of the man who broke her heart years ago (Bratt).
© 2023 Netflix, Inc.Scoop
Starring: Billie Piper, Gillian Anderson, Rufus Sewell, Keeley Hawes
What's it about? This Netflix movie takes a deep dive into the true-life story of the BBC Newsnight journalists who organised and conducted Prince Andrew's car crash interview back in 2019, which outlined his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
© 2023 Netflix, Inc.Shirley
Starring: Regina King, Lucas Hedges, Christina Jackson, Reina King
What's it about? This biopic follows the life of Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman to be elected to Congress. Back in 1972, she made a trailblazing run for the Democratic presidential nomination, and Shirley tells this amazing story of a Black woman fighting for power and representation.
© 2023 Netflix, Inc.You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah
Starring: Adam Sandler, Jackie Sandler, Sunny Sandler, Sadie Sandler
What's it about? This is one heck of a family affair, with the whole Sandler family coming together for this comedy movie centred on the coming-of-age Jewish ritual of bat mitzvahs. During BFF Stacy and Lydia's planning for their bat mitzvahs, things go awry when middle school drama threatens their rite of passage.
ANDREA RESMINI/NETFLIXBird Box Barcelona
Starring: Georgina Campbell, Mario Casas, Patrick Criado, Naila Schuberth
What's it about? Just like the Sandra Bullock-starring Netflix Original Bird Box from 2018, Bird Box Barcelona sees Sebastian navigating his own survival journey through the desolate streets of Barcelona when a mysterious and terrifying force decimates the world's population.
© 2022 Netflix, Inc.Love At First Sight
Starring: Haley Lu Richardson, Ben Hardy
What's it about? Two twenty-something strangers keep running into each other in airports worldwide but keep missing their chance to take their fledgling feelings for one another to the next level. Will fate intervene to bring these two back together, or is it a purely missed connection? Tune in to find out...
© 2023 MRC II Distribution Company, L.P.Fair Play
Starring: Phoebe Dynevor, Alden Ehrenreich
What's it about? Have you ever wondered what it feels like when you and your secret fiancé are up for the same promotion at work... and you end up bagging it? Well, there's a lot of spiralling misogyny and double standards at play, which is brilliantly depicted in Chloe Domont's Fair Play, which sees the toxic and challenging battle play out at the expense of the couple's once picture-perfect relationship.
Allen Fraser/NetflixRun
Starring: Sarah Paulson, Kiera Allen
What's it about? Homeschooled disabled teenager Chloe is kept in isolation by her mother, who has always been concerned with her daughter's safety out in the world. However, Chloe soon begins suspecting her mother's reasons for keeping her hidden are more sinister than what she once thought, and she soon begins investigating to discover the terrifying truth.
Photo Credit: Barbara NitkeHappiness for Beginners
Starring: Ellie Kemper, Luke Grimes
What's it about? It's been a year since her divorce, and 32-year-old Helen Carpenter is still down in the dumps and cynical about everything in life. As a result, her brother persuades her to sign up for a wilderness survival course, where she soon learns the beauty of life, finds joy in the wilderness and begins to develop feelings for someone new.
Photo Credit: Boris MartinSenior Year
Starring: Rebel Wilson, Angourie Rice, Alicia Silverstone
What's it about? This fun, light-hearted Netflix comedy sees a high-school cheerleader fall into a coma following a nasty accident before her prom. She wakes up twenty years later, and immediately wanting to reclaim her glory days, she returns to high school in a bid to become prom queen.
© 2023 Netflix, Inc.True Spirit
Starring: Teagan Croft, Anna Paquin, Cliff Curtis
What's it about? Based on a remarkable true story, True Spirit follows a sixteen-year-old Australian girl's courageous journey to become the youngest person to have sailed the world solo. While fulfilling her dreams, the teen also faces her greatest fears at the same time.
CHRIS HARRIS/NETFLIXThe Strays
Starring: Ashley Madekwe, Bukky Bakray, Jorden Myrie, Maria Almeida, Samuel Paul Small, Justin Salinger
What's it about? A light-skinned Black woman appears to be living in a wonderful life of privilege with her husband and their two children. However, her meticulously crafted life begins to unravel when two strangers from her past show up in her idyllic suburban town demanding answers.
Kim Simms/NetflixDo Revenge
Starring: Maya Hawke, Camila Mendes
What's it about? When former 'Queen Bee' Drea reveals she wants revenge on her ex-boyfriend for publishing her sex tape, and exchange student Eleanor says she wants revenge on an old school bully, they team up for justice against their tormentors.
© 2022 Netflix, Inc.The Good Nurse
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Eddie Redmayne
What's it about? Based on a true story, nurse Amy Loughren is forced to protect herself and her children after discovering that one of her colleagues and close friends, Charlie Cullen is responsible for the deaths of dozens of patients across nine hospitals.
Saeed AdyaniBird Box
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Sarah Paulson, Machine Gun Kelly, Trevante Rhodes
What's it about? A woman and her children embark on a dangerous journey through the woods and down the river as they cover their eyes from the evil chasing them – because if you see it, you die.
© 2022 Netflix, Inc.Luckiest Girl Alive
Starring: Mila Kunis, Chiara Aurelia, Finn Wittrock
What's it about? The filming of a true crime documentary forces a writer to confront her harrowing high school history – leaving her perfectly crafted New York City life to fall apart.
KIMBERLEY FRENCH/NETFLIX © 2021The Unforgivable
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Jon Bernthal
What's it about? A recently released inmate, Ruth Slater, attempts to re-enter society but finds that putting her life back together is challenging in a world where people refuse to forgive her past.
© 2022 Netflix, Inc.The Swimmers
Starring: Nathalie Issa, Manal Issa, Matthias Schweighöfer
What's it about? Two Syrian sisters swim for hours in the choppy, dangerous Mediterranean seas to reach Greece as asylum seekers after fleeing their war-torn home in Damascus before going on to compete at the Rio Olympic Games. Based on an inspiring true story.
Barry WetcherThe Girl on the Train
Starring: Emily Blunt, Haley Bennett, Rebecca Ferguson, Luke Evans, Justin Theroux, Lisa Kudrow
What's it about? Divorcee Rachel begins to idealise a young couple named Scott and Megan, who lives next to her ex-husband. However, when Megan suddenly goes missing, Rachel finds herself dragged into the shocking investigation.
Mary Cybulski/NETFLIXI'm Thinking of Ending Things
Starring: Jessie Buckley, Jesse Plemons, Toni Collette
What's it about? Things take a bizarre turn as a young woman makes the long journey through the chilly, snowy winter with her boyfriend to meet his odd parents at their secluded farm.
Ivan Šardi/NetflixThe Weekend Away
Starring: Leighton Meester, Christina Wolfe, and Ziad Bakri
What's it about? Do you know when you go on a girly holiday and end up being questioned on suspicion of committing murder? Nah, neither do we. But Beth, played by Leighton, sadly does.
NIKO TAVERNISE/NETFLIXDon't Look Up
Starring: Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Jennifer Lawrence, and Ariana Grande.
What's it about? As two scientists desperately attempt to convince the world that a giant comet is hurtling towards the Earth, they must deal with the President of the USA constantly undermining their efforts. Come for the political commentary; stay for Ariana Grande's comedic timing.
@ 2022 Netflix, Inc.Windfall
Starring: Jesse Plemons, Lily Collins, and Jason Segel.
What's it about? Netflix describes it as a “noir thriller," which follows a “young couple who arrive at their vacation home only to find it’s being robbed.” The stuff of nightmares.
YANNIS DRAKOULIDIS/NETFLIX © 2021The Lost Daughter
Starring: Olivia Coleman, Dakota Johnson, and Paul Mescal
What's it about? A professor is forced to confront her troubled past after meeting (and becoming obsessed with) a young woman and her daughter on a holiday in Italy.
ROBERT VIGLASKI /LEGENDARY ©2020Enola Holmes
Starring: Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, Sam Claflin
What's it about? Forget Sherlock Holmes, we're more interested in his teenage sister, Enola, who becomes a detective in her own right after her mother goes missing.
Doane GregoryThe Adam Project
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo
What's it about? Ryan Reynolds plays Adam, a fighter-pilot-come-time-traveller that crashes back into the year 2022. Seeking refuge in his childhood house, Adam meets and later enlists his 12-year-old self on an adventure to save the future.
NICO TAVERNISE/NETFLIX © 2020The Trial Of The Chicago 7
Starring: Sacha Baron Cohen, Jeremy Strong, Eddie Redmayne, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Michael Keaton.
What's it about? This film is based on the true story of a group of anti-Vietnam war protestors, who were charged with conspiracy and crossing state lines with the intention of inciting the riots that erupted at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
LARRY HORRICKS/NETFLIX © 2021The Dig
Starring: Lily James, Ralph Fiennes, and Carey Mulligan.
What's it about? Another true story. This time, it's about an archaeologist who embarks on the historically important excavation of Sutton Hoo in 1938. It's way more exciting than it sounds, trust us.
The Irishman
Starring: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Stephen Graham.
What's it about? If you love a gangsta film, this is the one for you. It follows Frank Sheeran, an ex-mobster, as he reflects on the disappearance of his life-long friend, Jimmy Hoffa, the former president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Wilson WebbMarriage Story
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver, and Laura Dern.
What's it about? Don't watch this if you aren't in the mood for a cry. It follows a couple as they navigate the realities of getting divorced and co-parenting. You've been warned.
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