Whether you’re after a classic, a recent hit, a family film or a buried gem, our curated list will help. Compiled by a genuine viewer and critic, and not by an algorithm, we promise we won’t recommend films we haven’t actually seen and loved.
This article is updated regularly as films come and go from Netflix. Last updated 27 August 2024.
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The Boy and the Heron (2023)
Animated Fantasy. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Animated Film earlier this year, The Boy and the Heron (or in the literal translation of the Japanese title, How Do You Live?) comes from acclaimed writer-director Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. It tells the story of a headstrong boy, Mahito, who in the wake of his mother’s death in the war and his father’s remarriage, ventures into a dreamlike world shared by both the living and the dead – and a talking heron. This beautiful hand-drawn animation draws on Miyazaki’s own life and explores themes of coming of age and coping with a world marked by conflict and loss. Writing for The LA Times, critic Justin Chang says the film ‘sometimes feels like a journey to the center of the Earth, or maybe just the oneiric core of Miyazaki’s subconscious.’
Fun fact: The Japanese premiere of the film in July 2023 was noted for its intentional absence of any promotion, with Studio Ghibli declining to release any trailers, images, synopsis, or casting details, except for a single poster.
The Holdovers (2023)
Comedy/Drama. Set in 1970, The Holdovers follows a curmudgeonly history teacher (Paul Giamatti) at a New England boarding school who is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. He forms a bond with a brainy troublemaker (Dominic Sessa), and with the school’s head cook (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) whose son has recently died in Vietnam. Directed by Alexander Payne (Sideways, Election) this movie will appeal if you like quirky, intelligent drama with a genuine indie vibe.
Fun fact: Alexander Payne worked hard with cinematographer Eigil Bryld to give the film a real 1970s film look and feel – including creating title cards and fake film studio logos to match.
Parasite (2019)
Dark comedy/thriller. A poor family infiltrates the life of a wealthy family in this South Korean hit directed and co-written by Bong Joon-Ho. Among its many accolades, Parasite was the first non-English-language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It’s both tense and funny – and a very relevant critique of class and inequality.
Fun fact: Bong Joon-Ho got the idea for the script while he was working on his previous film Snowpiercer. Bong said the film was influenced by the 1960 Korean domestic Gothic movie The Housemaid, where the stability of a middle-class family is threatened by a disruptive interloper in the form of domestic help.
ScreenHub: Netflix – Best Australian films to stream now
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Sci-fi. An enduring sci-fi classic, Stanley Kubrick’s epic 1968 film was co-written by science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke and based on his short stories. After uncovering a mysterious artefact buried beneath the Lunar surface, a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins. Manned by two men and the supercomputer HAL 9000, the mission takes a trippy, metaphysical turn. Each shot in this film is beautifully constructed and it’s worth revisiting for the style alone.
Fun Facts: 2001: A Space Odyssey is highly regarded and influential for its scientifically accurate depiction of space flight, its pioneering special effects, and also for its frequently parodied opening scene where a tribe of apes confront an alien monolith.
Lady Bird (2017)
Coming-of-age drama. Barbie director Greta Gerwig made her solo directorial debut with this delightful, emotionally rich movie inspired by her own teenage years. Set in Sacramento, California in 2002, the story follows a precocious and pretentious high school student (Saoirse Ronan) and her turbulent relationship with her mother (Laurie Metcalf). Lady Bird will resonate with anyone who’s ever been a teenage misfit with big dreams and working class limitations. In a series of articles regarding the best of the 2010s in film, IndieWire ranked Lady Bird as the 10th best film of the decade.
Fun facts: To prepare the cast and crew, Gerwig gave them her old high-school yearbooks, photos and journals, as well as passages written by Joan Didion. She also took them on a tour of her hometown.
Red Dog (2011)
Family/drama/comedy. The original and best Red Dog movie is based on the legendary true story of the Red Dog kelpie cattle-dog who roamed the outback in North West Australia in the 1970s and brought together a disparate community. Based on the book by author Louis de de Bernières, and directed by Kriv Stenders, Red Dog is a nostalgic, heartwarming dog story that manages to be both sincere and suspicious of its own myths. The cast includes Josh Lucas, Rachael Taylor and the award-winning Koko the dog.
Fun fact: The statue of Red Dog in the last scene of the film is the actual monument erected in Dampier in 1979.
Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
Animated fantasy. Another one written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, Howl’s Moving Castle is weird and wonderful in all the best ways – like the rest of the Studio Ghibli films available on Netflix, including The Boy and the Heron, Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service and Ponyo. Loosely based on the 1986 book by British author Diana Wynne Jones, the story is set in a fictional kingdom where magic and early 20th century technology coexist.
A young girl, Sophie, is turned into an elderly woman by a witch’s curse and encounters a wizard named Howl. She gets caught up in his resistance to fighting for the king. Among the film’s many delights are its positive attitude towards ageing and the depiction of the grumpy, groaning, enchanted moving castle.
Fun Fact: Miyazaki was strongly opposed to the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the film contains strong anti-war themes.
Promising Young Woman (2020)
Psychological thriller. Carey Mulligan won an Academy Award for her performance here as Cassie, a young med school dropout who’s smart, cunning and damaged. She’s living a dangerous double life, ensnaring men and treating them badly, but why? The feature debut of writer-director Emerald Fennell (Saltburn), Promising Young Woman is a provocative, disturbing – and yet enjoyable! –revenge film about rape culture. It’s produced by Margot Robbie’s production company, LuckyChap Entertainment.
Fun fact: The production crew deliberately cast male actors like Bo Burnham, who had previously played wholesome ‘good guys’ in order to reinforce the idea that predators can be anyone.
My Octopus Teacher (2020)
Documentary/melodrama. Remember the pandemic, when we all watched My Octopus Teacher in lockdown and revelled in visiting an underwater world? If not, you may want to check out this story about a free-diving filmmaker, Craig Foster, who forges an unusual friendship with an octopus living in the South African kelp forest near his home. As their friendship develops, Foster learns about courage, creativity and endurance. It’s hard not to be moved, even as you’re wondering how exactly it was filmed. This Netflix Original documentary won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
Fun Fact: Craig Foster can hold his breath for six minutes, and the film’s director, Pippa Ehrlich, can hold for four minutes.
Still looking for more best films on Netflix?
Drama
- The Power of the Dog (2021)
- Marriage Story (2019)
- The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
- Brokeback Mountain (2005)
- Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
- All the President’s Men (1976)
- The Lobster (2015)
Documentary
- Miss Americana (2020)
- In My Blood it Runs (2019)
- The Social Dilemma (2020)
Coming of Age
- Call Me By Your Name (2017)
- Boyhood (2014)
- Whiplash (2014)
Comedy
- Barbie (2023)
- Glass Onion Knives Out (2022)
- Bridesmaids (2011)
- Booksmart (2019)
