Behold, Steve Newall has crafted the definitive list of the best films currently available to stream on Netflix NZ. We’ll update this post each month as films come and go from Netflix.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Watch on NetflixStanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke’s science fiction masterpiece is both a stunningly real vision of the future, and a psychedelic explosion. The breakthrough film for Douglas Trumbull, who would go on to be revered as a special effects legend, 2001‘s effects remain incredibly impressive over fifty years later—and its influence on cinema since its 1968 release is impossible to understate (would Kubrick have been chuffed by the start of Barbie? Probably!). It’s the gold standard by which all cinematic missions into space, interactions with artificial intelligence, and depictions of the future have been judged against ever since.
American Psycho
Watch on NetflixAn unholy trinity comes together to produce filmmaking magnificence—Bret Easton Ellis’s notorious novel, a Christian Bale performance for the ages, and director/co-screenwriter Mary Harron’s take on the source material. The pairing of Harron and Bale is vital to the sublime result, as opposed to the satire-free thriller that Lionsgate tried to make at one point, intended to star Leonardo DiCaprio with Oliver Stone directing. Yikes. While Harron’s film has no shortage of controversial content, her take demonstrates an understanding of Ellis’s novel as comedic social critique, and is an enduringly watchable one.
Athena
Watch on NetflixFurious and frantic, Athena builds on director Romain Gavras’ previous work, most notably his music videos Stress for Justice and Bad Girls and Born Free for M.I.A. As many have noted, the rest of this feature can’t quite live up to its audacious, opening sequence—a spectacular oner moving from French police press conference to violent protest and a housing estate entering a state of siege. Amid the growing chaos and violence as riot squads descend on the estate, three brothers of Algerian descent pursue conflicting, desperate strategies as they’re backed into various corners. Despairing, urgent, tragic, brutal—and a strong showcase of Gavras’ talents.
Atlantics
Watch on NetflixSet in Senegal’s capital Dakar, supernatural romantic drama Atlantics follows interweaving narratives—construction workers rail against not being paid to build a shining corporate tower above the impoverished city, and teenaged Ada prepares for her arranged marriage. Connecting the two is Ada’s romance with Souleiman, one of the aforementioned workers, who’s among a group of them to set sail in the middle of the night for Spain. Things get odd when illness begins to befall those close to these men, and Souleiman’s said to have made a reappearance. A deft blend of various elements, and a super promising first feature from Mati Diop.
The Big Short
Watch on NetflixWhile best-known as an outright comedy director thanks to Anchorman, Talladega Nights and Step Brothers, here Adam McKay turns in a brutally succinct takedown of the American greed causing the Global Financial Crisis. McKay distills hugely complex subject matter down to digestible, Oscar-winning form, using every trick in the book—a stacked cast, dramatic heft, the blackest of comedy, Margot Robbie in a bubble bath—to land this true story’s punches, bringing into full view a mix of satirical skills, anti-establishment attitude, and interest in serious issues previously only hinted at on Saturday Night Live (and his underrated cop comedy The Other Guys, of all places—also on Netflix).
Boy
Watch on NetflixTaika Waititi’s second feature saw the multi-hyphenate return to his childhood—geographically (the East Coast’s Waihau Bay), temporally (the 80s), and emotionally (the title). The humour of Aotearoa permeates this pic, as does Waititi’s own creative streak, but there’s no reason to tell you this because you have literally all seen this film and experienced its intimate and heartrending depiction of disillusionment with a beloved parent, one that’s unfit for the pedestal they’ve been put on.
Bridesmaids
Watch on NetflixJust look at that lineup of comedy talent above—it’s ridiculous. As was the “conventional wisdom” back in 2011 that a comedy starring women might not work. Not just critically adored, Bridesmaids remains the highest-grossing movie produced by Judd Apatow, wiping the floor with his filmography of generally delayed adolescent, dude-centric pics. Speaking of wiping, one of the many achievements of Bridesmaids was in demonstrating that the full range of comedy is open to women. Not just rom-com but profane shit- and spew-laced laughs. Both outrageous and outrageously successful, this tale of pre-wedding hi (and lo?)-jinks remains a modern classic.
Carol
Watch on NetflixCate Blanchett and Rooney Mara lead this measured, award-winning, 1950s-set romantic drama from Todd Haynes, chronicling their deepening connection during a closeted era. Haynes brings Patricia Highsmith’s novel to life in sumptuous fashion—this film is gorgeous—while Blanchett and Mara sell the spark, as well as completely inhabiting their characters. A glamorous society wife and mother and a department store attendant respectively, the stakes are very different for each as they fall in love.
Catch Me If You Can
Watch on NetflixSupremely watchable entertainment, Catch Me If You Can has a breeziness that sometimes you need instead of a darker thriller. Steven Spielberg’s gently amusing tale of a young con man (Leonardo DiCaprio) who posed as a pilot, doctor and more, while pursued by a dogged FBI agent (Tom Hanks), doesn’t lack an emotional element, with the director and his leads all adept at lending this lighter swindle pic a suitable sense of gravity when needed.
Cousins
Watch on NetflixA complex tale that spans decades and perspectives as it follows three Māori women through three distinctly different time periods—their childhood, teenage years and during their 60s—each setting boasting a different trio of actors chronicling their lives (standouts including Ana Scotney, Tioreore Melbourne, Tanea Heke and Rachel House). With two of the titular cousins trying to reconnect with the missing third in later years, and the impacts of systemic dislocation and colonisation on Māori evident throughout, Cousins is a deeply moving dramatic triumph.
Edge of Tomorrow
Watch on NetflixSupremely rewatchable, as befits its premise, a stymied release prevented Doug Liman’s sci-fi action pic making the box office impact it really deserved (and has deprived us to date of a much-wanted sequel). A nifty riff on video games, its characters have the ability to “live, die, repeat” while embracing nihilist gaming humour as they kick the bucket—Tom Cruise’s shriek when getting run over hilariously undercuts his movie star persona, as does his initially cowardly, slimeball character. The action rules, the devastated post-invasion world is stylishly depicted, and Emily Blunt proves she can more than hold her own opposite Cruise.
Eighth Grade
Watch on NetflixAs much precocious talent as was on display in Netflix special Bo Burnham: Inside, there’s little to suggest Burnham had previously made this stunningly empathetic and touching coming-of-age tale. An achingly vulnerable performance by Elsie Fisher brings every nuance of banality, awkwardness, comedy and awfulness to life as Eighth Grade chronicles her character’s horrible last week of a difficult year at middle school. Deeply moving and often squirm-inducing, despite some troubling subject matter Burnham displays a soft touch as director—even when conveying the multitude of horrors encountered every day on social media, the film resists over-sensationalising or finger-wagging, instead just leaving us in the hurt and confusion of growing up.
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Watch on NetflixWes Anderson’s fastidiousness in filmmaking took another leap with this painstaking stop-motion Roald Dahl adaptation, one that somehow shows more heart than some of his human-starring efforts. Anderson’s stylistic obsessions and retro inclinations are on full display alongside animated artistry that’s a beauty to behold. Capable of both silliness and seriousness, it’s an adaptation infused with Wes’s sensibility just as much as (more than?) Dahl’s.
Fast Five
Watch on NetflixDespite escalating levels of physics-defying action as each film tries to better the last, Fast Five stands as the high water mark of the series to date. Declared by Flicks writers to be the eighth-best action film of the 2010s, there was no bettering the surprise factor of Fast Five’s audacity in abandoning much, if any connection to street racing, while the welcome introduction of Dwayne Johnson to the franchise further enhanced the adrenaline factor. Everything clicked here, even (especially) as the film leans into its ridiculousness for maximum enjoyment—a rush the franchise has chased to diminishing success since.
The Favourite
Watch on NetflixIt took five years for director Yorgos Lanthimos to follow up The Favourite, the director’s first collaboration with Emma Stone before recent superb Oscar contender Poor Things. In a sign of things to come perhaps, some Flicks readers who got an early look at this 2018 black comedy were a little unprepared for the language and sex on offer, perhaps not what some would have expected from Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz. If you’re the sort of pearl-clutcher that walks out of a preview screening because it’s too risqué, maybe steer clear. For those of us who like to be more challenged, this tale of women at court vying for the attention/affection of Queen Anne has plenty to offer—from bawdy laughs to excellent performances (Colman won a BAFTA, an Oscar and more) and a wonderfully-crafted tone.
Get Out
Watch on NetflixThis 2017 hit changed the way we looked at first-time director Jordan Peele, did what most horror pics can’t by getting deserved love from the Oscars, and added new vocab to the modern lexicon with the concept of “the sunken place”. With a great premise bolstered by fantastic performances (particularly Get Out‘s lead Daniel Kaluuya, although we must also praise the not-so-secretly racist family he visits), more than anything else, this is an elegantly effective horror, with all elements operating in unison. Peele hasn’t aimed for the razor-sharpness of this since, which is a bit of a shame—even if you can’t fault the ambition of follow-up Us or the more satisfying Nope.
Gone Girl
Watch on NetflixWhat a combination of A-games Gone Girl is. There’s Gillian Flynn’s novel, which she adapts for the screen here; David Fincher’s grasp of tone from stylish cinema to trashy goodness; and the performances of Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike as the ill-matched Dunnes. Affleck, in particular, is a piece of pitch-perfect casting, drawing on his slimier, less sympathetic qualities as the kind of guy who it’s easy to believe would have actually killed his wife. As her disappearance is investigated, what unfolds is a thrilling sequence of events that doesn’t feel like it runs for anything like its two-and-a-half-hour viewing time.
GoodFellas
Watch on NetflixRobbed at the Academy Awards (where it coincidentally found itself up against The Godfather: Part III in a number of categories), GoodFellas was beaten for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Editing and Best Adapted Screenplay by Dances With Wolves, which we can probably agree is completely, objectively wrong (though at least there was Oscar love for Joe Pesci). Audaciously, energetically directed and harnessing great performances from Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro and Pesci, GoodFellas turns gangster life into an exhilarating thrill, the counter-point to which Martin Scorsese explores in fellow Netflix title The Irishman.
Heathers
Watch on NetflixMeaner than Mean Girls, high school satire with a bit of John Waters’ view of white middle-class America, the biting Heathers is anchored by a Winona Ryder performance that balances the film’s bleak nihilism with genuine likability—tougher than it sounds. Opposite Ryder is Christian Slater’s OTT Jack Nicholson impersonation, the cast rounded out with spot-on supporting performances. Plot-wise, it’s a surprise some of this stuff ever made it to the screen, but Heathers is all the better for it. Rewatching (and re-quoting) ASAP.
Hustlers
Watch on NetflixA crew of strip club workers turn the tables on their Wall Street clients in this crime film set around the 2008 financial crisis, when—for a time—money was being thrown around like it was going out of style (it was, and so was the Baby Phat, Juicy, Ed Hardy, Von Dutch etc fashion seen in the film). A revelation as the scam leader, Jennifer Lopez was herself robbed—of an Oscar nomination, for what is a career-best turn. Speaking of turns… when Usher turns up? Just try and keep the smile off your face (and the bills in your wallet).
In Bruges
Watch on NetflixForget the questionable Three Billboards (and definitely the terrible Seven Psychopaths), playwright turned director Martin McDonagh’s best film by far remains his startling debut—a darkly comic crime pic starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as hitmen holed up in the historic town of Bruges after a job gone wrong. The fairytale backdrop is at turns beautiful and claustrophobic, while the writing’s sharp, the performances are outstanding, and the overall vibe is tense, moving and hilarious. “That’s for John Lennon, you Yankee fucking c–t!”
John Wick
Watch on NetflixThings get a bit convoluted in the Wick sequels (not that we’re about to stop watching). But it wasn’t the worldbuilding that made this breakout action pic such a hit—even if we were bizarrely deprived of a proper cinema release here in Aotearoa, crazy days!—but instead the lean, efficient plot, a style of action choreography to match, and of course, Keanu Reeves taking on a new signature role decades into his career. Frowning intensity, long take action, and tragic motivation all land wonderfully in his wheelhouse in this all-time classic.
Jurassic Park
Watch on NetflixAt the ripe old age of 30, Spielberg’s dino-venture is holding up just great, thanks. The film’s once-innovative technology may have been eclipsed by more sophisticated onscreen trickery, but the film still has plenty to offer audiences as a suspenseful adventure that has stood the test of time (and looks a lot better after three decades than many modern-day multiplex pics are gonna). We may not marvel quite so much at the mere sight of computer-created creatures these days, but you can rely on the master filmmaker to imbue this pic with something special—thrills and character beats that land as heavy as those T-Rex footsteps.
The Killer
Watch on NetflixDavid Fincher’s latest thriller (#9 in our fave movies of 2023 writers poll) features Michael Fassbender, back from an acting hiatus/motorsport career as the titular killer. Bringing bone-dry humour, droll monologues, a steely presence and precise physicality to the role, he proves a great match for Fincher’s clinical precision, the pair elevating their pic above familiar fare—whether that’s in one of the best onscreen fight scenes of the year, or in more conversationally combative moments. As a bonus, now we know just what sort of person exclusively listens to The Smiths (yeah, a conscience-free psychopath), and corporate product placement has perhaps never been so intriguing.
The Lord of the Rings
Watch on NetflixSome 20-plus years after their release, we’re all due for another trip back to Middle-earth at some stage, perhaps even more so after Prime Video’s comparatively underwhelming Rings of Power. Peter Jackson’s staggering trilogy—The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King—are all here so you can revisit hours of compelling storytelling and adventure, marvel in Aotearoa’s glory, and perhaps indulge in just a little nostalgia for this turn-of-the-millenium moment in New Zealand history (the making of these films, that is: I know they aren’t historically accurate).
Mad Max: Fury Road
Watch on NetflixGeorge Miller’s action masterpiece is always deserving of a rewatch (or waiting to be discovered if you somehow haven’t seen it). Since its release in 2015, we can only think of a couple of action films to hold a candle to it, a desert-set spectacle with a tankful of creativity, craziness and car-related carnage. A strong emphasis on practical effects is bolstered, not replaced, by CGI work, with choreography, world-building and tone doing the heavy lifting in place of minimal dialogue (Tom Hardy’s grunts notwithstanding). A masterpiece, and maybe the first and last of its kind to be made for a major studio at this scale and singular vision.
Metallica: Some Kind of Monster
Watch on NetflixThe most painfully honest and funny insight into the music biz since This is Spinal Tap, Some Kind of Monster perhaps ought to have buried Metallica, being such an unflattering portrayal of a musical juggernaut that had sold 80 million albums and now found itself creatively becalmed. Two years of crisis are captured on screen, from the band’s hiring of a therapist to their struggles with writer’s block, the hiring of a new bass player, James Hetfield’s departure to rehab, and the making of a pretty average album. Pretence falls away (except perhaps in their group dynamics and self-deception) and this document is a classic of doco makers being in the right place at the wrong time. All that and Lars’s dad (RIP).
Midsommar
Watch on NetflixAfter “elevated horror” Hereditary‘s gloomy and claustrophobic meditation on grief, director Ari Aster moved to the colourful, wide-open vistas of rural Sweden. That’s not to say all’s well at all, with Dani (Florence Pugh) struggling with both the death of her family and an increasingly dysfunctional relationship with her boyfriend (Jack Reynor). Invited to their friend’s ancestral commune, the Hårga, Dani and her friends find themselves swept up in increasingly offputting rituals, even as the sun shines, the Swedish smile, the flowers bloom—and the mushies kick in.
Mister Organ
Watch on NetflixAn investigation into who’s behind a bizarre spate of car clamping outside an Auckland antique shop leads David Farrier on a strange and troubling journey in this doco, one that took a toll on the filmmaker as his subject turned the tables on him. “If I could not have made this, I would not have fucking made it,” Farrier told me at the time of Mister Organ‘s cinema release, and watching this, the idea of being in Organ’s orbit quickly begins to feel terrifying (and exhausting, depressing, boring). Trapped in a relationship with his subject, and documenting a history of similar manipulation, Farrier’s pain is our uncomfortable gain.
Moonlight
Watch on NetflixCapturing three chapters of a young Black man’s life, this Best Picture winner at the 2017 Oscars is a remarkable portrayal of youth, adolescence and early adulthood. Three different actors play lead character Chiron at these different ages as he deals with emotional and physical abuse and their lasting impacts, as well as navigating his identity as a gay Black man. A great cast, including Trevante Rhodes, André Holland, Janelle Monáe and Mahershala Ali nail things on the acting front, while Barry Jenkins’s remarkably assured direction makes this heartfelt tale sing from the screen, incredibly moving and deeply personal.
My Neighbour Totoro
Watch on NetflixNetflix delighted Studio Ghibli fans with the news that they’d acquired 21 classic films from Oscar-winning Japanese animation team Studio Ghibli (“feel free to cry big, globby tears of joy when you read this”, we said). But how to pick a fave, when the work of these animation masters is brimming with perfection? Even though we have ample love for Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, Princess Mononoke, Laputa: Castle in the Sky and others you can see on Netflix, let’s appoint My Neighbour Totoro as Ghibli’s ambassador on this list (he’s their mascot, after all).
The Nest
Watch on NetflixBetween 2011’s superb cult-themed debut Martha Marcy May Marlene and last year’s wrestling true story The Iron Claw, writer-director Sean Durkin helmed this strong, but under-seen, drama starring Jude Law and Carrie Coon. In this 1980s-set pic, a family makes a stressful move from the United States to a large manor in the English countryside (far from the cosy environment of the title). It’s the setup for horror, a vibe Durkin taps into even while most of the film’s stresses and scares are of the domestic or relationship variety, The Nest nevertheless proving an engrossing and disturbing watch, propelled by powerful performances as a family falls into crisis.
The Nice Guys
Watch on NetflixRyan Gosling and Russell Crowe team up to winning effect in Shane Black’s black comedy crime pic The Nice Guys, a great odd-couple comprising a comically hapless PI (Gosling) and a rough-as-guts enforcer (Crowe). Careening around 1970s Los Angeles, the duo are trying to track down a missing young woman whose trail will lead them into the pornography industry, as well as conflict with the city’s bureaucracy (and of course some hoodlums and assorted cannon fodder). Black was back at his best here, and the chemistry between Gosling and Crowe is nothing short of magnificent (it’s also a must-see for everyone who found Gosling hilarious in Barbie).
The Night Comes For Us
Watch on NetflixSurely the most over-the-top action you’ll find on Netflix, this Indonesian pic shares thrilling choreography and key cast members with The Raid, but gleefully embraces the gory end of the action spectrum. Director Timo Tjahjanto serves up a massive body count, and relishes coming up with as many different ways for a human to kill another human as he can, broken cattle bones in a freezing works being among our favourites (along with plenty of other shooting, breaking, and chopping manoeuvres). There’s probably a story in there somewhere but it escapes us just now—doesn’t stop this slice of splatter action from being incredibly entertaining.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Watch on NetflixTarantino’s second-to-last film ever(?!) continues his run of rewriting history. After killing Hitler and racist plantation owners in prior pics, the Manson Family come under the spotlight here, in a gorgeous recreation of 1969 Hollywood. Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt are a great double act, while Margot Robbie captures Sharon Tate’s luminescence, all on a collision course of sorts as Tarantino transcends reality to turn true crime into a alternate reality fairy tale (as the title suggests).
Oppenheimer
Watch on Netflix2024’s big Oscar winner comes to your screen, ready for a rewatch or to explore Christopher Nolan’s portrait of the father of the atomic bomb. As Oppenheimer‘s cinematic accolades suggest, this is a film firing on all cylinders, Nolan harnessing the best from his team of collaborators on each side of the camera in service of his vision. Like its subject, brought to life by a deservingly acclaimed Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer is complex and hard to pin down—but in exploring this cool, calculating, and contradictory figure, Nolan has perhaps shown us more of himself than in his fictional filmic outings.
The Piano
Watch on NetflixJane Campion’s history-making directorial accomplishment saw her become the first woman director ever to win the Palme d’Or, her film also earning Oscars for Holly Hunter, an astonishingly young Anna Paquin, and Campion herself. A decade before LOTR, it was also showcasing Aotearoa’s brutal scenery and black sand beaches on screens around the world—but all the above is just icing on the cake of a film that’s a gripping and moving study of power, sex and transaction. Thirty years on, The Piano remains as fascinating and unsettling as ever, observed Rachel Ashby in a recent retrospective for Flicks.
The Power of the Dog
Watch on NetflixJane Campion’s mastery shines through in this Oscar winner, as the director goes about developing strong characters and setting in motion a chain of events that chillingly reveals itself in hindsight. Much less of a revisionist Western than some have billed it as, Campion nevertheless weaves a tale that hinges on performative masculinity, repressed emotion, and the weaponisation of desire. Patiently constructed, but not lagging, this is a period family drama with a sting in its tail that lingers.
Room
Watch on NetflixAn incredibly moving portrayal of the bond between mother and son, Room also functions as an unsettling captivity thriller. Inside a windowless, 10-by-10-foot enclosure, Brie Larson plays a mother raising and protecting her five-year-old son Jack—even as a sicko keeps them trapped there. Her efforts to preserve Jack’s optimism and innocence in this awful situation are deeply affecting, with Larson winning an Academy Award for her superb work in building an onscreen maternal relationship with the then seven-year-old Jacob Tremblay (himself kept innocent of the film’s true nature by the production).
RRR
Watch on NetflixThis Indian action sensation may run for just over three hours, but it doesn’t contain any padding. Instead, every minute of RRR is crammed full of creativity, this anti-colonial adventure laying down a huge challenge to bigger-budget, more technically-gifted Hollywood snoozefests. Cheer as the British Raj feels the might of two heroes teaming up (the Brits also having to contend with a literal truckload of wild animals at one point), and dance along to the soundtrack’s many contagious numbers. Truly thrilling, it stands on its own two feet, and is unlike anything Western audiences might have seen before. (It also placed third in our favourite movies of 2022).
The Shallows
Watch on NetflixSometimes you might want to be cerebrally challenged by a film, one that dares you to keep up with its intellectual prowess. Or, you might just want to spend 86 minutes stuck on a rock with Blake Lively, with a rising tide and a hungry, persistent shark lurking. There’s not a ton more to Jaume Collet-Serra’s taut single-location survival thriller than this set-up, everything working in service of the film’s superb ‘what would you do?’ ticking-clock scenario. Even high and dry on the couch, this’ll get you squirming as the water splashes ever higher…
The Shining
Watch on NetflixKubrick’s horror masterpiece needs no introduction. Like some of the other films on this list, it has permeated pop culture thanks to unforgettable imagery, a combination of creeping dread and outright terror, and magnificent performances led by a foaming mad Jack Nicholson. Stephen King might not be the biggest fan, but in the hands of Kubrick, King’s novel—inspired by the author’s alcoholism and his stay at The Stanley Hotel—transcends the B-movie ghetto usually assigned to horror, becoming something more profoundly affecting in the process.
Step Brothers
Watch on NetflixThis comedy highlight soars thanks to its inspired pairing of Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as squabbling man-babies forced to get along when their respective parents get together. It’s utterly ridiculous with completely committed performances and comes as significantly lighter viewing than some of the other entries on this list. Ferrell and Reilly are a joy to behold, while Adam Scott is great as an asshole (and shines leading an a cappella rendition of Sweet Child O’ Mine). Warriors players Shaun Johnson and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck’s Step Brothers-referencing photo shoot further illustrates its cultural legacy as a piece of high art.
The Stranger
Watch on NetflixMission: Impossible’s Sean Harris has possibly never been more terrifying—which is saying something—than in this utterly bone-chilling Australian thriller. In a departure from typical true-crime narratives, director Thomas M. Wright patiently ensnares us in the psychology, environment and relationships of his characters, before weaving in more expected procedural elements. Harris is paired with an on-form Joel Edgerton, and with their dangerous relationship at its core, The Stranger leaves us as on edge as the two key men on screen. A hard (if tough going) recommend.
Sweet Country
Watch on NetflixAt times exploiting the Western genre’s conventions and at others gently subverting them, Warwick Thornton’s Sweet Country sees an Aboriginal stockman and his wife flee across the Outback after committing the cardinal sin of killing a white man in self-defense. Among their pursuers, Bryan Brown is a mean bully, prone to erupting in spittle-flecked fury, while Sam Neill only sporadically emerges from myopic thrall to the Bible. An often searing portrayal of colonial racism and rage at a time when today’s cultural paradigm coalesced—a continent ruled by arrogant invaders, who’ve dispossessed the Indigenous people’s connection to culture and country.
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Watch on Netflix20+ years on, Anthony Minghella’s adaption of Patricia Highsmith’s novel (itself 65+ years old) remains a masterful psychological thriller. Here the same qualities that allow Matt Damon to be one of cinema’s most reliable everyman movie stars—letting audiences project themselves into his characters (even when they are amnesiac assassins, for example)—are put to their most unsettling use. He might seem like a fun grifter at the beginning, but Tom Ripley’s unthreatening, boyish façade masks something much more sinister. As he appropriates the identities of others, it’s more than just a con. Ripley wants to be them, and it threatens everyone around him.
Three Identical Strangers
Watch on NetflixThe story of identical triplets reunited at age 19 and the dark secret behind their initial separation, to say too much about what transpires in this must-see documentary would diminish its impact. Suffice to say, this tale of identical triplets reunited after being adopted out to three different families—their connection to one another unbeknownst to parents and kids alike—packs more punches than simply the novelty factor that made momentary celebrities out of the three young men in question. Their post-reunion life is fascinating, as is the investigative work into how the whole situation came about, dark revelations that you’ll be desperate to discuss with fellow viewers.
Top Gun: Maverick
Watch on NetflixNot content with saving the world onscreen in lots of different outings, Tom Cruise set out to save cinema itself here during the COVID-19 pandemic—and with movie theatres still standing, how could we possibly prove him wrong? In an era oversaturated with disappointing, unasked-for nostalgia sequels and requels, Top Gun: Maverick overdelivered in thrills and (ok, a bit cheesily patriotic) emotion. Plus, as we’ve now come to expect, the excitement of watching Tom Cruise doing spectacular things for real cannot be overstated.
Uncut Gems
Watch on NetflixAdam Sandler is in top form in this anxiety-inducing drama, frantic and self-destructive as he does a high-wire act under the weight of the multiple gambles of his life (literal gambling, high-risk gem deals, debts to unsavoury characters, juggling mistress and family relationships). Filmmakers the Safdie brothers populate their film with a great cast as we follow Sandler’s character through increasingly high stakes, with Uncut Gems also managing to be funny and tender around the pulse-pounding. Maybe the most intense movie you’ll find on Netflix, and yes, THERE IS QUITE A LOT OF SHOUTING.
The Wolf of Wall Street
Watch on NetflixScorsese’s funniest film is an overlong tale of excess, but with so much to enjoy what would you cut? DiCaprio is ridiculously watchable as financial fraudster Jordan Belfort, sharing extremely memorable screentime with Jonah Hill and Margot Robbie (in her breakout film). Hopped up and energetic, The Wolf of Wall Street is as frantic and excessive as the lifestyle it depicts, trading in the more stylish elements of Scorsese’s gangster pics for a drug-fueled sprint through the excess of the 80s and 90s—even if it might not have a hell of a lot to say.
