This December, the best movie theater is the one you can get to without leaving home. Stay home and stick to the movies you can stream on Netflix with the help of our handy guide to the best movies on Netflix right now.

If you’re stuck on what to watch, this list should get you unstuck. Netflix’s newest release to make the cut is Paolo Sorrentino’s The Hand of God, which is sure to be flirting with an Oscar in the International Film and Best Director categories at next year’s Academy Awards.

Other recent additions include Jane Campion’s deeply affecting The Power of the Dog, the fun holiday rom-com Single All the Way, and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical tick, tick… BOOM!.

This is a list of the best movies to watch on Netflix right now.

To keep things relevant, we’re specifically highlighting the best recent releases (whether they’re new to the world or just Netflix), Netflix originals, and some of our own personal favorites. 

Looking for the best movies and TV shows to watch on Netflix or the best TV shows on Netflix? Or more recommendations of what to watch next? We have a ton of them! We also have hand-picked selections based on shows you already love.

Last updated Dec. 17; newer additions are at the top

For fans of: Coming-of-age dramas, world-class directors in their prime

Italian movie magician Paolo Sorrentino (The Young Pope) is in peak form with his highly personal coming-of-age drama The Hand of God, which will almost certainly be nominated in the International Feature Film category at next year’s Oscars. Set in the 1980s in Naples, Italy, The Hand of God follows a teen through the ups and downs of life, and ties it together with soccer star Diego Maradona’s infamous “hand of god” play. Though some critics note its messiness, no one can deny that it’s absolutely gorgeous. –Tim Surette [Trailer]

For fans of: Tension, Benedict Cumberbatch being a big ol’ meanie

Jane Campion’s first film since 2009 heads out on the range with one mean cowboy in Benedict Cumberbatch. The 1925-set Western quickly reaches a boil and holds it as a rancher (Jesse Plemons) gets a new wife (Kirsten Dunst) whom his brother (Cumberbatch) takes a strong disliking to. It’s a masterclass of simmering tension and spellbinding acting, but if you’re here for shoot ‘em ups, this Western ain’t it. –Tim Surette [Trailer]

For fans of: Shirtless Santas, cute Christmas rom-coms

Netflix’s latest original Christmas film is a gay rom-com that’s refreshingly out, focusing on the pain of being single during the holidays no matter who you fancy. Michael Urie stars as Peter, whose new beau was hiding the secret of being a married man, forcing Peter to bring his best friend, Nick (Philemon Chambers), home with him for Christmas to pretend they’re a couple. But his family (including a wonderful Jennifer Coolidge and Kathy Najimy) plays matchmaker with a new hot trainer just as his feeling for Nick start to heat up. The rom-com tropes are there, but you won’t mind with this fantastic cast. –Tim Surette [Trailer]

For fans of: Fantasy, Christmas, adventure

The Santa Claus origin story you’ve been looking for is right here! The Netflix original Christmas fantasy film adapts the 2015 book and tells the story of young Nikolas, who travels to the North Pole in search of his father and comes across a town of elves and other Christmas goodies. It’s a family-friendly affair, as evidenced by the adorable CGI mouse that accompanies young Nik. Maggie Smith, Kristen Wiig, and Henry Lawfull star. –Tim Surette [Trailer]

For fans of: Healing, the power of art

Robert Greene’s gutting documentary comes to Netflix just two months after making its debut at Telluride, a quick turnaround that belies how much time went into this movie. Shot over three years, Procession focuses on six men who each suffered abuse by Catholic priests in the diocese of Kansas City, Missouri, when they were boys. Greene’s project is unique: The men, working with both Greene and a therapist who uses theater in her work, create short films about their trauma. It’s an unmissable story of how to reckon with evil. –Kelly Connolly [Trailer]

For fans of: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Broadway

Lin-Manuel Miranda has a type: musicals about guys who are worried their time is running out. And why mess with success? Miranda makes his directorial debut with this film adaptation, already racking up good reviews, of Rent creator Jonathan Larson’s semi-autobiographical musical. Andrew Garfield stars as the struggling playwright, who’s anxious that he hasn’t accomplished enough by his upcoming 30th birthday. (The story is made more poignant by Larson’s real-life early death at the age of 35, the night before Rent‘s off-Broadway premiere.) Garfield is a hit in this, Vanessa Hudgens is in her element, and Bradley Whitford does a rock-solid Sondheim impersonation. –Kelly Connolly [Trailer]

For fans of: Stars wisecrackin’, dumb action, dumber twists

I watched this entire movie in one sitting and I had a great time, but in no reality would I say this is a good movie. It’s one of those, y’know? It’s a film in which the stars are secured and then you write the script. Those stars happen to be Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot, and Ryan Reynolds, some of the biggest celebrities on the planet, and the script sees them playing various combinations of FBI agents and art thieves, sometimes both! Add in a budget of about $200 million, and you’ve got yourself one of Netflix’s most popular original movies ever. This is streaming candy; they can’t all be Roma. [Trailer]

7 Prisoners

For fans of: Quiet suspense, antiwork and the exploitation of the labor force, Rodrigo Santoro

For a real eye-opening movie experience, watch the Brazilian film 7 Prisoners, a tense movie about the exploitation of desperate young men and women looking for work in South America. Rodrigo Santoro (Westworld) stars as the owner of a salvage yard who enslaves youngsters from rural Brazil who think they’re getting jobs in the big city. But the movie’s strength is how it shows how this happens from the perspective of one of the young men, who ends up working with the owner in order to ensure his survival at the cost of the others. Though heavy, director Alexandre Moratto manages to keep the tone raw and impactful rather than depressing. [Trailer]

For fans of: Where the line of racial equality blurs, gorgeous black and white photos come to life

Would you give up your culture if it meant you could have an easier life? That’s the question posed in this stirring film set in 1920s New York City that stars Tessa Thompson as a Black woman who runs into a childhood friend (Ruth Negga) who has been passing for a white woman, bringing up questions of racial identity and whitewashing. Shot entirely in black and white and featuring wonderful performances from Thompson, Negga, and André Holland, Passing is already generating Oscar buzz. [Trailer]

Found

For fans of: Heartfelt stories, discovering your roots and culture

This documentary about three adopted Chinese high schoolers looking into their roots could also pass as a robot test, because if you aren’t moved to tears at some point, then you’re made out of tin. What makes it so effective is that it looks at adoption from every angle: the girls looking for answers and discovering their culture, their adoptive families looking to help them find their roots, the Chinese families who were forced to give up their babies under China’s one child policy, and the intrepid investigator who helps adopted children find their birth parents in China. It’s an emotional wallop. –Tim Surette [Trailer]

For fans of: Christmas rom-coms, surprising rom-com leads, Asian representation

In this Netflix original holiday movie, Silicon Valley‘s Jimmy O. Yang plays a single guy unlucky in love who catfishes a hottie (The Vampire Diaries‘ Nina Dobrev) who ends up surprising him for Christmas. Horrified by what he’s done, he agrees to help her get the guy (Never Have I Ever‘s Darren Barnet) she thought he was, in exchange for her pretending to be his girlfriend for his family, as is usually the case in movies like these. Yes, it’s full of rom-com and Christmas movie tropes — including extended bits riffing on Love Actually — but it’s also funny, and it sparkles because of Yang and Dobrev’s surprising chemistry. Does he get the girl? Obviously. The better question is “Does the movie pull it off convincingly?” and it’s a yes. Jimmy O. Yang is a bona fide dreamboat now. Who knew? [Trailer]

For fans of: Quentin Tarantino films, Red Dead Redemption, lots of shootin

Netflix’s latest blockbuster is an action Western with a lot more style than you’re used to. Director Jeymes Samuel takes a tried-and-true cowboy premise — a gang gets together to exact revenge on the persons responsible for the deaths of loved ones — and infuses it with gorgeous violence, snappy dialogue, and a predominantly Black cast that includes Regina King, Idris Elba, LaKeith Stanfield, Jonathan Majors, Delroy Lindo, and Zazie Beetz. The result is a rollicking good time and one of the gosh dang coolest films of the year. [Trailer]

For fans of: Corny thrillers, straight-to-DVD bins, getting verrrrry sleepy

Sometimes you just want to watch a movie and shout, “GIRL don’t do it, he’s bad news!” at your TV while a damsel in distress does something dumb in a cheesy thriller. Hypnotic is just for that moment. Kate Siegel (The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass) stars as a woman who gets caught in a web of deception when she starts seeing a hypnotherapist (Jason O’Mara) for treatment. Falling under his spell, she begins losing time while under the influence of a guy who is very clearly bad news. This isn’t a good movie, but it’s a fun one. –Tim Surette [Trailer]

For fans of: Couples therapy, violence, Noomi Rapace 

This Norwegian dark comedy follows a couple (Aksel Hennie and Noomi Rapace) who go to a remote cabin in an attempt to repair their dissolving relationship. Little do they know that they each plan to murder each other as their solution to their problems. Even littler do they know that others are out there in the wilderness to give them even more troubles. Spectacularly violent with humor as black as the night, The Trip is a trip. –Tim Surette [Trailer]

Fever Dream

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For fans of: Artsy films, beautiful confusion, slightly supernatural films

This Chilean film based on a novel by Argentine author Samantha Schwelbin dabbles in the supernatural while telling the story of a mother who realizes her friend’s young son may not be all she thinks he is. There’s some great philosophy inside — especially about how a parent protects their child from danger — but you’re more likely to come away from this wonderfully shot film peppered with a sense of imminent doom with only a hazy understanding of the open-to-interpretation storytelling as nothing is spoon-fed to the viewer. But dig a little deeper and you’ll find a chilling story of what a parent is willing do for their child. –Tim Surette [Trailer]

For fans of: One-man plays, Jake Gyllenhaal, thrilling phone conversations

Jake Gyllenhaal plays a cop sent to desk duty at a 9-1-1 call center and becomes embroiled in a case when a woman being held against her will calls to ask for help. An adaptation of a 2018 Danish film, The Guilty is the rare intense thriller without any of the action as it’s mostly set in the call center with Jake on the phone and only voices coming from the other end. But director Antoine Fuqua and Gyllenhaal keep things mesmerizing. –Tim Surette [Trailer | Review]

For fans of: The class division, the immigrant experience, spooks

A Latin American immigrant seeking work and housing in America shacks up in a boarding house where things aren’t not haunted, if you get my drift. It’s a great horror gem that taps into the immigrant experience and the difficulties the poor have with basic needs. –Tim Surette [Trailer | Review]

For fans of: Cinematography, the battle between sanity and madness, fast snow & slow burns

This Romanian film follows a powerful man of means desperate to find his son after he goes missing on a mountain trek. It’s not an action film, but rather a contemplative exploration of how far a man will go to save his son and at what cost to others. You’ll understand why he does what he does, but you might not like him for it. [Trailer]

For fans of: Kids horror between Goosebumps and Fear Street, Krysten Ritter. hairless cats | Is it good?: It’s pretty cool for kids and tweens who can handle scares

This adaptation of the 2018 children’s fantasy-horror book by J.A. White is the perfect movie for the young horror fan in your life who is too old for things like Goosebumps but not quite ready for the teen-slasher gore of the Fear Street movies. It follows a young boy who is captured by a witch (a delectable Krysten Ritter) and bargains for his life by agreeing to tell her a new scary story that he writes each night. While there’s no real blood and gore, there are definitely some creepy things — Sam Raimi is a producer — that will give some young ones nightmares for weeks, so make sure your kiddo is mentally prepared before they sit down to watch this. –Tim Surette [Trailer]

For fans of: Incredibly difficult questions about life, sentimental biopics, Michael Keaton

Michael Keaton plays lawyer Kenneth Feinberg, who was assigned the task of formulating how money was distributed through the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund, which the government granted to families whose loved ones were killed in the 9/11 attacks. It essentially asks how much a life is worth and whether they’re all equal. Strong acting and directing overcome some pretty melodramatic moments. [Trailer]

For fans of: Yellowstone, Marvel stars in other things, snowy shootouts

Taylor Sheridan, who created the Paramount hit drama Yellowstone, sticks to the wilderness for this 2018 movie starring Jeremy Renner as a sharpshooting game official and Elizabeth Olsen as an FBI agent trying to solve a rape and murder on a Native American reservation in Wyoming during the winter. It’s a character-driven whodunnit in America’s untamed land. [Trailer]

The Old Ways

For fans of: Witchcraft, Latin American demonology, creepy crawlies

A young journalist goes deep into the jungles of Veracruz, Mexico, for a story on indigenous people who practice ancient witchcraft, only to be kidnapped by them when they believe she is possessed by a demon. It’s full of terrifying imagery, as is expected, but it’s the claustrophobia of being imprisoned that really drives the horror. On top of that, there are themes of cultural identity that take it to a smarter level than your typical horror film, and visually, it’s aces. –Tim Surette [Trailer]

For fans of: Remembering how much high school sucked

One of the best teen comedies of the last decade, The Edge of Seventeen has everything you want in a coming-of-age movie. After finding out her best friend is hooking up with her popular older brother, awkward outsider Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld) is thrown into crisis mode. Meanwhile, Nadine is navigating a strained relationship with her mother (Kyra Sedgwick) and a crush on an older boy by herself, with her only friend being her teacher, Mr. Bruner (Woody Harrelson), who barely tolerates her existential ramblings. It’s a funny, sweet movie that will remind you of the classics you already love, like Clueless and Mean Girls, while standing totally on its own. [Trailer]

For fans of: The Witcher, animated gore

This anime Witcher prequel film follows Geralt’s mentor, Vesemir (voiced here by Theo James). The film, set several years before the events of the series, explores Vesemir’s origin story, showing him as a young lad who is only concerned with monster slaying and getting paid for monster slaying.

For fans of: Gruesome horror, not wanting to wait for the sequel

R.L. Stine, the guy who wrote the Goosebumps books, set his sights on a slightly older crowd with his Fear Street novel series, which are now the foundation for one of Netflix’s biggest film experiments yet. The three teen-slasher horror films, which all tell the origin story of a cursed town, were each released over three consecutive Fridays in July 2021. Each film is set in a different year (1994, 1978, and 1666), culminating in a flashback to witch trials in the 1600s, and feature carryover cast members and plenty of gory deaths. Let’s just say you’ll be extra careful around a bread slicer. –Tim Surette [Trailer]

For fans of: Monstrous surprises, small-space horror

This German-English language action-forward horror film is set on a Transatlantic flight between Berlin and New York City that is besieged by hijackers. But they don’t know that one of the passengers on board possesses supernatural powers, and will do anything to protect her young son, which sometimes means eating the bad guys. It’s a taut thriller with a paranormal twist that’s one of Netflix’s better original horror films. –Tim Surette [Trailer]

For fans of: Existentialism, music

Indie auteur and certified bad movie boyfriend Bo Burnham surprised his fans when he announced he had orchestrated a return to his comedic roots during the pandemic. With Inside, which Burnham wrote, directed, and edited without a crew or an audience while stuck at home, he lets out his feelings through music, delivering a setlist of very catchy, very meme-worthy songs that have titles like “White Woman’s Instagram” and “FaceTime with My Mom (Tonight).” The special gets in touch with the collective mood 2020 inspired in all of us — the anguish, the despair, the horniness. Burnham’s comedy has always touched on the existential, but he goes deeper than ever here. [Trailer]

For fans of: Realizing that the horrors of the past are still effecting the present

Ryan Murphy and Jason Blum executive produce this documentary about Exodus International, an Evangelical group formed in the ’70s that claims it could turn gay people straight through prayer and conversion therapy. What’s most interesting about this film is that it features interviews with ex-leaders who are now speaking out against the movement they were part of for so many years. [Trailer]

For fans of: Eric Andre, the Sacha Baron Cohen effect

How in the world is Bad Trip as great as it is? There is no plausible reason why a prank movie was able to feel so fresh and hilarious in the year 2021, and yet here I am, writing about the greatness of Bad Trip. It has a pretty loose plot (two listless best friends take a road trip so one can reunite with his high school crush), which is sort of unnecessary to the film’s broad comedy, but does help with providing structure and emotional beats when needed. Anyway, that’s not really why it’s on this list. Bad Trip shines thanks to its many interactions with the unsuspecting public, who have no idea they’re being filmed or that they’re part of a movie. The way the film’s stars, Eric Andre, Lil Rel Howery, and Tiffany Haddish, drag poor strangers into the bizarre world they’ve created and get them invested in their characters’ fictional problems (a particularly memorable scene in which Haddish recruits the patrons of a restaurant into helping her track down Andre and Howery becomes an instant classic thanks to the passionate reaction from one woman), ends up producing the best comedic moments. Clocking in under 90 minutes, Bad Trip is a quick, wholeheartedly joyful watch. [Trailer]

For fans of: The struggles of hitting the big 4-0, the artist’s life

Soon-to-be household name Radha Blank writes, directs, and stars in this poignant comedy about a playwright who is approaching her 40th birthday but still has nothing to show for it, even after winning a coveted “30 under 30” award nearly a decade before. To reinvent her life, she breaks into rapping, spitting rhymes from her unique viewpoint and fighting to stay true to her own artistic vision. –Tim Surette [Trailer]

For fans of: Idris Elba, riding horses

The era of horse girls has made its natural progression into the era of horse boys. This film, based on the real-life Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club, centers on a Detroit teen (Caleb McLaughlin) who’s sent to Philadelphia to live with his dad (Idris Elba), a cowboy who spends his time hanging out with other cowboys. It’s about fathers and sons, it’s about Black horse-riding culture, and it’s about coming of age. [Trailer]

For fans of: The Coen brothers, dark comedy

The Coen brothers strap on their spurs for this collection of short stories from the Wild West, all peppered with that trademark Coen absurdism made famous in their films Fargo and Raising Arizona. The stories range from a singing cowboy (Tim Blake Nelson) who’s quick on the draw to a mumbling prospector (Tom Waits) tracked down by an opportunist to an outlaw (James Franco) who’s no stranger to the gallows. It’s a gorgeous film about opportunity in a land where there’s nothing but opportunity. -Tim Surette [Trailer]

For fans of: Spike Lee, being reminded that war is bad

Spike Lee‘s latest is a sprawling drama split between two timelines: the first during the Vietnam War, where a group of Black soldiers band together, and the second during the present, where the surviving members, now aging veterans, return to the country in the hopes of recovering the remains of their fallen squad leader (Chadwick Boseman, in one of his last performances) and locating the gold they buried years ago. It’s a dazzling, stylized adventure, and the kind of movie that will make you walk away feeling like you learned something without skimping on character development. [Trailer]

My Octopus Teacher

For fans of: Unlikely friendships, cephalopods

This film about the intimate relationship between a man and his octopus won the Oscar for Best Documentary in 2021. Craig Foster, a diver, buddies up with an octopus in South Africa for a year, documenting her life as she sleeps, eats, and battles sharks. The whole experience teaches Foster about life and moves him to gain appreciation for humanity’s relationship with nature, as well as form a closer bond with his son. The whole thing feels a little like a more wholesome version of Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water, but I’m not here to knock anyone who dares to explore interspecies friendships. [Trailer]

For fans of: Aaron Sorkin’s whole thing, watered down history

In 1969, a group of anti-war activists were charged with conspiring to start a riot at the Democratic National Convention, and in 2019, Aaron Sorkin told an extremely Hollywood version of their story. Although Sorkin really simplifies a lot of the more radical politics people like Abbie Hoffman (Sacha Baron Cohen) and Jerry Rubin (Jeremy Strong) actually had, a big, showy courtroom drama — full of grandstanding and dramatic speeches and quippy dialogue — is a perfect vehicle for his style. It’s grounded by the performances of its sprawling, star-studded cast (which also includes Mark Rylance, Frank Langella, and Michael Keaton) and the writing, which earned Sorkin a Best Original Screenplay nod at the Oscars, and it’ll teach you something about the injustices of the American justice system, which, spoiler, has always been pretty bad! [Trailer]

For fans of: Haunted houses, immigrant horror stories

A refugee couple from South Sudan find their new housing in England is not what it seems in this chilling and stylish horror movie from writer-director Remi Weekes. If you love ghosts and grief but are ready for a little more intensity, His House is a must-watch; it’s a haunted house story that blends serious scares with thoughtful commentary on immigration and trauma. Plus, it’s anchored by unmissable performances from stars Wunmi Mosaku and Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù. –Kelly Connolly [Trailer]

For fans of: Social justice, visual poetry, hard truths

Raoul Peck’s 2016 documentary that’s an adaptation of James Baldwin’s manuscript about racism in America through the eyes of Black people — specifically civil rights activists Martin Luther King Jr. Malcolm X, and Medgar Evans — is a visual masterpiece with a clear message: America has failed the Black community. The powerful 2016 film brims with energy through old footage of segregation and current shots of protests in the streets in the wake of police violence against minorities. It’s an essential watch to better understand America’s shameful past and present. –Tim Surette [Trailer]

For fans of: Oscar winners, art films

Sorry Mank, you aren’t the best black-and-white film on Netflix. Not even close. Alfonso Cuaron‘s 2018 personal tale of a housekeeper in Mexico to a wealthy Mexican family won Best Foreign Film, Best Director (Cuaron), and Best Cinematography (Cuaron) at the 91st Academy Awards, but could have won tons more. It’s both quiet and epic in scope, balancing a fascinating relationship between a hard-working woman named Cleo and the family that relies on her, unforgettable shots involving hundreds of extras, and a sensitive story on life bubbling under the surface. –Tim Surette [Trailer]

For fans of: Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, insane metaphors for class struggles

Bong Joon-ho‘s 2013 cult classic is set years in the future when climate change has turned the Earth into a giant snowball, and the last of humanity lives on a train that perpetually circles the globe. While the rich wine and dine in the cars at the front, the poor are crammed into the rear of the locomotive, where Chris Evans plays a man who sparks a dangerous revolution. [Trailer]

For fans of: Anxiety, the year 2012

I have one piece of advice for you if you decide to hit play on Uncut Gems: Don’t go in with any Adam Sandler-related expectations. Josh and Benny Safdie‘s frenetic crime thriller, in which he plays Howard, a gambling-addicted jeweler in New York’s Diamond District, is the Sandman’s way of reminding us that he has pretty incredible range as an actor. Howard’s a guy whose lifestyle is becoming increasingly unmanageable — he’s in the middle of separating from his wife (Idina Menzel), trying to keep his girlfriend (Julia Fox) happy, and has recently come into possession of an item he believes will save him from his many debts: a rare black opal from Ethiopia, which is allegedly worth millions. Uncut Gems isn’t technically a horror film, but it keeps you on the edge of your seat like one, and you’ll probably yell at your screen watching Howard try to fast-talk his way out of yet another confrontation. Come for the sight of Adam Sandler in transition lenses, stay for an excellent performance from first-time actor Kevin Garnett. [Trailer]

For fans of: Beyoncé, of course… and who isn’t?

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Homecoming is perhaps the best, most impactful concert film of at least the past few years. This is Beyoncé at the absolute top of her game, showing not only her historic performance at Coachella 2018, but the emotionally and physically taxing preparation that led up to it. It’s just a pleasure to watch, not only because Beyoncé’s unparalleled work ethic and commitment to precision, but because of how dedicated she and her team of artists, dancers, and musicians were to making sure the performance was a celebration of Black culture. It’s called Homecoming because of the way it evokes traditions made popular by homecoming concerts at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and it’s maybe the most entertaining history lesson you’ll ever get. Also, there’s a pitch-perfect Destiny’s Child reunion. We love to see it. [Trailer]

For fans of: Fun spins on

Alice Wu‘s teen dramedy will surprise you in all the best ways. It starts out familiar: Outsider and introvert Ellie Chu (Leah Lewis) begrudgingly agrees to help dumb jock Paul Munsky (Daniel Diemer) woo the pretty and popular Aster Flores (Alexxis Lemire) by writing her love letters in Paul’s name, but what Paul doesn’t know is that Ellie is also in love with Aster (yes, this is more or less the premise of Cyrano de Bergerac). Of course eventually the ruse is exposed and feelings hurt and hearts mended. In the end, however, The Half of It is less a movie that cares about who ends up with who and more about Ellie finally opening herself up to the world, letting people like Paul and Aster and her very sweet dad in, and well, living. It’s a smart and heartwarming coming-of-age story (that final train scene!) that uses well-worn rom-com tropes to its advantage. -Maggie Fremont [Trailer]

For fans of: Teen rom-coms, John Hughes references

Based on Jenny Han’s young adult trilogy, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before took the Netflix world by storm when it debuted in 2018. The teen rom-com stars Asian American actress Lana Condor as Lara Jean Covey, a hopelessly romantic high schooler who pens letters to all her crushes in order to get her abundance of emotions out. But when those love letters are mailed out to the crushes by her younger sister, she’s mortified — especially because one is delivered to her older sister’s boyfriend, Josh (Israel Broussard). To cover up her feelings for Josh, Lara Jean begins fake dating the popular and charming Peter (Noah Centineo) — another love letter recipient who wants to make his ex jealous — but old feelings die hard. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before has an inherent sweetness to it that calls back to classic ’80s films like Say Anything… or Sixteen Candles. Once you’ve finished it, check out its sequels, P.S. I Still Love You, which introduces yet another recipient of Lara Jean’s letters, and Always and Forever, the third and final film in the saga. –Kaitlin Thomas [Trailer]

For fans of: Keanu Reeves doing the most

Ali Wong co-wrote this 2019 romantic comedy in which she stars as Sasha, a celebrity chef who returns home to the Bay Area to open a new restaurant and runs into her former childhood friend, Marcus (co-writer Randall Park). The romantic chemistry from their teenage years still remains, and after she breaks off her engagement to her fiancé after he delays their wedding yet again, Sasha attempts to embark on a new relationship with Marcus. However, his fears and her fame — and a great guest spot from Keanu Reeves — create obstacles that first have to be overcome before true happiness can be found. –Kaitlin Thomas [Trailer]

For fans of: The idiosyncrasies of Taika Waititi, unlikely friendships

Before he got recruited by the Marvel machine, Taika Waititi made Hunt for the Wilderpeople, an adventure dramedy about a young delinquent (Julian Dennison) and his reluctant foster dad (Sam Neill) who, after a series of mishaps and misunderstandings, become the targets of a manhunt. They go into survival mode as they hide out in the New Zealand wilderness, running into a cast of oddball characters as they evade the police. As is the case with these things, the longer they stay out on their own, the closer they get. Waititi’s signature comedic style is what makes the whole thing really shine. [Trailer]

For fans of: Impressive de-aging CGI, looooong movies

Martin Scorsese loves telling stories about almost-great men undone by their own hubris, and The Irishman is the latest example of that. A lot was made of its three-hour runtime, and its use of CGI to de-age its stars, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino, but those aren’t the only things this film has to offer. De Niro plays Frank Sheeran, the titular Irishman, who works as a hitman alongside Russell Bufalino (Pesci) and famous Teamster Jimmy Hoffa (Pacino), both of whom are tied to organized crime. It’s an epic about power and betrayal, and contains easily the best performance De Niro’s given in years. [Trailer]

For fans of: Family politics, seeing Adam Sandler in a rare dramatic role

Much like The Royal Tenenbaums and Succession, The Meyerowitz Stories is about dysfunctional adult siblings who have grown up in their father’s shadow and are now struggling to function because of it. The siblings in question are Danny (Adam Sandler), a divorced, unemployed father whose daughter has recently started college, Jean (Elizabeth Marvel), an unhappy Xerox employee, and Matthew (Ben Stiller), a successful financier who’s separated from his wife. Their flighty, eccentric father is Harold (Dustin Hoffman), an artist. It’s very much one of those movies Noah Baumbach loves to make, where you simply follow the characters around for a while and get a look inside their weird lives. If you’re into that, you’ll be all over this. [Trailer]

For fans of: Laura Dern memes, Adam Driver memes, being sad

A marriage unravels in Noah Baumbach’s latest, as Charlie (Adam Driver) and Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) try to keep themselves afloat during their divorce. Yes, there’s definitely a lot movie going on in this movie emotionally, but isn’t the most important takeaway that we got two great memes out of it? I think so. [Trailer]

For fans of: Underdog stories, Eddie Murphy doing something different

In 1970s Los Angeles, struggling musician-comedian Rudy Ray Moore (Eddie Murphy) decides to create a raunchy alter ego named Dolemite in effort to get noticed. The movie highlights the way, through his work, Moore was able to help pioneer rap as a musical genre, provides wider commentary on the blaxploitation phenomenon, and touches on some of Murphy’s own feelings about the critics who have commented on his films. Spoiler: He doesn’t care! [Trailer]

For fans of: Betrayal, billionaires

David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin teamed up to tell the real-life villain origin story of a guy named, oh, what was it? That’s right, Mark Zuckerberg. Spanning from the initial inception of Facebook (when it was nothing more than a site where gross dudes at Harvard could rate how hot their female peers were) to its inevitable ascension as the billion-dollar internet monster it has become, the film focuses largely on the friendship and falling out between Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) and Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), one of the original co-founders of Facebook. There are few movies I think about more than The Social Network, and I’m always shocked by how relevant it continues to be, despite being made in 2010, before Zuckerberg was testifying in front of Congress every other week. [Trailer]

For fans of: Seeing Jake Gyllenhaal act insane, being convinced to go vegetarian

Bong Joon-ho makes a strong case against the food industry in this film about Mija (Ahn Seo-hyun), a young girl who goes up against a powerful company in order to keep them from killing her best friend, an enormous, genetically-engineered pig. She teams up with a group of animal rights activists, lead by Jay (Paul Dano) and K (Steven Yeun), and encounters theatrically evil characters like Jake Gyllenhall‘s deranged TV personality Johnny Wilcox, and Tilda Swinton‘s eccentric CEO Lucy Mirando. Tonally, it has a different energy that separates it from Bong’s other films, like Snowpiercer and Parasite, but it contains similar themes, like class divides and the harsh realities of capitalism. [Trailer]

For fans of: Crying!

You should break out a box of tissues before checking out Kristen Johnson‘s tender documentary about her father. When we’re introduced to the 86-year-old Dick, the frightening, heartbreaking effects of his dementia are starting to show, marking what both Dick and Kristen accept to be the beginning of the end of his life. What makes this film unique is the way it blends fiction and reality: Kristen imagines ways for her dad to die that he gamely acts out, from falling down a flight of stairs to bleeding out from a head wound. The two have such an easy rapport that it’s easy to laugh at their antics one minute and be horribly upset the next when Dick describes the pain of feeling his memory slip away from him in real time. It’s a beautiful film quite unlike anything else. [Trailer]

For fans of: Feeling confused and vaguely unsettled

It should be said straight up that I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Charlie Kaufman‘s haunting adaptation of Iain Reid’s novel, is probably not for everyone. It’s also not the kind of movie that will tell you exactly what it’s about; it doesn’t really follows a linear, cause-and-effect plot, and the story unfolds according to dream logic. I’ll describe it in the best way I can, though: A woman (Jessie Buckley) goes on a trip with her boyfriend (Jesse Plemons) to visit his parents, all while she’s considering breaking up with him. It only gets trippier from there! The only things that are really made clear to the audience is that the woman is a wholly unreliable narrator and nothing is as it seems. If you like your movies a little out there, this one’s totally worth checking out. [Trailer]

For fans of: Great performances from great actors, monologues

Chadwick Boseman‘s final film role was in this Netflix original, which is based on the Tony-nominated August Wilson play. Viola Davis stars as Ma Rainey, a powerhouse blues singer in 1927 Chicago who holds up a recording session to butt heads with her white manager, and Boseman plays a trumpeter in the recording session angling to get a foothold in the music business. On its own, it’s a good film that has a lot to say about race and music ownership, but the performances from Davis and Boseman elevate it. [Trailer]