100 best films streaming on Netflix (May 2017)
"Mulholland Dr."/"Blue Jay"/"Waking Life" (photos courtesy of Universal Pictures, The Orchard, Fox Searchlight and used with permission)
At any given moment, Netflix has thousands of films in its streaming catalog. While it's among the most popular streaming services on the market, it's also one of the most unwieldy. The navigation is so clunky that it's almost easier just to wander the seemingly random slate of categories on the dashboard. Even the movies included within each category feels haphazardly placed.
As of May 1, Netflix had more than 3,800 feature-length films in its streaming inventory. Even if there was a easy way to peruse the entire library, just going through the comprehensive list combines the fun of reading the yellow pages with the joy of going to the DMV.
So I went through the entire list of 3,800 movies streaming on Netflix (as of May 1, 2017) and I picked out the 100 best films on Netflix. And I went one step further and created a list of 20 essential, under-the-radar movies (in the carousel below). The other 80 great films are listed below as well. You're welcome.
(Disclaimer: Netflix adds and drops movies all the time - so some of these movies may fall of Netflix. This list will be updated every few months as new titles become available and great films drop off Netflix.)
20 essential, under-the-radar films not to miss on Netflix:
The other 80 best films streaming on Netflix, in alphabetical order:
"Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work" (2010)
Genre: Documentary, Biography, Comedy
Watch the trailer
"Kubo and the Two Strings" (2016)
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Family
Watch the trailer
"The Last Five Years" (2014)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Musical
Watch the trailer
"Magic Mike" (2012)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Watch the trailer
"Memento" (2000)
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Watch the trailer
"Midnight in Paris" (2011)
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
Watch the trailer
"Moonrise Kingdom" (2012)
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Watch the trailer
"Mustang" (2015)
Genre: Drama
Watch the trailer
"Nightcrawler" (2014)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Watch the trailer
"A Nightmare on Elm Street" (1984)
Genre: Horror
Watch the trailer
"No Country for Old Men" (2007)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Watch the trailer
"The Overnight" (2015)
Genre: Comedy, Mystery
Watch the trailer
"Patton" (1970)
Genre: Biography, Drama, War
Watch the trailer
"Philomena" (2013)
Genre: Biography, Drama
Watch the trailer
"Phoenix" (2014)
Genre: Drama, History
Watch the trailer
"Primer" (2004)
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Watch the trailer
"Rams" (2015)
Genre: Drama
Watch the trailer
"The Road" (2009)
Genre: Adventure, Drama
Watch the trailer
"Schindler's List" (1993)
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Watch the trailer
"Seeking a Friend for the End of the World" (2012)
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Watch the trailer
"Shadow Dancer" (2012)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Watch the trailer
"The Shining" (1980)
Genre: Drama, Horror
Watch the trailer
"Sing Street" (2016)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Music
Watch the trailer
"Sleepwalk with Me" (2012)
Genre: Comedy
Watch the trailer
"Southside with You" (2016)
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Watch the trailer
"Spotlight" (2015)
Genre: Crime, Drama, History
Watch the trailer
"Tangerine" (2015)
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Watch the trailer
"Time Lapse" (2014)
Genre: Sci-Fi, Thriller
Watch the trailer
"To Kill a Mockingbird" (1962)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Watch the trailer
"The Trip" (2010)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Watch the trailer
"The Trip to Italy" (2014)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Watch the trailer
"Tropic Thunder" (2008)
Genre: Action, Comedy
Watch the trailer
"Two Days, One Night" (2014)
Genre: Drama
Watch the trailer
"Under the Shadow" (2016)
Genre: Horror, War
Watch the trailer
"Upstream Color" (2013)
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi
Watch the trailer
"V for Vendetta" (2005)
Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller
Watch the trailer
"Victoria" (2015)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance
Watch the trailer
"A War" (2015)
Genre: Crime, Drama, War
Watch the trailer
"World of Tomorrow" (2015)
Genre: Animation, Short, Comedy
Watch the trailer
"World's Greatest Dad" (2009)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Watch the trailer
"(T)error" (2015)
Genre: Documentary
Watch the trailer
"5 to 7" (2014)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Watch the trailer
"Ain't Them Bodies Saints" (2013)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance
Watch the trailer
"Amelie" (2001)
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Watch the trailer
"Amores Perros" (2000)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Watch the trailer
"Atonement" (2007)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Romance
Watch the trailer
"The Babadook" (2014)
Genre: Drama, Horror
Watch the trailer
"Beasts of No Nation" (2015)
Genre: Drama, War
Watch the trailer
"Begin Again" (2014)
Genre: Drama, Music
Watch the trailer
"Beginners" (2011)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Watch the trailer
"The Big Short" (2015)
Genre: Biography, Comedy, Drama
Watch the trailer
"The Blair Witch Project" (1999)
Genre: Horror, Mystery
Watch the trailer
"Boyhood" (2014)
Genre: Drama
Watch the trailer
"Bronson" (2008)
Genre: Action, Biography, Crime
Watch the trailer
"Chef" (2014)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Watch the trailer
"Chevalier" (2015)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Watch the trailer
"Clouds of Sils Maria" (2014)
Genre: Drama
Watch the trailer
"The Confirmation" (2016)
Genre: Comedy
Watch the trailer
"Coraline" (2009)
Genre: Animation, Family, Fantasy
Watch the trailer
"Dead Snow" (2009)
Genre: Comedy, Horror
Watch the trailer
"Dope" (2015)
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Watch the trailer
"The Duke of Burgundy" (2014)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Romance
Watch the trailer
"Encounters at the End of the World" (2007)
Genre: Documentary
Watch the trailer
"Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" (2005)
Genre: Documentary
Watch the trailer
"E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" (1982)
Genre: Family, Sci-Fi
Watch the trailer
"The Eyes of My Mother" (2016)
Genre: Drama, Horror
Watch the trailer
"Faults" (2014)
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Watch the trailer
"Finding Vivian Maier" (2013)
Genre: Documentary, Biography, Mystery
Watch the trailer
"Following" (1998)
Genre: Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Watch the trailer
"Forrest Gump" (1994)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Watch the trailer
"Frank" (2014)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Music
Watch the trailer
"Fruitvale Station" (2013)
Genre: Biography, Drama, Romance
Watch the trailer
"Girl Asleep" (2015)
Genre: Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Watch the trailer
"Güeros" (2014)
Genre: Comedy
Watch the trailer
"The Host" (2006)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Horror
Watch the trailer
"Hot Fuzz" (2007)
Genre: Action, Comedy, Mystery
Watch the trailer
"Human Capital" (2013)
Genre: Drama
Watch the trailer
"The Immigrant" (2013)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Watch the trailer
"In Order of Disappearance" (2014)
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Watch the trailer
"It Follows" (2004)
Genre: Horror, Mystery
Watch the trailer
For a complete YouTube playlist of the 100 best films on Netflix, click here.
