The 5 best movies to watch on Netflix 2023
What’s the finest Netflix movie I can watch? We’ve all posed the question, only to waste 15 minutes scrolling through the streaming service’s bizarrely narrow genre menus and become overwhelmed by the constantly altering trend menus. When it comes to choosing anything to watch on Netflix, its vast library of films paired with its perplexing suggestions system may make finding something to watch feel more like a job than a way to unwind when what you actually want are amazing movies. No… the best films.
We’re here to assist you. We’ve whittled down your options to 5 of our top current movies on the platform for those suffering from decision paralysis in February. These films range from suspenseful thrillers to bizarre comedies to newly minted classics. As Netflix rotates movies in and out of its catalog, we’ll be updating this list periodically, so check back next time you’re stuck in front of the Netflix home screen.
1. Avengement
Cain Burgess, a prisoner who escapes police custody and begins on a mission of revenge against his brother, is played by Scott Adkins in Jesse V. Johnson’s bare-knuckle criminal drama Avengement (Craig Fairbrass). Cain grows from a skilled brawler into a steel-toothed weapon of death, perfecting his talents and biding his time to execute vengeance on all those who betrayed him, as he is accosted everyday by a murderer hired by his brother in attempt to silence him. Avengement is a gripping, gut-churning, and viscerally intense revenge movie with spectacular action and well-done performances, inspired by Masaki Kobayashi’s 1962 film Harakiri.
2. Baahubali: The Beginning
In Western terms, this Tollywood movie, which at the time of its premiere was the most expensive Indian film, is like a Marvel Studios-produced biblical epic with a dash of Hamlet and Step Up thrown in for good measure. Shivudu, a superhuman adventurer who flees his rural life by ascending a skyscraper-sized waterfall, aids and romances a rebel fighter named Avanthika, and then partners up with her to rescue a kidnapped queen from a tyrannical monarch, is the protagonist of The Beginning. The Beginning is 159 minutes of legendary excess, exploding with hyper-choreographed battle sequences and CG extravaganza (not to mention a couple of musical pieces with equal bravura), and resting on the muscular shoulders of its hero, the single-name actor Prabhas. Get psyched if you fall hard for it – this is only part one. The twist is followed by Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, a two-and-a-half-hour epic that is currently available on Netflix. Matt Patches (Matt Patches)
3. Blackhat
Michael Mann’s unfairly criticised Blackhat stands tall as a high mark in digital filmmaking. It’s a sleek and sensual thriller that makes hacking appear really awesome. It’s peak Mann, so your mileage may vary if you’re not a fan of the Heat director’s work. Chen Dawai (Wang Leehom), a captain in the P.L.A.’s cyber warfare squad, is entrusted with investigating a computer attack that causes a nuclear power station in Hong Kong to melt down. Chen insists on the help of his old friend Nicholas Hathaway (Chris Hemsworth, who has never been hotter or cooler), an imprisoned genius hacker, while coordinating with the FBI probe. When Hathaway and Chen’s sister (Tang Wei), a networking engineer who is also working on the case, fall in love, it complicates an already high-stakes situation. Viola Davis and Holt McClanahan play FBI agents who aren’t thrilled to be forced to work with a legendary criminal.
4. Don’t Go Breaking My Heart
Johnnie To is a master of both hard-boiled triad crime dramas and light-hearted love comedies. Don’t Go Breaking My Heart, released in 2011, is one among the numerous highlights of the Hong Kong director’s illustrious career. Chi-yan (Gao Yuanyuan) is an investment bank analyst who finds herself in the middle of a love triangle after the termination of a long-term engagement. Sean (Louis Koo), a CEO who works across the street from Chi-yan and pines for her through the huge corporate glass windows that separate them, is on one side.
5. The Exorcist
The Exorcist is an all-time classic for a reason: it’s still as horrifying today as it was when it was first released in 1973, causing a small national panic. When a young girl (Linda Blair) begins to act abnormally, her mother tries everything she can to help her, which leads to… well, you know the rest of the story. The realism of a mother’s need to keep her daughter safe in an unmanageable world placed against a supernatural war draws you in right away and keeps you hooked long after the film’s two-hour runtime has passed.