Are you having trouble choosing a movie to watch for a cosy evening’s viewing? Or are you searching for a horror to keep up the Halloween mood? Look no further, as here we bring you a list of the best films right now in the UK, ranging from action and adventure to thrillers and musicals.
If you’re looking for TV shows to watch on Netflix UK, check out our best TV shows on Netflix article. You can also check out our guide to all the Netflix plans.
This list is updated every month, but movies change on Netflix every day. That might mean that one or two of these movies are no longer available to watch by the time you come to read this article, and some good new films may have appeared.
Let’s get down to business then. Here are the best movies to watch on Netflix in the UK right now.
Nope
The creator of Get Out and Us, Jordan Peele, brings another horror tale. Nope is set on a California horse ranch, where siblings discover something strange lurking in the skies above. It explores different situations in which people try to make a quick buck off bizarre phenomena – with horrifying consequences. A word of caution regarding the chimp scene, which is brutal and bloody.
Beetlejuice
This month, Micheal Keaton returns as the iconic Beetlejuice in the sequel to the 1998 film. If you want to relieve the mayhem, the original flick is now streaming on Netflix. Recently deceased couple Barbara and Adam are in a pickle when an unbearable family move into the house they haunt. As they try to make them leave, they attract the help of the spirit Beetlejuice, and things spiral out of control.
Top Gun: Maverick
Paramount
Top Gun: Maverick is the sequel to the 1986 film Top Gun, and stars Tom Cruise as Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell as he reluctantly returns to the United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor programme. There, he trains a group of young recruits, including the son of his late best friend. The film was one of the most popular titles of 2022 and is a great action flick for both fans of the original and newbies alike.
Godzilla Minus One
You may know the American Godzilla series best, which includes ridiculous blockbusters like Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire. However, Godzilla Minus One is the only film in the franchise to win an Oscar, and rightly so. This critically acclaimed Japanese film follows a former kamikaze pilot who is still recovering from the fallout of WW2 and bombings. Out of the devastation, a monster is born.
Parasite
If you missed out on Bong Joon Ho’s Oscar-winning thriller Parasite (the first non-English film to nab the title of Best Picture), then now is the time to catch up. This nail-biting movie follows the Kim family, who are struggling to stay afloat in Seoul, South Korea. When a job opportunity arises at the wealthy Park household, the Kims become entangled in a complex household dilemma centred around class.
Past Lives
Past Lives is an emotionally cathartic film that follows a pair of former childhood friends, Nora and Hae Sung. Nora’s family emigrated from South Korea when she was young, but the pair are reunited for one week in New York. There, old feelings bloom once again – but everything has changed in the years since they’ve seen one another.
Glass Onion
Netflix
Rian Johnson’s sequel to the hit Knives Out has everything you need from a murder mystery. Southern detective Benoit Blanc is back to solve yet another complex case when he is invited to a luxurious island owned by a tech billionaire. One of the attendees ends up dead, and Blanc must suss out who is guilty.
Don’t Look Up
Netflix
Don’t Look Up is a black comedy that follows two astronomers who discover that a giant comet is on course to hit Earth and cause mass extinction. However, trying to warn the general public and media proves difficult, as people quite simply don’t want to look up and face the truth.
All Quiet on the Western Front
Netflix
All Quiet on the Western Front is the joint second most nominated film of the 2023 Oscars, up for nine awards. This adaptation of the 1929 novel charts the closing days of WW1 through the eyes of a young German soldier. Gradually, he learns about the horrors of battle as he struggles to survive.
Tick, Tick… Boom!
Netflix
Tick, Tick…Boom! is the biographical story of Jonathan Larson (the creator of Rent), an aspiring musical creator in New York City who questions whether he is on the right career path, all while trying to juggle his own personal relationships. If that isn’t enough for you, it stars Andrew Garfield and is directed by musical royalty, Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Spirited Away
There’s a whole ton of Studio Ghibli films out now on Netflix, and one of the most beloved is Spirited Away – which has received numerous accolades, including sixteenth place on the ‘best films of the 21st century’ list. The film follows young Chihiro, who must save her parents from being turned into beasts forever.
Beasts of No Nation
Netflix’s first original film may boast Idris Elba in its cast, but great as he is, he’s not the real star here. That honour belongs to Abraham Attah, the Ghanaian teenager who makes his acting debut here as a young boy dragged into service as a child soldier in a vicious civil war. Unsurprisingly it’s pretty troubling stuff, but it’s undeniably powerful and difficult to forget.
Under the Shadow
Set in Tehran during the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, this Persian-language film is the rarest of things: a horror movie that feels genuinely new. That’s in part thanks to the relatively novel monster (the shadowy Djinn), partly the setting, and partly the brilliant central performance from Narges Rashidi. It also manages the neat trick of being totally terrifying while shedding hardly a single drop of blood.
The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Netflix
The Mitchells vs. the Machines is one of the funniest animated family films in years, and criminally underrated. Katie Mitchell is set to enroll in film school. However, her family insist on taking her on a road trip to college. Their journey is interrupted by the impending robot apocalypse, and as such the four must band together to save the world.
Marriage Story
Strap yourselves in for an emotional grilling with Marriage Story, as over the course of a few hours we see the gradual process of a divorce unfold, and become more toxic and ugly over time. It shows the complexity of a relationship breakdown, and how the legal elements of separation conflict with the emotions of the couple. It’s not the easiest watch, but it’s certainly enlightening, and rather heartbreaking.
Annihilation
This smart sci-fi film from director Alex Garland (of the also excellent Ex Machina) got a cinema release in the US, but went straight to Netflix here in the UK. Don’t take that as a bad sign though: it’s not that Annihilation is bad, but simply that studio Paramount worried its mix of trippy visuals, dark horror, and loose plot wouldn’t convert to big box office returns. This isn’t an easy watch, but trust us, it’s worth it.
Anima
Anima is something a little different: this 15-minute short is essentially an extended music video. However, it’s an extended music video starring Thom Yorke encompassing three songs from his album Anima, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Turn the volume up and settle in for a surreal, dystopian dance that would be the perfect warm-up for a meatier movie.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
This Western anthology from the Coen Brothers tells six distinct, unconnected stories in the old West. Don’t look out for character connections – there aren’t any – but instead follow the ebb and flow of themes, as the directors explore mortality, kindness, and the futility of existence across these utterly distinct, utterly memorable tales.
The Night Comes for Us
If you liked Indonesian martial arts epic The Raid but thought it could be just a little more violent, The Night Comes for Us may be for you. The Raid’s star Iko Uwais returns – though in a supporting role this time around – and the martial arts action is just as impressive, but now backed up by enough gore to make The Evil Dead blush.
Smile
The movie, directed by Parker Finn, is one of the most exciting horrors of recent years. It has already received a sequel, which is now available in theatres. Smile tells the story of therapist Rose Cotter, taking care of a young woman, Laura Weaver, who witnessed the suicide of her college professor. Laura claims she is haunted by a mysterious being that appears as creepy smiling people. Initially sceptical, Rose starts to experience things that she never thought possible.
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