It seems like Netflix's presence at award shows gets bigger every year, and the 2026 Academy Awards proved that the streamer is a force to be reckoned with. Six Netflix original films earned 18 nominations this year, taking home seven, including for best animated feature and best original song for KPop Demon Hunters, best documentary short for All the Empty Rooms and best live-action short for The Singers. Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein also took home three technical awards for best production design, costume design and makeup and hairstyling.
The streaming giant's combination of original films and a diverse library from other studios makes it a reliable source of entertainment, although it can sometimes be hard to narrow down what to watch. The acclaimed epic Lawrence of Arabia is one of the many great films currently streaming on Netflix. The 1962 film is the biographical tale of T.E. Lawrence, played by Peter O'Toole, a British soldier who helped unite several Arab tribes during World War I. Directed by David Lean, the film is often cited as one of the best ever made. This is just one of the many great movies currently on the platform. Here's a list of our favorites.
Watch this: Why 'The Devil Wears Prada 2' is the Perfect Sequel 09:27 If you're looking for a new series to watch, peruse our picks for the best TV shows to watch on Netflix.
Read more: Where to Watch All the 2024 Oscar Winners
Columbia Pictures Lawrence of Arabia (1962) Steven Spielberg stated in his HBO Max documentary that watching Lawrence of Arabia as a child was a formative experience. The film was so perfect it made him almost want to quit filmmaking. (Fortunately, he got over that.) The film, cited by many as one of the best ever made, is the story of a British Army lieutenant, T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) who unites a group of tribes to form the Arab National Council during World War I. The film, co-starring Alec Guinness, Omar Sharif, Anthony Quinn and Jack Hawkins, took home seven Oscars in 1963. And it's now on Netflix. That means you can pace yourself through the four-hour epic and pick it back up whenever you want. (Not quite as the filmmakers intended, but still.)
Agata Grzybowska/Focus Features Hamnet (2025) Jessie Buckley won an Oscar for her role as Agnes Hathaway, the wife of William Shakespeare in the 2025 film Hamnet, which is out now on Netflix. The film depicts the early courtship of Agnes and William (played by Paul Mescal) and later, the shared grief they experience after their young son, Hamnet, dies of bubonic plague. The cast also includes Emily Watson, Joe Alwyn and Jacobi Jupe as young Hamnet.
20th Century Fox Gone Girl (2014) David Fincher directed the film adaptation of Gillian Flynn's best-selling mystery Gone Girl (Flynn wrote the screenplay, too), starring Rosamund Pike as Amy Dunne, a woman whose husband (Ben Affleck) is the number one suspect in her mysterious disappearance. There are too many spoilers to give away if you haven't seen the film, but safe to say that Amy is not at all who she seems to be. The film also stars Carrie Coon in her first film role, and Neil Patrick Harris in a role unlike anything you've seen him in before.
Gramercy Pictures Fargo (1996) The Coen Brothers are masters of the darkly comedic crime thriller, and Fargo is one of their best. In the 1996 classic, Frances McDormand plays Marge Gunderson, the pregnant police chief in Fargo, North Dakota investigating Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy), a car salesman who hired two criminals (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare) to kidnap his wife to extort a ransom from her wealthy father. As Gunderson investigates Jerry, Gaear and Carl's ineptitude creates chaos and the situation goes awry. Come for the regional accents, stay for the body in the wood chipper.
Universal Pictures Born on the Fourth of July (1989) Oliver Stone directed the 1989 drama Born on the Fourth of July, about Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic (played by Tom Cruise), a soldier who became an anti-war activist after his service. The film is one of three Vietnam-themed films that Stone has made, and it earned Stone an Oscar for his direction. It co-stars Kyra Sedgewick, WIllem Defoe and Frank Whaley. The film arrived on Netflix on July 1.
Netflix I Am Frankelda (2026) Directed by brothers Roy and Arturo Ambriz, I Am Frankelda is the prequel to the TV series Frankelda's Book of Spooks, though it works just fine as a standalone film if you haven't seen the show. Frankelda is a talented writer in 19th-century Mexico whose macabre fantasy stories are largely ignored… at least by people in this world. When she meets Prince Herneval, a character she created, he shows her that the fantastical world she writes about is another realm that really does exist beyond the human world.
Focus Features Song Sung Blue (2025) Song Sung Blue is based on the true story of Mike Sardina (Hugh Jackman) and Claire Cartwright-Sardina (Kate Hudson, who was nominated for an Oscar for the role), a couple who perform as a Neil Diamond tribute act known as Thunder and Lightning. The film is more focused on the couple's personal lives and the many setbacks they endured, but it's been lauded for the actors' heartfelt performances.
MGM Creed (2015) Ryan Coogler directed the 2015 sports drama Creed, a continuation of the Rocky boxing universe. In the film, Michael B. Jordan stars as Adonis Creed, the son of Rocky Balboa's (Sylvester Stallone) rival, Apollo Creed, who travels to Philadelphia to be trained by Balboa. The film and its two sequels, Creed II and Creed II, which all star Jordan and Stallone, arrived to Netflix this June.
Zentropa Entertainments Another Round (2020) Another Round, which won the 2021 Oscar for Best International Feature, is the story of four high school teachers who conduct an experiment to see what happens when they maintain a constant level of alcohol in their blood. What begins as an experiment meant to boost their creativity and allow them to relax becomes more complicated when they start to push the boundaries and their drunkenness interferes with their family and work lives. Mads Mikkelsen won several awards for his role in the film.
Gramercy Pictures The Big Lebowski (1998) 1998's The Big Lebowski is one of Joel and Ethan Coen's most iconic films. The film stars Jeff Bridges stars as Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski, a man who gets involved with all the wrong types of people after he's mistaken for a different Jeffrey Lebowski. The film co-stars John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Tara Reid, Steve Buscemi and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Pour yourself a White Russian and enjoy this modern classic while it's available on the platform.
Elevated Films Dead Man's Wire (2025) Gus Van Sant directed Dead Man's Wire, a thriller based on the true story of Tony Kiritsis (Bill Skarsgård), a man who took his mortgage broker, Richard Hall (Stranger Things star Dacre Montgomery), hostage in 1977, attaching him to a dead man's switch that's wired to a shotgun that will shoot and kill him if he attempts to escape. Filled with tension and a frenetic performance from Skarsgård, the film is a suspenseful and exciting thrill ride. The cast includes Cary Elwes, Al Pacino, Myha'la and Colman Domingo
Netflix Marty, Life Is Short (2026) Martin Short got his start performing onstage in Canada in the 1970s, which eventually led him to Saturday Night Live and Hollywood. Along the way, he endured some majors losses – the deaths of his parents and a brother, and later the death of his wife and daughter – and yet, through it all, he has not let his grief dominate his life, In Marty, Life is Short, directed by Lawrence Kasdan, Short, along with many of his closest friends, including Steve Martin, Tom Hanks, Catherine O'Hara and Steven Spielberg, reflect on Short's life, relationships and career and the fact that despite many low points and failures, he has never not tried to have fun.
Universal Pictures Nope (2022) In Jordan Peele's 2022 thriller Nope, Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer star as siblings OJ and Emerald Haywood, whose family ranch has trained horses for Hollywood movies for decades. After the death of their father, OJ and Emerald begin selling off their horses to a former child star, Ricky “Jupe” Park (Steven Yeun), who is starting his own Western-themed amusement park, and at the same time, horses begin to disappear off the Haywood's ranch, the result of an unidentified flying object. Both Jupe and the Haywoods decide to try and capitalize on the UFO's existence, to very different results. Like Peele's directorial debut, Get Out, Nope explores deeper themes of race and exploitation through a horror lens.
Columbia Pictures Tootsie (1982) Tootsie, the Sidney Pollack comedy about a desperate actor (Dustin Hoffman) who dresses as a woman in order to get a role on a soap opera, is often considered one of the great films of the 1980s, earning co-star Jessica Lange a best supporting actress Oscar. The movie is the ideal pick if you need a lighthearted comedy, or love a movie set in a grittier, bygone era of New York City. Check it out soon as it leaves the platform on July 31.
Searchlight Pictures Poor Things (2023) Poor Things earned Emma Stone her second Oscar (her first was for La La Land), and it marks her second collaboration with director Yorgos Lanthimos. In the film, Stone stars as Bella Baxter, a woman resurrected by a mad scientist, Godwin Baxter (Willem Defoe), after she killed herself. Newly reborn, she begins to experience the world as a child would, seeing everything through fresh eyes, including sex, which she becomes obsessed with. Though Godwin attempts to control her (as do the other men who enter her life), she becomes her own woman, living by her own rules. Ramy Youssef, Mark Ruffalo and Christopher Abbott co-star in the film.
Ghostbusters (1984) Like Tootsie, Ghostbusters is a comedy that's also a vintage New York-in-the-'80s film. The film stars Dan Aykroyd, Bill Burray, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson as paranormal scientists trying to keep New York's spectral population under control. Sigourney Weaver, Annie Potts and Rick Moranis also co-star in this classic.
Touchstone Pictures Pretty Woman (1990) Julia Roberts became synonymous with the phrase “pretty woman” after her star-making turn in the 1990 Garry Marshall film where she starred as an escort who falls for a wealthy businessman (Richard Gere). The film has more iconic, quotable lines than I can count, a killer 1990s soundtrack and impeccable supporting performances from Laura San Giacomo and Hector Elizondo. This modern classic is leaving Netflix on July 31 so if you don't watch it, well… big mistake. Huge.
Searchlight Pictures 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2025) 28 Years Later and its follow-up, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple are the newest films in the zombie series about a viral outbreak that has ravaged England and placed it under quarantine with almost no contact with the rest of the world. Right now, you can catch both films on the platform; The Bone Temple just arrived last week. Ralph Fiennes portrayal as Dr. Ian Kelson is not to be missed.
Neon Anatomy of a Fall (2023) The 2023 film Anatomy of a Fall received the 2023 Oscar for best original screenplay and was nominated for four other Academy Awards. The gripping legal drama follows a French novelist, Sandra Voyter (Sandra Hüller), as a woman whose husband plunges to his death from an upstairs window of their home in the Alps. Was the fall accidental? Did Sandra push him? Or did he kill himself? The mystery and ambiguity of it all will keep you guessing and forming your own opinions, and you'll never hear 50 Cent quite the same way again.
Netflix Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man (2026) Cillian Murphy is back as Tommy Shelby in Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man. The film picks up a few years after the end of the sixth season of the Peaky Blinders series, in 1940, smack in the middle of World War II. After a self-imposed exile, Tommy Shelby returns to Birmingham and, as you can expect, the past and his family drama have come back to haunt him. The film was directed by Tom Harper and written by Steven Knight, and has a stellar cast with Barry Keoghan, Rebecca Ferguson, Tim Roth and Stephen Graham.
Netflix All The Empty Rooms (2025) In the Oscar-winning documentary short, All The Empty Rooms, CBS News reporter Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp embark on a cross-country trip to visit and memorialize the bedrooms of children who were killed in school shootings. It's a hard watch, to be sure, but a necessary reminder that we can be doing more to prevent future tragedies.
Sony Pictures Classics Blue Moon (2025) Blue Moon was released in theaters in 2025 and received two Oscar nods this year, one for Ethan Hawke's lead performance as songwriter Lorenz Hart and another for Best Original Screenplay. In the film, a depressed Hart struggles to accept the success of his former songwriting partner Richard Rodgers (played by Andrew Scott). Bobby Cannavale and Margaret Qualley also co-star. The film, directed by Richard Linklater, marks his ninth film collaboration with Hawke.
Netflix KPop Demon Hunters (2025) The Netflix original animated film KPop Demon Hunters premiered in June and quickly rose through the ranks to become the platform's most-watched original film of all time. The film, about a KPop group that performs by day and hunts demons in their downtime, has a soundtrack that's already been certified Platinum thanks to hits like “Golden” and “Soda Pop.” The film stars Arden Cho, May Hong and Ji Young Yoo as the titular girl group tasked with fighting off a demonic boy band. (Can't get enough of the movie? Check out the theatrical sing-along version and lyric videos that are also available to stream.) The film was also honored with two Golden Globes this year for Best Original Song and Best Animated Motion Picture and won Oscars in those same categories at this year's ceremony.
Netflix Frankenstein (2025) Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein received nine Oscar nominations this year and took home three. The film, a reimagining of the Mary Shelley classic, is pure del Toro, filled with the dark, fantastical style the director is known for. It stars Oscar Isaac as the mad scientist Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi nabbed an Oscar nomination for his turn as the Monster.
Netflix Train Dreams (2025) Joel Edgerton stars in Train Dreams, an Oscar-nominated drama that has won awards at several film festivals and the Independent Spirit Awards this year. The film takes place roughly a century ago; Edgerton stars as Robert Grainier, a logger in the Pacific Northwest struggling to build a life for himself and his family. The story is adapted from the novella of the same name by Denis Johnson and costars Felicity Jones, Kerry Condon and William H. Macy.
IFC Films Boyhood (2014) Richard Linklater's Boyhood was filmed over a span of 12 years, from 2002 until 2013, and chronicles in real time, the adolescence of a young boy named Mason (Ellar Coltrane) as he grows up. Clocking in at nearly three hours, the film feels documentary-like as it shows its characters in real-life settings discussing current events of the time. (It was scripted as filming went along.) The result is refreshingly original and moving. Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette and Lorelai Linklater (Richard Linklater's daughter) co-star.
Netflix The Perfect Neighbor (2025) Directed and produced by Geeta Gandbhir, The Perfect Neighbor is a harrowing documentary about the killing of Ajike Owens, a Florida woman who was shot to death on June 2, 2023, by her neighbor, Susan Louise Lorincz. The film's use of police body camera footage and 911 calls lay out the neighborhood disputes stemming from Lorincz's erratic and unsettling behavior and the escalating tension that led to the killing.
Sony Pictures Animation Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (2018) Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is the first animated Spider-Man feature in the Marvel canon, and the film follows Brooklyn teenager Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) as he becomes the new Spider-Man and teams up with other Spider-People from various parallel universes to save his universe from the Kingpin (voiced by Liev Schreiber). The film's other Spider-Men are played by Jake Johnson, John Mulaney, Kimiko Glenn and Nicolas Cage. The rest of the cast is top-notch, too.
Netflix Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025) Daniel Craig returns for a third time as Benoit Blanc in the newest film in the Knives Out mystery series, Wake Up Dead Man. This time around, the charming detective has been summoned to a small town in New York to investigate the death of a monsignor at a small church, and everyone in the sprawling A-list ensemble is a suspect. The film co-stars Glenn Close, Andrew Scott, Josh O'Connor, Mila Kunis, Kerry Washington and others. Why not make it a double feature and watch 2022's Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, also on Netflix, while you're at it?
Toho Godzilla Minus One (2023) Godzilla Minus One is an Academy Award-winning Japanese-language movie written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki. Set in 1945, the story centers around Kōichi Shikishima, a young pilot dealing with PTSD in a post-World War II era. After surviving an encounter with Godzilla, he and others realize the kaiju is gearing up to attack Tokyo. A sequel to the Sony film has also just been announced; Godzilla Minus Zero is expected in theaters in late 2026.
Netflix The Old Guard (2020) Based on the comic book by Greg Rucka, the action-fantasy The Old Guard stars Charlize Theron as one of a group of immortal mercenaries who are able to regenerate even after being killed. When they're tracked down and hunted by a pharmaceutical company that intends to study them, they fight back in an effort to protect themselves. The first film, released in 2020, was such a success that a sequel, The Old Guard 2, premiered in 2025 with Uma Thurman cast as Theron's newest adversary.
Sony Pictures One of Them Days (2025) One of Them Days is pure comedy gold. It's the perfect (R-rated) film when you're looking for something silly and fun and packed with great jokes and performances. The movie is part of the “desperate best friends embark on a mission with a deadline” genre (see also: Booksmart, Plan B) as best friends Dreux (Kiki Palmer) and Alyssa (SZA in her film debut) try to track down the rent money that was stolen by Alyssa's boyfriend before the end of the day. When they realize the money is gone, they desperately try to make all the money they need in one day, leading them to sell a pair of stolen Jordans and stage an art show to sell some of Alyssa's paintings. The film, which arrived on Netflix in March, features hilarious cameos from Katt Williams, Janelle James and Lil Rel Howery. Rumor has it a sequel is in the works.
Yoo Eun Mi/Netflix Ballerina (2023) Netflix's K-drama collection has a few hidden gems, including Ballerina, a 2023 revenge story about a former bodyguard seeking justice for her friend. Jang Ok-ju stops at nothing to make the offenders pay in this action-packed thriller. (Just don't get this Ballerina confused with the recent release of the same name starring Ana de Armas, which is also an action-packed revenge story — that one's not on Netflix, at least not yet.)
Lewis Jacobs/Netflix Rez Ball (2024) A powerful story about a high school basketball team in New Mexico, Rez Ball takes viewers on a journey with the Chuska Warriors. When a tragic event strikes the team, it faces challenges on and off the court — but still aims for a championship title. Co-written by Sydney Freeland and Sterlin Harjo (co-creator of Reservation Dogs), the movie is based on the novel Canyon Dreams: A Basketball Season on the Navajo Nation.
Netflix 1917 (2019) The critically lauded Oscar-winning film, 1917, directed by Sam Mendes about World War I, was remarkable for the fact that it was filmed with the intent of making it appear as though the entire movie was shot as two long, continuous takes. The movie stars George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman playing British soldiers traveling across a dangerous battle zone rigged by Germans in an effort to deliver a message to their superiors warning them of an impending attack. The film's stellar supporting cast includes Andrew Scott, Benedict Cumberbatch, Mark Strong and Richard Madden.
Netflix Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is dedicated to the memory of Chadwick Boseman, who made his final screen appearance in the film before his death in 2020. The film stars Boseman as Levee Green, a member of blues singer Ma Rainey's band (Viola Davis), and takes place amid one of the band's conflict-ridden and turbulent recording sessions in 1920s Chicago. Taylour Paige, Colman Domingo and Glynn Turman co-star in the film that was adapted from August Wilson's 1982 play.
Watch Ma Rainey's Black Bottom on Netflix
Netflix Rustin (2023) Colman Domingo earned an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of civil rights activist Bayard Rustin in this film about a man whose legacy has often been overlooked in civil rights history. Bayard Rustin fought alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and helped organize the 1963 March on Washington and the Freedom Rides, among other major historic events.
Rustin's outspoken activism and homosexuality made him a target — not just for political adversaries but sometimes even among his allies. The film explores the life of a man whose legacy has long been overlooked.
Netflix Maestro (2023) This biographical film nabbed seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Picture. Maestro tells the story of conductor Leonard Bernstein (Bradley Cooper) and his relationship with actor Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan). In addition to starring in the romance drama, Cooper also directed and co-wrote the film and produced it alongside Hollywood legends Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg.
Netflix The Lost Daughter (2021) Based on the novel by Elena Ferrante, The Lost Daughter stars Olivia Colman as a woman traveling alone to a seaside resort where she observes a mother and daughter. They send her into a bit of a spiral, recalling her own experiences as a young mother. The screenplay was adapted and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal in her directorial debut.
Netflix Society of the Snow (2023) The award-winning film, Society of the Snow, is based on true events and adapted from the book of the same name. In 1972, a rugby team from Uruguay boarded a plane to Chile for a game. The plane crashed in the Andes mountains, leaving survivors to contend with injuries, illness, cold temperatures and death. Not everyone makes it and those facing death make agonizing choices to live.
Netflix The Greatest Night in Pop (2024) If you weren't around at the time, it's hard to explain just how huge We Are the World was. Recorded by a supergroup of popular musicians — assembled on the fly on the night of the 1985 American Music Awards — the charity single benefiting Ethiopian famine victims sold more than 20 million copies and featured the likes of Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Diana Ross. (It feels impossible to imagine so many megastars assembling in one room for something like this today.)
Luckily for us, there were cameras rolling the entire time as dozens of the world's most famous musicians pulled the epic all-night recording session. The recently departed Quincy Jones proves to be the night's true star, wrangling a studio full of nerves, egos and a little too much wine to produce something genuinely special.
Watch The Greatest Night in Pop on Netflix
Netflix Nimona (2023) This animated drama, based on the graphic novel of the same name, is set in a futuristic medieval world, in which a knight (Riz Ahmed) is framed for a crime. A shapeshifting teenager named Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz) — whom he's been trained to destroy — may be his only hope for proving his innocence.
Netflix The Swimmers (2022) This biographical film tells the story of two sisters, Yusra (Nathalie Issa) and Sarah Mardini (Manal Issa), who escape war-torn Syria. Amid all the strife and upheaval, Yusra works toward her dream of swimming in the Olympics. It's a touching narrative of hope and survival.
Netflix All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) A World War I drama based on the classic novel of the same name, this epic depicts the horrors of war through the eyes of 17-year-old German soldier Paul Bäumer (Felix Kammerer). At first enthused about joining the army, in spite of his parents' wishes, Bäumer gets a violent wake-up call. All Quiet on the Western Front was a dominating force at the 95th Annual Academy Awards, as it was nominated for nine Oscars and ultimately walked away with four, including best international feature film.
Watch All Quiet on the Western Front on Netflix
Photo by Carlos Somonte Roma (2018) Alfonso Cuarón's Roma nabbed him the best director Oscar in 2018 (the film earned two other Oscars that year, too), a first for a foreign-language film. Its inclusion in the award show marked the first time a film distributed by a streaming platform was eligible for major awards. The film, set in the early 1970s, stars Yalitza Aparicio as the live-in housekeeper for a wealthy Mexico City family as she deals with her own pregnancy, the troubles within the family she works for and the escalating political turmoil in the city around her.
