This December, Netflix’s movie library has a terrific mix of brand-new additions and timeless classics for audiences to enjoy over the holiday season.
And between originals like Jay Kelly and older hits like Cast Away, their drama genre is particularly stocked with good stuff.
Watch With Us put together a list of our picks for the five best drama movies on Netflix right now, and we ranked them based on IMDb rating — but see how you liked them for yourself.
Our picks include stars like George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio, Nicole Kidman and more!
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5. ‘Jay Kelly’ (2025)
Aging movie star Jay Kelly (Clooney) finds himself disillusioned with his life, so he cancels all his upcoming projects and sets off for a European sojourn with his manager, Ron (Adam Sandler). The trip becomes a journey of self-discovery, as both men confront their pasts and their presents as they ruminate on what they will leave behind when they’re gone.
Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story) gives a metatextual role to Clooney that satirizes his movie star persona along with the very concept of modern celebrity, in this stylish, tender movie about fame and mortality. The blend of comedy and poignant self-reflection is furthered by Sandler’s nuanced performance, who gives a great turn in his second team-up with Baumbach since The Meyerowitz Stories.
4. ‘The Northman’ (2022)
In AD 895, Viking King Aurvandill (Ethan Hawke) returns home from war and begins preparing his son Amleth (Alexander Skarsgård) for his eventual ascent to the throne. But when Amleth’s uncle (Claes Bang) brutally murders Aurvandill and kidnaps Amleth’s mother (Nicole Kidman), Amleth is exiled. Years later, a seeress (Björk) reminds Amleth of the oath he once made: to save his mother, kill his uncle and avenge his father.
Visually stunning and boosted by a fantastic ensemble cast, The Northman is a brutal, bloody epic that expanded on director Robert Eggers’ filmmaking ambitions while maintaining his distinct style. The world-building is rich and utterly absorbing, made all the more engaging by surreal sequences that need to be seen to be believed. The impressive cast also features Anya Taylor-Joy and Willem Dafoe.
3. ‘Train Dreams’ (2025)
Logger Robert Grainier (Joel Edgerton) works on the development of railways in the turn-of-the-century American West, forcing him to lead a lonely life spent largely away from his wife (Felicity Jones) and daughter. Robert ultimately experiences his own personal upheaval during this time of great change for the country, enduring love, loss and a rapidly vanishing way of life.
Based on the 2011 novella of the same name by Denis Johnson, Train Dreams is a poetic exploration of American identity at odds with modernity, tackling other themes such as grief, memory and the beauty of simple existence. Train Dreams premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival and received warm praise from critics who commended the film’s meditative quality, beautiful cinematography and nuanced performance from Edgerton.
2. ‘Cast Away’ (2000)
While on a plane to an assignment in Malaysia, FedEx systems analyst Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks) becomes stranded on a deserted island in the Pacific when his plane goes off-course and crash-lands, leaving Chuck the sole survivor. His efforts to escape and make contact with help all fail, and so Chuck tries to adapt to living on the island — where he remains trapped for years. With a volleyball as his only companion, will Chuck ever be reunited with civilization?
Carried by a masterclass performance from Hanks, Cast Away has endured as a classic survival movie. It features a smart, enthralling script and a simple story that ends up profoundly moving and entertaining in large part because of Hanks’ heavy-lifting. At the 2001 Academy Awards, Hanks received a nomination for Best Actor but lost to Russell Crowe in Gladiator.
1. ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ (2013)
In the late ’80s and 1990s, stockbroker Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio) rises from humble beginnings to eventually taking over Wall Street as a corrupt con artist, making millions off the backs of unsuspecting victims. Belfort seems to have it all — a beautiful wife (Margot Robbie), a beautiful home, a daughter and more money than he knows what to do with. But while the FBI starts getting wise, Belfort’s own self-destructive drug addiction equally threatens to ruin him.
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This high-octane crime film might be three hours long, but director Martin Scorsese knows what he’s doing, and it’s paced at such a breakneck speed you’ll barely notice the time flying by. The Wolf of Wall Street is funny, fast and irreverent while also going to some dark, upsetting places, featuring one of DiCaprio’s best performances of his career.
