Netflix‘s original films may not have won Best Picture at the Oscars, but the streamer still has a terrific lineup of A-list movies.
It certainly helps that Netflix can borrow films from other studios for an extended period, including several Oscar-winning selections.
For March, Watch With Us has narrowed down these selections to the five best Netflix movies to watch right now, as ranked by Rotten Tomatoes.
Our choices include a crime drama, a music biopic, an independent film, a legal drama and one of the best movies of the 21st century.
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5. ‘Casino’ (1995)
Out of the 10 movies that Robert De Niro and director Martin Scorsese have made together, Casino falls somewhere in the middle. It’s still a great crime epic in the Scorsese fashion, even if it’s not as iconic as some of their previous collaborations. The film is set in the 1970s as Sam “Ace” Rothstein (De Niro) is sent to Las Vegas to oversee a lucrative casino for the mob.
Sam’s very good at his job, but not as good at picking his friends. The woman he loves, Ginger McKenna (Sharon Stone), can barely hide her disdain for him, while his old pal Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci) quickly becomes more trouble than he’s worth. Sam has a better talent for making new enemies, and it’s only a matter of time before he may be forced to permanently cash in his chips.
Casino is streaming on Netflix.
4. ‘Ray’ (2004)
The real Ray Charles passed away a few months before Ray hit theaters, but this biopic was a fitting tribute to the legendary singer. Jamie Foxx won an Oscar for his portrayal of Charles, and the film depicts his rise from obscurity to music superstar.
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Charles’ talent is undeniable even during the early stages of his career as he embarks on romances with Della Beatrice Howard (Kerry Washington), Mary Ann Fisher (Aunjanue Ellis) and Margie Hendricks (Regina King). Unfortunately for Charles, his heroin addiction may be more powerful than his love for any of the women in his life. And it may cost him everything he has.
Ray is streaming on Netflix.
3. ‘Chef’ (2014)
Chef was Jon Favreau‘s palate cleanser after directing a string of blockbuster films, as he wrote, directed and starred in this indie flick about a man facing a mid-life crisis of his own making. Carl Casper (Favreau) is an acclaimed chef whose argument with a food critic, Ramsey Michel (Oliver Platt), goes viral and seemingly ends his career.
Carl’s ex-wife, Inez (Sofía Vergara), and his former co-worker, Martin (John Leguizamo), encourage him to rediscover his passion for cooking by reinventing himself as a food truck owner. Freed from the constraints of running a restaurant, Carl gets to be experimental with his food offerings while repairing his relationships with Inez and their son, Percy (Emjay Anthony).
Chef is streaming on Netflix.
Unfortunately, the ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ Dog Won’t Be at the Oscars
2. ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ (2023)
It’s not a knock against the human cast of Anatomy of a Fall to say that one of the film’s best performances was given by a dog named Messi. That very cute canine was used exceptionally well as Snoop, the guide dog for a young boy named Daniel Maleski (Milo Machado-Graner). The pair has the misfortune of discovering the body of Daniel’s father, Samuel Maleski (Samuel Theis), and the family trauma is only beginning.
Police and prosecutors soon focus on Daniel’s mother, Sandra Voyter (Sandra Hüller), as the primary suspect in her husband’s death. The authorities disregard Sandra’s contention that her husband committed suicide, and her case plays out in court and in the court of public opinion. Did Sandra murder her husband, or is she his killer? You’ll have to see the film before you can make up your mind.
Anatomy of a Fall is streaming on Netflix.
1. ‘Boyhood’ (2014)
Boyhood was a cinematic experiment by director Richard Linklater that chronicled the lives of a boy, Mason Evans Jr. (Ellar Coltrane), and his family over the course of a decade by shooting small segments of the film once per year. Subsequently, the audience sees Mason and his sister, Samantha (Lorelei Linklater), grow up before their eyes while their weary mother, Olivia Evans (Patricia Arquette), tries to raise them as well as she can.
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Ethan Hawke costars as Mason Evans Sr., Olivia’s ex-husband, who drifts into and out of the lives of his children. Arquette won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress and Hawke is quite good, too, but this movie belongs to Coltrane. His character work as Mason is fully believable. This film feels like a real coming-of-age story because, in many ways, it is — the film documents in real time Coltrane’s transformation from a child to a young man, and it’s fascinating to watch.
Boyhood is streaming on Netflix.
