(Photo by Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection. Thumbnail: Focus/Courtesy Everett Collection)
100 Best Movies on Netflix, Ranked by Tomatometer (April 2021)
In our world of massive entertainment options, who’s got time to waste on the below-average? You’ve got a subscription, you’re ready for a marathon, and you want only the best movies no Netflix to watch. With thousands of choices on the platform, both original and acquired, we’ve found the 100 top Netflix movies with the highest Tomatometer scores!
You’ll quickly notice that none of the films featured here fall below 89% on the Tomatometer (with each score tallied from at least 20 reviews), meaning the overwhelming majority of critics who saw these gave them a favorable Fresh review. These movies run the gamut, from widely-seen popular movies (Uncut Gems) to arthouse hits (Snowpiercer, Pan’s Labyrinth).
The movies are by turns funny (Monty Python and the Holy Grail), dramatic (Marriage Story, Spotlight), and romantic (Always Be My Maybe). They’re the scariest horror movies out there (Under the Shadow), and the best documentaries ever made (13th).
And we’ve only just scratched the surface of Netflix’s growing stable of formidable originals, like Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman, Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma, and Eddie Murphy comeback vehicle Dolemite Is My Name. And to make sure you’re only seeing the cream of the crop, every movie featured here is Certified Fresh, meaning it maintained a high enough Tomatometer score after crossing a minimum critics review threshold.
Time to get comfy on the couch because we’re not just throwing good movies on Netflix at you, not even just great ones, but the 100 Best Movies on Netflix Right Now, Ranked by Tomatometer!
Update: Croupier, The Pianist, Philomena added.
#100
Adjusted Score: 93.703%
Critics Consensus: Elevated by a bravura performance from Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Kindergarten Teacher is one American remake that retains its impact the second time around.
Synopsis: Writer-director Sarah Colangelo's sophomore feature film is based on the 2014 Israeli film of the same name. Maggie Gyllenhaal plays...
[More]
#99
Adjusted Score: 100.022%
Critics Consensus: Featuring outstanding work from an excellent cast, The Departed is a thoroughly engrossing gangster drama with the gritty authenticity and soupy morality we come to expect from Martin Scorsese.
Synopsis: Legendary director Martin Scorsese takes the helm for this tale of questionable loyalties and blurring identities set in the South...
[More]
#98
Adjusted Score: 92.009%
Critics Consensus: Thanks to director Zak Hilditch's patient storytelling and strong work from lead Thomas Jane, 1922 ranks among the more satisfying Stephen King adaptations.
Synopsis: 1922 is based on Stephen King's 131-page story telling of a man's confession of his wife's murder. The tale is...
[More]
#97
Adjusted Score: 92.169%
Critics Consensus: Like a good wine, once you let Uncorked breathe, its heartfelt tenderness will yield a sweet time.
Synopsis: Fueled by his love for wine, Elijah enrolls in a course to become a master sommelier, an elite designation given...
[More]
#96
Adjusted Score: 93.066%
Critics Consensus: An appealing animated adventure whose silliness is anchored in genuine emotion, The Willoughbys offers fanciful fun the entire family can enjoy.
Synopsis: Convinced they'd be better off raising themselves, the Willoughby children hatch a sneaky plan to send their selfish parents on...
[More]
#95
Adjusted Score: 93.424%
Critics Consensus: Suspenseful, well-acted, and intelligent, I Am Mother is an ambitious sci-fi story that largely achieves its impressive aims.
Synopsis: I AM MOTHER is a sci-fi thriller about a teenage girl (Clara Rugaard), who is the first of a new...
[More]
#94
Adjusted Score: 93.608%
Critics Consensus: Carla Gugino carries Gerald's Game's small-scale suspense with a career-defining performance.
Synopsis: When her husband's sex game goes wrong, Jessie (Carla Gugino) -- handcuffed to a bed in a remote lake house...
[More]
#93
Adjusted Score: 94.104%
Critics Consensus: Happy as Lazzaro uses a friendship's ups and downs as a satisfyingly expansive canvas for a picture rich with thematic and cinematic depth.
Synopsis: Lazzaro is a naive and optimistic twenty-year-old farmer; Tancredi is instead a young man with a fervid imagination. Between the...
[More]
#92
Adjusted Score: 94.386%
Critics Consensus: Miss Americana provides an engaging if somewhat deliberately opaque backstage look at a pop star turned cultural phenomenon.
Synopsis: Miss Americana is a raw and emotionally revealing look at one of the most iconic artists of our time during...
[More]
#91
Adjusted Score: 95.057%
Critics Consensus: Boasting enough intelligence to bolster its darkly violent thrills, The Guest offers another treat for genre fans from director Adam Wingard.
Synopsis: From the director of YOU'RE NEXT and featuring a standout, badass performance from Dan Stevens ("Downton Abbey"), comes THE GUEST:...
[More]
#90
Adjusted Score: 95.969%
Critics Consensus: Entertaining if not essential, El Camino adds a satisfying belated coda to the Breaking Bad story -- led by a career-best performance from Aaron Paul.
Synopsis: The Netflix Television Event EL CAMINO: A BREAKING BAD MOVIE reunites fans with Jesse Pinkman (Emmy-winner Aaron Paul). In the...
[More]
#89
Adjusted Score: 96.201%
Critics Consensus: High Flying Bird takes a thoughtful and engrossing look at professional sports that sees Steven Soderbergh continuing to test the limits of new filmmaking technology.
Synopsis: In the midst of a pro basketball lockout, sports agent Ray Burke (André Holland) finds himself caught in the face-off...
[More]
#88
Adjusted Score: 95.955%
Critics Consensus: While it's plenty predictable and sentimental, The Sapphires also has an irresistible feel-good vibe, winning music and charming performances to spare.
Synopsis: Inspired by a true story, THE SAPPHIRES follows four vivacious, young and talented Australian Aboriginal girls from a remote mission...
[More]
#87
Adjusted Score: 98.783%
Critics Consensus: Well-acted and beautifully made, The White Tiger distills the strengths of its source material into a grimly compelling drama.
Synopsis: Balram Halwai (Adarsh Gourav) narrates his epic and darkly humorous rise from poor villager to successful entrepreneur in modern India....
[More]
#86
Adjusted Score: 98.631%
Critics Consensus: Based on a powerful true story and led by note-perfect performances from Judi Dench and Steve Coogan, Philomena offers a profoundly affecting drama for adult filmgoers of all ages.
Synopsis: Based on the 2009 investigative book by BBC correspondent Martin Sixsmith, The Lost Child of Philomena Lee, PHILOMENA focuses on...
[More]
#85
Adjusted Score: 99.312%
Critics Consensus: Widely touted as a masterpiece, this sparse and sprawling epic about the underhanded "heroes" of capitalism boasts incredible performances by leads Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Dano, and is director Paul Thomas Anderson's best work to date.
Synopsis: Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson steps outside his contemporary world of dysfunctional Angelenos to explore a very different dysfunctional man --...
[More]
#84
Adjusted Score: 102.604%
Critics Consensus: A Ghost Story deftly manages its ambitious themes through an inventive, artful, and ultimately poignant exploration of love and loss.
Synopsis: With A GHOST STORY, acclaimed director David Lowery (AIN'T THEM BODIES SAINTS, PETE'S DRAGON) returns with a singular exploration of...
[More]
#83
Adjusted Score: 105.687%
Critics Consensus: Uncut Gems reaffirms the Safdies as masters of anxiety-inducing cinema -- and proves Adam Sandler remains a formidable dramatic actor when given the right material.
Synopsis: From acclaimed filmmakers Josh and Benny Safdie comes an electrifying crime thriller about Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler), a charismatic New...
[More]
#82
Adjusted Score: 105.891%
Critics Consensus: Oh, hai Mark. The Disaster Artist is a surprisingly poignant and charming movie-about-a-movie that explores the creative process with unexpected delicacy.
Synopsis: The real life story of writer/director Tommy Wiseau, the man behind what is often referred to as "The Citizen Kane...
[More]
#81
Adjusted Score: 93.051%
Critics Consensus: Led by a committed performance from Julian Barratt, Mindhorn offers audiences a laugh-out-loud comedy whose sublime silliness is enhanced by its more thoughtful moments.
Synopsis: Washed-up actor Richard Thorncroft peaked with hit 1980s detective show 'Mindhorn', playing the titular Isle of Man sleuth with a...
[More]
#80
Adjusted Score: 93.192%
Critics Consensus: Icarus is eye-opening viewing for professional sports enthusiasts, yet it should also prove thoroughly gripping even for filmgoers who might not necessarily be drawn to the subject.
Synopsis: A major Olympic cheating scandal is uncovered by accident by an American documentary filmmaker and a Russian scientist, when they...
[More]
#79
Adjusted Score: 93.238%
Critics Consensus: Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond offers a fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpse of method acting in action -- and one star's journey toward something like personal acceptance.
Synopsis: Director Chris Smith's fascinating deep dive into actor Jim Carrey's time spent portraying famed and complicated comedian Andy Kaufman. Using...
[More]
Starring:
#78
Adjusted Score: 93.094%
Critics Consensus: Into the Inferno finds director Werner Herzog observing some of the most beautiful -- and terrifying -- wonders of the natural world with his signature blend of curiosity and insight.
Synopsis: Werner Herzog and volcanologist Clive Oppenheimer embark upon a global journey exploring some of the world's most mythical volcanoes in...
[More]
#77
Adjusted Score: 93.767%
Critics Consensus: Set It Up follows the long-established outlines of the rom-com template -- and in the process, proves there's still substantial pleasure to be wrought from familiar formulas.
Synopsis: Harper and Charlie are overworked, underpaid assistants wasting their 20s slaving away for bosses who treat them like dirt and...
[More]
#76
Adjusted Score: 95.257%
Critics Consensus: Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese lives up to its unwieldy title with a delightfully unorthodox look at a pivotal period in its subject's career.
Synopsis: Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese captures the troubled spirit of America in 1975 and the...
[More]
#75
Adjusted Score: 95.304%
Critics Consensus: Fyre smolders with agonizing tension when a party in paradise goes awry, but this slickly assembled documentary reserves its greatest horror for damning observations about the dangers of wealth.
Synopsis: An exclusive behind the scenes look at the infamous unraveling of the Fyre music festival. Created by Billy McFarland and...
[More]
#74
Adjusted Score: 95.611%
Critics Consensus: Dreamlike and haunting, We the Animals approaches the coming-of-age odyssey with a uniquely documentarian eye.
Synopsis: Us three. Us brothers. Us kings, inseparable. Three boys tear through their childhood, in the midst of their young parents'...
[More]
#73
Adjusted Score: 97.041%
Critics Consensus: The Endless benefits from its grounded approach to an increasingly bizarre story, elevated by believable performances by filmmakers Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead.
Synopsis: Following their Lovecraftian modern cult classic SPRING, acclaimed filmmakers Moorhead and Benson return with this mind-bending thriller that follows two...
[More]
#72
Adjusted Score: 97.043%
Critics Consensus: Beasts of No Nation finds writer-director Cary Fukunaga working with a talented cast to offer a sobering, uncompromising, yet still somehow hopeful picture of war's human cost.
Synopsis: In West Africa, the life of young Agu (Abraham Attah) is disrupted when his father is slaughtered in a civil...
[More]
#71
Adjusted Score: 96.941%
Critics Consensus: This is a piercingly honest, acidly witty look at divorce and its impact on a family.
Synopsis: Bernard Berkman, the patriarch of an eccentric Brooklyn family, claims to have been a famous novelist but is now reduced...
[More]
#70
Adjusted Score: 99.448%
Critics Consensus: The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) observes the family dynamic through writer-director Noah Baumbach's bittersweet lens and the impressive efforts of a remarkable cast.
Synopsis: The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) stars Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, Elizabeth Marvel, Grace Van Patten and Emma...
[More]
#69
Adjusted Score: 101.868%
Critics Consensus: A visual treat filled out by consistently stellar work from Robert Pattinson, Good Time is a singularly distinctive crime drama offering far more than the usual genre thrills.
Synopsis: After a botched bank robbery lands his younger brother in prison, Constantine Nikas (Robert Pattinson) embarks on a twisted odyssey...
[More]
#68
Adjusted Score: 101.864%
Critics Consensus: Silver Linings Playbook walks a tricky thematic tightrope, but David O. Russell's sensitive direction and some sharp work from a talented cast gives it true balance.
Synopsis: Life doesn't always go according to plan. Pat Solatano (Bradley Cooper) has lost everything -- his house, his job, and...
[More]
#67
Adjusted Score: 105.01%
Critics Consensus: Fierce energy and ambition course through Da 5 Bloods, coming together to fuel one of Spike Lee's most urgent and impactful films.
Synopsis: From Academy Award Winner Spike Lee comes a New Joint: the story of four African-American Vets -- Paul (Delroy Lindo),...
[More]
#66
Adjusted Score: 93.752%
Critics Consensus: Hush navigates the bloody waters of home invasion thrillers and incisive slashers for a contemporary horror puree.
Synopsis: In this heart-pounding thriller from acclaimed writer and director Mike Flanagan (Oculus, Before I Wake), silence takes on a terrifying...
[More]
#65
Adjusted Score: 93.838%
Critics Consensus: Sand Storm marks an impressive first feature for debuting writer-director Elite Zexer that offers a perceptive -- and crucial -- look at patriarchal traditions.
Synopsis: Desert noon in a Bedouin village in Southern Israel. Jalila is hosting an awkward celebration--the marriage of her husband to...
[More]
#64
Adjusted Score: 96.188%
Critics Consensus: Beautifully animated and faithful to the spirit of its classic source material, The Little Prince is a family-friendly treat that anchors thrilling visuals with a satisfying story.
Synopsis: Kung-fu Panda director Mark Osborne teams with producers Aton Soumache and Dimitri Rassam for this animated take on Antoine de...
[More]
#63
Adjusted Score: 96.565%
Critics Consensus: Smart and suspenseful, CAM is a techno-thriller that's far more than the sum of its salacious parts -- and an outstanding showcase for Madeline Brewer in the leading role.
Synopsis: CAM is a technology driven psychological thriller set in the world of webcam porn. It follows Alice, an ambitious camgirl,...
[More]
#62
Adjusted Score: 97.801%
Critics Consensus: Natalia Dyer's charming performance -- and writer-director Karen Maine's sensitive work -- will leave audiences saying Yes, God, Yes to this coming-of-age dramedy.
Synopsis: Growing up in the Midwest in the early 00s, sixteen-year-old Alice has always been a good Catholic. But when an...
[More]
#61
Adjusted Score: 96.888%
Critics Consensus: Private Life uses one couple's bumpy journey to take an affecting look at an easily identifiable - and too rarely dramatized - rite of adult passage.
Synopsis: The new film from Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Tamara Jenkins (The Savages, Slums of Beverly Hills), PRIVATE LIFE is the bracingly...
[More]
#60
Adjusted Score: 101.914%
Critics Consensus: Wildlife's portrait of a family in crisis is beautifully composed by director Paul Dano -- and brought brilliantly to life by a career-best performance from Carey Mulligan.
Synopsis: Elegantly adapted from Richard Ford's novel of the same name, Carey Mulligan (MUDBOUND, AN EDUCATION) delivers one of her finest...
[More]
#59
Adjusted Score: 100.168%
Critics Consensus: Hugo is an extravagant, elegant fantasy with an innocence lacking in many modern kids' movies, and one that emanates an unabashed love for the magic of cinema.
Synopsis: Throughout his extraordinary career, Academy Award-wining director Martin Scorsese has brought his unique vision and dazzling gifts to life in...
[More]
#58
Adjusted Score: 98.764%
Critics Consensus: A superbly-mounted adaptation of E.M. Forster's tale of British class tension, with exceptional performances all round, Howard's End ranks among the best of Merchant-Ivory's work.
Synopsis: One of the best Ismail Merchant/James Ivory films, this adaptation of E. M. Forster's classic 1910 novel shows in careful...
[More]
#57
Adjusted Score: 96.147%
Critics Consensus: Beautiful hand-drawn animation and a humorous, heartwarming narrative make Klaus an instant candidate for holiday classic status.
Synopsis: When Jesper (Jason Schwartzman) distinguishes himself as the postal academy's worst student, he is stationed on a frozen island above...
[More]
#56
Adjusted Score: 97.72%
Critics Consensus: Beautifully filmed and inventively choreographed, Shadow is a thrilling and visually sumptuous wuxia epic that finds director Zhang Yimou near peak form.
Synopsis: With SHADOW, director Zhang Yimou (HERO, HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS) once again pushes the boundaries of wuxia action to create...
[More]
#55
Adjusted Score: 102.192%
Critics Consensus: Passionate and powerfully acted, Fruitvale Station serves as a celebration of life, a condemnation of death, and a triumph for star Michael B. Jordan.
Synopsis: Winner of both the Grand Jury Prize for dramatic feature and the Audience Award for U.S. dramatic film at the...
[More]
#54
Adjusted Score: 104.213%
Critics Consensus: Snowpiercer offers an audaciously ambitious action spectacular for filmgoers numb to effects-driven blockbusters.
Synopsis: In this sci-fi epic from director Bong Joon Ho (The Host, Mother), a failed global-warming experiment kills off most life...
[More]
#53
Adjusted Score: 106.101%
Critics Consensus: Shaped by Todd Haynes' deft direction and powered by a strong cast led by Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, Carol lives up to its groundbreaking source material.
Synopsis: In this adaptation of the novel "The Price of Salt" by Patricia Highsmith, Therese (Rooney Mara), a young department-store clerk...
[More]
#52
Adjusted Score: 110.955%
Critics Consensus: Observing a splintering union with compassion and expansive grace, the powerfully acted Marriage Story ranks among writer-director Noah Baumbach's best works.
Synopsis: A stage director and his actor wife struggle through a grueling, coast-to-coast divorce that pushes them to their personal and...
[More]
#51
Adjusted Score: 103.123%
Critics Consensus: Casino Royale disposes of the silliness and gadgetry that plagued recent James Bond outings, and Daniel Craig delivers what fans and critics have been waiting for: a caustic, haunted, intense reinvention of 007.
Synopsis: James Bond's first 007 mission takes him to Madagascar, where he is to spy on a terrorist Mollaka. Not everything...
[More]
#50
Adjusted Score: 107.688%
Critics Consensus: Dark, complex, and unforgettable, The Dark Knight succeeds not just as an entertaining comic book film, but as a richly thrilling crime saga.
Synopsis: Christopher Nolan steps back into the director's chair for this sequel to Batman Begins, which finds the titular superhero coming...
[More]
#49
Adjusted Score: 95.891%
Critics Consensus: Brilliantly brought to life by tenderly empathetic performances from Jay Duplass and Edie Falco, Outside In tells a sobering -- yet thoroughly absorbing -- story.
Synopsis: After serving 20 years for the crime of essentially being in the wrong place at the wrong time, 38-year-old Chris...
[More]
#48
Adjusted Score: 100.661%
Critics Consensus: One of the more cutting-edge films of the 1970s, this religious farce from the classic comedy troupe is as poignant as it is funny and satirical.
Synopsis: Monty Python delivers the group's sharpest and smartest satire of both religion and Hollywood's epic films. Set in 33 A.D....
[More]
#47
Adjusted Score: 97.062%
Critics Consensus: Funny, informative, and occasionally sad, Good Hair is a provocative look at the complex relationship between African Americans and their hair.
Synopsis: "Good Hair" is an insightful and entertaining, yet remarkably serious, documentary about African-American hair culture. An exposé of comic proportions...
[More]
#46
Adjusted Score: 100.119%
Critics Consensus: Well-acted and dramatically moving, The Pianist is Polanski's best work in years.
Synopsis: An adaptation based on the autobiography of the acclaimed Polish composer, Wladyslaw Szpilman, who detailed his survival during World War...
[More]
#45
Adjusted Score: 102.946%
Critics Consensus: Burning patiently lures audiences into a slow-burning character study that ultimately rewards the viewer's patience -- and subverts many of their expectations.
Synopsis: BURNING tells the story of three individuals and a mysterious incident they experience. Jongsu bumps into an old friend, Haemi,...
[More]
#44
Adjusted Score: 102.168%
Critics Consensus: Clever, charming, and heartfelt, The Muppets is a welcome big screen return for Jim Henson's lovable creations that will both win new fans and delight longtime devotees.
Synopsis: On vacation in Los Angeles, Walter, the world's biggest Muppet fan, and his friends Gary (Jason Segel) and Mary (Amy...
[More]
#43
Adjusted Score: 103.341%
Critics Consensus: Pan's Labyrinth is Alice in Wonderland for grown-ups, with the horrors of both reality and fantasy blended together into an extraordinary, spellbinding fable.
Synopsis: Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro returns to the phantasmagorical cinema that defined such early fare as Cronos and The Devil's...
[More]
#42
Adjusted Score: 105.436%
Critics Consensus: The Death of Stalin finds director/co-writer Arnando Iannucci in riotous form, bringing his scabrous political humor to bear on a chapter in history with painfully timely parallels.
Synopsis: The one-liners fly as fast as political fortunes fall in this uproarious, wickedly irreverent satire from Armando Iannucci (Veep, In...
[More]
#41
Adjusted Score: 105.96%
Critics Consensus: Restless, visually sleek, and powered by a lithe star performance from Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler offers dark, thought-provoking thrills.
Synopsis: NIGHTCRAWLER is a pulse-pounding thriller set in the nocturnal underbelly of contemporary Los Angeles. Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Lou Bloom,...
[More]
#40
Adjusted Score: 105.428%
Critics Consensus: A crowd-pleasing tribute to the magic of silent cinema, The Artist is a clever, joyous film with delightful performances and visual style to spare.
Synopsis: Hollywood 1927. George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is a silent movie superstar. The advent of the talkies will sound the death...
[More]
#39
Adjusted Score: 112.168%
Critics Consensus: Roma finds writer-director Alfonso Cuarón in complete, enthralling command of his visual craft - and telling the most powerfully personal story of his career.
Synopsis: The most personal project to date from Academy Award (R)-winning director and writer Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity, Children of Men, Y...
[More]
#38
Adjusted Score: 114.916%
Critics Consensus: An epic gangster drama that earns its extended runtime, The Irishman finds Martin Scorsese revisiting familiar themes to poignant, funny, and profound effect.
Synopsis: This biographical crime thriller follows Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) as he recalls his past years working for the Bufalino...
[More]
#37
Adjusted Score: 97.33%
Critics Consensus: With warmth and affection, I Am Divine offers an engaging portrait of the complex personality behind a trailblazing cinematic figure.
Synopsis: Young, chubby Harris Glenn Milstead liked musicals, was drawn to feminine pursuits, and was bullied. He was privately playing "dress-up...
[More]
#36
Adjusted Score: 97.37%
Critics Consensus: The writer slumming for human truths and real experience is a common enough story, but this cool-headed and slick thriller provides a gut-churningly compelling backdrop to a look at our darker sides.
Synopsis: London's gambling world is the setting for this complex thriller, where aspiring writer Jack Manfred, suffering from writer's block, takes...
[More]
#35
Adjusted Score: 98.182%
Critics Consensus: To All the Boys I've Loved Before plays by the teen rom-com rules, but relatable characters and a thoroughly charming cast more than make up for a lack of surprises.
Synopsis: What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them...all at once? Lara Jean Song...
[More]
#34
Adjusted Score: 98.795%
Critics Consensus: Beautifully animated and utterly unique, I Lost My Body takes audiences on a singularly strange journey whose unexpected contours lead to a wholly satisfying destination.
Synopsis: In a Parisian laboratory, a severed hand escapes its unhappy fate and sets out to reconnect with its body in...
[More]
#33
Adjusted Score: 99.165%
Critics Consensus: American Factory takes a thoughtful -- and troubling -- look at the dynamic between workers and employers in the 21st-century globalized economy.
Synopsis: In post-industrial Ohio, a Chinese billionaire opens a new factory in the husk of an abandoned General Motors plant, hiring...
[More]
Starring:
#32
Adjusted Score: 99.262%
Critics Consensus: It covers familiar sports documentary territory, but Undefeated proves there are still powerful stories to be told on the high school gridiron.
Synopsis: Set in the inner-city of Memphis, Undefeated chronicles the Manassas Tigers' 2009 football season, on and off-the-field, as they strive...
[More]
#31
Adjusted Score: 100.388%
Critics Consensus: Menashe offers an intriguing look at a culture whose unfamiliarity to many viewers will be rendered irrelevant by the story's universally affecting themes and thoughtful approach.
Synopsis: Deep in the heart of New York's ultra-orthodox Hasidic Jewish community, Menashe--a kind, hapless grocery store clerk--struggles to make ends...
[More]
#30
Adjusted Score: 101.244%
Critics Consensus: Smart, stripped-down, and thrillingly grim, Blue Ruin proves that a well-told revenge story can still leave its audience on the edge of their seat.
Synopsis: BLUE RUIN is a classic American revenge story that recently won the FIPRESCI International Critics Prize at the Cannes Film...
[More]
#29
Adjusted Score: 102.034%
Critics Consensus: An unpredictable supernatural drama rooted in real-world social commentary, Atlantique suggests a thrillingly bright future for debuting filmmaker Mati Diop.
Synopsis: In Dakar, a group of construction workers abandon their work on a sky-scraper in response to months of withheld wages....
[More]
#28
Adjusted Score: 109.293%
Critics Consensus: The Florida Project offers a colorfully empathetic look at an underrepresented part of the population that proves absorbing even as it raises sobering questions about modern America.
Synopsis: The Florida Project tells the story of a precocious six year-old and her ragtag group of friends whose summer break...
[More]
#27
Adjusted Score: 106.304%
Critics Consensus: Impeccably scripted, beautifully directed, and filled with fine performances, The Social Network is a riveting, ambitious example of modern filmmaking at its finest.
Synopsis: "The Social Network" explores the moment at which Facebook, the most revolutionary social phenomena of the new century, was invented...
[More]
#26
Adjusted Score: 98.971%
Critics Consensus: A fresh, funny coming-of-age story rooted in realistic characters and anchored with a meaningful message, Rocks is as solid as its title suggests.
Synopsis: ROCKS (15) is a popular teenager with big dreams for the future, brilliant friends and an adoring little brother EMMANUEL...
[More]
#25
Adjusted Score: 99.043%
Critics Consensus: Pick of the Litter has all the fluffy adorableness audiences expect from a puppy documentary, along with a story that's as edifying as it is heartwarming.
Synopsis: PICK OF THE LITTER follows a litter of puppies from the moment they're born and begin their quest to become...
[More]
Starring:
#24
Adjusted Score: 105.465%
Critics Consensus: A cult classic as gut-bustingly hilarious as it is blithely ridiculous, Monty Python and the Holy Grail has lost none of its exceedingly silly charm.
Synopsis: From its opening multi-language titles (that sure looks like Swedish) to the closing arrest of the entire Dark Ages cast...
[More]
#23
Adjusted Score: 100.444%
Critics Consensus: 13th strikes at the heart of America's tangled racial history, offering observations as incendiary as they are calmly controlled.
Synopsis: The title of Ava DuVernay's extraordinary and galvanizing documentary refers to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which reads "Neither...
[More]
#22
Adjusted Score: 100.744%
Critics Consensus: Led by a powerful performance from Sônia Braga, Aquarius uses a conflict between a tenant and developers to take an insightful look at the relationship between space and identity.
Synopsis: Clara, a 65-year-old widow and retired music critic, is the last resident of the Aquarius, one of the few buildings...
[More]
#21
Adjusted Score: 105.087%
Critics Consensus: Mudbound offers a well-acted, finely detailed snapshot of American history whose scenes of rural class struggle resonate far beyond their period setting.
Synopsis: Set in the rural American South during World War II, Dee Rees' Mudbound is an epic story of two families...
[More]
#20
Adjusted Score: 104.718%
Critics Consensus: The charmingly offbeat Hunt for the Wilderpeople unites a solid cast, a talented filmmaker, and a poignant, funny, deeply affecting message.
Synopsis: Raised on hip-hop and foster care, defiant city kid Ricky gets a fresh start in the New Zealand countryside. He...
[More]
#19
Adjusted Score: 106.736%
Critics Consensus: In dramatizing Rudy Ray Moore's stranger-than-fiction story, Eddie Murphy makes Dolemite Is My Name just as bold, brash, and ultimately hard to resist as its subject.
Synopsis: Stung by a string of showbiz failures, floundering comedian Rudy Ray Moore (Academy Award nominee Eddie Murphy) has an epiphany...
[More]
#18
Adjusted Score: 111.678%
Critics Consensus: Spotlight gracefully handles the lurid details of its fact-based story while resisting the temptation to lionize its heroes, resulting in a drama that honors the audience as well as its real-life subjects.
Synopsis: SPOTLIGHT tells the riveting true story of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Boston Globe investigation that would rock the city and cause...
[More]
Directed By:
#17
Adjusted Score: 99.545%
Critics Consensus: Beychella forever.
Synopsis: Homecoming presents an intimate look at Beyoncé's historic 2018 Coachella performance that paid homage to America's historically black colleges and...
[More]
#16
Adjusted Score: 99.689%
Critics Consensus: Like the cheekily named store at this documentary's center, Circus of Books proves there are countless stories below the surface if we're only willing to look.
Synopsis: For over 35 years, the gay porn shop, Circus of Books, served as the epicenter for LGBT life and culture...
[More]
#15
Adjusted Score: 100.882%
Critics Consensus: Whose Streets? takes a close-up look at the civil unrest that erupted after a shocking act of violence in Ferguson, Missouri - and the decades of simmering tension leading up to it.
Synopsis: Told by the activists and leaders who live and breathe this movement for justice, Whose Streets? is an unflinching look...
[More]
Starring:
#14
Adjusted Score: 102.991%
Critics Consensus: The Forty-Year-Old Version opens a compelling window into the ebbs and flows of the artist's life -- and announces writer-director-star Radha Blank as a major filmmaking talent with her feature debut.
Synopsis: Radha, a down-on-her-luck NY playwright, is desperate for a breakthrough before 40. But when she foils what seems like her...
[More]
#13
Adjusted Score: 110.393%
Critics Consensus: Framed by a pair of powerhouse performances, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom pays affectionate tribute to a blues legend -- and Black culture at large.
Synopsis: Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Glynn Turman, Colman Domingo, and Michael Potts star in director George C. Wolfe's adaptation of August...
[More]
#12
Adjusted Score: 113.624%
Critics Consensus: Moonlight uses one man's story to offer a remarkable and brilliantly crafted look at lives too rarely seen in cinema.
Synopsis: The tender, heartbreaking story of a young man's struggle to find himself, told across three defining chapters in his life...
[More]
#11
Adjusted Score: 101.846%
Critics Consensus: Under the Shadow deftly blends seemingly disparate genres to deliver an effective chiller with timely themes and thought-provoking social subtext.
Synopsis: Shideh (Narges Rashidi) and her family live amid the chaos of the Iran-Iraq war, a period known as The War...
[More]
#10
Adjusted Score: 102.766%
Critics Consensus: A galvanizing glimpse behind the scenes of a pivotal election, Knock Down the House should prove engrossing for viewers of all political persuasions.
Synopsis: When tragedy struck her family in the midst of the financial crisis, Bronx-born Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had to work double shifts...
[More]
#9
Adjusted Score: 116.038%
Critics Consensus: Lady Bird delivers fresh insights about the turmoil of adolescence -- and reveals writer-director Greta Gerwig as a fully formed filmmaking talent.
Synopsis: In Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig reveals herself to be a bold new cinematic voice with her directorial debut, excavating both...
[More]
#8
Adjusted Score: 101.192%
Critics Consensus: Strong Island uses one family's heartbreaking tragedy to offer a sobering picture of racial injustice in modern America.
Synopsis: In April 1992, on Long Island NY, William Jr., the Ford's eldest child, a black 24 year-old teacher, was killed...
[More]
Starring:
Directed By:
#7
Adjusted Score: 105.588%
Critics Consensus: Though hampered by Stuart Rosenberg's direction, Cool Hand Luke is held aloft by a stellar script and one of Paul Newman's most indelible performances.
Synopsis: Paul Newman was nominated for an Oscar and George Kennedy received one for his work in this allegorical prison drama....
[More]
#6
Adjusted Score: 101.642%
Critics Consensus: Harrowing yet essential viewing, Athlete A shines an unforgiving light on horrific abuses -- as well as the culture that allowed them to continue unabated for years.
Synopsis: Athlete A follows a team of reporters from The Indianapolis Star as they investigate claims of abuse at USA Gymnastics,...
[More]
Starring:
#5
Adjusted Score: 102.182%
Critics Consensus: Shirkers uses one woman's interrogation of a pivotal personal disappointment to offer affecting observations on creativity, lost opportunity, and coming to terms with the past.
Synopsis: Shirkers was a Singapore-made 1992 cult classic from teenage friends Sandi Tan, Jasmine Ng and Sophie Siddique--or it would have...
[More]
#4
Adjusted Score: 101.978%
Critics Consensus: The Square offers an electrifying -- and edifying -- ground-level glimpse of life inside a real-life political revolution.
Synopsis: The Egyptian Revolution has been an ongoing rollercoaster over the past two and a half years. Through the news, we...
[More]
#3
Adjusted Score: 103.244%
Critics Consensus: Dick Johnson Is Dead celebrates a life with bittersweet humor and grace, offering a deeply resonant perspective on mortality in the bargain.
Synopsis: A lifetime of making documentaries has convinced award-winning filmmaker Kirsten Johnson of the power of the real. But now she's...
[More]
Starring:
#2
Adjusted Score: 103.528%
Critics Consensus: As entertaining as it is inspiring, Crip Camp uses one group's remarkable story to highlight hope for the future and the power of community.
Synopsis: In the early 1970s, teenagers with disabilities faced a future shaped by isolation, discrimination and institutionalization. Camp Jened, a ramshackle...
[More]
Starring:
#1
Adjusted Score: 104.329%
Critics Consensus: Featuring genuine scares through every corridor, His House is a terrifying look at the specters of the refugee experience and a stunning feature debut for Remi Weekes.
Synopsis: After making a harrowing escape from war-torn South Sudan, a young refugee couple struggle to adjust to their new life...
[More]
Read More:
