The miracle and the curse of Netflix are one and the same: There is so much damn stuff to watch.
In fact, if you're not sure exactly what you're looking for, you can end up wasting an hour shoveling through the plenitude of stream-able crap in search of the worthy gems. How are you supposed to Netflix and chill if you spend all your free time scrolling instead of chilling (in whichever sense of the word you please)?
Well, that's where we come in. We've sifted through Netflix Instant's many offerings to find the best films currently available. We've got something for your every mood — no, like, every mood. And we'll keep you updated week by week, adding new movies and getting rid of any no longer streaming. So click through our picks, stock up your queue, and fire up the 'flix. Happy viewing!
If you're in the mood to unleash that inner paranoia lurking just below the surface of your consciousness, watch...
The Truman Show (1998)
Jim Carrey is superb as Truman, a man living a perfectly happy, perfectly average life (with a Stepford wife played by Laura Linney). But that contented monotony turns to curiosity — and then debilitating paranoia — as he realizes that something larger is behind the bizarre coincidences of his daily routine. His life is a little too orchestrated, his world too insulated. Entertaining yet extremely unsettling.
Photo: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
If you're in the mood to watch an innovative film that successfully dared to buck the stale Hollywood formula, watch...
Pulp Fiction(1994)
Quentin Tarantino's neo-noir crime comedy (yes, that's a genre) is dark, humorous, original, and yes, very violent. The script is considered one of the most well-written of all time, while the highly stylized look of the film has become iconic. But it's John Travolta, Uma Thurman, and Samuel L. Jackson's career-making performances that will keep you glued to the screen.
Photo: Courtesy of Miramax Films.
If you're in the mood for an atypical, whimsical rom-com, watch...
Amélie (2001)
This understated French charmer is the story of a lonely, shy Parisian woman who makes it her mission to bring joy into the lives of the people around her — a coworker, a neighbor, a blind stranger, her father. Audrey Tautou is quietly charming in the titular role.
Photo: Courtesy of UGC-Fox Distribution.
If you’re in the mood to find your one true Netflix love in a smart and hilarious fairy tale for grownups, watch…
The Princess Bride (1987)
Robin Wright delivers the polar opposite of the icy Claire Underwood as Princess Buttercup, the true love of honorable pirate Westley (Cary Elwes). The film is rife with charisma, thanks in large part to the charming Elwes, a clever screenplay, and a very young Mandy Patinkin as Inigo Montoya — an alcoholic Spanish swordsman set on avenging his father. Billy Crystal also makes a great cameo.
Photo: Courtesy of 20th Century Fox.
If you're in the mood to question the meaning of love, beauty, success, and, um, America, watch...
American Beauty(1999)
As an utterly average American in the midst of a mid-life crisis, Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is no Francis Underwood, but he's got a questionable conscience — not to mention, a thing for inappropriate relations with an attractive young woman. This dark, twisted drama — an unsettling satire of and meditation on the pitfalls of middle-class suburbia — is as fucked up as anything we've seen thus far on House of Cards. The Oscar winning film co-stars Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Mena Suvari.
Photo: Courtesy of DreamWorks.
If you're in the mood to see Salma Hayek rock a unibrow, watch...
Frida(2002)
Hayek is fantastic as the titular artist, famed Mexican surrealist painter Frida Kahlo. The biopic zooms in on Kahlo's bisexuality (a radical identity back in the '30s and '40s when she rose to fame), creative process, alcoholism, and, most intimately, her dysfunctional relationship with her husband (Alfred Molina) — a fellow artist and a very complicated man.
Photo: Courtesy of Miramax.
If you’re in the mood to experience the impossible: revulsion at the sight of Jake Gyllenhaal — watch…
Nightcrawler (2014)
Gyllenhaal plays the gaunt-faced, empty-eyed loner Louis Bloom in this creepy neo-noir crime thriller. Desperate for work, Bloom becomes a stringer, a freelance cameraman catching nauseating, up-close footage of grisly crime and accident scenes in Los Angeles — and selling it to news channels at a hefty price. Watching him nudge the ethical boundaries further and further to get the perfect shot is disturbingly entertaining.
Photo: Moviestore Collection/REX Shutterstock.
If you’re in the mood to celebrate Leo’s big win by seeing his very first Oscar-nominated performance, watch...
What’s Eating Gilbert Grape(1993)
Gilbert (Johnny Depp) is feeling the pressure of caring for his morbidly obese mother (Darlene Cates) and developmentally disabled little brother, Arnie (DiCaprio). When a fresh face and free spirit (Juliette Lewis) rolls into town, she becomes a romantic interest to Gilbert and a surrogate big sister to Arnie. The movie is full of heart — and Leo's heart-wrenching performance is on par with The Revenant.
Photo: SNAP/REX Shutterstock.
If you're in the mood to get riled up about the #OscarsSoWhite debacle again, watch...
Beasts of No Nation(2015)
Idris Elba delivers a terrifying — and indubitably Oscar-worthy — performance as the brutal leader of a West African rebel faction. He takes a young boy separated from his family under his wing while the country is ravaged by civil war.
Photo: Courtesy of Netflix.
If you're in the mood to piss your pants in a classy, Sundance sort of way, watch...
The Babadook (2014)
This Australian-Canadian psychological horror film is about a single mom, her 6-year-old son, and the scariest pop-up book of all time. Do not save this for one of those late-night, insomnia-fueled solo viewings.
Photo: Courtesy of IFC Films.
If you're in the mood to see Pride and Prejudice and Zombies minus the zombies, watch...
Pride & Prejudice (2005)
Keira Knightley slays — alas, only metaphorically — as the corseted, sharp-tongued heroine Elizabeth Bennet in this unapologetically romantic interpretation of the Jane Austen favorite. A modern classic as far as literary adaptations and period pieces go.
Photo: Courtesy of Focus Features.
If you're in the mood to see Pride and Prejudice re-imagined as a 21st-century rom-com, watch...
Bridget Jones's Diary(2001)
Renée Zellweger shines as the insecure, embarrassment-prone, bumbling Brit Bridget Jones. Hugh Grant plays the charming asshole, while Colin Firth is so stubbornly cute as Darcy, you'll forgive him for calling our heroine "a verbally incontinent spinster who smokes like a chimney, drinks like a fish, and dresses like her mother."
Photo: Courtesy of Miramax Films.
If you're in the mood to remember that Stacey Dash was a decent actress before she became a rando who says ignorant shit, watch...
Clueless (1995)
Did you know this '90s classic is based on another Jane Austen novel, Emma? Alicia Silverstone's Valley Girl Cher is a bubbly, well-intentioned matchmaker — but her meddling backfires when she falls for her step-brother (Paul Rudd). Co-stars Brittany Murphy.
Photo: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
If you're in the mood to see Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo remake Big, watch...
13 Going on 30(2004)
This perfectly charming rom-com stars Garner as an angsty, boy-crazy teenager whose wish to be "30, flirty, and thriving" is magically answered. Her childlike wonderment and the '80s-heavy soundtrack are tons of fun — plus, like any rom-com worth its salt, it co-stars Judy Greer.
Photo: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures.
If you're in the mood to salivate over oodles of chocolate and/or Johnny Depp in his prime, watch...
Chocolat (2000)
Juliette Binoche plays young single mom and kindred chocolatier Vianne, who moves to a small French town with her daughter to open up a chocolate shop. Her nom-noms and liberal attitudes shake up the traditional townspeople's lives, and Johnny Depp rocks a braid.
Photo: Courtesy of Miramax Films.
If you're in the mood to see a presidential election even more laughable than the one currently brewing, watch...
Election (1999)
Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon) is a high school junior with lots of ambition and questionable morals. Her face-off with her dumb jock opponent (Chris Klein) is a hilarious satire of both high school and politics.
Photo: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
If you're in the mood to see Jamie Foxx kicking ass and Leonardo DiCaprio being deliciously evil, watch...
Django Unchained(2012)
Quentin Tarantino's version of a Spaghetti Western is set in the antebellum Deep South and centers on a slave turned bounty hunter trying to get back to his wife (Kerry Washington). It boasts a killer soundtrack — and one of the most outrageously satisfying revenge scenes in movie history.
Photo: Courtesy of The Weinstein Company.
If you're in the mood to see multidimensional trans characters played by actual trans women, watch...
Tangerine (2015)
One of last year's best films is a day in the life of a trans sex worker named Sin-Dee (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) who, having just been released from prison, recruits her BFF to exact revenge on her pimp/ex. It's impossible not to fall in love with Sin-Dee, and the movie will surprise you with both its heart and its humor.
Photo: Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.
If you're in the mood to revisit the even-better original after seeing the live musical, watch...
Grease (1978)
Even if you hate musicals, you love Grease. Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta are smokin' as unlikely lovers Sandy and Danny, and literally every musical number is a classic — "Greased Lightnin," "Beauty School Dropout," "Summer Nights," and "You're the One That I Want," for starters.
Photo: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
If you're in the mood to see Gwynnie pre-Goop and Joseph Fiennes before he became that white guyplaying Michael Jackson, watch...
Shakespeare in Love (1998)
The witty Best Picture-winner poses itself as the untold origin story behind Shakespeare's greatest romance — and the film itself is a Romeo and Juliet story, complete with feuding (play)houses and star-crossed lovers. Paltrow and Fiennes sparkle as the leads, but Judi Dench steals the show with her Oscar-winning turn as a shrewd Queen Elizabeth.
Photo: Courtesy of Miramax Films.
If you're in the mood for a less pretentious, slightly more realistic version of Girls, watch...
Frances Ha (2012)
The fabulously talented Greta Gerwig co-wrote and co-stars in this refreshing black-and-white comedy about a twentysomething Brooklynite looking for a career, love, and a general sense of purpose. Sound familiar? Adam Driver even shows up.
Photo: Courtesy of IFC Films.
If you're in the mood for a pink-coated punch of girl power, watch...
Legally Blonde (2001)
Reese Witherspoon was born to play Elle Woods, the sorority girl turned Harvard Law student with a Barbie wardrobe and Annalise Keating's courtroom sensibilities. The unexpected supporting cast is a delight; it includes Luke Wilson, Selma Blair, Jennifer Coolidge, Victor Garber, Ali Larter, and a permed-out Linda Cardellini.
Photo: Courtesy of MGM.
If you're in the mood for a film succinctly reviewed by its own title, watch...
Dope (2015)
Three '90s hip-hop-obsessed geeks (Shameik Moore, Kiersey Clemons, and Tony Revolori) get mixed up with gangsters and embark on some wild misadventures. It's a very 2015 coming-of-age story, told from a fresh perspective. Oh, and the soundtrack is da bomb.
Photo: Courtesy of Open Road Films.
If you're in the mood to see on-screen evidence that non-hetero women over 50 do indeed have interesting stories, watch...
The Kids Are All Right (2010)
The phenomenal Annette Bening and Julianne Moore play a refreshingly realistic Los Angeles couple. Their relationship is tested when their children (a baby Josh Hutcherson and Mia Wasikowska) bring their anonymous sperm donor — a sexy, bohemian Mark Ruffalo — into the fold.
Photo: Courtesy of Focus Features.
If you're in the mood to see Mean Girls on crack, but really dark, watch...
Heathers(1988)
Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, and Shannen Doherty star in this black comedy cult hit. There's cliquey gossip, alcohol, sex, cheerleading, manipulation, murder, and a cover-up (or two) in this unapologetically dark, hugely entertaining take on high school drama. Strip croquet, anyone?
Photo: Courtesy of New World Pictures.
If you're in the mood to see where Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence's insane chemistry began, watch...
Silver Linings Playbook(2012)
When Tiffany and Pat (Lawrence and Cooper) meet, she's mourning the death of her husband, while he's still in denial about the loss of his wife after she cheated on him. It's a messy, emotional, and at times darkly funny rom-com about beautiful, flawed people falling in love.
Photo: Courtesy of The Weinstein Company.
If you're in the mood to make yourself feel a little better about a recent poor decision you made under the influence, watch...
Drinking Buddies (2013)
Two couples — Olivia Wilde and Ron Livingston, and Anna Kendrick and Jake Johnson — spend the weekend at a cabin together and things get, well, a little incestuous. A flirty but bittersweet (open-ended) answer to the age-old question: Can men and women just be friends?
Photo: Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.
If you're in the mood for the sadder, feature-length version of Girls, watch...
Tiny Furniture (2010)
Meet Aura, a prototype of Hannah Horvath who spends the summer after graduation crashing at her family's Tribeca loft, getting over her recent breakup, looking for work, and generally having a quarter-life crisis. Girls ' Jemima Kirke and Alex Karpovsky co-star, while Dunham's real-life mother and sister play Aura's mom and sis.
Photo: Courtesy of IFC Films.
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