Matilda.
Photo: TriStar Pictures/Everett Collection
With thousands of films from around the world on Netflix, how does one know what to watch when they fire up their app? Start here. We track the comings and goings on the streaming platform and have assembled a shortlist of movies worth making time for in April. No AI or algorithms here — just the personal picks of a seasoned film critic, including both new releases and library favorites. This month’s best movies on Netflix include awards contenders of yesteryear, like Anatomy of a Fall and Atonement; a childhood favorite about a girl who loves to read; at least one Nazi-killing romp; and the movie that made Steven Spielberg’s career.
Year: 2023
Runtime: 2h 31m
Director: Justine Triet
The Oscar winner for Best Original Screenplay escaped its Hulu captivity and has already built a new fan base since it was added to Netflix. The great Sandra Hüller stars as a woman whose husband dies from a fall at their home. Was it suicide or murder? More than a courtroom drama, this is a raw, brutal dissection of a marriage. ➽ Streaming now.
Year: 2007
Runtime: 2h 3m
Director: Joe Wright
Joe Wright adapted the masterful novel of the same name by Ian McEwan in a way that’s lyrical and devastating. James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, Saoirse Ronan, and Vanessa Redgrave star in a story that unfolds across generations in a manner that is both poetic and deeply human. It’s one of the best films of the ’00s, an Oscar nominee for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. ➽ Streaming now.
Year: 2025
Runtime: 1h 43m
Director: Pierre Perifel
Netflix has a lot of money in the world of The Bad Guys, releasing a Christmas special and a prequel series that’s about to drop a second season. It also has both films, recently adding this 2025 box-office hit that reunites the lovable cast of former villains. ➽ Streaming now.
Year: 2023
Runtime: 2h 13m
Director: Gareth Edwards
Yes, the script here gets a little clunky and cribs a bit too much from other sci-fi films, but history is going to come around to this one for one reason: It looks stunning. It’s not just the blend of tactile cinematography and cutting-edge special effects; it’s the kind of visual language that’s almost always missing from Hollywood blockbusters. This one will find an audience in the future. ➽ Streaming now.
Year: 1984
Runtime: 1h 42m
Director: Ivan Reitman
One of the most beloved movies of all time, the original Ghostbusters still stands up as the best in the series … by far. Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, and Ernie Hudson are perfectly cast as the guys who end up saving the world from a giant marshmallow man, among other things. Still very funny; it’s one of the most popular comedies of the 1980s for a reason. ➽ Streaming now.
Year: 2016
Runtime: 1h 42m
Director: David Mackenzie
David Mackenzie’s 2016 modern western is feeling more and more like a definitive film of the last decade with each passing year. There aren’t many films that one could consider better at capturing the lengths people will go to hold on to what’s theirs than this story of two brothers (Chris Pine and Ben Foster) who become bank robbers to save their family land. The cast is uniformly great, but it’s Taylor Sheridan’s excellent script that really makes this a special movie. ➽ Streaming now.
Year: 1975
Runtime: 2h 4m
Director: Steven Spielberg
The movie that ushered in the blockbuster era is often viewed more in terms of how it changed the industry than the fact that it’s, well, perfect. Seriously, you don’t need to change a single frame, line reading, or edit in Jaws, a film that builds tension from its very first scene. There’s a reason people are still writing books about Jaws. (Note: All four of the films in this franchise are now on Netflix for the first time.) ➽ Streaming now.
Year: 2021
Runtime: 2h 7m
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
P.T. Anderson’s controversial 2022 nominee for Best Picture is just waiting for people to rewatch in the wake of the Oscar glory awarded to the master’s One Battle After Another. And they should. Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman are transcendent in this story of a teenager who falls for a 20-something woman and the odd adventures that somehow keep falling into their lives. It’s a lyrical, gorgeously shot period comedy about those hazy days when anything seems possible. ➽ Streaming now.
Year: 2005
Runtime: 1h 22m
Director: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath
A franchise was spawned with this 2005 family film about a group of Central Park Zoo animals who end up on an unforgettable trip to Madagascar. Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, and Jada Pinkett Smith voice a lion, zebra, giraffe, and hippo, respectively, in a film that’s pretty solidly entertaining and may already be nostalgic for the right audience, as it’s (hard to believe) almost two decades old. ➽ Streaming now.
Year: 1996
Runtime: 1h 38m
Director: Danny DeVito
The musical version of the Roald Dahl classic dropped on Netflix in 2024, and now it has finally also added the clever and funny ’90s edition of this tale of a precocious kid with superpowers. Mara Wilson plays the title character, and real-life couple Rhea Perlman and Danny DeVito play her parents. DeVito also directed this charming flick that kinda bombed in theaters but developed a following on VHS and DVD. ➽ Streaming now.
Year: 2025
Runtime: 1h 46m
Director: Richard Linklater
Both of Linklater’s 2025 films are on Netflix ready for you to do a double feature. If Blue Moon is about writers, this is about directors, the story of the production of one of the most influential films of all time, Breathless. Told with an energy that Jean-Luc Godard would have admired and buoyed by a wonderful performance from Zoey Deutch, this one is a delight. ➽ Streaming now.
Year: 2004
Runtime: 1h 43m
Director: James Wan
The entire Saw franchise, through 2023’s excellent Saw X, is on Netflix right now for the first time. You can binge the entire saga (although maybe skip the atrocious Spiral) if you want, and it’s not even Halloween! The first film remains the best (although X comes close), a true shocker with one of the best twist endings in horror history. ➽ Streaming now.
Year: 2025
Runtime: 1h 29m
Director: Jalmari Helander
One of the best action movies of 2025 is a sequel to the banger Sisu that takes everything that works about that movie and turns it up to 11. Jorma Tommila returns as a Nazi-killing machine, which is even more fun to watch in 2026. This movie is basically Sisu meets Fury Road as our stoic protagonist tries to take his entire home somewhere safe on a huge truck, fending off tanks, planes, and more. It’s ingenious fun. ➽ Streaming now.
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