Netflix has established itself as one of the best streaming services you can subscribe to, offering an impressive array of original movies and TV series. Over the years its films have starred the best of the best in Hollywood and even racked up numerous Academy Awards. Check out 32 of the most popular original movies to ever hit the Netflix schedule.
Damsel
Millie Bobby Brown stars in Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's action-adventure flick Damsel, playing a young woman named Elodie, who gets the opportunity to marry into royalty. However, she quickly finds out the deal is meant to fulfill an ancient pact made by the royal family, and she is forced to fight for her life against a vengeful dragon.
The Mother
Jennifer Lopez drew in a number of Netflix subscribers with her action thriller The Mother. JLo plays the titular character, a former Army operative who goes after the criminals who kidnapped her 12-year-old daughter Zoe (Lucy Paez), who she gave up for adoption at birth for Zoe's own protection.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
One of the best movies of 2022 — Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery — was a Netflix original. Starring Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc and a murderer's row of A-list talent, including Ed Norton, Janelle Monáe, Leslie Odom Jr. and Kate Hudson, the Rian Johnson murder mystery quickly surpassed its 2019 predecessor to become one of Netflix's most-watched movies of all time. The layered nature of the mystery involving Norton's billionaire Miles Bron and his luxe private island likely even inspired repeat viewings from its audience in order to catch all the clues.
Extraction
If anything "good" can be said about 2020, it's that people sure were streaming a lot of movies. The action/thriller Extraction, starring Chris Hemsworth, was a popular choice, too, with its graphic novel-inspired story of a black ops mercenary on a quest to save the kidnapped son of a drug lord.
Red Notice
When you've got a stacked cast of Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot, along with an intriguing plot that sees an FBI profiler teaming up with an art thief to catch an even bigger art thief, what's not to love? Throw in those actors' signature charm (or smarm) and an amusing script, and you've got Red Notice becoming one of, if not THE, most popular Netflix originals ever.
Don't Look Up
Adam McKay's Don't Look Up boasted several Oscar winners in its cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Mark Rylance and Meryl Streep, and audiences were all too eager to show up for the apocalyptic political satire. The story is of two astronomers trying to warn the world about an impending comet that will destroy Earth, with their logic largely being met with indifference.
The Adam Project
In The Adam Project, time-traveling fighter pilot Adam Reed (Ryan Reynolds) crash-lands in 2022 and meets his 12-year-old self (Walker Scobell). Young Adam is dealing with the loss of his dad in addition to school bullies, and this movie gives us plenty of laughs, tons of heart and an idea of what a smart-mouthed Ryan Reynolds might have been like as a tween.
Bird Box
Bird Box was an absolute phenomenon in 2018, with Sandra Bullock starring as Malorie Hayes, a woman trying to protect herself and two children in a post-apocalyptic world full of entities that caused death to those who looked at them. The movie became Netflix's most-watched film (at the time) within 28 days of its release and remains one of the streamer's most popular flicks.
Leave The World Behind
Netflix audiences sure do seem to like an apocalyptic thriller, and that proved true again in 2023 with Leave the World Behind. The movie starred Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke as the Sandfords, who were guests at the vacation rental owned by Mahershala Ali's G.H. Scott at the start of the end of the world. Sam Esmail's film is a tense statement on racism, class bias and, somehow, our obsession with Friends reruns.
The Gray Man
In The Gray Man, an action thriller from the Russo Brothers, Ryan Gosling stars as the CIA operative known as Sierra Six. The agent uncovers some dark secrets about his employers, putting him on the run from a former colleague and a network of international assassins. The film is considered one of the best action movies of 2022, thanks in part to Chris Evans' deliciously villainous turn as Lloyd Hansen.
We Can Be Heroes
We Can Be Heroes struck a chord with Netflix viewers of all ages, as it was both a standalone superhero film but also a sort-of legacy sequel to the 2005 movie The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl. The flick was a huge hit for Netflix, as the children of famous superheroes are tasked with working together to save their parents, who have been kidnapped by aliens.
Purple Hearts
Streamers beware! Purple Hearts left viewers emotionally wrecked when the romantic drama hit Netflix. Nicholas Galitzine stars as Luke Morrow, a recovering addict and Marine being deployed to Iraq, and Sofia Carson as Cassie Salazar, a type 1 diabetic who has to work multiple jobs in order to afford insulin. Despite having just met, Cassie and Luke decide to get married for the benefits, and it would be a shame for me to spoil the emotional roller coaster that follows by saying anything more.
The Unforgivable
Sandra Bullock has had her share of streaming movie success on Netflix, and in 2021's The Unforgivable, she portrayed Ruth Slater, a woman who has just finished serving a 20-year prison sentence for killing a sheriff who tried to evict her and her then-5-year-old sister Katie from their home. Upon her release, she sets out to reconnect with Katie.
The Irishman
Even Martin Scorsese jumped on the Netflix bandwagon with his 2019 gangster film The Irishman, which starred Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci and Harvey Keitel, among others. The film racks up plenty of streaming minutes with its 209-minute runtime, but the 10 Academy Award nominations don't hurt either.
The Kissing Booth 2
In the rare instance of a sequel being better than the original, The Kissing Booth 2 surpassed its predecessor in popularity with its Summer 2020 release. Joey King returned in the sequel as Elle Evans, along with Joel Courtney and Jacob Elordi as Lee and Noah Flynn. This time around Elle and Noah were navigating a long-distance relationship as Elle struggled to choose where her future would take her.
6 Underground
Not only is 6 Underground one of Netflix's most-watched movies, it's also one of the streamer's most expensive. The Michael Bay action thriller had a reported budget of $150 million and starred Ryan Reynolds as one member of a group of vigilantes who fake their death in hopes of taking down a ruthless dictator. Despite success on the streaming platform, a planned sequel was scrapped due to not-so-positive reviews.
Spenser Confidential
Spenser Confidential was a pretty by-the-book buddy copy movie, but Mark Wahlberg and Winston Duke drew people in as former Boston police officer Spenser and aspiring MMA fighter Duke, respectivly. Spenser gets Duke to help investigate the murder of two ex-co-workers, one of whom the former was suspected of killing.
Enola Holmes
In Enola Holmes, Millie Bobby Brown portrays the little sister of famous detective Sherlock Holmes. Brown is charming and funny in this action-packed flick and audiences liked it so much that Netflix ordered more.
Roma
Alfonso Cuarón’s 2018 drama Roma won three Academy Awards of the 10 it was nominated for, so it's so surprise that this Netflix original is popular amongst viewers. Shot in black and white, Roma does tackle some tough themes in its tale of a Mexico City housekeeper in the 1970s, but the performances are amazing, especially those of Marina de Tavira and Yalitza Aparicio.
Army Of The Dead
Army of the Dead is what happens when you take Zack Snyder, throw in some Ocean's Eleven and sprinkle in a healthy dose of zombies. Who could resist that? Why would you want to?
The Old Guard
Another film that likely got a streaming boost from the pandemic days was The Old Guard. Charlize Theron and KiKi Layne are among the stars of this comic book adaptation, which received critical praise for its plentiful action and portrayal of LGBTQ+ characters.
Murder Mystery
Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler play a married couple in the comedy Murder Mystery, which, yes, is also a murder mystery. Nick and Audrey find themselves in the middle of a complex family situation after being invited to a party on a billionaire's yacht, and it gets even more complicated when that billionaire winds up dead.
Troll
Two years after its release in 2022, Troll boasted the most views of any non-English Netflix original. The Norwegian monster movie follows a motley crew of people who must work together against an ancient troll that was awoken in the mountains.
Blood Red Sky
Vampires meet plane heist in the 2021 action-crime-horror-vampire-thriller Blood Red Sky, which sees an ailing woman going up against a group of terrorists attempting to hijack an overnight flight. The movie was viewed 50 million times in its first month, making it the streamer's most successful German title.
Society Of The Snow
For fans of survival films, Society of the Snow chronicles the true story of a rugby team from Uruguay whose Air Force Flight 571 crashed in the Andes mountains in 1972. The film was nominated for Oscars in the categories of Best International Feature Film and Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
The Platform
Making statements on imprisonment, class and poverty, the dystopian thriller The Platform sees a man voluntarily check himself into a prison where inmates are housed in vertical cells and fed once a day via a platform. The platform is filled with food at the top, but less and less is available to each inmate the further it descends.
All Quiet On The Western Front
The 2022 war epic All Quiet on the Western Front was the third adaptation of the 1929 novel of the same name. The Netflix original was the most successful version, too, boasting seven British Academy Film Awards from 14 nominations and four Academy Awards from nine nods among its many accolades.
Hustle
Adam Sandler may be known for his comedy, but Netflix audiences have learned not to sleep on his more dramatic turns either. Hustle features the Sandman as Stanley Sugerman, a down-on-his-luck NBA scout who longs to be a coach. Stanley finds a player in Spain who might just earn him the respect he deserves, but getting Bo Cruz (played by real-life professional basketball player Juancho Hernangómez) ready for the NBA draft turns out to be more challenging than he anticipated.
Extraction 2
Chris Hemsworth's first go as Tyler Rake was a big win for Netflix, so imagine the delight of audiences to discover that Extraction 2 was even more thrilling. The black ops mercenary is back on another mission, and this one is wall-to-wall action, including an iconic prison break scene that's edited into a 21-minute, action-packed one-shot.
The Man From Toronto
An action-comedy starring Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson, The Man from Toronto may not have gotten the most positive reviews, but that didn't stop Netflix subscribers from hitting Play to see the hilarity that ensued when an assassin and a screw-up were mistaken for each other at a vacation rental.
The Tinder Swindler
It's hard to resist a good true crime story, and The Tinder Swindler was all the rage when it hit Netflix. The documentary explored the story of Simon Leviev, who connected with people on Tinder and swindled them into giving him money by saying he needed to escape his enemies.
Luther: The Fallen Sun
It's no secret why Luther: The Fallen Sun struck a chord with Netflix viewers, as Idris Elba reprised his role from the popular series Luther for a Netflix film continuation. Co-starring Cynthia Erivo and Andy Serkis, The Fallen Sun sees the titular detective attempting to stop a wealthy serial killer.
