Have you spent your last weekend doomscrolling through Netflix trying to determine what to watch next? After a gruelling week, does your brain fog prevent you from choosing your next binge from a huge array of films that Netflix presents? Worry not, we at Best of Netflix will help you choose your next weekend list.
With thousands of movies on offer, finding great content on Netflix isn’t the most challenging thing to do. However, with so much choice, often, breaking those thousands of titles into a concise list of great movies to watch can feel like an unwelcomed uphill task. Thankfully, we’ve done all the hard work for you.
While Netflix adds new titles every month, there are certain brilliant classics and older flicks that you must sink your teeth into. From irreverent jokes by Monty Python to Paul Thomas Anderson’s favourite self-directed film, here is a brilliant list of must-see films for you this weekend:
5 movies to watch on Netflix this weekend
Monty Python’s Life of Brian (Monty Python, 1979)
Called blasphemous and controversial, this notorious British comedy has become a cult comedy which triggered religious fanatics in several comedies. The film revolves around the titular everyman character who is born in Roman-occupied Judea right next to Jesus Christ and lives all his life dealing with mistaken identities as fanatical masses keep echoing his words.
A scathing satire on religious orthodoxy, tyrannical oppression and mass naivete, the film was almost cancelled before being revived by former Beatle and self-proclaimed Monty Python fan, George Harrison. The ungodly references and irreverent humour made it crazy and chaotic and extremely fun!
Watch Monty Python’s Life of Brian on Netflix.
![Life of Brian (1979) - Terry Jones - Trailer - [HD]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TKPmGjVFbrY/hqdefault.jpg)
The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
Anderson called The Master the favourite film he has ever made. The film saw Phoenix as a war veteran named Freddie Quell who struggles to adapt to the new society after the war. Soon, he finds himself involved in a philosophical moment called ‘The Cause’, which is led by Lancaster Dodd and marks the rise of the Church of Scientology.
Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and Rami Malek among others, the sinister and mysterious film is a ragged and frenzied portrayal of paranoia, moral ambiguity and degradation of society. Johnny greenwood’s accompanying scores add to the harrowing darkness that looms large over Anderson’s masterpiece.
Watch The Master on Netflix.
A Silent Voice (Naoko Yamada, 2016)
A poignant and fulfilling film, A Silent Voice focuses on a class bully named Ishida who becomes an outcast after he crosses the line and compels the deaf yet friendly Shoko to transfer to another school. However, after he reads her notebook and realises her true feelings, Ishida has an epiphany and embarks on grief and regret-fuelled journey towards redemption and forgiveness.
The film deals with sensitive topics such as bullying, physical disabilities, failing mental health, depression and suicidal attempts. Despite the heavyweight themes, the blend of realism and fantasy embedded in the symbolic imagery of cherry blossoms, koi fish, carnivals and fated meetings, the film is heartbreakingly beautiful. It is a tale of love and redemption and is truly relevant as it deals with ubiquitous issues plaguing adolescence.
Watch A Silent Voice on Netflix.
Kill Bill (Quentin Tarantino, 2003)
Veering away from stylish, relatively minimal crime stories, Kill Bill is in many ways the hinge of Tarantino’s career, marking a notable move toward revenge stories of violent consequences. Nonetheless, Kill Bill is a cinematic playground showcasing Tarantino at his most free and expressive, utilising an exaggerated soundtrack and gaudy cinematography in his homage to B-movie martial-arts cinema.
The film offered many different challenges for Tarantino. Despite battling with the exceedingly long run time, the director once commented that the most troubling part Kill Bill’s creation was “trying to take myself to a different place as a filmmaker and throw my hat in the ring with other great action directors”.
With the sheer amount of pressure he was mounting on himself, Tarantino was determined to make “one of the greatest, most exciting sequences in the history of cinema”.
Watch Kill Bill on Netflix now.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (George C. Wolfe, 2020)
A pretty difficult watch for most Chadwick Boseman fans, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is the last film from the late actor. A brilliant on-screen adaptation of August Wilson’s play, the film sees Boseman as an ambitious and hot-headed trumpeter who is a humble yet problematic and tragically flawed Black man, presenting some of the most chilling monologues that ominously foreshadow his future.
The film is a celebration of all legendary Black artists. It refers to the larger-than-life ‘Mother of Blues’ Ma Rainey, whose controlling trumpeter Leeve, like the white managers, attempts to control her career, leading to unbridled tension. The film is a harrowing portrait of the gap between the contribution of Black people to America and the mistreatment they received in return at the hands of white people.
Watch Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom on Netflix.
