(Credit: Netflix)

Some films entertain, while others make a point. And then there are films like Do The Right Thing. A film that will hit you in the gut, challenge your comfort, and stay with you long after the credits roll. Streaming now on Netflix, Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing is not just a movie; it is an experience. Released in 1989, it is as urgent and confrontational today as it was 35 years ago, and that is exactly why it deserves to be at the top of your must-watch list.

The film is set in Brooklyn’s Bedford–Stuyvesant neighbourhood and on the hottest day of the year. It unpacks racial tension in a community simmering with unresolved frustration. Throughout one sweltering afternoon, a series of small, seemingly everyday moments snowball into a devastating explosion of violence and grief. It is the kind of story where no one character is entirely right or wrong, and that moral ambiguity is what makes it so powerful.

At the centre of it all is Mookie, played by Spike Lee himself, a pizza delivery guy working at Sal’s Pizzeria, a local institution run by an Italian-American family. What begins as just another scorcher of a day quickly unravels into a layered exploration of race, power, economics, pride, and human behaviour. Every character, from Radio Raheem blasting Public Enemy to Sal struggling to maintain control, is drawn with a mix of empathy and volatility.

And then there’s that ending. No spoilers here, but let’s just say Spike Lee refuses to hand you any clean resolution. Instead, he holds a mirror up to the viewer and asks the question that still resonates today: What does it really mean to “do the right thing”?

What makes the film a must-watch, especially now, is how fearlessly it speaks the truth. Before social media made outrage a daily scroll, before hashtags and viral videos, this was a film that depicted police brutality. Not just that, but the community tension, and the cyclical nature of oppression, with breathtaking clarity. And it did so while still being stylish, funny, and emotionally layered.

Cinematically, Do The Right Thing is a masterclass. Ernest Dickerson’s cinematography turns the Brooklyn streets into a living, breathing character. The camera moves with the energy of the heat. The colours pop and the fourth wall breaks. It is theatrical, sure, but never for the sake of spectacle; it feels intentional, necessary, even confrontational.

One of the best parts about the film is that Lee does not ask for your approval; rather, he asks for your attention. And that is what separates Do The Right Thing from so many other socially conscious films. It doesn’t guide you toward a neat conclusion or a moral high ground. It presents you with an environment, with people, and with a choice. And then it leaves you sitting with the discomfort.

So if you are scrolling through Netflix, unsure of what to watch, it is time to stop. Watch this. It is raw, it is real, and it still matters. Because decades later, we are still asking the same questions. And if that does not make it essential viewing, what does?