(Credit: Netflix)

Every generation has its movie star, but there is something quietly immortal about Keanu Reeves, who doesn’t need the Hollywood machine, the noise, or the headlines to be a hero of the industry.

All he needs is either a sword, a trench coat, a tragic backstory, or even a pencil, and he’ll give you a performance that makes you feel like you just got punched in the heart and hugged at the same time.

He is the kind of actor who exists in his own cinematic universe. Some remember him for The Matrix, others for John Wick, and the truly devoted will never stop defending Speed, but underneath the action sequences and stoic one-liners, there is always that same Keanu quality: unbothered and somehow impossibly gentle.

With Aziz Ansari’s Good Fortune turning him into a guardian angel for his next, there’s no better excuse to revisit some of his greatest roles currently streaming on Netflix, which stand as reminders why Reeves isn’t just a star but a genre in himself.

Five iconic Keanu Reeves movies to stream on Netflix

47 Ronin – Carl Rinsch (2013)

Part samurai epic and part fever dream, the critically panned 47 Ronin sees Keanu play Kai, an outsider who’s loyal to a world that doesn’t quite want him, which, honestly, feels like peak Keanu energy: wounded yet the calmest and bravest person in the room.

The visuals are wild with witches, dragons and glowing swords, and through all of it, the actor never once breaks his demanour of quiet dignity with which he plays Kai. While it’s not a perfect film, what makes it so lovable is that it is less about the plot and more about watching him do what he does best, which is carry the emotional weight of an entire fantasy world, staring ahead without ever raising his voice.

To the Bone – Marti Noxon (2017)

Keanu’s best performances are the ones where he doesn’t even need to be the focus, and To the Bone is proof of his subtle magic presence. He plays Dr William Beckham, a therapist who helps Lily Collins’ Ellen confront her eating disorder, but he’s not the saviour; rather, he provides a calm, patient, and oddly grounding performance, exuding that signature Keanu empathy that makes even a single uttered line sound like undeniable support.

Unlike his action-packed avatar in films like John Wick, Reeves is surprisingly comforting here, whereby just his steady presence makes you believe he could fix the world if he really wanted to. If action is Keanu. wielding weapons or dramatic speeches as he punches through walls, in this film, he investigates the vulnerability that scares people into building walls around them.

Point Break – Kathryn Bigelow (1991)

Point Break isn’t just a movie but a spiritual experience for anyone who loves the ‘90s, adrenaline, or the word ‘bro’. Keanu plays Johnny Utah (top five movie names ever), a rookie FBI agent who infiltrates a gang of surfer-bank robbers led by Patrick Swayze’s zen adrenaline god, Bodhi, and somewhere between skydiving and surfing, they accidentally fall into one of cinema’s best bromances.

Playing Utah’s shows Keanu at his purest idealistic and sincerest self, where every time he looks at Swayze, you can tell he’s torn between duty and awe. The movie might be about crime and waves, but really, it’s about finding someone who understands your madness, and no one else could’ve pulled that off without making it seem corny.

Always Be My Maybe – Nahnatchka Khan (2019)

In the crowd of all these intense performances, Keanu has also ensured to remind people of his very prominent funny bone, exemplified succinctly in this hilarious cameo. He briefly appears as a ridiculously exaggerated version of himself, complete with an all-black turtleneck and balzer, vegan steak, and unhinged intensity, absolutely stealing every second of the five minutes he’s been allotted. It’s like watching him parody every internet meme made about him, only better, because he’s in on the joke.

There’s so much joy in how freely he plays himself, where he’s self-aware without being smug, which is the kind of performance only someone completely comfortable in their own skin could pull off. You’ll finish the scene wishing he were the one you ran into on a blind date, just so you could say you survived it.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula – Francis Ford Coppola (1992)

Everyone jokes about Keanu’s accent in this film, but honestly, that’s part of its charm. Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a peak gothic mess: velvet, blood, candlelight, and Gary Oldman being terrifyingly romantic as a bloodsucker against Keanu’s Jonathan Harker, who is a sweet, lost soul stuck in a world that feels like an oil painting gone wrong. And even when things get absurd, he never feels out of place.

It’s one of those roles where his sincerity saves everything, such that even when things become absurd, as is wont to happen in a film about Dracula, he never feels out of place. You believe every word he’s saying and every terrified glance he delivers, and while it might not be his flashiest role, it’s one of the most Keanu-coded, because even surrounded by monsters, he still reflects something human.