The five best movies to watch on Netflix this weekend
Netflix has thousands of movies in its library. Thousands. And yet, every Friday night ends with the exact same conversation: “What should I watch?”
And no, the problem isn’t the catalogue. The problem is finding the good stuff before Netflix starts bombarding your homepage with new recommendations. One minute you’re looking for a thriller; the next you are watching a trailer for the new season of Ms Rachel. How did we even get here?
The funny part is that plenty of great films never spend a day in Netflix’s Top 10. They come, hang around for a few weeks, and next thing you know, they are listed in the next week’s Netflix departure list. All that before most people even realise they were added. Then years later, somebody discovers one and before you know everyone is asking where it has been all this time.
So, if your weekend movie plans are still up in the air, here are five films that deserve a place on your watchlist before the algorithm sends you somewhere else.
The five best movies to watch on Netflix this weekend
Voicemails for Isabelle (Leah McKendrick, 2026)
With a romance like Voicemails for Isabelle, it all comes down to one thing. Do you actually want the two main characters to end up together? If you don’t, then the whole thing falls flat. And this one had an even bigger job on its hands because the idea could’ve gone super weird. It’s about a man listening to voicemails that were never meant for him, and in the wrong hands, that could’ve ended up feeling more creepy than romantic.
Thankfully, it all comes together really well. Zoey Deutch plays Jill, who’s still struggling after losing her sister Isabelle and keeps leaving voicemails on her old number, not knowing it now belongs to Wes. He is dealing with the loss of his own mum, and hearing Jill’s messages slowly becomes part of how he copes. Before long, their lives start crossing over, even though Jill has no idea how they are connected. What makes it work is that their relationship grows out of shared heartbreak instead of over-the-top romantic gestures. Honestly, in a world full of quick romances, this Netflix movie feels like a fresh breath of air.
I Am Frankelda (Arturo Ambriz, Roy Ambriz, 2025)
Immediately afterwards, the mood takes a left turn with I Am Frankelda. It’s about time because Netflix could do with a lot more stop-motion animation. Before it even came on the platform, it’d already made history as Mexico’s first-ever feature-length stop-motion film, which is pretty impressive on its own. It was made by Cinema Fantasma, where brothers Roy and Arturo Ambriz spent years building everything by hand instead of taking the easy route with computer animation. You can tell straight away how much love has gone into it.
The story follows Francisca Imelda, or Frankelda, who is an aspiring writer back in the nineteenth century. Nobody seems to take her dark stories seriously until she is suddenly pulled into this strange kingdom called Topus Terrenus, where all the creatures she has imagined have come to life. Before long, she is caught up in a battle to save the place while another writer is trying to nick her stories and her future for himself. The film is a mix of fantasy, horror and even a bit of musical theatre, which makes it even more fun.
5lbs of Pressure (Phil Allocco, 2024)
After all the fantasy stuff in I Am Frankelda, 5lbs of Pressure brings you straight back down to earth with a gritty crime drama. Not to burst your bubble, but watch this movie at your own risk. Luke Evans plays Adam, a fella who has just got out of prison after doing sixteen years for murder, and you might think that’s where the hard bit ends. Nah, not a chance. He gets home and it’s like life has been waiting to kick him straight back down again. Nobody has forgotten what happened, and the victim’s family still want revenge. The poor man just can’t seem to catch a break.
What’s something genuinely nice about this Netflix film is it doesn’t feel the need to go all Hollywood with massive action scenes every five minutes. It just lets the story breathe. Luke Evans is absolutely amazing in it. Rory Culkin’s great as this young man who’s heading down the exact same road Adam went down years ago. Before you know it, all their stories start crashing into each other, and you are left wondering whether someone can ever really leave their past behind when everyone around them has already made up their mind about them.
Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2023)
By the time Poor Things finally came on Netflix, it had already cleaned up at the awards shows. Emma Stone had picked up the Oscar for Best Actress, and the film walked away with another three Academy Awards as well. If you’ve seen it, you will know it’s not your average film. Emma Stone plays Bella Baxter, a young woman who is brought back to life by the brilliantly odd Dr Godwin Baxter, played by Willem Dafoe. She starts off seeing the world with the curiosity of a kid, but she is not interested in living by anyone else’s rules.
Before long, she is travelling across Europe with Duncan Wedderburn, played by Mark Ruffalo, who is convinced he has got everything under control. Spoiler alert… he absolutely hasn’t. Watching Bella grow in confidence while Duncan slowly loses the plot is half the fun. It’s weird, and a bit bonkers, but it all comes together into a story that’s got loads more heart than you’d expect. Honestly, just go with it… You will either love it or spend the whole film wondering what on earth’s going on.
Flowers in the Attic (Deborah Chow, 2014)
If you’ve still got time for one more family drama this weekend, Flowers in the Attic is well worth a look… but don’t expect an easy watch. It has got dark stuff in it. The original V.C. Andrews novel caused absolute uproar when it came out back in 1979 because of its disturbing themes and all the twisted family secrets. People were rabbiting on about it for years, and when this 2014 adaptation came along, it introduced a whole new bunch of viewers to the madness.
The story follows the Dollanganger kids after their dad suddenly dies, leaving the family with nowhere else to go. Their mum, Corrine (Heather Graham), heads back to her wealthy parents’ mansion, hoping to sort their future out, but things go south pretty quickly. Her mother, Olivia (Ellen Burstyn), insists the children stay hidden away in the attic until the “right time”… except the right time never seems to come. Days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months, and before long, all sorts of horrible family secrets start bubbling to the surface. It’s creepy but also impossible to stop watching.