(Credit: Netflix)

You know it’s the weekend when your biggest decision is “What do I watch first?” The home screen of Netflix looks the same as it did last Friday, but somehow, the good stuff always hides in plain sight.

So instead of pretending you’ll just browse for a bit, here are five films that deserve to be watched with no wasted time. But before you go ahead, here is a disclaimer.

These are not the titles you have already seen shining across trending lists. These are the quietly brilliant ones. In other words, the kind of movies that manage to steal your whole evening without begging for your attention. In short, the thought-provoking ones. They live in that perfect space between strange and stirring, between the world you know and the one you can’t quite look away from.

They don’t belong to a single genre either. What connects them isn’t the plot or genre but the feeling they leave behind. But one thing common about each of these films is the way it tests its characters. Curious enough? Go ahead and check out the films.

The five best movies to watch on Netflix this weekend

His House (Remi Weekes, 2020)

Let’s start with a simple one. A refugee couple finally makes it to England after escaping the kind of past you can’t even imagine, even in your wildest dreams. Upon arrival, they are given a government house and told to start over. As it happens in similar genre movies, for a while, everything almost feels possible. But then things start shifting as they realise there’s something in the walls, something in the shadows. If you are thinking another ghost story, it’s not that anymore.

What’s really haunting in His House isn’t the house. It’s the memories. The film is a completely new experience because it’s not about running from evil but more about living with it and making peace with what can’t be changed. It’s one of those rare horror films that leaves you emotional instead of just scared.

One of Them Days (James Dalton, 2025)

Now, imagine the universe deciding you are the joke of the day. Everything you touch goes wrong, every plan backfires, and you’re just trying to make it to bedtime without crying or throwing your phone. That’s One of Them Days. It is not about big drama or emotions. It’s about tiny frustrations that pile up until you can’t tell if you want to laugh or scream. Something most of us can relate to. And it stars Sza and Keke Palmer, so you know the fun and chaotic energy this film will be full of.

The best part? It never tries to fix anything. It’s just people dealing with the kind of nonsense that makes real life feel ridiculous. It feels like hanging out with friends who vent so well you forget your own problems for a bit. By the end, you realise it’s secretly a feel-good movie, and not because everything’s okay, but because it reminds you that sometimes being a mess is fine. Hey, it’s just life!

The Pale Blue Eye (Scott Cooper, 2022)

This one moves slower, like winter itself. It stars Christian Bale, and we believe half of you are just convinced by the name Bale, but here’s a bit more. The Pale Blue Eye is set in a cold, foggy world where a detective, played by Bale, investigates a murder at a military academy. Helping him is his sidekick: a young Edgar Allan Poe who talks like every sentence could be a poem.

The movie feels like sitting by a fireplace, watching snow fall, while trying to piece together secrets from another century. It’s not about shocking twists. It is about the quiet unease of people who’ve seen too much. Every frame looks beautiful and curated with thought. It’s a movie you don’t rush through, but you just sit with it.

Spiderhead (Joseph Kosinski, 2022)

It’s time to switch gears completely with Spiderhead. The movie is set in a futuristic prison where emotions come in little bottles, and inmates agree to test them. When we think of unique and brilliant ideas, films like Spiderhead come to mind because what do you mean, “emotions in a bottle”? But all of it sounds fine until you realise the guy running it (Chris Hemsworth) enjoys playing god a bit too much. The movie’s weird but also kind of fun in a way you don’t expect.

There is a mix of tension and humour running through it, and you can feel how wrong things are even when everyone’s smiling. It’s the kind of film that brings in a mix of philosophy into a thriller. In the end, you’ll be left with the thought of how easily people can be controlled when they’re promised happiness.

Beasts of No Nation (Cary Joji Fukunaga, 2015)

And then there’s Beasts of No Nation, which feels like a different league altogether. This is not exactly an underrated film, but there’s still a lot left to be discussed. It follows a boy caught in a war he doesn’t understand, and then pulled into a rebel army and forced to grow up too fast. Idris Elba plays the commander who is terrifying yet magnetic. Someone impossible to look away from.

You’ll have to prepare yourself mentally, as it’s not a movie you throw on casually. It’s the kind that demands attention that makes you forget that you’re even watching fiction. It’s powerful without being too loud, the kind of film that will stay with you for a long, long time.