Netflix had a huge year in film in 2019. They topped Hollywood studios in Golden Globe nominations for the very first time, with titles like Marriage Story, The Irishman and Dolemite Is My Name poised for a major awards season. Marriage Story became a bonafide meme thanks to Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver's impassioned performances. And between Martin Scorsese's embrace of digital de-aging technology, his controversial Marvel comments, and the generally rapturous response to the film itself, The Irishman managed to dominate the cultural conversation in one way or another for most of the year.
But beyond the headline-grabbing hits, Netflix also had a number of under-the-radar gems you'll want to add to your watchlist. Across genres, from rom-coms to historical dramas, documentaries, animated features and international standouts, the streaming service had a lot of good movies to watch in 2019. So check out our picks for the best 2019 Netflix movies you might have missed. And in case you missed it, be sure to check out the Top 10 Netflix Movies of 2019.
American Factory
The Netflix documentary American Factory is worth every piece of praise it’s received thus far. The film takes place in a suburb of Dayton, Ohio, where a GM plant recently closed leaving a vast number of people without jobs. A Chinese company called Fuyao then buys the plant and opens a glass manufacturing company, affording many of those laid-off workers the opportunity to work again—this time alongside workers from China. Culture clashes ensue, but what’s most interesting about American Factory is how the film examines labor. What is the purpose of working in America vs. what is the purpose of working in China, and how do those two philosophies clash when a Chinese company is forced to defer to American regulations? We all spend so much of our lives working for a living, but American Factory shows how differently the idea of “labor” is tackled in different countries, sometimes to unsettling results. It’s a fascinating, deeply involving film and I couldn’t really stop thinking about it for days after I watched it. -- Adam Chitwood
High Flying Bird
It checks all the “Things That Would Appeal Specifically to Me” boxes regarding good movies. Steven Soderbergh! Inventive iPhone cinematography! Narrative action furthered solely by crackling dialogue! An incredible screenwriter, Tarell Alvin McCraney (Moonlight)! “Behind the game” sports drama! I knew High Flying Bird would work for me, but I am still surprised as to how well exactly it worked for me. André Holland dominates subtly as a fast-talking, always-working sports agent (think a chiller Adam Sandler in Uncut Gems) who tries to appease a new client (Melvin Gregg) during a vicious NBA lockout. The film is dense — every scene nearly disorienting the mind not just with its packed, oft-discursive always-entertaining dialogue, but with Soderbergh’s oft-180-rule-breaking coverage (Soderbergh puts his phone camera everywhere). High Flying Bird has a ton going on, and if you watch the thing the way you might watch other Netflix programming (which is to say: half-checking your phone the entire time), you might walk away not knowing what the heck happened. Lock in, focus up, and play sharp, because High Flying Bird ain’t here to mess around. — Gregory Lawrence
I Lost My Body
The premise of a severed hand trekking across Paris to be reunited with its owner may sound a little bizarre, but Jérémy Clapin’s animated movie I Lost My Body is a powerful meditation on loss and healing. The story follows Naoufel from his traumatic childhood and into his young adulthood as a struggling pizza delivery guy who falls for a customer. What could have been a twee romance instead carries a surprising amount of pathos as it’s not a story about getting the girl, but instead about, even when life is chaotic and random, the only way to grow is with a leap of faith rather than trying to control everything. It’s a beautiful story and one of the best movies of 2019. – Matt Goldberg
In the Shadow of the Moon
Jim Mickle‘s time-travel/crime thriller hybrid somehow slipped under the radar this year despite finding a perfect home on Netflix and being a generally engrossing, well-executed science fiction tale. Boyd Holbrook stars as a police officer who stumbles into horrendous series of crimes and winds up locked in the cat-and-mouse change that will define decades of his life… and mix him up in some twisted, tragic time-travel saga that could save the future of the country. An obsessive crime drama that mostly keeps it lowkey despite the extreme stakes, In the Shadow of the Moon has an occasional unfortunate habit of thinking it’s more ahead of the audience than it really is, but its still an intriguing, engrossing, and technically well-executed time-travel saga that’s well worth digging into. — Haleigh Foutch
The Boys Who Harnessed the Wind
The title alone tells you where this one is going. Sometimes knowing the ending doesn’t spoil the rest of the experience, which is the case here. And knowing its finale softens the blow that this film hits you with again and again as it drifts along from one devastating moment to the next. In his directorial debut, Chiwetel Ejiofor tells a story set and filmed in the impoverished African nation of Malawi. When protagonist William’s (Maxwell Simba) village is stricken with an historic drought, suffering follows. His farmer father, played by Ejiofor, resorts to baleful rage birthed from his failure to care for and protect his family. Watching him lose hope as his faith in God wavers, elicits an audience response like Ejiofor can do better than most actors. But it’s young William’s innovative mind that begins to make a long-lasting, far-reaching change. Among other things, the family-friendly true story—though heavy at times—is a father-son tale about pride and humility, trust and sacrifice. And it hits you in all the right places. -- Brendan Michael
The King
Maybe you skipped The King because deeply realistic renderings of England in the Middle Ages grosses you out; all the mud and zero dentistry is admittedly a big bummer. Maybe you flipped past The King because you didn't want to see milquetoast stud du jour Timothée Chalamet brooding in armor with a truly egregious bowl cut (fair!). But I would strongly suggest you relent slightly and instead click "Play" on David Michôd's The King and open yourself up to all the intensity and thrills this movie offers.
Drawing on William Shakespeare's history play Henry V as well as actual English history, The King follows Henry V's journey from a wanton bro eschewing his family's status while living in East London to becoming one of the most powerful men in the country, a king. Even though Henry V is very much a 15th-century fuckboy — and Chalamet does a hell of a job conveying that — there is some truly arresting drama to be found in The King. Through Michôd's intense, quietly fierce direction, The King functions as a character study and a war drama with Chalamet's grounded performance coming off as especially effective. Yes, Robert Pattinson's performance as the Dauphin of France will make your jaw drop because it's borderline camp to the point you risk being thrown out of the drama of it all, but what he contributes on makes The King even more fun and immersive to watch. -- Allie Gemmill
Atlantics
Atlantics is one of those wonderful surprises that was not at all the movie I was expecting, so the less said about it the better. Yes, it's a culturally rich romantic drama with relevant social commentary (which is what I heard most before sitting down to watch), but it's also a surprisingly sexy and spooky oddball film. Feature debut filmmaker Mati Diop crafts a hypnotic and alluring drama that slow-slides into genre, as lulling as the lingering seashore shots she regularly takes in, centered around Ada (Meme Bineta Sane). A young woman engaged to a wealthy man she doesn't love, Ada's heart belongs to a young man who disappears at sea one night a week before her wedding. And then things get weird and surprising. And that's all I'll say because I can't encourage you enough to go into Atlantics blind and get swept up in its intoxicating, romantic mystery. -- Haleigh Foutch
Someone Great
You are so, so lucky Someone Great lives on Netflix because if, by some wild twist of fate, you missed this one when it landed on the streaming service in April then you must go stream it right now. Netflix has won big time with its rom-coms of late (see: To All the Boys I've Loved Before, Set It Up, and Always Be My Maybe) and Someone Great feels like the cherry on top. Written and directed with crackling flare by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Sweet/Vicious), Someone Great thrusts us into the aftermath of the break-up of college sweethearts Jenny (Gina Rodriguez) and Nate (LaKeith Stanfield). Jenny and Nate are people who were making plans for their future and felt like life was chugging along until those little cracks — Jenny focusing more on her work at the expense of Nate, Nate trying to find his passion and staying a little too adrift — turned into chasms. The post-break-up is rocky for Jenny as she heals and prepares to move to the West Coast for work but luckily, her two BFFs, Blair (Brittany Snow) and Erin (DeWanda Wise), are ready to swoop in and set up one huge blow-out before she goes.
Even though some familiar hijinks ensue with the story happening over the course of one day and night, it's really Robinson's script working in combination with the performances turned in by Rodriguez, Snow, and Wise which sell it. These three characters contain multitudes. They are messy and brash and ferocious and loyal. They speak to one another in a frank but loving way which feels deeply true to the way women converse when they're together. There is the sense of a shared history infused in the relationship between Jenny, Blair, and Eric which also lends itself to a richer feeling movie. Plus, it's just real damn fun and funny, which I will never be opposed to. Check this one out; you will be pleasantly surprised. -- Allie Gemmill
Velvet Buzzsaw
We here at Collider loved Velvet Buzzsaw, as demonstrated by the surprisingly high spot it landed on our voted staff list of the Best Netflix Movies of 2019. But overall, far too few people took in the delightful slasher satire from Nightcrawler writer-director Dan Gilroy, who re-teamed with Jake Gyllenhaal for this absolutely over-the-top, delightful takedown of vapid art culture snobs. Gyllenhaal is simply next-level as the appropriately extra-named Morf Vandewalt, an art critic who conspires with a gallery owner and her scout when they discover a treasure trove of disturbing art in a dead man's apartment. But the art comes with a grudge, and Velvet Buzzsaw relishes in the absurdity of its slasher kills as much as it does in the indulgence of art culture, making for an unapologetically silly slasher comedy with a knockout ensemble that includes Toni Collette, John Malkovich, Daveed Diggs, Billy Magnussen and Rene Russo. -- Haleigh Foutch