BEST NETFLIX MOVIES & TV SHOWS
While we are all practicing social distancing, I reckon we need to be as engaged as possible so we don’t lose our minds. Netflix is a great resource to fight boredom and idleness and even though it contains hundreds of movies, sometimes finding the right one can be hard and that’s where I step in. This is a list of the best Netflix Movies and TV shows in no particular order, all of them are either award winning or critically acclaimed. For the movies I put short descriptions alongside their Rotten Tomatoes ratings, I used Rotten Tomatoes because it’s the most reliable and respected movie/series rating site. I couldn’t put descriptions for the TV shows, I just put the Rotten Tomatoes ratings however I’ve watched almost all the shows and trust me they are excellent, feel free to start anywhere.
Please y’all, this is the first time in history you can save the world by staying indoors, don’t mess this up, stay safe.
Movies
‘Roma’ — Drama
Rotten Tomatoes — 95%
Description — Cleo is one of two domestic workers who help Antonio and Sofía take care of their four children in 1970s Mexico City. Complications soon arise when Antonio suddenly runs away with his mistress and Cleo finds out that she’s pregnant. When Sofía decides to take the kids on vacation, she invites Cleo for a much-needed getaway to clear her mind and bond with the family.
‘Mudbound’ — Drama/Historical Drama
Rotten Tomatoes — 97%
Description — Laura McAllan is trying to raise her children on her husband’s Mississippi Delta farm, a place she finds foreign and frightening. In the midst of the family’s struggles, two young men return from the war to work the land. Jamie McAllan, Laura’s brother-in-law, is everything her husband is not — charming and handsome, but he is haunted by his memories of combat. Ronsel Jackson, eldest son of the black sharecroppers who live on the McAllan farm, now battles the prejudice in the Jim Crow South.
‘Marriage Story’ — Drama
Rotten Tomatoes — 95%
Description — A stage director and his actor wife struggle through a gruelling, coast-to-coast divorce that pushes them to their personal and creative extremes.
‘Dolemite Is My Name’ — Comedy
Rotten Tomatoes — 97%
Description — Performer Rudy Ray Moore develops an outrageous character named Dolemite, who becomes an underground sensation and star of a kung-fu, anti-establisment film that could make or break Moore.
‘Django Unchained’ — Blaxploitation
Rotten Tomatoes — 87%
Description — When Django, a slave, is freed, he joins forces with a bounty hunter to rescue his wife, who has been captured by a hard-hearted plantation owner.
‘The Irishman’ — Drama/Crime
Rotten Tomatoes — 96%
Description — In the 1950s, truck driver Frank Sheeran gets involved with Russell Bufalino and his Pennsylvania crime family. As Sheeran climbs the ranks to become a top hit man, he also goes to work for Jimmy Hoffa — a powerful Teamster tied to organized crime.
‘Uncut Gems’ — Drama
Rotten Tomatoes — 92%
Description — A charismatic jeweller makes a high-stakes bet that could lead to the windfall of a lifetime. In a precarious high-wire act, he must balance business, family and adversaries on all sides in pursuit of the ultimate win.
‘1922’ — Drama/Mystery
Rotten Tomatoes — 90%
Description — A rancher conspires to murder his wife for financial gain and convinces his teenage son to participate.
‘The Meyerowitz Stories’ — Drama/Comedy
Rotten Tomatoes — 93%
Description — The adult children of Harold Meyerowitz reunite in New York in preparation for their father’s career retrospective.
‘The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs’ — Drama/Comedy
Rotten Tomatoes — 91%
Description — An anthology of six short films that take place in 19th-century post-Civil War era during the settling of the Old West.
‘El Camino’ — Drama
Rotten Tomatoes — 91%
Description — A 2019 American neo-Western crime thriller film that serves as an epilogue to the television series Breaking Bad. Series creator Vince Gilligan wrote, directed, and produced the film, while Aaron Paul reprised his role as Jesse Pinkman.
‘The Two Popes’ — Drama/Comedy
Rotten Tomatoes — 89%
Description — Behind the Vatican walls, Pope Benedict and the future Pope Francis must find common ground to forge a new path for the Catholic Church.
‘Okja’ — Drama/Sci-fi
Rotten Tomatoes — 86%
Description — For 10 idyllic years, young Mija has been caretaker and constant companion to Okja — a massive animal and an even bigger friend — at her home in the mountains of South Korea. But that changes when family-owned, multinational conglomerate Mirando Corporation takes Okja for themselves and transports her to New York, where an image-obsessed and self-promoting CEO has big plans for Mija’s dearest friend. With no particular plan but single-minded in intent, Mija sets out on a rescue mission.
‘The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind’ — Drama
Rotten Tomatoes — 86%
Description — A 13-year-old boy is thrown out of the school he loves when his family can no longer afford the fees. He sneaks into the library and learns how to build a windmill to save his village from a famine.
‘Homecoming (Beyoncé)’ — Music/Concert
Rotten Tomatoes — 98%
Description — Homecoming is a 2019 American concert film about American singer Beyoncé and her performance at the 2018 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, written, directed and executive produced by Beyoncé herself.
‘13th’ — Crime/History
Rotten Tomatoes — 97%
Description — Filmmaker Ava DuVernay explores the history of racial inequality in the United States, focusing on the fact that the nation’s prisons are disproportionately filled with African-Americans.
‘First They Killed My Father’ — Drama/Thriller
Rotten Tomatoes — 87%
Description — Loung Ung is 5 years old when the Khmer Rouge assumes power over Cambodia in 1975. They soon begin a four-year reign of terror and genocide in which nearly 2 million Cambodians die. Forced from her family’s home in Phnom Penh, Ung is trained as a child soldier while her six siblings are sent to labor camps.
‘First Match’- Drama
Rotten Tomatoes — 85%
Description — Hardened by years in foster care, a teenage girl from Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood decides that joining the all-boys wrestling team is the only way back to her estranged father.
‘Beats’ — Drama/Comedy
Rotten Tomatoes — 89%
Description — A reclusive, teenage music prodigy forms an unlikely friendship with a struggling producer. United by their mutual love of hip-hop, they try to free each other from the demons of their past and break into the city’s music scene.
‘Temporaza De Caza’ — Drama
Rotten Tomatoes — 100%
Description — Animosity gives way to love and forgiveness when an angry teenager reunites with his estranged biological father in the wilds of Patagonia.
‘The Big Shot’ — Drama/History
Rotten Tomatoes — 88%
Description — In the mid-2000s, a few finance experts observe the instability in the US housing market and predict its collapse. Through their research, they discover the flaws and corruption in the system.
‘The Endless Trench’ — Drama/Historical Drama
Rotten Tomatoes — 93%
Description — A man, Higinio Blanco, locks himself in his house during the Spanish Civil War, without knowing how long it will last.
‘Inside Man’ — Mystery/Crime
Rotten Tomatoes — 86
Description — The mastermind behind a bank robbery in Manhattan has planned the heist in great detail. A detective tries to negotiate with him, but the involvement of a broker worsens the situation further.
‘Atlantics’ — Drama/Narrative
Rotten Tomatoes — 96%
Description — A soon-to-be-inaugurated futuristic tower looms over a suburb of Dakar. Ada, 17, is in love with Souleimane, a young construction worker. But she has been promised to another man. One night, Souleimane and his co-workers disappear at sea. Soon after, they come back to haunt their old neighbourhood by taking possession of the girlfriends they left behind. Some of the workers have come claiming revenge and threaten to burn the tower down if the developer does not pay their wages.
‘Beasts Of No Nation’ — Drama/War
Rotten Tomatoes — 92%
Description — As civil war rages in Africa, a fierce warlord (Idris Elba) trains a young orphan (Abraham Attah) to join his group of guerrilla soldiers.
‘The Breadwinner’ — 95 Drama/War (Animation)
Rotten Tomatoes — 95%
Description — Parvana is an 11-year-old girl who lives under Taliban rule in Afghanistan in 2001. After the wrongful arrest of her father, Parvana cuts off her hair and dresses like a boy to support her family. Working alongside a friend, she soon discovers a new world of freedom and danger. Drawing strength from the fantastical stories she invents, Parvana embarks on an epic quest to find her father and reunite her family.
‘Ali’s Wedding’ — Drama/Romance
Rotten Tomatoes — 92%
Description — After a reckless lie, the son of a Muslim cleric finds himself caught between his sense of duty and following his heart. He must follow through with his arranged marriage or be with the girl he truly loves.
‘Lion Heart’ — Drama
Rotten Tomatoes — 100%
Description — Looking to prove her worth, a woman steps up to the challenge to work with her crude and eccentric brother when her father, Chief Ernest Obiagu is forced to take a step back due to health issues.
Series
‘Line Of Duty’ — Rotten Tomatoes; 97%
Peaky Blinders — RT; 92% ( My favorite show this year)
Bodyguard — RT; 93% (One season, six episodes and pulsating)
Money Heist — RT; 100% (I recommend you start here)
Sherlock Holmes — RT 78%, IMBd — 9.1/10 (I don’t know why the Rotten Tomatoes ratings is low but it’s one of my top 10 favorite shows and at least IMBd thinks it’s legendary)
Elite — RT; 96%
The People v OJ Simpson’s — RT; 93%
Breaking Bad — RT; 96% (Greatest TV show ever imo)
Suits — RT; 90%
Dear White People — RT; 95%
Patriot Act — RT; 100% (Chat Show, similar to The Daily Show by Trevor Noah)
Dirty Money — RT; 100% (Excellent docuseries about corruption, fraud and creative accounting)
The Crown — RT; 89%
Blacklist — RT; 91%
Unbelievable- RT; 98%
Mind Hunter — RT; 97%
Brooklyn Nine Nine — RT; 97%
Orange Is The New Black — RT; 90%
Meet The Adebajos — IMBd; 7.2/10 (Lighthearted comedy).
Castle and Castle — IMBd; 9.2/10 (Nigerian Legal Series).
Thanks for reading, feel free to share with friends and family.