Entertainment
All 13 2026 Netflix Movies, Ranked
For the longest time, Netflix was the go-to place for the boldest and riskiest series beyond network television. They grew so large that they began to get involved in the feature-film game. Over the years, Netflix has brought viewers everything from the epic The Irishman to the groundbreaking KPop Demon Hunters. With such a history of success, filmmakers have flocked to the streamer, and in 2026 alone, subscribers have been given a plethora of exciting movies to watch.
From old-school-style romcoms to a remarkable cinematic button to an iconic series, the original selections have provided something for everyone. But not to mince words, not every title was good. In fact, you might wish you could travel back in time and unwatch. Nevertheless, we are here to rank the English-language films on Netflix so far this year. How many have you seen? Or, as the app asks, “Are you still watching?”
13
‘Joe’s College Road Trip”
There most certainly is a demographic of Tyler Perry fans who will always watch whatever he puts out, even if it’s not great. Unfortunately, Joe’s College Road Trip falls to the bottom of the ranking because it’s, well, cringeworthy. Sadly, the road trip comedy was a complete misfire. The first film in the Madea franchise to center on Joe Simmons (Perry), Joe’s College Road Trip follows the foul-mouthed, unfiltered brother who takes his sheltered, college-bound grandson, B.J. (Jermaine Harris), on a raucous cross-country road trip to teach him about the “real world.” The epic road trip descends into chaos as they take detours, including at a brothel where they meet a sex worker named Destiny (Amber Reign Smith). Joe’s Family Roadtrip is a tone-swapping comedy that shifts from explicit, heavy profanity humor to deeper themes of family, generational divides, and social awareness, as if the overtly raucous didn’t happen.
Joe’s College Road Trip became quite a divisive film. Many believed it was a derivative concept, using only the character and legacy to catapult it to the top of the streaming list. The best part of the film is the genuine lessons about Black history, heritage, and the importance of family reconciliation, but the journey to get there is a bumpy ride. The clash between crude, old-school Joe and his sheltered, progressive, virtue-addicted grandson provides some great comedic juxtaposition, but at what cost? Joe is a great side character; a lead he is not. Because of the character’s nature, the film ends up being unnecessarily vulgar, explicit, and inappropriate for the sake of a potential laugh. There’s comedic substance in a trip to a Confederate biker bar, but it just came off as jarring and uncouth. If you’re looking for Joe to change and become a role model, you won’t find it here. The glorification of toxic behavior is full steam ahead.
12
‘Ladies First’
This is what happens when bad projects happen to good people. Thea Sharrock‘s Ladies First was a well-meaning comedy, but the truth is, as progressive as it believed itself to be, the film was still antiquated in execution. Inspired by the 2018 French film I Am Not an Easy Man by Éléonore Pourriat, Ladies First is intended to be a satirical comedy that follows Damien Sachs (Sacha Baron Cohen), an arrogant, misogynistic, womanizing advertising executive poised to become CEO. He treats female coworkers as nothing more than progressive optics and treats women in general poorly, including his underappreciated employee, Alex Fox (Rosamund Pike). Following a head injury, Damien wakes up in a parallel world dominated by women. The same women he patronized in his real world. He must navigate reverse sexism and battle a fearless female counterpart to win back his career, forcing him to experience the exact double standards — sexual discrimination, harassment, and the extreme aesthetic pressures — women face in the workplace. Clunky and outdated, Ladies First‘s star-studded ensemble was forced into a comedy that feels like it should have been released decades ago.
Ladies First is, sadly, a lazy attempt to present something profound. The topics and themes Ladies First tackles are inherently important, but nothing new was learned when presenting them. It’s not that we didn’t know about the vile nature of gender discrepancy in the workplace, but did Damien actually learn anything from his experience? He changed, but in reality, he likely reverted to his past, like individuals in the real world tend to do. Ladies First is exhausting as it tries to flip the script through a 2026 lens. One of the underreported indiscretions the film makes is that, in attempts to portray the gender parallels of masculinity, it presents stereotypes that tend to be damaging to the LGBTQ+ community. So what if a man orders a salad? The gender norms have evolved, and thus, the film comes across as a relic from a cut-for-time ‘90s Saturday Night Live sketch. The film boasted a strong cast, which also included Fiona Shaw, Emily Mortimer, Charles Dance, Kathryn Hunter, and Richard E. Grant, who were forced to push through the slop. I’d say Ladies First could have benefited from more time to ruminate and evolve in series form, but that might be too kind.
11
‘Thrash’
It’s an easy one, but Thrash is trash. Let’s discuss. In the Tommy Wirkola-written and directed survival thriller, stranded residents in a coastal South Carolina town must survive a catastrophic Category 5 hurricane that floods their city with bloodthirsty bull sharks. The film tackles three different groups of survivors whose stories converge at times. Dakota (Whitney Peak), an agoraphobic young woman trapped in her recently deceased mother’s house, becomes the sole hope for another stranded resident, Lisa (Phoebe Dynevor), a heavily pregnant woman. Then there are three siblings, Dee, Ron, and Will (Alyla Brown, Stacy Clausen, and Dante Ubaldi), who are abandoned in a flooded house by their abusive, greedy foster parents, Billy and Rachel Olsen (Matt Nable and Amy Matthews). And finally, Dr. Dale Edwards (Djimon Hounsou), Dakota’s uncle and a marine biologist who studies great whites and bull sharks, races against the clock and the flooded streets to rescue his niece. Thrash blends survival-thriller elements with disaster spectacle as the town’s seawall breaks, bringing the ocean’s apex predators directly into the flooded neighborhoods.
Strong in premise, Thrash is dumb fun as long as you don’t take it too seriously. The struggle is the execution, namely, in the abysmal script and confusing CGI. It’s not a coincidence that a shark flick takes place in a town called “Annieville.” The script tosses out logic in favor of thrills. The script is sadly bogged down by bizarre decisions, inconsistent physics, and highly questionable accents. She gave birth as the house was collapsing! What?! Thrash struggles in its desire to be what it wants to be — a terrifying eco-thriller or an over-the-top B-movie. Both can be true at once, but their intentions must be made clear. It’s a jarring mismatch that somehow makes Sharknado look like it knows what it was doing. With questionable visuals that felt rough around the edges, Thrash needed help in the end.
10
‘Roommates’
Perhaps the most underappreciated film on Netflix this year is the black comedy Roommates. Directed by Chandler Levack and written by Jimmy Fowlie and Ceara O’Sullivan, the coming-of-age comedy follows Devon Weisz (Sadie Sandler), a naive, shy college freshman who rooms with Celeste Durand (Chloe East), an outgoing, cool girl she meets at orientation. At first, they are an inseparable duo, but their promising friendship slowly spirals into a toxic, escalating war of passive-aggressive manipulation and chaos. Revealing the dark side of toxic female friendships, Roommates leans into the awkward, cringeworthy, and universally stressful experience of boundary-crossing.
Produced by Happy Madison, Roommates has the same charm and allure as the production’s films. Sander shines as the anxious, naive college freshman, while East delivers a breakthrough performance as the manipulative, narcissistic roommate. Now, if you’re looking for pitch-perfect casting, having Natasha Lyonne and Carol Kane play mother and daughter deserves an award. Roommates works as a relatable story about the fears of going away to college and making friends. The drawback is how off the rails the film goes by the climax. There is nuance built into the first half of the film, only for the unrealistic messiness to overshadow it. Listen, it’s an explosive conclusion, but the ramifications were simply impractical. Roommates is not a film where you empathize with the characters; instead, you watch to see how far they go for the sake of the bit. And if you’re looking for a Gen Z voice in the writing, it’s far from present.
9
‘Apex’
Written by Jeremy Robbins, Apex was voted onto the 2021 Black List of the best unproduced screenplays for the year. Netflix secured the rights, and then Baltasar Kormákur brought his vision to the screen. The result was a wildly twisted film. Come for the breathtaking scenery, stay for the cannibal? Apex follows Sasha (Charlize Theron), a grieving rock climber who travels to the Australian wilderness to process the accidental death of her partner. Her solo trip turns deadly when a deceptive local, Ben (Taron Egerton), offers her a secret camping spot, only to turn her trip into a twisted, ritualistic hunt. A grueling, unnerving survival thriller performed by two of Hollywood’s strongest actors, Apex thrives on its intense premise, which will make you question every stranger you encounter on your solo adventures.
Apex’s greatest asset is its cinematography. Filmed on location in the Australian wilderness and with climbing sequences, the film looks stunning and provides a great sense of scale and tension. Even the inciting scene between Sasha and Tommy (Eric Bana) is breathtaking yet excruciatingly terrifying. Even with the majestic landscape, Apex forces its characters to endure the terrain to survive each other. Theron and Egerton give extraordinary physical performances that are full-body experiences. Theron is an obvious protagonist, but it’s Egerton, out of his archetypal box, that dominates as the menacing antagonist. Apex showcased two stars doing a lot of grunt work for a paycheck, but one has to wonder if it would have hit harder with two unknowns who could have fully embodied these characters, rather than seeing two icons in a derivative narrative. Apex is a fine film that needs a palate cleanser after the demanding 90-minute run.
8
‘The Rip’
When you cast Ben Affleck and Matt Damon together in a film, all eyes will be on it. You’ll turn it on and expect an Oscar-level product. Add in an ensemble of stars like Steven Yeun, Teyana Taylor, and Kyle Chandler, and it’s destined to be an everlasting hit. The Rip was not that. Inspired by true events, the film, directed by Joe Carnahan, tells the story of a tactical Miami narcotics squad that discovers $20 million in cartel cash during a raid. The team’s loyalty shatters as they suspect each other of wanting to steal the money. After one of their own is murdered in cold blood, the volatile, paranoid night watches the officers, led by Lt. Dane Dumars (Damon) and Det. J.D. Byrne (Affleck), trapped by protocol and forced to guard the cash, while cartel members and internal distrust threaten to tear the unit apart. A gritty, high-tension thriller, come for Damon and Affleck yelling at each other. If you stay, it’s because you just want to know the convoluted outcome.
The Rip is a solid watch if the gritty, corrupt cop genre is your thing. There is undeniable chemistry between Affleck and Damon that transcends the screen. But with the focus on if, when, and why they might turn on one another, the other characters are forced to the side. Taylor’s Detective Numa Baptiste and Catalina Sandino Moreno’s Detective Lolo Salazar are literally relegated to the garage to count the cash. Playing out like a throwback film, The Rip is trapped in its own clichés. It’s a formulaic script that truly loses the plot by the third act. If you’re someone who likes to watch a film back to figure out what you missed when it comes to the outcome, The Rip denies you that chance, as they literally spell it out for you. The Rip is a dark, murky wasteland of top-tier talent.
7
‘180’
Coming straight out of South Africa is the underseen crime thriller 180. Written and directed by Alex Yazbek, 180 follows Zak (Prince Grootboom), a restaurant owner who spirals down a dark path of grief and vengeance after a minor traffic altercation with a taxi driven by individuals associated with a local crime syndicate escalates, leaving his young son, Mandla (Mpiloenhle Sithebe), in critical condition. When an enraged Zak confronts them, the situation escalates, a scuffle ensues, and a stray bullet strikes his son, ultimately leading to his death. Zak delves into total moral disintegration in an environment filled with ruthless gang violence, slow police procedures, unhelpful bureaucracy, and an escalating sense of powerlessness. As the title suggests, Zak pulls a complete 180, shifting his moral trajectory as he takes matters into his own hands. 180 is a devastating character study in which the gray areas of morality lead to a shocking conclusion.
The masterful film explores masculinity, profound grief, and systemic corruption. Zak is presented as an everyman-type protagonist whose actions are driven by trauma. For those who believe violence is the answer, they will be extraordinarily displeased by 180. Zak’s erratic decisions and hesitation to use violence have left some feeling that the payoff is weak. Those who admire his path prefer the morality of the plot’s conclusion, in which he chooses to exercise restraint and mercy. It’s a subversion of typical climaxes in action thrillers, but it serves as a strong warning that, even through rightly bitter rage, forgiveness is always the most powerful path. 180 is not a slow-burning story about grief; it’s an action-heavy revenge film that warns viewers that the system is not always there to help.
6
‘Office Romance’
A great Hollywood romcom requires impeccable and believable chemistry. Just because attractive actors are cast doesn’t mean they are going to find said chemistry. Jennifer Lopez has played the romantic lead opposite many charming men. Unfortunately, the man who plays Roy Kent on Ted Lasso was simply out of her league. Or maybe she was out of his league. The moral of the story is that in Office Romance, they were mismatched beyond imagination, which is quite shocking, as Brett Goldstein co-wrote the vehicle for himself. Directed by Ol Parker, the cutesy comedy follows Jackie Cruz (Lopez), the iron-willed CEO of Air Cruz, and her newly hired, reserved British lawyer, Daniel Blanchflower (Goldstein), who strike up a forbidden affair — an office romance, if you will. A spicy step up from the romcoms of yore, Office Romance is a sweet, low-stakes film that delivers laughs and groans simultaneously.
Office Romance is not destined to change the world; it’s a comfort film that works effortlessly for a 90-minute escape. Though Lopez and Goldstein are at the center, like a good romcom should, it’s the supporting players who steal the scene. Office Romance brings out strong showings from Roger Bart, Bradley Whitford, Mary Wiseman, Amy Sedaris, and Tony Hale. It’s Betty Gilpin as Jackie’s very pregnant right-hand woman, Sydney Bloom, and Jodie Whittaker as Daniel’s foul-mouthed sister who steal the film. If you yearn for the romcoms of the early ‘90s, you’ll eat up every minute of Office Romance. It’s a perfectly executed guilty-pleasure chick-flick.
5
‘War Machine’
Sometimes, you watch a film on a streamer and wish you could experience it on the big screen. That’s exactly the feeling you get while watching War Machine due to the scale and scope Patrick Hughes brings. The film begins as a straightforward war drama. Then, with sprinkles of meteors, signal interference, and the arrival of an otherworldly killing machine, War Machine moves into the sci-fi realm as the 21st-century answer to Predator. After a traumatic loss in Afghanistan, a grizzled soldier simply known as “81” (Alan Ritchson) enlists in elite Army Ranger training, only for his unit to encounter a massive alien robot that is relentless, violent, and destructive. Now, the soldiers are trapped in the wilderness, hunted by a superior, unknown technological foe. In a high-stakes fight to survive, War Machine is an explosive and gory ’80s-infused throwback thriller that is the epitome of a dad movie.
War Machine is a unique blend of genres, offering a strong presence of military survival and sci-fi tropes within the character-driven story. That said, 81’s backstory could have been beefed up, but War Machine actually makes a strong case for franchise-building. The plot may be predictable, but its execution is phenomenal. War Machine knows exactly what it is and never deviates. Unlike Predator, War Machine doesn’t hide its titular antagonist, giving viewers a full view of its menacing presence. Also, unlike the ’80s classic, the big budget makes it look incredibly impressive. War Machine knows its target audience and caters to them. The film does its job as the perfect boom-smash hit.
4
‘Swapped’
Timing is everything, truly. Had Swapped not been released nearly simultaneously with Disney and Pixar’s Hoopers, we might be celebrating the delightfully pleasant animated body-swap fantasy flick. Directed by Nathan Greno, Swapped tells the story of the tiny but brave Ollie (Michael B. Jordan), a Pookoo, and Ivy (Juno Temple), a regal Javan, who are accidentally transformed into each other’s species after crashing into a magical plant. To regain their proper form, Ollie and Ivy, formally sworn enemies, must team up and survive. Set in the fantastical land known as The Valley, Swapped is an endearing, magical story that celebrates empathy as they learn to walk, or fly, in somebody else’s body.
Swapped may be an incredibly done-to-death story, but where it thrives is the breathtaking spectacle that is the animation. Vibrant and beautiful, you’ll finish the film searching the Web for where you can get your own Ollie plush. Swapped is a delightful family-friendly film whose heartwarming message is bound to resonate. Unfortunately, its lack of originality in storytelling curtails its full potential. Nevertheless, the world-building is ripe for celebration. The voice acting is not as strong as its animated rivals, but the full roster of stars does an admirable job, with Tracy Morgan as Boogle serving as a delightful surprise. The buddy comedy likely won’t launch a franchise, but it’s a cute film your kids will ask to watch again and again.
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