The best Netflix original movies right now

For Lindsay Lohan, the career comeback remains a work in progress. But perhaps having a hit Netflix movie can help move that along. In Irish Wish, Lohan plays Maddie Kelly, a book editor who has fallen for one of her authors, Paul Kennedy (Alexander Vlahos). But before Maddie can work up the courage to confess her feelings, he falls head over heels for her best friend, Emma Taylor (Elizabeth Tan).

During a trip to Ireland for Paul and Emma’s wedding, Maddie makes a wish and suddenly finds herself in Emma’s shoes as the bride-to-be. The problem is that Maddie doesn’t know Paul very well even in this new timeline, and she has more chemistry with an English photographer, James Thomas (Ed Speleers), whom she met briefly before making her life-altering wish.

Rebel Moon is basically Zack Snyder’s Star Wars, and he couldn’t even keep it contained to a single movie. On the upside, that means Netflix is investing in two big-budget sci-fi films for 2023 and 2024. The first film, Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire, follows Kora (Sofia Boutella), a former member of the Imperium who is seeking a chance to reinvent herself on Veldt, a world far out of the reach of Motherworld’s intergalactic empire.

Or so Kora thought. When the Imperium arrives on Veldt with plans to bring it under Motherworld’s control, Kora rebels. And she also seeks out warriors like Titus (Djimon Hounsou), Kai (Charlie Hunnam), Gunnar (Michiel Huisman), Tarak (Staz Nair), and Nemesis (Doona Bae), who are willing to lay down their lives to keep Veldt free.

Despite a 23-year gap between films and a largely new voice cast, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget seamlessly picks up after the original animated classic. Rocky (Zachary Levi) and Ginger (Thandiwe Newton) now have a daughter, Molly (The Last of Us’ Bella Ramsey), and the rest of the chickens are enjoying their freedom on a secluded island.

However, Ginger is correct to be suspicious about a nearby construction site, because their former owner, Mrs. Tweedy (Miranda Richardson), is looking for revenge. Meanwhile, Molly proves to be far too rebellious to remain in the sanctuary, which forces Ginger, Rocky, and their friends to undertake a risky trip to the outside world, where they will have to break into the new Funland Farms to save their child and secure their future.

Michael Fassbender’s title character in The Killer certainly has a lot to say in his inner monologue, but he never shares his name with the audience. The Killer seems like a consummate professional as an assassin right up until he completely botches a hit early in the film even after meticulously preparing for it.

Failure is not an option in this world, because now the killer is the target of his own organization. There’s a price on his head, and The Expert (Tilda Swinton) and The Brute (Sala Baker) are both out to collect. But not if The Killer finds them first.

Emily Blunt’s Liza Drake is a struggling single mother in David Yates’ Pain Hustlers. Because Liza has to take care of her daughter, Phoebe (Chloe Coleman), she proves to be receptive to an offer from Pete Brenner (Chris Evans) to join a pharmaceutical startup led by Dr. Neel (Andy Garcia).

Liza is given the task of getting local doctors to recommend and prescribe the company’s signature drug. This turns out to be something that Phoebe has a talent for. But there’s a darker side to this hustle that threatens to pull Liza into a criminal conspiracy that may destroy everything she loves.

A simple murder case is anything but routine in the new thriller Reptile. Someone has brutally murdered Summer Elswick (Matilda Lutz), and suspicion falls on her boyfriend, Will Grady (Justin Timberlake); her ex-husband, Sam Gifford (Karl Glusman); and a third man, Eli Phillips (Michael Pitt).

Detective Tom Nichols (Benicio del Toro) is in charge of the investigation, and he trusts his wife, Judy (Alicia Silverstone), with details about the case because she notices things that he doesn’t. Unfortunately for Tom, the closer he looks at Summer’s murder, the more he sees the connections to his own life and to a larger conspiracy.

Who is Lou? In the movie that shares her name, Lou Adell (Allison Janney) is simply the landlady for a young mother, Hannah Dawson (Jurnee Smollett), and her daughter, Vee (Ridley Asha Bateman). At least that’s what Lou wants everyone to believe. It’s a deception that she has learned to live with.

But when Vee is kidnapped by her biological father, Philip (Logan Marshall-Green), Lou springs into action and displays fighting skills that go far beyond the ordinary. Lou also has a personal connection to this drama, and she won’t stop until Vee is back home where she belongs.

Based on a real story, The Good Nurse follows Amy Loughren (Jessica Chastain), a working single mother whose career as a nurse could be jeopardized if her employers knew that she suffers from cardiomyopathy. Her new colleague, Charles Cullen (Eddie Redmayne), helps Amy hide her secret, and they become good friends. That’s why Amy doesn’t initially believe detectives Danny Baldwin (Nnamdi Asomugha) and Tim Braun (Noah Emmerich) when they tell her that Charles may be connected to several suspicious deaths. Unfortunately for Amy, the more she looks into it, the more she suspects that her friend is a serial killer.