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The best movies on Hulu right now (November 2024)

By now, Hulu subscribers shouldn’t be surprised to learn that the streamer picked up another strong batch of new movies in November. Between the two major streamers owned by Disney, Hulu is clearly the choice for movie lovers who want a greater selection of films to choose from.

This month, Alien: Romulus is making its Hulu streaming debut on November 21, while Elf is returning to the streamer on November 27. Our other picks for the month, La La Land and National Treasure, are already streaming. You can find these films and more among the best movies on Hulu right now.

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Subscribe to a different platform? Not only do we have a guide to the best new movies to stream, but we’ve rounded up the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Netflix, and the best movies on Disney+.

Recently added to Hulu

Elf (2003)

Elf
66%
7.1/10
pg
97m
Genre
Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Stars
Will Ferrell, James Caan, Bob Newhart
Directed by
Jon Favreau
Watch on Hulu

For his entire life, Buddy (Will Ferrell) believed that he was an elf, despite all evidence to the contrary. His story unfolds in Elf, a perennial holiday favorite directed by Jon Favreau. Papa Elf (Bob Newhart) finally breaks the news to Buddy as an adult and reveals that his biological father, Walter Hobbs (James Caan), is still alive and working as an executive in New York City.

Buddy may not have fit in among the elves, but he’s even more out of place among his father and his stepfamily. He has better luck with Jovie (Zooey Deschanel), a young woman who finds Buddy endearing. But it’s going to take some Christmas magic for Buddy to reconcile with his human family and find a place for himself in this world.

La La Land (2016)

La La Land
94%
8.4/10
pg-13
129m
Genre
Comedy, Drama, Romance, Music
Stars
Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, John Legend
Directed by
Damien Chazelle
Watch on Hulu

If you’ve ever had a love song in your heart, then La La Land may be the musical rom-com for you. This was one of the rare live-action musicals that went on to be a blockbuster hit. It also won six Oscars, including Best Director for Damien Chazelle and Best Actress for Emma Stone. And that infamous Oscar envelope mix-up sure made for some fun television!

The film follows Sebastian “Seb” Wilder (Ryan Gosling) and Mia Dolan (Stone), a couple who nearly miss the chance to be lovers because they’re so caught up in chasing their dreams. Once Sebastian and Mia realize their obvious chemistry, they fall hard for each other. Unfortunately for the two lovebirds, their relationship hits some turbulence, which may derail their respective ambitions.

Alien: Romulus (2024)

Alien: Romulus
64%
7.2/10
r
119m
Genre
Science Fiction, Horror
Stars
Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux
Directed by
Fede Álvarez
Watch on Hulu

The Weyland-Yutani corporation has basically been the villain in every Alien movie to date, and Alien: Romulus is no exception. In this film, we learn that not only has Weyland-Yutani been using humans as conscripted labor in space, but that the corporation also found the wreckage of the Nostromo, Ripley’s ship from the original Alien.

To escape their unjustly extended contracts with Weyland-Yutani, Rain (Cailee Spaeny), her android Andy (David Johnsson), Kay Harrison (Isabela Merced), and a few others undertake a risky mission to scavenge materials from an abandoned space station. By the time they realize that Weyland-Yutani’s Xenomorph experiments took place on that station, it’s too late to escape intact. And it may not be possible to escape at all after a lingering surprise from the past changes Andy’s programming and turns his loyalty away from Rain.

National Treasure (2004)

National Treasure
40%
6.9/10
pg-13
131m
Genre
Adventure, Action, Thriller, Mystery
Stars
Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha
Directed by
Jon Turteltaub
Watch on Hulu

National Treasure gave Nicolas Cage the chance to put his own spin on Indiana Jones with a new character, Benjamin Franklin Gates. It’s also one of the most enjoyable films in Cage’s long career because it absolutely embraces the script’s outrageous plot twists.

After Ben and his friend, Riley Poole (Justin Bartha), follow the trail of a long-lost treasure to a shipwreck, they realize that their partner, Ian Howe (Sean Bean), is a dangerous criminal who plans to steal the Declaration of Independence for the next clue to the treasure. So Ben and Riley decide to steal it first before embarking on a whirlwind adventure that makes them the targets of both the FBI and Ian’s criminal empire.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
63%
8.1/10
pg-13
143m
Genre
Adventure, Fantasy, Action
Stars
Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley
Directed by
Gore Verbinski
Watch on Hulu

This movie will always be remembered as the one that introduced Captain Jack Sparrow. Disney has had some hiccups when trying to make its theme park rides into movies, but Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl nailed it on the first try. The credit for that goes to director Gore Verbinski, the screenwriters, and a fantastic cast led by Johnny Depp as Sparrow.

Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) is an orphan of low birth who has loved Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) his entire life. When Elizabeth is taken by Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) and his cursed pirate crew, Will makes a deal with Jack to rescue the love of his life. As for Jack, he only wants to put a bullet in Barbossa as revenge for stealing his ship and his crew. Barbossa has a different goal in mind: freedom from his curse. And he’s more than willing to spill blood to make that happen.

Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Edward Scissorhands
74%
7.9/10
pg-13
105m
Genre
Fantasy, Drama, Romance
Stars
Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Dianne Wiest
Directed by
Tim Burton
Watch on Hulu

Leave it to Tim Burton to make Johnny Depp weird. Or weirder, if you prefer. But there’s a real charm to Depp’s disarming performance as the title character in Edward Scissorhands. Poor Edward may look like a teenager, but he’s more innocent and naive because he never lived among normal people until his creator (as played by screen legend Vincent Price) passed away.

The late inventor left Edward with giant scissors for hands, which makes him stand out even more. The Boggs family takes Edward in, and he falls for their daughter, Kim (Winona Ryder). But while the people of town initially accept Edward, Kim’s jealous boyfriend, Jim (Anthony Michael Hall), does everything he can to turn everyone against his rival.

Unbreakable (2000)

Unbreakable
62%
7.3/10
pg-13
106m
Genre
Thriller, Drama, Mystery
Stars
Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Robin Wright
Directed by
M. Night Shyamalan
Watch on Hulu

It’s unfortunate that M. Night Shyamalan’s best movies came early in his career because The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable are an impressive one-two punch. His twists usually come at the end, and Unbreakable has one of those as well. However, it’s the twist that comes during the film that elevates it to another level. We won’t spoil what it is, but it changes the film from a thriller into something more.

Bruce Willis has a great turn as David Dunn, a man emotionally adrift from his family and facing a potential divorce. When David survives what should have been a fatal train accident unharmed, his wife, Audrey (Robin Wright), sees it as a sign to give their marriage another chance. Yet, a stranger named Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson) sees David’s survival as living proof of a theory he’s chased his entire life. Elijah contends that David is more than just human, and that will send him on a journey that will redefine his entire existence.

High Fidelity (2000)

High Fidelity
79%
7.4/10
r
113m
Genre
Drama, Comedy, Romance, Music
Stars
John Cusack, Iben Hjejle, Todd Louiso
Directed by
Stephen Frears
Watch on Hulu

John Cusack’s Rob Gordon knows a lot about music in the rom-com drama High Fidelity, but he’s not as well-versed with the opposite sex. Rob never seems to have problems finding girlfriends like Laura (Iben Hjejle), yet he’s never been able to form a relationship that lasts, as music is the real love of his life.

When Laura finally leaves him, Rob is forced to question why he can’t get his love life together. That’s why he seeks out his former lovers to get their insight. Getting Laura back is going to be a lot harder than revisiting the past, especially if Rob doesn’t want to repeat the same mistakes again.

Date Night (2010)

Date Night
56%
6.3/10
pg-13
88m
Genre
Comedy, Action, Adventure
Stars
Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg
Directed by
Shawn Levy
Watch on Hulu

Steve Carell and Tina Fey play a married couple, Phil and Claire Foster, who have lost the spark in their relationship in Date Night. They’ve got kids and a house, but their love life is DOA. So to spice things up, they live a little dangerously on their date night by impersonating another couple, the Tripplehorns (James Franco and Mila Kunis), who had reservations at a restaurant.

That leads the couple into actual danger when it turns out that the Tripplehorns have blackmail information on very shady men, including some crooked cops. The only way for the Fosters to get out of this situation is to locate the real Tripplehorns and find someone they can trust with the blackmail intel who won’t try to kill them for it.

Sicario (2015)

Sicario
82%
7.7/10
r
122m
Genre
Action, Crime, Thriller
Stars
Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin
Directed by
Denis Villeneuve
Watch on Hulu

The director of Dune, Denis Villeneuve, and the co-creator of Yellowstone, Taylor Sheridan, teamed up for Sicario, a dark action thriller featuring Emily Blunt as FBI Special Agent Kate Macer.

While attempting to raid a cartel safe house, Kate witnesses the brutal deaths of two police officers. CIA officer Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) gives Kate the chance to strike back by joining a joint task force that’s letting the old rulebook fall by the wayside. By the time that Kate realizes that the CIA’s task force is going too far, she’s already in the company of a CIA-trained assassin Alejandro Gillick (Benicio del Toro). Gillick is a good ally to have, but if Kate crosses him, then she’ll be taking her own life in her hands.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
66%
7.0/10
pg-13
145m
Genre
Science Fiction, Adventure, Action
Stars
Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand
Directed by
Wes Ball
Watch on Hulu

The Planet of the Apes films have been around since 1968, but there’s still a lot of life left in the franchise in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. This story takes place 300 years after the life of Caesar, as one tribe of apes has taken to raising eagles as companions. Noa (Owen Teague) is the heir to Eagle Clan, until his people are brutally kidnapped and enslaved by the forces of Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand).

Proximus has perverted the teachings of Caesar and installed himself as a tyrant. He’s also after Mae (Freya Allan), a young human girl who may be able to lead him to hidden tech and weapons. Both Noa and Mae have reasons to oppose Proximus, but can they bring themselves to trust each other enough to bring him down?

Immaculate (2024)

Immaculate
57%
5.8/10
r
89m
Genre
Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Stars
Sydney Sweeney, Álvaro Morte, Simona Tabasco
Directed by
Michael Mohan
Watch on Hulu

If you’ve seen one movie this year about a young nun at the center of an evil plan, then you’ve either seen Immaculate or The First Omen. There are definitely a lot of overlapping themes between them. But so you can keep them straight, this is the one that stars Sydney Sweeny as Cecilia, a woman who can’t wait to take her vows and devote herself to God.

Unfortunately for Cecilia, there are shady things happening at her new home in the Italian countryside. Someone believes that Sister Cecilia is the perfect candidate to play an important role in the future of the world. Cecilia doesn’t get to choose what happens to her body, but she will have to decide how to react when the truth behind her immaculate pregnancy comes out.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

O Brother, Where Art Thou?
69%
7.7/10
pg-13
107m
Genre
Adventure, Comedy, Crime
Stars
George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson
Directed by
Joel Coen
Watch on Hulu

Collectively, the Coen brothers have a very strong lineup of films, but O Brother, Where Art Thou? is one of their few feel-good movies. The story is an Americanized remix of The Odyssey, with George Clooney as Ulysses Everett McGill. Ulysses is a prisoner who has convinced two of his fellow inmates, Pete (John Turturro) and Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson), to escape a chain gang with him to find a treasure before a local area is submerged. Somewhere along the way, they become music superstars who are known as the Soggy Bottom Boys.

Yet what Ulysses really wants is his wife and daughters back in his life. And it’s going to take an act of God for that to happen. The music in this film is incredible, even if bluegrass and country aren’t really your things. The songs lend the film an irreverent tone, and it’s just a lot of fun to watch things play out.

Ford v Ferrari (2019)

Ford v Ferrari
81%
8.1/10
pg-13
153m
Genre
Drama, Action, History
Stars
Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Jon Bernthal
Directed by
James Mangold
Watch on Hulu

Only the most enthusiastic race fans knew much about the fabled rivalry between Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts) and Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari (Remo Girone) before director James Mangold’s Ford v Ferrari. But the film explains why Ford held such a grudge against Ferrari before turning the story over to Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and a volatile race car driver named Ken Miles (Christian Bale).

Shelby and Miles are a pair of mavericks who have been tasked with building and designing a car that can match Ferrari’s top models in competitive racing. However, Miles is, to put it mildly, very abrasive, even with his friends. His attitude also earns the duo some powerful enemies within Ford itself who would love to sabotage their efforts. It’s going to take a battle of wills for Miles and Shelby to bring their dream car to fruition and ride it to glory.

The First Omen (2024)

The First Omen
66%
6.5/10
r
119m
Genre
Horror
Stars
Nell Tiger Free, Ralph Ineson, Sônia Braga
Directed by
Arkasha Stevenson
Watch on Hulu

Depending upon whether you consider the made-for-TV movie Omen IV: The Awakening as canon, the story of The Omen has been over since the third film hit theaters in 1981. And yet The First Omen reinvigorates the franchise with a prequel set in the early 1970s before the events of the original film.

The film follows Margaret (Nell Tiger Free), an American who has come to Rome to train for a life as a nun out of her religious devotion. Almost from the start, Margaret finds herself targeted by a conspiracy that she doesn’t understand. The forces of evil have decided that Margaret is the perfect woman to bring the antichrist into the world, whether she wants to or not.

Bullet Train (2022)

Bullet Train
49%
7.3/10
r
126m
Genre
Action, Comedy, Thriller
Stars
Brad Pitt, Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson
Directed by
David Leitch
Watch on Hulu

Brad Pitt was 58 years old when Bullet Train hit theaters in 2022, and yet you can’t tell his age by looking at him. As Pitt has grown older, he’s also gotten a lot funnier, and this movie makes his character, Ladybug, the butt of a lot of the jokes in the film. Ladybug is an assassin who is very unlucky, to the point where he wants to leave the life of a killer behind him. But he’s roped into filling in for an operative on a Japanese bullet train for a supposedly easy job.

All Ladybug has to do is retrieve a briefcase full of stolen money and slip out of the train before anyone realizes it’s missing. It’s easy to say, and almost impossible to do when multiple assassins get on the train, each with their own agendas. Ladybug may not have been looking for trouble, but it’s found him. And there’s an even more dangerous threat awaiting everyone at the end of the line.

Bad Boys for Life (2020)

Bad Boys for Life
59%
6.5/10
r
124m
Genre
Thriller, Action, Crime
Stars
Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Paola Nuñez
Directed by
Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah
Watch on Hulu

To paraphrase the immortal words of Danny Glover from the Lethal Weapon movies, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are getting too old for this bleep in Bad Boys for Life. That can’t be avoided when the sequel comes out 17 years after the second film. This does work to the movie’s advantage, as Detective Lieutenants Mike Lowrey (Smith) and Miles Burnett (Lawrence) clash over whether they should retire from the force.

Before they can think about stepping away for good, they’ll have to contend with someone from Mike’s past, Isabel “La Bruja” Aretas (Kate del Castillo). Isabel is the widow of a drug kingpin, and she’s sent her son, Armando Aretas (Jacob Scipio), to Miami to wipe out their enemies and get her revenge on Mike. And when Armando strikes, he strikes hard.

War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)

War for the Planet of the Apes
82%
7.4/10
pg-13
140m
Genre
Drama, Science Fiction, War
Stars
Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Karin Konoval
Directed by
Matt Reeves
Watch on Hulu

The end of the reboot trilogy arrives in War for the Planet of the Apes, and Caesar (Luther: The Fallen Sun‘s Andy Serkis) is no longer the idealistic leader he used to be. This is understandable considering that humans killed his wife and oldest son. With the Colonel (Woody Harrelson) making a final push to defeat Caesar’s tribe, Caesar plots to lead his tribe to sanctuary and avoid the war.

While attempting to lead the Colonel’s forces away from his followers, Caesar and Maurice (Karin Konoval) encounter a young mute human girl they call Nova (Amiah Miller). And despite Caesar’s reluctance to feel anything for Nova, her friendship may prove to be critical in the struggle against the Colonel.

Poor Things (2023)

Poor Things
88%
8.1/10
r
142m
Genre
Science Fiction, Romance, Comedy
Stars
Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe
Directed by
Yorgos Lanthimos
Watch on Hulu

Emma Stone won her second Oscar for Best Actress for her performance as Bella Baxter in Poor Things. Max McCandles (Ramy Youssef) falls for Bella before he learns that a mad scientist, Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe), brought her back to life with a newborn’s brain. That doesn’t dissuade Max from wanting to marry Bella, but she has other ideas.

Bella runs away with a lawyer, Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), so she can experience everything that the world has to offer her. Much like Max, Duncan’s influence over Bella only goes so far before she starts setting the agenda for herself, and no one is prepared to accept that.

Anatomy of a Fall (2023)

Anatomy of a Fall
86%
7.8/10
r
152m
Genre
Thriller, Mystery, Crime
Stars
Sandra Hüller, Swann Arlaud, Milo Machado-Graner
Directed by
Justine Triet
Watch on Hulu

Anatomy of a Fall was a five-time nominee at the Oscars, and the winner for 2023’s Best Original Screenplay. The story revolves around the death of Samuel Maleski (Samuel Theis) and the discovery of his body by his son, Daniel Maleski (Milo Machado-Graner). Did Samuel fall from the attic in his home, or was he pushed?

The police soon openly suspect that Samuel’s wife and Daniel’s mother, Sandra Voyter (Sandra Hüller), attacked Samuel and pushed him to his death. Even Daniel doesn’t quite know what to think when the truth about his parent’s strained marriage is brought out to the open. Affairs and resentment are only a small part of why Sandra and Samuel were estranged. But it looks damning when one of the leading characters in Sandra’s new novel contemplated killing her husband in a similar manner.

Suncoast (2024)

Suncoast
61%
6.6/10
r
110m
Genre
Drama, Comedy
Stars
Nico Parker, Laura Linney, Woody Harrelson
Directed by
Laura Chinn
Watch on Hulu

Laura Chinn’s Suncoast is largely based on true events that happened to her and her family, but the movie does take some dramatic license with the story. Nico Parker stars as Doris, a teenager who is overwhelmed by the brain cancer afflicting her brother, Max (Cree Kawa), and from her attempts to deal with their mother, Kristine (Laura Linney).

When Max enters hospice care, Doris befriends Paul (Woody Harrelson), an activist who is fighting to keep a woman named Terri Schiavo hooked up to life support despite her persistent vegetative state and the wishes of her husband. As for Doris, she has to face the very real possibility that her brother will never come home from hospice.

Uncharted (2022)

Uncharted
45%
6.3/10
pg-13
116m
Genre
Action, Adventure
Stars
Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg, Sophia Ali
Directed by
Ruben Fleischer
Watch on Hulu

Fans of the Uncharted video games may have done a double take when the MCU’s Spider-Man, Tom Holland, was cast as a much younger version of adventurer Nathan “Nate” Drake. The Uncharted movie is an alternate take on Nate’s origin story and how he formed a partnership with Victor “Sully” Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg), a treasure hunter who claims to have been the partner of Nate’s missing brother, Sam Drake (Rudy Pankow).

In the way of Nate and Sully’s first expedition is Santiago Moncada (Antonio Banderas), a very wealthy man who hires Jo Braddock (Tati Gabrielle) and her mercenaries to take out anyone in their path. Nate and Sully only have Chloe Frazer (Sophia Ali) to call upon for help, but even she may be less than trustworthy.

Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019)

Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
83%
7.6/10
r
162m
Genre
Comedy, Drama, Thriller
Stars
Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie
Directed by
Quentin Tarantino
Watch on Hulu

If Quentin Tarantino is serious about making only one more movie, then his penultimate film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, will go down as one of his best pictures. In this alternate version of history, Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a faded Hollywood star, and his best friend and bodyguard, Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), is a dangerous man with a murky past. Rick is desperate for a comeback, and his opportunities are drying up.

Meanwhile, Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) is on the rise as a prominent actress, unaware that the Manson family’s violent ambitions may mean the death of her. Tarantino creates so much tension whenever the Mansons menace any of the three leads in this film that the inevitable violence is almost cathartic when it finally arrives.

Quiz Lady (2023)

Quiz Lady
58%
6.7/10
r
100m
Genre
Comedy
Stars
Awkwafina, Sandra Oh, Will Ferrell
Directed by
Jessica Yu
Watch on Hulu

Quiz Lady features a unique pairing of Awkwafina and Sandra Oh as sisters Annie and Jenny Yum, respectively. When their mother flees the country to avoid a gambling debt, the struggling Jenny moves back home with her younger sister. While Annie effortlessly answers the questions as she watches a TV game show, Jenny films it and later posts it online where it goes viral.

This attracts the wrong kind of attention to Annie’s talent, as a criminal kidnaps the family dog to blackmail Annie into going on the game show in order to cover her mother’s debt and get their pet back. What Annie doesn’t realize is that Jenny also has other ulterior motives to get her sister on TV.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
58%
6.9/10
pg-13
119m
Genre
Adventure, Action, Comedy, Fantasy
Stars
Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black
Directed by
Jake Kasdan
Watch on Hulu

The curse of Jumanji returns for a new generation of characters in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. Now transformed into a video game, Jumanji entices four teenagers – Spencer Gilpin (Alex Wolff), Anthony “Fridge” Johnson (Ser’Darius Blain), Bethany Walker (Madison Iseman), and Martha Kaply (Morgan Turner) – into playing without fully understanding the consequences of their decision.

Suddenly, the group finds themselves physically transported into the game, with Spencer in the body of Dr. Xander “Smolder” Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson), Fridge as Franklin “Mouse” Finbar (Kevin Hart), Bethany as Professor Sheldon “Shelly” Oberon (Jack Black), and Martha as Ruby Roundhouse (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3‘s Karen Gillan). Each of the kids has only three lives to escape from Jumanji. But first, they have to locate the fifth player in their group.

No One Will Save You (2023)

No One Will Save You
60%
6.3/10
pg-13
93m
Genre
Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller
Stars
Kaitlyn Dever, Elizabeth Kaluev, Zack Duhame
Directed by
Brian Duffield
Watch on Hulu

Kaitlyn Dever stars in the Hulu original movie No One Will Save You as Brynn, a young woman who lives a solitary existence in large part because she is a pariah in her small town. That’s one of the reasons why Brynn has no one to turn to when an alien invades her home. In the aftermath, Brynn finds no support from her fellow humans, and she discovers just how alone she really is.

No One Will Save You barely has any dialogue at all, but Dever’s expressive and earnest performance carries the entire film. It also goes a long way toward making little gray men scary again, especially when Brynn meets the more horrific aliens.

Flamin' Hot (2023)

Flamin' Hot
65%
5.8/10
pg-13
99m
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Stars
Jesse Garcia, Annie Gonzalez, Dennis Haysbert
Directed by
Eva Longoria
Watch on Hulu

What do you do when there’s a true story that may not be true? As was famously said in the 1962 Western classic The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, “when the legend becomes fact, print the legend.” The story of Flamin’ Hot is truly inspirational regardless of whether these events actually played out this way in reality. The film is based on the memoir of Richard Montañez (Jesse Garcia), the man who claims that he created Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. And he didn’t do it alone.

With the support of his wife, Judy Montañez (Annie Gonzalez), and his co-worker, Clarence C. Baker (Dennis Haysbert), Richard rises from the rank of janitor and works up the nerve to pitch his Flamin’ Hot ideas to Frito-Lay executive Roger Enrico (Tony Shalhoub). From there, a snack food legend is born.

Something in the Dirt (2022)

Something in the Dirt
r
116m
Genre
Science Fiction, Mystery
Stars
Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson, Sarah Adina Smith
Directed by
Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson
Watch on Hulu

An exciting example of the kind of narrative ingenuity that only a worldwide pandemic can foster, Something in the Dirt is the latest film from writer-director duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (The Endless, Synchronic), and is arguably the most primitively fascinating work of these two collaborators. Shot over the course of a year with a crew of just 12, our story follows Levi and John, apartment-dwelling neighbors who decide to make a documentary about a range of supernatural events occurring in their Los Angeles residence. But as the two men discover that these kinds of extraordinary happenings are taking place all over L.A., their findings lead them to a combative exchange of theories and calculations.

Ultrasound (2022)

Ultrasound
55%
5.8/10
r
103m
Genre
Science Fiction
Stars
Vincent Kartheiser, Chelsea Lopez, Breeda Wool
Directed by
Rob Schroeder
Watch on Hulu

In director Rob Schroeder’s Ultrasound, Mad Men alum Vincent Kartheiser stars as Glen, an unassuming everyman who just so happens to encounter some car trouble on a dark and stormy night. Seeking some help, he knocks on the door of a perfectly kind stranger named Arthur (Bob Stephenson), leading the former down an uncanny rabbit hole of deceit and mind control. Presenting a nail-biter of a story without diving into carnage and other typical screen grabs, Ultrasound does its best work as a quietly curious foray into a world that’s hard to pin down.

The Last Tourist (2021)

The Last Tourist
7.3/10
84m
Genre
Documentary
Stars
Elizabeth Becker, Sangduen Lek Chailert, Costas Christ
Directed by
Tyson Sadler
Watch on Hulu
When traveling somewhere tropical and off-grid, we typically view these vacations as nothing more than personal getaways for us and those we love. But there’s a whole other side of the tourism coin that doesn’t get talked about — until director Tyson Sadler came along, that is. Through his eye-opening documentary The Last Tourist, Sadler paints a much different picture of tourism’s impacts on the parts of the world that need extra care and protection from humanity’s grip, while also discussing the positive aspects of worldly excursions. In the end, the audience is left with an important message that may have you thinking twice about your next venture to somewhere distant and remote.

Derek DelGaudio's In & Of Itself (2020)

Derek DelGaudio's In & Of Itself
82%
8.2/10
pg-13
90m
Genre
Documentary
Stars
Derek DelGaudio, Hal Schulman, Marina Abramović
Directed by
Frank Oz
Watch on Hulu
We all ponder over the great existential questions of life from time to time. Who are we? Why are we here? Where are we going next? And while cinema is often used as a philosophical medium through which we can explore such inquiries through fiction and nonfiction lenses, such introspection has never been captured like it has in Derek Delgaudio’s mesmerizing documentary/stage spectacle In & Of Itself. Directed by Frank Oz, Delgaudio’s work combines elements of traditional stage performance and unconventional narrative structure to deliver a filmic spectacle that is hard to describe but impossible to forget.

Dinner in America (2022)

Dinner in America
80%
7.2/10
r
106m
Genre
Comedy, Drama, Music
Stars
Kyle Gallner, Emily Skeggs, Pat Healy
Directed by
Adam Rehmeier
Watch on Hulu
It’s not often that you see the punk rock music genre getting any kind of cinematic limelight (sans films like Her Smell and Green Room), but even less so when the film genre of choice is an indie rom-com. Such is the case, though, with writer-director Adam Carter Rehmeir’s 2020 film Dinner in America, and the results are pretty great. Starring Kyle Gallner and Emily Skeggs as a singer and his band’s devoted fan, our story follows the star-crossed lovers as they travel around the lesser-seen suburbs and pervading urban sprawl of the American Midwest. If you’ve seen Garden State or Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, picture these two films being tossed into a blender with a healthy bit of rated-R this and that for extra punch, and you’re probably at least halfway to the look, feel, and budgetary, off-the-cuff sensibilities of Dinner in America.

Pig (2021)

Pig
82%
6.9/10
r
91m
Genre
Drama, Thriller
Stars
Nicolas Cage, Alex Wolff, Adam Arkin
Directed by
Michael Sarnoski
Watch on Hulu
In Pig, Nicolas Cage stars as Robin Feld, a truffle forager living off the grid in the backcountry of the Pacific Northwest. With a day to day composed of seeking out and selling rare fungi to a local restaurant supplier named Amir (Alex Wolff), Feld is content to go about a simple life of living off the land, that is until a posse of malcontents steal his truffle-foraging swine. Teaming up with Amir to track down the thieves, Robin must go to great lengths to infiltrate the locales and social circles he left behind to regain the animal he loves. A stirring blend of arresting performances and a unique narrative, Pig is the kind of independent film that makes a quiet but powerful impact before fading into the greater ephemera of bigger-budget pictures. That being said, catch it while you can — you won’t be disappointed.

Prey (2022)

Prey
79%
7.3/10
r
100m
Genre
Science Fiction, Action, Thriller, Horror
Stars
Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers, Dane DiLiegro
Directed by
Dan Trachtenberg
Watch on Hulu
Serving as a centuries-ago prequel to the 1987 film Predator, Prey gives us the story of a Comanche warrior named Naru (Amber Midthunder) who aspires to be the mighty protector of her Great Plains tribe. One day, a powerful new foe descends on her clan, forcing Naru and her fellow Comanche to summon up all their wits and strength to thwart the combatant extraterrestrial. Prey is a propulsive and blood-soaked nail-biter of an action film, and one that could effectively stand alone as a singular entity. But in this case, it’s a new entry in a much-loved franchise, and it’s one we’re betting will make plenty of fans happy.

Flee (2021)

Flee
91%
8/10
pg-13
89m
Genre
Documentary, Animation
Stars
Amin Nawabi, Daniel Karimyar, Fardin Mijdzadeh
Directed by
Jonas Poher Rasmussen
Watch on Hulu
Flee is one of those movies that fully commands the power of documentary filmmaking to tell an unbelievable true story. With jaw-dropping animation as our visual medium of choice, director Jonas Poher Rasmussen unpacks the emotionally arresting past of one Amir Nawabi, a refugee from Afghanistan (operating under an alias) who recounts his experience of fleeing his native country close to two decades ago. Heartfelt, beautifully constructed, and filled with frame after frame of immersive imagery, Flee is an important bit of storytelling you don’t want to miss.

Sundown (2022)

Sundown
70%
6.6/10
r
82m
Genre
Drama
Stars
Tim Roth, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Iazua Larios
Directed by
Michel Franco
Watch on Hulu
In Sundown, Tim Roth is Neil Bennet, the emotionally and financially domineering patriarch of a high-class family. Vacationing in Mexico with his sister Alice (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and her two children (Samuel Bottomley and Albertine Kotting McMillan), Alice receives distressing news about a death in the family. Planning to travel home, Neil makes up an excuse at the last second to stay in Acapulco, where he indulges in a series of cheap thrills in an effort to distance himself from his sister, the death, and anything else that could pester the quiet and miserly gentleman. A bleak drama, Sundown is propelled by the chameleon-like performance of Tim Roth at its center, portraying a man who has it all but would seemingly give it all up if it meant disappearing was a possibility.

Fresh (2022)

Fresh
67%
6.7/10
r
114m
Genre
Horror, Thriller
Stars
Daisy Edgar-Jones, Sebastian Stan, Jonica T. Gibbs
Directed by
Mimi Cave
Watch on Hulu
Noa (Daisy-Edgar Jones) is sick of swiping through dating apps to find a true companion. Lucky for her, she seems to have run into the man of her dreams, Steve (Avengers: Infinity War‘s Sebastian Stan) at the local grocery store. After quickly warming up to each other, Noa’s new suitor invites her on a weekend retreat. But it’s not long before the idyllic, romantic outing devolves into a horrific fight for survival. A brilliantly brutal riff on the horror-comedy, Fresh is a bombastic amalgamation of familiar genre tropes that we can’t get enough of.

Spencer (2021)

Spencer
76%
6.6/10
r
117m
Genre
Drama
Stars
Kristen Stewart, Jack Farthing, Sally Hawkins
Directed by
Pablo Larraín
Watch on Hulu
Spencer offers a fresh take on the introspective turmoils of Princess Diana, portrayed by the grounded and arresting Kristen Stewart (Love Lies Bleeding). With her marriage to Prince Charles in a tumultuous place, the two nobles have agreed to keep the peace through the Christmas season. But as the holiday festivities ensue, Diana’s inner demons begin to boil over, as she considers what life could be as an ex-communicate of the royal family. A moving character study with powerful performances and thoughtful storytelling at its core, Spencer does its due diligence in paying homage to the tragic Princess through a lens of harmonious self-discovery.

No Exit (2022)

No Exit
54%
6.1/10
r
96m
Genre
Horror, Thriller
Stars
Havana Rose Liu, Danny Ramirez, Dennis Haysbert
Directed by
Damien Power
Watch on Hulu
When Darby (Havana Rose Liu) discovers her mother is in critical condition, she escapes from her rehabilitation center, hoping to return home to tend to her ailing parent. But when a powerful blizzard puts a monkey-wrench into Darby’s homecoming, she’s forced to take shelter at a highway rest-stop. There she meets a group of fellow travelers, all stranded by the storm. After wandering outside, Darby discovers something in a parked van that initiates a deadly game of cat-and-mouse between her and the rest stop’s other inhabitants. A taut thriller that treads familiar waters, No Exit moves forward, full-steam ahead, dropping one thrill after the other.

Deep Water (2022)

Deep Water
53%
5.4/10
r
116m
Genre
Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Stars
Ben Affleck, Ana de Armas, Grace Jenkins
Directed by
Adrian Lyne
Watch on Hulu
A Hulu original, Deep Water stars Ben Affleck and Mary Ana de Armas as Vic and Melinda Van Allen, a married couple that has entered an unsettling part of their relationship. As their love wanes, the troubled husband and wife engage in a tantalizing set of mind games with each other, a psychological battle that ropes in more casualties than just the wedded pair. Based on the 1957 Patricia Highsmith novel of the same name, Deep Water is a slow-burning thriller with blistering performances from both Affleck and de Armas. They’re cinematic waters that have certainly been trodden before, but director Adrian Lyne delivers a rich, if at times troubled, adaptation of Highsmith’s source material.

Wander Darkly (2020)

Wander Darkly
66%
5.8/10
r
97m
Genre
Romance, Drama
Stars
Sienna Miller, Diego Luna, Beth Grant
Directed by
Tara Miele
Watch on Hulu
After a traumatic incident, Adrienna and Matteo (Sienna Miller and Diego Luna), a struggling young couple, are sent to the hospital. Confined to rehabilitative quarters, the once-happy pair are transported to an otherworldly realm of surreal memories. While each of them is forced to confront the hazy beginnings of their fizzling romance, their out-of-body paths will cross in bizarre and unexpected ways. Visually, Wander Darkly lives in an elevated plane of awareness, but the emotionally laden performances of both Miller and Luna help to anchor the film in a grounded and often relatable reality.
Movie images and data from:
Blair Marnell

Blair Marnell has been an entertainment journalist for over 15 years. His bylines have appeared in Wizard Magazine, Geek Monthly, SYFY Wire, Superhero Hype, Collider, DC Universe, and the official sites for Star Trek and Marvel. He also lends his pop culture expertise to Digital Trends on a variety of TV, movie, and streaming features.

Michael Bizzaco

Michael Bizzaco has been selling, installing, and talking about TVs, soundbars, streaming devices, and all things smart home for the better part of 15 years. He even knows a thing or two about how to fix this stuff when it starts misbehaving (because no tech is perfect!).

Mike has been writing for Digital Trends and several other publications since 2020. Fortunately, he’s still able to write after he got his index finger stuck in a vending machine at the Ramada Inn the summer before fourth grade! From hands-on reviews to best-of roundups, Mike does his best to share his expertise in a friendly and informative way with all readers, and loves staying on top of the latest AV and smart home trends.

When he’s not thanking his father for dislodging his finger from that vile vending machine in New Jersey, Mike enjoys playing guitar, reading, and indulging in horror films with his girlfriend.

The best mysteries on Netflix right now
Choi Min-sik in Oldboy.

Mysteries are so rare on Netflix that you'd think they were a dying breed. In this case, a classic film genre is dramatically underserved, and if we had to guess why, it probably comes down to Netflix's algorithm. The real enigma we want to be solved is why mystery movies aren't more popular on Netflix.

With not many fresh options to choose from, we're going to go with the classics. This month, we're adding the South Korean thriller Oldboy, as well as one of Alfred Hitchcock's all-time great films, Marnie. You can find those films and the rest of the best mysteries on Netflix below.

Read more
The best feel-good movies on Netflix right now
Stephan James runs as Jesse Owens in Race.

There probably isn't a certified doctor who would prescribe a feel-good movie to lift your spirits, but sometimes it really helps. Feel-good movies are a subgenre that ranges from comedies to dramas. The secret to their success is that the main characters overcome their anxieties, their personal roadblocks, and all other obstacles to achieve their goals. Who doesn't want to follow that example?

Netflix doesn't have a very robust selection of feel-good movies, but it does have some very good ones. As it happens, this month's new additions, Race and The World's Fastest Indian, are both true stories that share some common elements with each other. Neither film was made for Netflix, so they may not stick around for long. But for now, they have a prime place among the best feel-good movies on Netflix.
Need more recommendations? Then check out the best new movies to stream this week, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.

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The best fantasy movies on Netflix right now
Kate Beckinsale and Hugh Jackman in Van Helsing.

Finding great fantasy movies on Netflix is a bit of a fantasy in and of itself. The king of the streamers neglects this category, and it also relies heavily on Universal Pictures' catalog to bail out its shortcomings. That's why it's The Scorpion King and Van Helsing's turn to be on this list while Conan the Barbarian waits for yet another Netflix return.

The Scorpion King and Van Helsing aren't bad movies, but fantasy fans deserve a better selection from Netflix than films that are two decades old. Even this month's third addition, The Covenant, is closing in on 20 years. Netflix has made some original fantasy movies of its own, but not lately. For the most part, the best fantasy movies on Netflix are pretty stagnant. But when something new arrives, we'll be here to add it to the list.
Need more recommendations? Then check out the best new movies to stream this week, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.

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