The fall movie season is here, and the usual suspects are drawing audiences at the box office. From Transformers One to Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, it’s been a lively season so far, and the just-debuting The Wild Robot promises to draw even more people, and their kids, into auditoriums nationwide.
But I don’t want to go to the movie theater this weekend. I want to stay home and make use of my Netflix subscription. If you feel the same way, then you’re reading the right list. Netflix has three movies currently streaming right now that, while not as great as Oppenheimer, will surely satisfy those who are in the right mood.
Need more recommendations? Then check out the best new movies to stream this week, as well as the best shows on Netflix, best shows on Hulu, best shows on Amazon Prime Video, and best shows on Disney+.
The Foreigner (2017)
Is there anybody more effortlessly suave and smooth-talking than Pierce Brosnan? His tenure as James Bond is criminally underrated; even his worst entry, Die Another Day, is great fun. Who else can sell surfing a tidal wave after driving an invisible car to battle a bad guy with diamonds embedded in his face? Brosnan makes the ridiculous sublime in a way that few actors can even dream of.
He’s at his near best in The Foreigner, a 2017 action thriller that co-stars Jackie Chan and reunites him with his Goldeneye director, Martin Campbell. Brosnan plays Liam Hennessy, a former IRA leader who is suspected by Chan’s character, Ngoc Minh Quan, of killing his daughter in a bombing. Determined to hunt down his daughter’s killers, Quan stalks Hennessy and dials up the pressure, which includes bombing Hennessy’s home and threatening his political ambitions, to find the answers he’s looking for and some measure of peace.
The Foreigner is streaming on Netflix.
The Silencing (2020)
Game of Thrones produced a lot of stars, but most of them after the show haven’t quite found the success they had when they starred on the hit HBO fantasy shows. That’s certainly true for Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, whose portrayal of Jamie Lannister won over the hearts and minds of viewers everywhere. He’s since spent too much time in potboilers and third-rate action flicks, and he deserves far better.
The Silencing isn’t exactly a decent movie, but it does showcase why the actor is so appealing. He stars as Rayburn Swanson, a broken man who has secluded himself in the woods of northern Minnesota after the sudden disappearance of his young daughter five years ago. After a body of a young girl turns up nearby, Rayburn is forced out of his shell to investigate who’s behind the murder and what link, if any, it has with who took his daughter all those years ago.
The Silencing is streaming on Netflix.
Long Shot (2019)
Are you like me in that you’re sick to death of politics, polls, and everything associated with this year’s election? I’m sure you are. So why the heck am I recommending a movie about politics and elections? Because it’s also one of the best rom-coms of the last 10 years.
In Long Shot, Charlize Theron stars as Charlotte Field, a politico who wants to run for president of the United States. She hires an old friend, Seth Rogen‘s Fred Flarsky, to write speeches for her. As the unlikely duo travel the country to bolster Charlotte’s campaign, their wordplay turns into foreplay as the two forge a romantic connection that will test their career ambitions. Long Shot doesn’t take itself too seriously, and the chemistry generated by the two leads is surprisingly palpable.
Stream Long Shot on Netflix.
