Netflix‘s best film offerings right now include a 2012 science fiction film from writer-director Rian Johnson that effectively launched him into a realm of blockbuster filmmaking he has not since left. The streamer is also the current home for a 2022 historical drama that ranks firmly as one of “Thunderbolts*” and “Little Women” star Florence Pugh’s most underrated movies. Meanwhile, rounding out this week’s Netflix recommendations is a Scandinavian revenge thriller that, despite its medieval setting, feels like it would pair well with basically any heavy metal album.
Here are the best movies on Netflix you can watch this week.
“Looper” (2012)
“Looper” is a slick and strikingly original sci-fi thriller from “Knives Out” writer-director Rian Johnson. Featuring one of Bruce Willis’ best late-career performances, the film follows a contract killer (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who kills targets sent back in time by his crime syndicate bosses from the future. Things go haywire when he fails to kill his future self (Willis) and is forced to go on the run.
Constructed in the same layered, nesting-doll manner as so many of Johnson’s films, “Looper” takes you on an unpredictable and explosive ride, one punctuated by sci-fi action sequences that hit like gun shots.
“The Wonder” (2022)
In commemoration of Oscar-winning Chilean filmmaker Sebastián Lelio’s passing last week, now is as good a time as any to revisit his most underrated film, 2022’s “The Wonder.” Based on a 2016 novel by Emma Donoghue, “The Wonder” is set in rural Ireland shortly after the country’s Great Famine. It follows an English nurse (Florence Pugh) who is sent to a remote village to observe and report on a young girl (Kíla Lord Cassidy) who claims to be able to illogically survive without eating.
Boasting an understated yet deeply felt lead performance by Pugh, “The Wonder” uses a few clever narrative and structural tricks to tell its story. The film, consequently, emerges over the course of its 103 minutes as a thoughtful, Gothic drama about the power stories have to hurt us or save us, depending on which ones we choose to believe.
“The Northman” (2022)
Robert Eggers made the leap from dense, low-budget independent horror movies (“The Witch,” “The Lighthouse”) to the world of blockbuster historical epics with 2022’s “The Northman.” Co-written by Eggers and Icelandic poet Sjón, this mythical Scandinavian revenge thriller follows an exiled Viking prince (Alexander Skarsgård) who sets out to avenge his murdered father (Ethan Hawke) and kill his murderous uncle (Claes Bang).
Featuring a pair of ferocious, scene-stealing supporting performances from both Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicole Kidman, “The Northman” is an outrageously violent, gorgeously composed action movie soaked in blood, brimstone and hellfire. It is a roaring beast the likes of which we rarely see rendered onscreen nowadays, particularly in contemporary Hollywood.
