Netflix’s current, best film selections include a period drama from “Eternals” and “Nomadland” director Chloé Zhao that is destined to leave almost every person who watches it in a puddle of tears by the time it is over. If you are not quite in the mood for that this week, the streamer also has an underrated early 2000s romantic dramedy starring John Cusack and Jack Black and an Oscar-winning 2006 ensemble tragicomedy that takes both the viewer and its characters on an oddball journey of whacky setbacks and surprising self-discovery.
Here are the best movies on Netflix you can watch this week.
“Hamnet” (2025)
Director Chloé Zhao’s acclaimed, heart-wrenching adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 novel “Hamnet” follows William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) and his wife Agnes (Jessie Buckley) as they grieve the death of their 11-year-old son, Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe). Featuring a seismic, elemental lead performance from Buckley, which netted her an Oscar win for Best Actress earlier this year, “Hamnet” confronts the most tragic corners of human existence with a grace that allows it to also highlight the soul-stirring, life-affirming power of art.
The film’s final 20 minutes will take your breath away, as Zhao reaches a climax that simultaneously levels you and lifts you up. It’s a major achievement.
“High Fidelity” (2000)
Based on author Nick Hornby’s best-selling 1995 novel of the same name, “High Fidelity” follows a pretentious Chicago record store owner (John Cusack) as the dissolution of his latest relationship inspires him to revisit the five worst breakups of his life, a journey that helps him reach some much-needed closure and also face his own, many shortcomings.
An unsparing exploration of male arrested development, “High Fidelity” is an all-time takedown of the short-sighted impulse to define yourself by the things you like, rather than the things you do. Jack Black‘s scene-stealing supporting performance is one for the ages, and the Zoë Kravitz-starring “High Fidelity” TV series that came 20 years after this film is also well worth your time (and deserved to run much longer than the single season it was given by Hulu).
“Little Miss Sunshine” (2006)
Directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris’ “Little Miss Sunshine” is a kindhearted tragicomedy overflowing with absurd humor and affecting empathy. Led by a cast that includes Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Steve Carell and Paul Dano, this 2006 Oscar winner follows a dysfunctional American family as they go on a journey to enter their youngest member (Abigail Breslin) in a child beauty pageant.
For their parts, Carell and co-star Alan Arkin both give memorable, nuanced performances in a film that finds the humor, pain and beauty in its characters’ lives. In the wacky specificity of its central misfits’ story, “Little Miss Sunshine” paints a universal portrait of struggle and personal triumph.
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