UPDATED: Movies You Need To Watch On Netflix (Oct. 9)

Avoid the doomscroll -- here are some hidden gems on The Big Red Machine

Stop and think for a second how awkward it would sound in everyday conversation if someone asked you, “Hey what did you do last night?” and you said, “Oh I just stayed at home and watched Hulu.” Sub that for Max, Amazon Prime Video or even Disney+, and in every case you’d be met with a side eye and a follow-up question.

But staying at home and watching Netflix? Well that’s not even going to get a second thought. Netflix is the Kleenex or Chapstick of the streaming game, a brand that has become synonymous with the product. Everyone has it, everyone uses it.

And yet! Through the endless scroll of options on there, how often are you stumbling upon new movies and shows that you haven’t heard of before and playing the streaming equivalent of Russian roulette on whether it’s going to be good or the waste of two hours? My guess would be not that often.

Netflix, and streaming as a whole, doesn’t function in the same way as television of the past. There’s very little spontaneity, very little discovery. Most people might say they want freedom of choice, but deep down they crave some kind of curation. As in, please let this be a good use of my time!

That’s what my premium streaming guides are all about. Utilizing all of the 1000+ movie suggestions I’ve made over the past six years in my Friday edition of the newsletter, I’ve hand-picked the best of the best on each platform (updated on a rolling basis…here are editions from July and August).

Much like my Cinephile Bucket List, I’ve broken these down into categories that should help you to browse depending on the vibe you’re looking for on a given night, with blurbs both new and old like a sales pitch to convince you to try out movies you’ve hopefully never seen before. Let’s get into it!

Hidden Gems