Hey NewsZemians, finally the cozy season is here. Tis the time to either curl up with a good book or watch your favorite movies on Netflix.
As the winter breeze knocks on our door, there is nothing more we enjoy than getting cozy on our couch with a bowl of ramen in one hand, and our iPad in the other. The wintery season is all about enjoying oneself, letting go of hardships, and focusing on what makes us happy. It’s the time to put on some fluffy socks, snuggle up with a loved one, and stream some of the best movies on Netflix. If you want to know what movies on Netflix we prefer to watch during this season, make sure to read the entire article. We will be highlighting some of the most recent releases along with our personal favorites.
Top Best Movies on Netflix
Woman of the Hour
Starting strong with a masterpiece, the Woman of the Hour is a great movie on Netflix that explores the theme of women empowerment, directed and starred by the talented Anna Kendrick. The movie incorporates themes of horror that are more tangible and gruesome than seen otherwise. The palpable horror is shown to the audience through bursts of killings of a charging photographer Rodney Alcala.
Rodney was an American serial killer and sex offender who preyed on young girls in the 1970s. He was convicted and sentenced to death for the murders of five women that he committed between the years 1977 and 1979. Kendrick very effortlessly captured the aura of a serial killer and the air of the harrowing times, delivering a masterpiece that will continue to appeal to the audience for ages.
Society of the Snow
Society of the Snow is another remarkable movie on Netflix that is an outstanding recreation of grueling true events. The movie takes place in the year 1972 with the flight of the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, carrying a rugby team to Chile. The plane crashed in the heart of the Andes, and what began as an exciting flight, turned into a human’s worst nightmare. The movies follow the ordeal of the survivors as they try to bear the harsh circumstances of the hostile environment and are forced to resort to cannibalism in order to stay alive.
Even though no movie on earth can ever portray the true tribulations that the survivors had to face, the Society of the Snow managed to capture some degree of poignancy. This telling tale of friendship, faith, camaraderie, and hope can bring even the most stoic of beings to tears.
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
Even though it’s been years since its release, To All the Boys remains relevant and iconic. Not to mention when you combine teenage love with Noah Centineo the result is never-ending hype. The movie is based on a famous book series with the same name, written by the iconic bestseller, Jenny Han. The movie follows an introverted girl, Lara Jean Covey, played by the beautiful, Lana Condor. Lara Jean, like most teenage girls, loves to spend her time reading romance novels and fantasizing about her own love life. However, love is something that is not in the books for her, because Covey likes to keep her feelings boxed up, literally.
Throughout her life, Lara fell in love with 5 boys to whom she wrote letters that she safely kept in a box. However, those letters get out, somehow, and that is when Covey’s life is turned into a literal romance novel with Peter Kavinsky as her male lead. The movie is swoony, warm, and cozy, and we love to enjoy it with a hot bowl of ramen and face masks. Netflix this is what we need, not sappy romances, but this, and Noah Centineo.
Spirited Away
Not a Netflix original movie, but a masterpiece, nonetheless. Spirited Away is Hayao Miyazaki’s gift to the earthlings. We don’t have enough words to describe just how epically wonderful this movie is. From its soundtrack to the storyline to the characters, everything about this movie speaks volumes. The movie blends magic with fantasy and adds a dash of realism with a side of strong messages. This movie leaves one feeling lighter than air, the beautifully drawn and perfectly composed work of art with an amazing storyline wows audience of all ages.
If we could use one word to describe this legend of a movie, sublime would be the one we use. The movie is a kaleidoscope of stunning imagery, following the story of a girl, Chihiro who must navigate through an unfamiliar landscape, or world to be more exact, and reunite with her parents. Spirited Away is a tale of resilience, young love, and undying friendships, and delivers a message that focuses on themes of generational conflicts, corruption, and environmental issues.
Grave of Fireflies
Grave of Fireflies is another proof of the brilliance, intelligence, and eccentricity of Miyazaki. It is the kind of movie that leaves you in the feels, making you ugly cry out of anguish and sadness. Grave of Fireflies follows the story of two siblings in warn-ridden Japan who are orphaned in the wake of the fire-bombing of Kobe. The two are thrust into harsh circumstances and try to navigate their way through them.
This tale of the siblings is unapologetically harrowing, depicting how war and nationalism chew up and spit out the ones who are most vulnerable. The ending of the film will leave you with tears streaming down your face accompanied by a sense of anguish that will threaten to stop your heart.
Don’t Move
Don’t Move is a 2024 Netflix original movie that the streaming platform released on October 25, 2024. Starring some stellar faces i.e. Kelsey Asbille as Iris and Finn Wittrock as Richard, the movie follows a young mother who is grieving the loss of her child who passed away during a family hiking trip. Iris revisits the place where she lost her son, as thoughts of suicide whirl around her mind, not knowing that a fate worse than death awaited her in the shape of a serial killer.
It is within the clutches of this man does Iris discovers her will to live. Don’t Move is a tight little thriller with noose-tightening scenes of dread. The movies evoke feelings of loss, regret, and hopelessness all the while highlighting the beauty of life. All in all, this is a good movie on Netflix, well done, better than the sloppy comedies you insist on producing.
It’s What’s Inside
Its What’s Inside is another great thriller Netflix delivered this month. Ranking among the top 10 best movies on Netflix, It’s What’s Inside showcases a very eccentric way of taking revenge on those who do you wrong. The movie starts off with a reunion of college friends that turns into a disaster as they start playing a game where the friends swap bodies – yes NewsZemians, swap bodies!
The movie is more OMG than scary as we discover how vile some humans can be, how lust is the governing emotion for some people, and how infidelity can run rampant when one realizes that no one is watching. In the end, It’s What’s Inside is a great movie for Gen Z’ers who are obsessed with what’s on the surface and fail to look for what’s inside.
Damsel
2024 was the year of women’s empowerment and Netflix had to honor that. Another great Netflix movie that you can stream during his cold season is Damsel, starring Millie Bobby Brown and Nick Robinson. The movie follows a strong-headed, dutiful woman, who at the request of her parents and for the sake of saving her kingdom, agrees to marry a handsome prince, who lives far far away. However, just when she starts dreaming of a new life with her handsome, beau, the damsel is turned into a sacrifice to repay an ancient debt.
She is thrown into a cave, housed by a vengeful fire-breathing dragon, with only her wits and strong will to go by. The movie effortlessly blends elements of dark fantasy with women’s empowerment themes and weaves a tapestry of strength and resilience. It delivers a message that a woman can survive anything and can rely on their wits to save themselves.
Leave the World Behind
Leave the World Behind tells a twisted tale of a family’s luxury weekend getaway taking a sinister turn in the wake of an inexplicable blackout. Amanda, Clay, and their kids Rose and Archie rent a luxurious property to spend some time away from their busy lives, however, when the owner of the rental, George, and his daughter return home early, suspicions mount and tensions grow.
When the two families experience some unexplainable phenomenon, like failing vehicles, and scattered reports of attack, the two decide to trust and rely on each other in the face of a possible Armageddon. The movie feeds on the mounting uncertainty of views to deliver a plot that will keep you guessing till the very end. Netflix went all out with this dystopian thriller starring the likes of Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, Myha’la, and Kevin Bacon, delivering a cinematic marvel.
Time Cut
One of the recently released Netflix original movies, Time Cut is a very innocent slasher movie. To better describe it, it’s like if the movie Scream had a baby with Back to the Future. In all honesty, the movie is predictable and repetitive, but it was still a great time to spend. The story is more or less similar to the slasher movie Netflix released last year starring Kiernan Shipka and Julie Bowen, Totally Killer, following a girl who is living under the shadow of small-town killings that happened years ago. In a similar fashion Time Cut follows Lucy, a girl overshadowed by the death of her sister and her friends at the hands of the Sweetly Slasher.
Lucy accidentally finds herself transported back to the year 2003, where she meets her sister and a genius innovator, and sets on a course to be a hero, saving people, and unveiling the slasher. Not a great movie, but a guilty pleasure, nonetheless. Please release something original next year on Netflix, October is about gore and blood, not a sappy slasher teenage movie.
