The 13 best classic movies on Netflix right now (2024)

Back to the Future (1985)

A modern-day teenager travels back to 1955 via DeLorean, meets his parents as high schoolers, and nearly prevents them from falling in love, thus preventing him from ever existing. It's a concept that shouldn't have worked, but director Robert Zemeckis made it all come together with a resonant story about the complex relationship between a child and his parents. It also helps to have a killer soundtrack and a career-defining performance from star Michael J. Fox as the eager, highly relatable Marty McFly. —Kevin Jacobsen

Where to watch Back to the Future: Netflix

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Cast: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover

Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

The Breakfast Club (1985)

Five teenagers from different social cliques converge for a day of detention in this seminal John Hughes classic: "Brain" Brian Johnson (Anthony Michael Hall), "Athlete" Andrew Clark (Emilio Estevez), "Basket Case" Allison Reynolds (Ally Sheedy), "Princess" Claire Standish (Molly Ringwald), and "Criminal" John Bender (Judd Nelson). Despite their surface differences, the quintet gets to know each other over time and realize their shared commonality is difficult home lives. The Breakfast Club has endured as one of the most defining teen comedies of the '80s and tops EW's list of the 50 best high school movies of all time. As EW's writer claims, "If hell is other people — and high school is hell — then John Hughes is the genre's Sartre, and this is his No Exit." —K.J.

Where to watch The Breakfast Club: Netflix

Director: John Hughes

Cast: Emilio Estevez, Paul Gleason, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy

Clerks (1994)

Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)

Glengarry Glen Ross assembles some of the greatest male actors and sets them against each other in a fascinating story about power and ego. The action takes place at a real estate firm where a trainer reveals that only the top two salesmen will keep their jobs by the end of the week. As the salesmen use their leads, some resort to desperate tactics to get ahead, including a planned burglary that escalates the competition to a whole new level. The all-star cast features Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, and Kevin Spacey, who, as EW's critic writes, "achieve a true ensemble rhythm; at times, the entire office seems like a single, shouting organism." —K.J.

Where to watch Glengarry Glen Ross: Netflix

EW grade: A (read the review)

Director: James Foley

Cast: Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, Kevin Spacey, Jonathan Pryce

Léon: The Professional (1994)

Matilda (1996)

Kids who grew up in the '90s will always have a soft spot for this vivid adaptation of Roald Dahl's novel of the same name. Precocious 6-year-old Matilda Wormwood (Mara Wilson) is a bookworm who witnesses — and soon experiences — abuse from her dictatorial elementary school principal, Miss Trunchbull (Pam Ferris). Thankfully, Matilda is blessed with telekinetic abilities, which she uses to help her fellow students and get back at Trunchbull. As EW's critic writes, "It may be that Matilda's most welcome notion that self-assurance can sometimes be armor enough." —K.J.

Where to watch Matilda: Netflix

EW grade: B (read the review)

Director: Danny DeVito

Cast: Mara Wilson, Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman, Embeth Davidtz, Pam Ferris

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

Netflix has a full Monty Python collection, but Holy Grail is, well, the holy grail of the comedy troupe's artistic output. This sendup of Arthurian legend finds King Arthur (Graham Chapman) traversing England in the hope of recruiting knights to his Round Table. After assembling his men, God commands him to find the Holy Grail, leading to a perilous adventure with plenty a memorable sequence (shout out to those pesky knights who say "Ni.") —K.J.

Where to watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail: Netflix

EW grade: B (read the review)

Directors: Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones

Cast: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin

Muriel's Wedding (1994)

Misfit, ABBA-loving Muriel (Toni Collette) takes great pains to have the wedding of her dreams in this beloved Australian dramedy. After being ostracized by her shallow group of friends, Muriel decides to seize control of her life by stealing her mother's money and starting over in Sydney, where she eventually agrees to a sham marriage to fulfill her wedding fantasies. Collette is an awkward delight in her Golden Globe-nominated breakout role; as EW's critic writes, "This is that rarity, an appealing and expressive film that is truly for everyone. But it’s the misunderstood who will love it most." —K.J.

Where to watch Muriel's Wedding: Netflix

EW grade: A– (read the review)

Director: P.J. Hogan

Cast: Toni Collette, Bill Hunter, Rachel Griffiths

Oldboy (2003)

Park Chan-wook's twisted masterwork follows a man (Choi Min-sik) who, after being released from a mysterious, extended imprisonment, vows to track down his kidnappers and his long-lost daughter (Kang Hye-jung). If you’ve seen the movie — a fantasia of blood and bad taste that would give John Waters occasion to blush — you’ll know he should’ve stayed well enough away. —D.G.

Where to watch Oldboy: Netflix

EW grade: N/A (read the review)

Director: Park Chan-wook

Cast: Choi Min-sik, Kang Hye-jung, Yoo Ji-tae, Kim Byeong-ok, Yoon Jin-seo

She's Gotta Have It (1986)

Spike Lee established with this feature directorial debut that he was going to be one of his generation's signature voices. Shot in striking black and white, She's Gotta Have It centers on Nora Darling (Tracy Camilla Johns), a Brooklyn artist who has relationships with three men, each of whom wants her to commit exclusively to them. But Nora is a free spirit who enjoys her liberation; of course, problems arise when the three men meet and decide to be more proactive about the situation. The depiction of the messy complications of polyamorous love was refreshing at the time and remains so today. Lee also adapted the story into a TV series for Netflix in the late-2010s. —K.J.

Where to watch She's Gotta Have It: Netflix

EW grade: B– (read the review)

Director: Spike Lee

Cast: Tracy Camilla Johns, Spike Lee, Tommy Redmond Hicks, John Canada Terrell

Starship Troopers (1997)

Paul Verhoeven's gnarly futuristic action drama wasn't largely appreciated upon release, due to critics and audiences not quite getting the director's intentions. In the 23rd century, a militaristic government rules over Earth and wages war against giant, advanced arachnids. Casper Van Dien plays Johnny Rico, a teenage star athlete who idealistically joins up with the military to protect his planet, unaware that the culture in which he grew up is rooted in fascism. Operating as a satire of authoritarian patriotism, the film was mistaken in 1997 as just another junky gung-ho action flick, but time has been kind to Verhoeven's vision. —K.J.

Where to watch Starship Troopers: Netflix

EW grade: B+ (read the review)

Director: Paul Verhoeven

Cast: Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer, Denise Richards, Jake Busey, Neil Patrick Harris, Patrick Muldoon, Michael Ironside

The Thin Blue Line (1988)

With just a few clicks, you're bound to land on a true-crime documentary while scrolling through Netflix. The streamer has specialized in the format through film and TV shows that recount fascinating, grisly criminal cases, and this acclaimed documentary by Errol Morris is lauded as one of the most influential in the subgenre. The Thin Blue Line revolves around the wrongful conviction of Randall Dale Adams in the 1976 shooting of Robert W. Wood. Through reenactments and interview testimony, Morris tells a gripping story about the miscarriage of justice. —K.J.

Where to watch The Thin Blue Line: Netflix

Director: Errol Morris

Cast: Randall Dale Adams, David Ray Harris