The Best 2018 Movies on Netflix Right Now

It's the end of the year, which means it's time for all the Best of 2018 lists you can handle. While you can certainly look forward to plenty more to come running down the best movies, TV, and more of year here on Collider, the fact is most awards contenders are still in theaters, and sometimes when you're home for the holidays, you just want to watch what you can at home. With that in mind, we've put together a list of the best movies of the year that you can watch right now on Netflix.

Naturally, that means there are a Netflix originals on this list, and there's no denying that the streaming service has upgraded their original film content in recent years, but there's also a number of box office blockbusters and indie hits hiding in the weeds of the almighty algorithm, so if you're looking for the best movies of the year you can watch right now. We've got you covered with the best 2018 movies on Netflix below.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Directors/Writers: Joel and Ethan Coen

Cast: Tim Blake Nelson, Tyne Daly, James Franco, Brendan Gleeson, Bill Heck, Grainger Hines, Zoe Kazan, Harry Melling, Liam Neeson, Jonjo O’Neill, Chelcie Ross, Saul Rubinek, Tom Waits, Clancy Brown, Jefferson Mays, Stephen Root, and Willie Watson

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs may not go down as an all-time great Coen Brothers movie, but it helps to crystalize their themes on death and morality as clearly as some of their best works. The anthology movie contains six stories of varying tone from the riotous “Ballad of Buster Scruggs” to the deeply melancholy “Meal Ticket”, but they all have something do with death, with the western genre used as a cohesive baseline. While folks will argue over which shorts are the best (I personally haven’t been able to shake “The Gal Who Got Rattled”), even the weakest Coens is better than the best work of other filmmakers. Even if you’re not a Coen Brothers die-hard, there’s still plenty to enjoy and ponder in their Netflix movie. – Matt Goldberg

Shirkers

Writer/Director: Sandi Tan

A little bit punk rock, a little bit whimsical, and lovable all the way through, Shirkers is one of the more delightful documentaries in recent memory. The fascinating tale focuses on the case of a stolen film and it’s a doozy. In 1992, Sandi Tan and her friends Sophia Siddique Harvey and Jasmine Kin Kia Ng (who is one of the most downright charming, hilarious people to be on screen this year) made Singapore’s first indie film “Shirkers,” but took a devastating blow when their creepazoid mentor Georges Cardona disappeared with the footage. When the film was recovered 20 years later, Tan took it upon herself to give their lost film new life in the form of a documentary, which uses footage from the original 16mm print along with plenty of nostalgia-packed memorabilia from their teen years to tell the tale of the making, loss and recovery of the film that should have been. It’s an intriguing tale in its own right, but Shirkers’ secret weapon are the women themselves and their complicated creative relationship, which gives the documentary a shine of crackling personality, making it a true pleasure to watch. — Haleigh Foutch

Cam

Director: Daniel Goldhaber

Writer: Isa Mazzei

Cast: Madeline Brewer, Samantha Robinson, Patch Darragh, Melora Walters, Imani Hakim, Devin Druid

This vibrant little dopplegänger thriller earned a cult of enthusiastic fans when it made the festival rounds this year, where it was immediately scooped up by Netflix out of Fantasia. And it's easy to see why. Clever to boot, a bit sexy, and demented in all the right ways Cam is a refreshing, candid look at the cost of our online identities and the terror of losing your sense of self. Led by The Handmaid's Tale star Madeline Brewer, Cam follows an ambitious online sex worker who wakes up to a nightmare when she tries to log onto her camming account and discovers her identity has been taken over by an exact replica. Writer Isa Mazzei previously worked as a cam girl herself and that unique perspective lends a sense of respect and dignity to sex workers that is too often missing in their on-screen depictions. Thrilling, beautifully shot and deliciously nauseating in that uncanny valley way, Cam is a tightly crafted trip down the rabbit hole of identity. -- Haleigh Foutch

Black Panther

Director: Ryan Coogler

Writers: Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole

Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Angela Bassett, Daniel Kaluuya, Winston Duke, Forest Whitaker, Andy Serkis, and Martin Freeman

Marvel Studios has an excellent track record of crafting supremely entertaining movies, but Black Panther marks the MCU’s most mature, ambitious, and thematically complete film yet. Creed and Fruitvale Station filmmaker Ryan Coogler digs into themes of isolationism and what it mean to be black in America within the context of an extremely exciting, visually enthralling superhero action film. That in and of itself makes Black Panther noteworthy, but the film also boasts terrific performances from folks like Letitia Wright and Lupita Nyong’o, while Michael B. Jordan brings to life one of the MCU’s best and most emotionally complex villains to date. Black Panther is a stunning achievement for Marvel, and it’s one well worth revisiting just to soak in the attention to detail—both in terms of superheroics and complex themes—that Coogler threads throughout. – Adam Chitwood

Apostle

dan-stevens-the-rental — Image via Netflix

Writer/Director: Gareth Evans

Cast: Dan Stevens, Lucy Boynton, Kristen Froseth, Michael Sheen, Mark Lewis Jones

The Raid director Gareth Evans takes a turn from action to horror with the brutal occult horror Apostle. Legion star Dan Stevens leads the film as Thomas, a world-weary man who sails to a remote island in order to infiltrate the cult that kidnapped his sister and finds a whole lot more than he bargained for. Evans trades combat for carnage, delivering blood-soaked, sometimes barbaric set-pieces that will make you want to watch through the cracks in your fingers, five-year-old style. His bananas story is matched by a wild performance from Stevens, who throws himself at the wall as a man tormented by his past and terrorized by his present. We already knew Evans' films could pack a punch, but this time around, he's slinging a switchblade. -- Haleigh Foutch

Set It Up

Director: Claire Scanlon

Writer: Katie Silberman

Cast: Zoey Deutch, Glen Powell, Lucy Liu, and Taye Diggs

If you’re looking for a charming romantic comedy, but don’t want to rewatch something from a previous decade for the umpteenth time, you should definitely give Claire Scanlon’s charming Set It Up a look. The plot follows two beleaguered assistants (Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell) who decided to set up their bosses (Lucy Liu and Taye Diggs, respectively) in order to just get some precious free time away from their demanding jobs. However, with all their scheming, they start to fall for each other. You can see the romcom beats coming from a mile away, but they’re done so well and so effectively that you won’t mind. Plus, the film sizzles thanks to the outstanding performances from the dazzling Deutch and Powell, who should be the streaming generation’s Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. – Matt Goldberg

The Endless

Directors: Aaron Moorehead and Justin Benson

Writer: Justin Benson

Cast: Aaron Moorehead, Justin Benson, Callie Hernandez, Tate Ellington, Lew Temple, Kira Powell

A testament to the power of just going out there and making your damn movie, The Endless is a low-budget wonder that somehow manages to build a massive mythology and world of existential horrors with its modest means. Filmmakers Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson (who wrote, directed, edited, shot and starred in the film) return to the world of oppressive Lovecraftian horrors they built in their first film Resolution and build out the mythology through the tale of two brothers who return to the cult they escaped as kids looking for closure. The end result is one of the most creative and satisfying genre movies of the year, with a wicked sense of humor and a slow-build set of horrors that creep up on you. -- Haleigh Foutch

22 July

Director/Writer: Paul Greengrass

Cast: Anders Danielsen Lie, Jon Øigarden, Thorbjørn Harr, Jonas Strand Gravli, Ola G. Furuseth, and Ulrikke Hansen Døvigen

In 2011, a far-right terrorist exploded a bomb at a government office in Norway and then made his way to a youth summer camp on an island, where he opened fire and killed 77 people in total. Bourne and United 93 filmmaker Paul Greengrass captures this terrorist attack in excruciating detail in the opening half hour of 22 July, but the film then moves on to the aftermath, where Greengrass contrasts the story of the terrorist—who was captured, affored an attorney, and sought to relay his political message—with that one one of his victims, a young boy who was shot in the head and faces a long road to recovery. The story is one of finding hope and courage in the face of absolute evil, and holds renewed relevance for 2018 as far-right groups are on the rise. This is a harrowing, emotional, and necessary film. – Adam Chitwood

Mary and the Witch's Flower

The first feature film from the Studio Ghibli offshoot Studio Ponoc, Mary and the Witch’s Flower is pure, unadulterated delight from start to finish. The animated adventure follows a clumsy, well-meaning young girl inside the halls of a magical school where nefarious plans are at work. Mary is your average school kid in a quiet summer town until she stumbles upon the magical Fly-by-Night flower that imbues her with immense magical skill. Unfortunately, the effects are short-lived, but Mary takes the “smoke ‘em while you got ‘em” approach to magic, embracing the newfound world whole-heartedly. The film’s story is somewhat slight, but its wonders are immense, and while it owes a lot to its Ghibli predecessor Kiki’s Delivery Service, there’s just something so spectacular about the magical sights found within the halls of Endor College. Lest I forget the most important thing, some seriously adorable animated cats. -- Haleigh Foutch

To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Director: Susan Johnson

Writer: Sofia Alvarez

Cast: Lana Condor, Janel Parrish, Anna Cathcart, Noah Centineo, Israel Broussard, and John Corbett

If you’re looking for a fun, sweet, YA romance to brighten your day, you won’t do much better on Netflix than To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. Based off the novel by Jenny Han, the story follows Lara Jean (Lana Condor), a teenager whose worst nightmares are realized when five letters she wrote to her secret crushes are sent out without her knowledge. When she’s confronted by her old crush Peter (Noah Centineo), she’s afraid it could get in the way of her current crush Josh (Israel Broussard), so Lara Jean and Peter resolve to fake a relationship so they can get with who they really want to be with. Naturally, pretending to be together starts to create real feelings between the two. The film is a joy from start to finish, letting you relive a time when who “liked” you was the most important thing in the world, but without any of the trauma high school entails. – Matt Goldberg

Cargo

Directors: Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke

Writer: Ben Howling

Cast: Martin Freeman, Susie Porter, Anthony Hayes, Simone Landers

Right off the bat, Cargo has one of the best conceptual hooks of any horror movie this year — a man bitten by a zombie has a matter of hours to find a safe place for his infant daughter in the apocalypse before he turns. It’s simple, it’s strong, and you’re instantly intruiged — fortunately, it’s also backed by a pitch-perfect performance from Martin Freeman and a beautifully shot look at rural Australia that gives the zombie genre a much-needed new backdrop. Freeman stars Andy, the father in question, directors Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke provide the actor with the perfect role for his world-weary demeanor, giving him a lot to chew on in a muted, driven performance. Smart with being too smart for its own good, Cargohinges on the audiences understanding of how zombie films work, without becoming a meta-commentary, which is a refreshing change of pace in a genre that’s just starting to break out of a decade of stagnancy. -- Haleigh Foutch

Private Life

Director/Writer: Tamara Jenkins

Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Paul Giamatti, Kayli Carter, Molly Shannon, John Carroll Lynch, Desmin Borges, and Denis O’Hare

Tamara Jenkins’ new movie, Private Life, is a deft balancing act that plunges viewers into the frustration, anxiety, and hardship of a couple struggling to conceive, and yet it never loses sight of the humanity and even moments of odd comedy in their struggle. Kathryn Hahn and Paul Giamatti play Rachel and Richard Biegler, a couple in their late 40s who are desperately trying to get pregnant, but despite putting themselves through the fertility grinder, are no closer to having a child. When they learn that their only chance is an egg donor, they decide they want it to be someone they know, and land upon their wayward niece (not blood-related) Sadie (Kayli Carter), a well-meaning if slightly flighty young woman in her mid-20s to be their donor. When she agrees, it ends up creating new, unforeseen complications, but never anything so outlandish that it breaks the movie’s powerful credibility.

Private Life is remarkable for a multitude of reasons, but it demands to be seen for Hahn’s remarkable performance. She has to play so many different levels and yet it’s not simply a case of “most acting” but fine-tuning her outrage and her heartache based on the scene. Sometimes she gets to lash out, but other times she has to bury her pain so that it doesn’t make other people uncomfortable. It’s easily one of the best performances of 2018. – Matt Goldberg

The Ritual

Director: David Bruckner

Writer: Joe Barton

Cast: Rafe Spall, Arsher Ali, Robert James-Collier, Sam Troughton

Horror movies are always a gamble–some are great, and deliver more than expected, while others simply tread well-worn territory. The Ritual falls into the former category, as director David Bruckner takes a story about male friendships and growing older (and further apart) and packages it into a terrifying, twisty “monster in the woods” horror film. The film revolves around four friends who go on a hiking trip in Sweden to honor their friend Rob, who was killed six months earlier during a convenience store robbery. But when they take a shortcut through some woods (terrible idea), they find themselves haunted by a malevolent creature. The performances really anchor this thing as a character-rich piece, specifically from lead Rafe Spall, and the creature design itself is absolutely unique (and frightening). The final result is a horror movie that’s downright scary, surprising, and honestly quite thoughtful. It’s the whole package. – Adam Chitwood