The best new Netflix original movies of 2022

It’s been a great year in movies. We’ve already gone over our picks for the best new movies of the year, but not all of those are available to watch at home (and many are spread across a litany of streaming services).

Netflix has released over 100 movies by 2022. These movies are not all winners.

The best Netflix Original Movies of 2018 are listed here.

Lost Bullet 2

Photo: Julien Goldstein/Netflix

Genre: Action movie
Run time: 1h 38m
Director: Guillaume Pierret
Cast: Alban Lenoir is a group of people that punch, chase and chase Alban Lenoir

Lost Bullet rules, and the second movie — newly released on Netflix in November — ups the ante to another degree.

The chase scenes are even more action-packed — this time our superstar mechanic Lino adds electrified rods to the front of his car, making him a sort of sick-as-hell automotive jouster and/or a mad scientist but for car chases — and the fights are visceral (Alban Lenoir throws so many hard right crosses in this movie, and he receives just as many). It helps to have a lead who just looks like he’s been in a few bar fights in his time, and Lenoir delivers the exact kind of personality you need for this role. Add in chaos joy at seeing cars explode in the most exciting ways possible and you’ve got Lenoir. Lost Bullet 2. —Pete Volk

Athena

Photo: Kourtrajmeuf Kourtrajme/Netflix

Genre: It’s a thrill
Run time: 1h 39m
Director: Romain Gavras
Cast: Sami Slimane, Dali Benssalah, Ouassini Embarek

AthenaThis movie is the definition of firing on all cylinders. It’s truly impossible to separate out the best part of the movie — is it the performances of Sami Slimane and Dali Benssalah as Karim and Abdel, two brothers each struggling with their youngest brother’s death? Romain Gavras’s long, meticulously tracked shots are a great way to build tension. Is that the arch-soundtrack? Or maybe it’s just the beauty of every frame, capturing a neighborhood in revolt, intent on waging war against the police to make themselves heard.

How does it work? AthenaThese things are woven together into one larger story. The cries and retaliations of the rebels, or of the heavily armored police who retaliated against them all show how each piece of the bigger picture. While the movie has (rightfully) gotten attention for its single-shot sequences, Gavras uses them to a beautiful end — at once highlighting the chaos of the last stand, and letting shared gazes of Karim and Abdel feel weighty with just a few cuts.

In a lesser movie, the nature of the drama would feel easier to stick in a neat box, or there’d be a clear moment that defines things. A feast is a different story. AthenaIt is a skillful way to combine all the ingredients and create something delicious. Revolution can be messy. AthenaUnderstands that there is always spillage on both ends. This film is all about gas and no brakes. It’s a thrilling ride, and it also contains a Greek tragedy. —Zosha Millman

Hustle

Photo: Scott Yamano/Netflix

Genre: Sports drama
Run time: 1h 57m
Director: Jeremiah Zagar
Cast: Adam Sandler, Juancho Hernangómez, Queen Latifah

Adam Sandler loves basketball. The tales of his pickup basketball exploits are legendary, he’s a huge Knicks fan, and his work in Uncut Gems is the closest I’ve ever seen to a filmic representation of what it feels like to root for a sports team you love in a high-pressure situation.

The perfect person to create one of the greatest sports movies ever made?

HustleSandler portrays a college football player, who had a successful career as a scout with the 76ers and dreams of being a coach. When those dreams seem to be about to come true and then are suddenly dashed, Sandler’s Stanley Sugerman must find a generational prospect or risk losing his job. When he spots the young Bo Cruz (played by real NBA player Juancho Hernangómez) at a pickup game in Spain, it seems his luck may finally be turning.

A star-studded ensemble of film stars and NBA stars, Hustle This is a tribute to basketball’s joys and struggles, as well as the importance of making it your profession. Sandler is terrific in the lead role, as are Hernangómez and NBA star Anthony Edwards in supporting roles. It also makes full use of the talents on the screen, featuring thrilling basketball sequences that make the most of the amazing skills displayed by the cast. —PV

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

Image courtesy of Netflix

Genre: Fantasy/musical
Run time: 1h 56m
Directors: Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson
Cast:Ewan McGregor and David Bradley. Gregory Mann

Many big-name directors have tapped up Netflix to fund the projects they just couldn’t get made elsewhere; Guillermo del Toro turned to the streamer to greenlight this 15-year passion project of his, an unruly, charming, stunningly crafted stop-motion take on the 19th-century Italian children’s story. It takes huge liberties with the source material, relocating it in time to Mussolini’s Italy and turning it into an anti-fascist parable about death, rebirth, and the joy of nonconformity. It’s It is not a children’s movie, but it’s not not one either; like del Toro’s horror fables The Devil’s BackbonThe following is a list of e Pan’s Labyrinth, Pinocchio finds clarity on some very grown-up concerns by viewing them from a child’s perspective. It’s del Toro’s best movie since those two as well — moving, personal, richly imaginative, and unlike anything else you’ve seen. —Oli Welsh

The Big 4

Image courtesy of Netflix

Genre: Action comedy
Run time: 2h 21m
Director: Timo Tjahjanto
Cast: Abimana Aryasatya Putri Marino Marthino Lio

You know how movie trailers often advertise something as “from the twisted mind of” someone… not so twisted? Timo Tjahjanto may be the filmmaker that truly lives up that title.

Netflix is the action-horror guru who created it We are all awake for the night He turns his talents to action comedy, and brings together an eccentric group of former assassins to help solve their father’s murder. It’s a setup not unlike another great Netflix movie — Paper Tigers — but this one brings Tjahjanto’s particular wicked sense of humor into the fold. The fights may be funny to you, but your mileage might vary. The Big 4 These are indisputable. They’re visceral, brutal, filled with comedic beats and splashes of gore. Tjahjanto has been called one of today’s top young directors. The Big 4 One of the many reasons you should be excited for his forthcoming is Busan: Train remake. —PV

The Stranger

Photo by Ian Routledge/Netflix

Genre: It’s a thrill
Run time: 1h 57m
Director: Thomas M. Wright
Cast: Joel Edgerton, Sean Harris, Jada Alberts

Thomas M. Wright’s The Stranger is one of the year’s most beautifully shot and well-acted thrillers, full stop. Sean Harris plays Henry Teague (an itinerant day labourer) who accidentally finds himself in a joint venture with Mark Frame (Joel Edgerton), for an Australian criminal group. Unbeknownst to Teague, he is at the center of one of the largest manhunts in Western Australia’s history, for being suspected of the brutal murder of a teenage boy several years prior. Wright takes the viewers on a journey through a series of procedural and cerebral dramas in which leads face off in a tense cat-and mouse game in which both the law and the personal stakes are high. From the dark, dreamlike cinematography to Edgerton’s and Harris’ impeccably calibrated performances to composer Oliver Coates’ dark, thrumming score, The Stranger is an unnerving and engrossing thriller that holds you close and won’t let go until the very end. —Toussaint Egan

Slumberland

Image courtesy of Netflix

Genre: Families
Run time: 1h 57m
Director: Francis Lawrence
Cast: Jason Momoa, Marlow Barkley, Chris O’Dowd

Slumberland is a heartwarming, visually rich production that boils Winsor McCay’s classic comic strip down to its essentials and builds it back up into something modern. Marlow Barkley is Nemo and Jason Momoa, her Beetlejuice-like friend, Flip, plays the role.

Momoa is a natural actor and plays the part with great gusto. But Slumberland never lets anything — its wild vistas, its intricate world-building, or its outsized personalities — get in the way of its true center: Nemo, Flip, and Nemo’s wet blanket of an uncle, played by Chris O’Dowd. This colorful fantasy could be a happy solitary experience for young creative viewers. —Susana Polo

Rejoice

Photo: Kim Simms/Netflix

Genre: Comedy
Run time: 1h 58m
Director: Jennifer Kaytin Robinson
Cast: Camila Mendes, Maya Hawke, Austin Abrams

RejoiceIt is similar Heathers For the mean girlsFor 2022: A dark comedy about two high school girls who are on a quest to vengeance at an elite Miami highschool. It’s a great update to the very specific genre of hellbent teenage girls, and like similar movies in the subgenre, RejoiceThe curator of a particular aesthetic for its time. What is the difference? RejoiceIt is especially memorable how Drea (Camila mendes), the former It Girl, and Eleanor(Maya Hawke), have turned their friendship from inspiring to something abominable. Women supporting women!) It’s amazing to see how something can turn into something harmful and then transform into something completely different. Director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson smartly avoids turning the film into a moralizing statement about vengeance, because at the end of the day, we’re watching Rejoice For the revenge —Petrana Radulovic

The School for Good and Evil

Gilles Mingasson/Netflix.

Genre: Fantasy
Run time: 2h 27m
Director: Paul Feig
Cast: Charlize Thon, Kerry Washington, Kit Young

The School for Good and Evil is like something I would’ve scribbled ideas for in the margins of my notes in middle school. Make no mistake — this is a very good thing. It’s about two girls — sullen Agatha and spunky Sophie — who get whisked away to a magical school for fairy-tale characters. Agatha goes to the nice school filled with beautiful princesses and handsome knights. Sophie is stuck at the bad school full of witches. Visually, it’s gaudy and over-the-top in the best way possible, really showcasing the fairy-tale inspiration. It’s not a new idea to deconstruct fairy-tale tropes (hello, Shrek EnchantedBut the truth that the heart is of The School for Good and Evil is Agatha and Sophie’s friendship turns it from something cliche to something wonderful. —PR

The Sea Beast

Image courtesy of Netflix

Genre: Adventure
Run time: 1h 55m
Director: Chris Williams
Cast: Zaris-Angel Hator and Karl Urban

After an experience at Disney, which included the role of director Big Hero 6These are the basics of guiding Frozen, Ralph Wreck-It, ZootopiaAnd MoanaChris Williams made the leap to Netflix. So far, the streamer’s major coup has only resulted in this under-the-radar animated flick, which brings the epic adventure of How to train your dragonTo the Seas is a story about politics that might not be accepted by Disney. Maisie Brumble, Zaris-AngelHator), dreams of sailing on the high seas and vengeance for the deaths of her parents in a Victorian-esque setting. To accompany Jacob Holland, Karl Urban, and the Imperator, she sneaks onboard the ship’s most courageous vessel in the royal fleet, the Red Bluster. The two unlikely friends discover that their target might not be as violent and that not all history is what it appears. Williams can spin action with every tool at his disposal. DragonOder Pirates of the Caribbean Fan will support, but not hesitate to dissect the moral complexity and heroism of loyalty. The Sea BeastThis movie is big and fun for all ages. It can even be seen on a smaller screen. —Matt Patches

My Father’s Dragon

Image courtesy of Netflix

Genre: Adventure
Run time: 1h 39m
Director: Nora Twomey
Cast: Rita Moreno. Judy Greer. Adam Brody

It’s been a terrific year for Netflix animated features. Consider these thoughts My Father’s Dragon didn’t make as big a splash as Guillermo del Toro’s PinocchioOder The Sea BeastThis is an extremely minor piece by the Cartoon Saloon studio (Wolfwalkers), it’s still a touching, enthralling adventure. Adapted from the (very strange) children’s classic by Ruth Stiles Gannett, it tells the story of a boy who flees his new life in the city only to be transported by a talking cat to a wild island where the local animals have captured and enslaved a young dragon. Nora Twomey smartly, sensitively and intelligently updated the material. It found a dimension almost of political allegory to sinking islands and their desperate animal inhabitants as well as an amazingly epic scale. —OW