The Best Drama Movies on Netflix Right Now
A profound humanistic story.
The beauty of Netflix is that the streaming service has a wealth of genre options at your disposal. If you want to fix your movement, you are free to do so. If you want a comedy, thriller or horror they have it too. But sometimes it's hard to beat a really great drama, and Netflix has plenty of options in that particular genre. To help narrow down your options, we've started to compile a list of the best shows on Netflix right now, from period pieces to relationship dramas to lesser-known gems. The list features films from established filmmakers as well as up-and-comers that are definitely worth a look.
So, peruse our list of the best dramas on Netflix below, and start watching. But beware: some of these may require a paper towel or seven.
For more recommendations, see our list of the best Netflix movies or the best comedies, thrillers or horror movies on the platform.
Editor's Note: This article was updated in January 2023 to include Horse Girl.
Rebecca (2020)
Runtime: 2 hours, 3 minutes | Director: Ben Wheatley
Cast: Lily James, Armie Hammer, Kristin Scott Thomas, Keeley Hawes, Ann Dowd, Sam Riley's beloved Daphne du Maurier novel will no doubt be a tortured romance taken in a different direction. Hitchcock's version is haunting, and Wheatley captures the perpetual angst in bombastic melodrama. Whitley is known for his horror endeavors, so seeing him do a gothic romance is an interesting change of pace. Not many actresses can reach the level of Joan Fontaine, but Lily James rose to the challenge. Kristin Scott Thomas is excellent as the scheming and spiteful Mrs. Danvers. — Liam Gaughan
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Runtime: 1 hour 44 minutes | Director: Jeff Baena
Horse Girl (2020)
Cast: Alison Brie, Molly Shannon, Gordon Nett, Debbie Ryan, Paul Lesser^ Directed by Jeff Baena, who co-wrote "The Horse Girl" with star Alison Brie (GLOW). The film tells the story of a sweet misfit named Sarah (Brie), who is usually socially isolated and overly focused on her interests, which Includes crafts and horses. Backed by Molly Shannon (I Love You) and Paul Reiser (Reboot), Horse Girl is Bree's surprisingly twisted film, but her stellar performance lays the groundwork for the psychodrama—especially when the story reveals Sarah's intensely supernatural powers. A reality dream enters her life when it starts to bleed, changing her perception of reality. – Yael Tygiel
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Runtime: 1 hour 33 minutes | Director: John Barton Ford
Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Theo Rossi, Bernardo Badillo, Gee Na Gershon^ Written and directed by John Barton Ford, "Emily the Criminal" stars the usually slow-witted Aubrey Plaza (White Lotus) in an unexpected role. Plaza plays Emily, a hapless titular character who craves work and finds herself embroiled in a dangerous deception that lures her deeper into the criminal underworld. Set in Los Angeles and co-starring Theo Rossi (Luke Cage), the cat-and-mouse chemistry between Rossi and Plaza is evident in their scenes and throughout the film. winning each other. With ambiguous values and compelling philosophical undertones, Emily the Criminal is a riveting and suspenseful crime drama. – Yael Tygiel
Emily the Criminal (2022)
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Running time: 2 hours 14 minutes | Director: Sally El Hosaini
Cast: Manal Issa, Nathalie Issa, Matthias Schweighöfer
Inspired by an incredible true story, The Swimmers follows two sisters, Sara and Yusra Mardini, played by Manal Issa and Nathalie Issa, on a dangerous adventure Journey to freedom. While the Maldini will eventually compete in the Olympics, "The Swimmers," directed by Sally El Hosaini, explores the two teenagers' journey as they flee the war-torn country extraordinary courage and strength. El Hosaini's ability to capture the vastness and openness of the sea in "The Swimmer" gave viewers a sense of these young women risking their lives for three hours in the rough waters of the Aegean before finally reaching safety on the shores of Greece. – Yael Tygiel
The Swimmers (2022)
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Runtime: 2 hrs 1 min | Director: Tobias Lindholm
Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Jessica Chastain, Denise Pilot
The Good Nurse, directed by Tobias Lindholm (Mindhunter), puts several Academy Award winners in a tight spot. Jessica Chastain (Eye of Tammy Faye) co-stars as an ICU nurse who turns cautious when her colleague (Eddie Redmayne) is suspected of causing an untimely death Patients died in the hospitals where they worked. Based on true events, "The Good Nurse," written by Krysty Wilson-Cairns, unravels the high-stakes drama of these two medical professionals. Chastain and Redmayne's thrilling cat-and-mouse game is captivating as they navigate a maze of lies and mysteries in The Good Nurse. – Yael Tygiel
The Good Nurse (2022)
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Runtime: 1 hour 49 minutes | Director: Anna Foerster
Cast: Allison Janney, Jurnee Smollett, Logan Marshall-Green
Allison Janney and Jurnee Smollett team up to save a little girl — and I still Need I say more? Well, well, if you're not sold already, here's a more in-depth rundown. Set in the '80s, the story revolves around Hannah (Smollett), a mother seeking solitude after being kidnapped by a dangerous man during a major storm Neighbor Lou (Jenny) helped her get her daughter back. Packed with endless thrills and twists, Lou is a fun, suspense-filled ride that allows Janney to show off her action chops. – Taylor Gates
Lou (2022)
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Runtime: 1 hour 54 minutes | Director: Sebastian Lerio
Cast: Rachel Weisz, Rachel McAdams and Alessandro Nivola
Disobedience is filled with angst and passion, a love story that will tear your heart out of your chest. Ronit (Rachel Weisz) returns to the Orthodox Jewish community and avoids a female childhood friend (Rachel McAdams) because she is attracted to her. Back, their passion is rekindled as they explore the boundaries of faith and sexuality. Disobedience from Sebastián Lelio brings this melancholy to the screen through the passion and love that Ronit and Esti have for each other. Forbidden love is so intensely portrayed on screen that it takes my breath away every time they're on screen together. It's a love story that breaks your heart, shows the best and worst in people, and deserves to be seen over and over again. - Arianne Binette
Disobedience (2017)
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Runtime: 2 hours 2 minutes | Director: Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum
Cast: Sofia Carson, Nicholas Galitzine, Chosen Jacobs, John Harlan Kim
You know what they say: Opposites attract. Purple Hearts proves this theory to be true, as the story centers on a romance between two very different people. On one side, you have Cassie (Sofia Carson), an avant-garde singer; on the other, you have Luke (Nicholas Galitzine), a conservative soldier. Both of them faced insurance and debt problems, and decided to marry for financial benefit, and a classic metaphor of fake love becoming a real person began. Purple Hearts mixes a passionate romance with a tearjerker and even some good comedy beats, making it a very watchable film. – Taylor Gates
Purple Hearts (2022)
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Runtime: 1 hour 35 minutes | Director: Andrew Dosunmu
Cast: Gracie Marie Bradley, Niecy Nash, Aleyse Shannon
Written by Lena Waithe, TV hits like The Chiand The minds behind Twenties, Beauty centers on a young woman named Beauty (Gracie Marie Bradley), who is on the verge of stardom as a talented singer. When she lands an impressive recording contract, she struggles to stay true to herself and her identity, all while navigating an oppressive religious environment. In addition to being a riveting family drama and movie about the price of fame, there is also a beautiful queer love story between Belle and her girlfriend Jasmine. The film was heavily inspired by Whitney Houston's life, so if you're a fan of The Voice, you'll definitely find Beauty to be a compelling watch. – Taylor Gates
Beauty (2022)
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Runtime: 1 Hours 57 Minutes | Director: Jeremiah Zagar
Cast: Adam Sandler, Juancho Hernangomez, Queen Latifah
A film that once again proves that Adam Sandler is capable of taking on more serious roles, Hustle is a sports drama that is as sincere as it is solid. Sandler stars as Stanley Sugarman, a struggling basketball talent scout who aspires to be a coach. After experiencing setbacks in his career, he pinned his hopes and money on a talented player named Bocruz. Played by real-life player Juanjo Hernangomez, Cruz must leave home and start training with Sandler to have a chance at a career in the NBA. It's a downright underdog story that's charming without being boring enough to win you over. Even if it doesn't reinvent the wheel, Sandler is as good as ever at blending his comedy and serious emotion into a measured performance. The montages, bonding, and emotional development are all very effective, making it a movie that never fails, even if its characters fail so often. - Chase Hutchinson
Hustle (2022)
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Runtime: 1 hour 52 minutes | Director: Boots Riley
Cast: Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Jermaine Fowler, Omari Hardwick Stanfield), a young black man who finds himself a telemarketing prodigy when he puts on his "white voice," but with He started to become more and more successful, and he started to compromise his values. But that's just the basic premise of Boots Riley's scathing satire on race, capitalism, art, masculinity, and business. It's not a 100% movie, but its ambition is undeniable, and the film is alternately hilarious, damning, and downright insane. – Matt Goldberg
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Sorry to Bother You (2018)
Runtime: 2 hrs 1 min | Director: Bong Joon-ho
Cast: Seo-hyun Ahn, Paul Dano, Steven Yeun, Tilda Swinton, Jack Gee Lenhal^ A fantastically heartfelt tale about a young girl and her pig, Okjais writer-director Bong Joon-ho sacrifices any sense of his sublime craftsmanship at his most sentimental. He is followed by Mija (Seo-hyun Ahn), who is part of several groups tasked with raising a A superpig for a large corporation intending to use them for food. When the company known as Okja came to collect the money, it set off a series of high-stakes attempts to get her back. The film finds a dark sense of humor in everything from verbal jokes to one of Jake Gyllenhaal's eccentric performances. On the way Mija meets Jay (Paul Dano) and K (Steven Yeun), members of an animal rights activist group that also wants to free Okja. All of this expanding cast is excellent, delivering both comedy and seriousness when the movie calls for it. It's a more promising film than most of the director's work, though it's still committed to finding more tragic truths in the bright colors and vibrant visuals we see along the way. - Chase Hutchinson
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Runtime: 2 hours 14 minutes | Director: Charlie Kaufman
Okja (2017)
Cast: Jesse Plemons, Jesse Buckley, Toni Collette, David Hughes An already amazing book and makes it even more. It centers on Jessie Buckley, a woman who plans to end her relationship with her boyfriend, Jack, played by Jesse Plemons. However, she still decided to meet his parents before doing so. Conversations while driving feel a little off, as interruptions and odd interruptions start to unsettle you. It only becomes more reflective from there, pushing the narrative boundaries it sets for itself to reveal something more resonant. The less you know about it, the better, because this is a movie where every cut and every line counts. This makes it a rich text that gets richer each time you see it, making it an enduring work that only becomes more interesting with each subsequent rewatch. - Chase Hutchinson
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Runtime: 2 hrs 8 min | Director: John Madden
Cast: Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, Johnny Flynn, Kelly Macdonald Na, Johnny Flynn^ Over the decades, many inspiring World War II stories have been buried in the archives. 1943 details The Allied deception went largely unreported, but Operation Mince finally gave these heroes the recognition they deserved. In an effort to prevent a possible massacre, Lieutenant Colonel Evan Montagu (Colin Firth) and his ally Charles Chowmondley (Matthew McFadden) over the dead body of a homeless Planted false information. They determined that if the Nazis intercepted the documents, they would draw the wrong conclusions. Although Evan and Charles were not directly in the line of fire, they knew that if they failed, the British army would be doomed. -Liam Gaughan
I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020)
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Runtime: 1 hour 45 minutes | Director: Alice Wu
Cast: Leah Lewis, Daniel Diemer, Alexxis Lemire and Collin Chou
One of the films that looks like a simple romance growing up The film, but it's actually much more than that, Alice Wu's upbringing is one of the most polished and thoughtful films of the past decade. Ellie Chu (Leah Lewis) begins writing love letters on behalf of lisp Paul Munsky (Daniel Diemer) to him and her crush Aster Flores (Alexxis Lemire). A modern retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac, the strongest of The Half of Itis Wu. create visual effects This elevates the narrative and the story, brings you all the emotion, and combines it with the adult aspects of Ellie's sexuality, making it a layered film that's perfect for multiple rewatches. - Arianne Binette
Operation Mincemeat (2021)
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Runtime: 2 hours 20 minutes | Director: David Michod
Cast: Timothee Chalamet, Joel Edgerton, Robert Pattinson (Animal Kingdom) and a thrilling post-apocalyptic neo-western (The Wanderer). Leave it to an accomplished filmmaker to craft one of the most gripping and violent Shakespearean epics of the past decade. The King explores the coming-of-age story of a young Prince Hal (Timothy Chalamet) facing the realities of combat. Hal inherits the British throne after the sudden death of his father Henry IV (Ben Mendeslohn). Chalamet does a fantastic job bringing the beloved text to life again, while Joel Edgerton's performance makes Halstaff worthy of Orson Welles. — Liam Gaughan
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The Half of It (2020)
Runtime: 2 hours 6 minutes | Director: Jane Campion
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee
From one of cinema's greatest directors, Jane Campion's captivating The Power of the Dog is a movie you might Heard a lot of praise for the movie. I'm here to tell you that not only does it deserve it and all the awards it's received, it's worth experiencing in itself because it defies all expectations. A slow-burning western starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the menacing Philburbank. He's a curmudgeonly cowboy who becomes bitter when his brother George (Jesse Plemons) marries Ross Gordon (Kirsten Dunst). To hide his fear of abandonment, Phil begins to tormenting Rose and her young son Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee). The various dynamics between the characters are brought to life with consistently good performances, creating a small but ambitious family drama. It's a film you'd better know as little as possible, because it sneaks up on you with its beauty and quiet dread, and couldn't be more perfectly executed. — Chase Hutchinson
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The King (2019)
Runtime: 1 hour 55 minutes | Director: Lin-Manuel Miranda
Cast: Andrew Garfield, Alexandra Shipp, Vanessa Hudgens
Biographical musical tick, tick… BOOM! tells the beautiful and heartrending true story of Jonathan Larson (Andrew Garfield), a young, ambitious composer, playwright and lyricist (who would go on to pen the legendary rock musical, Rent"), he was filled with insecurities and insurmountable difficulties to succeed as an artist in New York City. When he's not feverishly jotting down lyrics or grimly calling other artists, he's waiting tables at Moondance Diner, balancing his work life with his romance and dealing with the harsh realities of the AIDS crisis. Garfield soars in the lead role and brings a great ensemble cast with stellar musical numbers you won't want to miss. — Emily Bernard
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The Power of the Dog (2021)
Runtime: 1 hour 39 minutes | Director: Rebecca Hall
Cast: Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga, Bill Camp, André Holland
Based on Nella Larsen's 1929 novel of the same name, as its title suggests As implied, documented the inequality and varying degrees of racism that African-Americans faced in the 1920s depending on the color of their skin. This black-and-white historical drama follows a tenuous relationship between two high-ranking Friends from school, because they have fair skin, are able to "pass" as white. Claire (Ruth Negga) is married to John (Alexander Skarsgard), a wealthy white guy from Chicago who hates African-Americans and doesn't know that his wife is African-American people. Erin (Tessa Thompson), married to a black doctor and living in Harlem, lives in constant fear of being "unmasked" as black in a whites-only institution. Erin and Claire's reunion years later prompts conversation and reflection, as well as questions about identity. Negga and Thompson earned a BAFTA nomination for their performances in the film. — Emily Bernard
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tick, tick…BOOM! (2021)
Runtime: 2 hrs 1 min | Director: Maggie Gyllenhaal
Cast: Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, Jesse Buckley, Ed Harris, Dagmara Domenczyk, Paul Mezcal^ Motherhood comes with a price. That's the central message of "The Lost Daughter," an eerie psychological drama based on Elena Ferrante's novel of the same name. In Gyllenhaal's impressive directorial debut, we meet Lida (Olivia Colman), who is on a beach vacation alone, and watches as Nina (Dakota Johnson) struggles to adjust to her young age. mother's life. In Leda's interactions with Nina and her observations of others on the beach, she is forced to Revisiting her traumatic experience raising her two daughters and questioning the decisions that led her to this point. Gyllenhaal won Best Director, Screenplay and Feature Film at the Film Independent Spirit Awards. — Emily Bernard
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Passing (2021)
The Lost Daughter (2021)
