You don’t have to look very hard to watch some of the best movies ever made.
While Netflix‘s movie library doesn’t go back very far in history, they’ve got a great selection of modern masterpieces that can contend with some of the old classics.
Watch With Us recommends watching five movie masterpieces that are streaming on Netflix in April.
Our first pick is Moonrise Kingdom, the coming-of-age Wes Anderson flick about two alienated youths finding each other.
‘Moonrise Kingdom’ (2012)
In 1965, off the coast of New England on the island of New Penzance, an orphaned boy named Sam (Jared Gillman) and an emotionally volatile girl named Suzy (Kara Hayward) find understanding through their mutual isolation and decide to run away together. However, the pair have escaped on the day that a historically violent storm is set to touch down on the otherwise quiet island. Thus, a group of adults made up of Suzy’s troubled parents (Frances McDormand and Bill Murray) and Sam’s well-meaning Khaki Scout coach (Edward Norton) race to find the wayward tweens.
Moonrise Kingdom is seen as a high point in Wes Anderson’s filmography — a touching and funny look at young love, burgeoning sexuality and mental health. The movie works as a masterful synthesis of Anderson’s penchant for storybook aesthetics and sneakily heartfelt narratives, creating a poetic piece of filmmaking that captures the atmosphere and texture of childhood nostalgia. The excellent ensemble cast includes Bruce Willis, Tilda Swinton and Jason Schwartzman.
‘Triangle of Sadness’ (2022)
Influencer Yaya (Charlbi Dean) and her model boyfriend Carl (Harris Dickinson) are invited aboard a luxury yacht alongside a group of extremely wealthy people, and soon find themselves shipwrecked on an island after a stormy night collides with ship-wide food poisoning, a drunken captain (Woody Harrelson) and a pirate attack. The small group of survivors suddenly find their social status roles reversed, as the lowly but intrepid and resourceful toilet cleaner Abigail (Dolly de Leon) becomes the de facto leader. However, tensions start to flare as Abigail asserts her influence in increasingly tyrannical ways.
Triangle of Sadness earned several Oscar nominations at the 95th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (for Ruben Östlund) and Best Original Screenplay. The film is a riotous takedown of class and affluence that will leave you in stitches for half the runtime, and genuinely contemplative for the other half. Dean and Dickinson give terrific performances, but de Leon is the film’s breakout star. Triangle of Sadness is a must-watch for fans of The White Lotus.
‘Frances Ha’ (2012)
27-year-old Frances (Greta Gerwig) finds her life thrust into turmoil when she learns that her best friend and roommate Sophie (Mickey Sumner) plans to relocate from their Brooklyn apartment to Manhattan. Struggling as a dancer’s apprentice and unable to afford their apartment by herself, Frances searches for a new place to live, briefly crashing with her friends Lev (Adam Driver) and Benji (Michael Zegen) in Chinatown. Though Frances’ housing, job and personal issues are nowhere near resolved, she continues to strive for a little slice of happiness in the chaos of the city.
Everyone who moves to New York City in their twenties needs to study Frances Ha like a college textbook, but for everyone else, the delightful comedy-drama is still a universally felt look at that flailing post-college period when you’re an adult in age only. Gerwig’s free-spirited performance and Noah Baumbach‘s gentle direction make for a perfect match in this loose, collage-like story of searching for one’s sense of self.
‘American Honey’ (2016)
Star (Sasha Lane) is a young woman from a troubled home life, taking care of two kids that aren’t hers and dealing with an abusive father. One day, while trying to hitchhike, she encounters a group of young magazine salespeople who invite her to join them on their way to Kansas. As Star becomes further enmeshed with Jake (Shia LaBeouf), Krystal (Riley Keough), Pagan (Arielle Holmes) and Corey (McCaul Lombardi), she adapts to the group’s reckless, hard-partying ways while finding herself falling in love with Jake.
American Honey is a refreshing and unconventional coming-of-age road trip drama that finds a breakout star in Lane. The hodge-podge narrative acts less as a traditional three-act structure and more as a mosaic portrait of the American Midwest that is presented with striking authenticity by British director Andrea Arnold. The movie excels in its documentary-like approach to its narrative subject material and the way it sensitively captures the life of a marginalized teen searching for belonging.
‘The Fifth Element’ (1997)
In the 23rd century, Earth is on a collision course for destruction when a gigantic ball of fire hurtles towards the planet. Taxi driver and former special forces major Korben Dallas (Willis) is unintentionally tasked with saving the planet when a young woman named Leeloo (Milla Jovovich) falls into his cab. But Leeloo isn’t just any woman; she’s a bio-engineered humanoid that holds the key to humanity’s survival. While helping Leeloo to become acclimated to her new surroundings, Dallas teams up with her to find four powerful stones that will help protect Earth from destruction.
This elaborate sci-fi spectacle is extremely fun, even if it’s exceedingly hard to follow. But the maximalist aesthetics, lavish set designs, colorful characters and gorgeous costumes make The Fifth Element a totally unique and immersive experience that is still satisfying regardless of any plot confusion. The fantastic ensemble cast also includes Gary Oldman, Luke Perry, Chris Tucker and Ian Holm.
