You Need to Watch These 3 Popular Netflix Movies Now (May 17-18)

Typically, action films land on top of the 10 most popular movies on Netflix. But this week, the new No. 1 film was Nonnas, a comedy/drama that was released right before Mother’s Day, and it remains popular a week later.

Many of last week’s charting titles are still on the list, including Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, two Twilight films and Despicable Me 4.

But for the Watch With Us team, the really interesting films are the ones that became hits without the benefit of having a franchise behind them.

If you want to get the most out of your subscription, the following films are our picks for the three most popular Netflix movies you need to watch right now.

‘Nonnas’ (2025)

Nonnas means grandmothers in Italian, and Joe Scaravella (Vince Vaughn) can’t stop thinking about his mother and grandmother in Netflix’s Nonnas. Following the death of his mom, Joe decides that he’s going to pay tribute to her and his grandmother by opening an Italian restaurant that features real nonnas as the chefs.

It’s an idea that Joe sinks a lot of money into with the help of his best friend, Bruno (Joe Manganiello). But the problems start piling up right away. Joe’s hand-picked nonnas — Antonella (Brenda Vaccaro), Roberta (Lorraine Bracco), Gia (Susan Sarandon) and Teresa (Talia Shire) — don’t get along and the restaurant is in danger of failing before it even opens its doors.

Nonnas is streaming on Netflix.

‘Smile’ (2022)

Smile is one of the rare direct-to-streaming films that was upgraded to a full theatrical release and then went on to become a hit. Part of this horror flick’s appeal is the way director and screenwriter Parker Finn gets his performers to flash their most sinister smiles. It’s really creepy, and it’s driving Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) out of her mind.

Rose isn’t the first person to be cursed by the smile entity, and witnessing the death of the previous victim, Laura Weaver (Caitlin Stasey), was all it took to sign her death warrant. The smile entity loves to play with its victims and appear as people only they can see and hear. If Rose can’t figure out how to shake the curse before the entity is done toying with her, then she’ll suffer the same fate as Laura and pass on the curse to someone else. A sequel, Smile 2, was released in late 2024 and is just as good as the original.

Smile is streaming on Netflix.

‘Bad Influence’ (2025)

Bad Influence is a Spanish movie that doesn’t bother to hide any comparisons to The Bodyguard. It directly references the classic Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner flick, although the circumstances in this story are very different from the ones in that beloved movie. A teenager named Reese (Eléa Rochera) is getting threatening messages, and her wealthy father, Bruce (Enrique Arce), wants to make sure that his only daughter has protection.

Bruce springs his criminal acquaintance, Eros (Alberto Olmo), from prison and entrusts him with guarding his daughter’s life at all costs. Eros may be older than Reese, but that doesn’t stop the romantic sparks from flying. Bruce is very much against the idea of Eros dating his daughter, but he’s absent so many times that things just start happening between the pair while he’s gone. If they aren’t careful, Reese and Eros may lose sight of why he was hired in the first place.

Bad Influence is streaming on Netflix.