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We're six months in, but where are we at? Join Mashable as we look back at all the viral moments, movies, memes, dating trends, hyped up tech, scientific discoveries, and more that have delighted and amazed us so far in 2024.
What are the best new movies on Netflix? With the streaming service offering a wide array of comedies, action movies, thrillers, and more, it can be difficult to choose what to watch. Sure, Netflix aims to promote their latest releases to grab your attention. But just because it's new doesn't mean it's worth your time.
Fret not. We've done the hard part for you. Below, you'll find the very best Netflix original films of 2024, now streaming. Whether you want something heartwarming, mind-bending, pulse-racing, funny-bone-tickling, or gut-wrenching, we've got you covered with the top tier of Netflix's new dramas, docs, true crime, animated movies, action-adventures, and more.
Charlie Kaufman, the brilliant but twisted mind behind movies like Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and I'm Thinking of Ending Things, tried his hand at family-friendly in 2024 with Orion and the Dark.
When Adam Sandler teams up with Netflix, the results are often willfully stupid comedies like Hubie Halloween, The Do-Over, and the infamously repugnant Western The Ridiculous 6. But the Sandman's been on a roll recently, with the sweet coming-of-age comedy You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah, which starred his real-life daughters; the charming animated musical Leo; and this bizarre and bittersweet sci-fi drama about a sad astronaut and a giant space spider voiced by Paul Dano.
She's a damsel. She's in distress. She can handle this. Have a nice day. Millie Bobby Brown gives one of her strongest performances to date in Damsel, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's film about a princess named Elodie, who's yeeted into a dragon's lair by her extremely fresh prince husband (Nick Robinson) on their wedding day. But what seems like quite a flippant premise actually ends up being a kick-ass survival film.
Netflix's true crime section is so vast that it can be difficult to pluck the treasures from the trash. For every Amanda Knox, there's a bunch of unsavory options. Thankfully, Amanda Knox producer Stephen Robert Morse teamed with Class Action Park director Seth Porges for this curious bank robber bio-doc, How to Rob a Bank.
Kibwe Tavares and Daniel Kaluuya's film The Kitchen is more than a sci-fi drama set in near-future London; it's a sharp commentary on privatization and oppression, police brutality, and the power of community resistance. It's also Kaluuya's directorial debut, and a hell of a watch.
Kristy Puchko is the Film Editor at Mashable. Based in New York City, she's an established film critic and entertainment reporter, who has traveled the world on assignment, covered a variety of film festivals, co-hosted movie-focused podcasts, interviewed a wide array of performers and filmmakers, and had her work published on RogerEbert.com, Vanity Fair, and The Guardian. A member of the Critics Choice Association and GALECA as well as a Top Critic on Rotten Tomatoes, Kristy's primary focus is movies. However, she's also been known to gush over television, podcasts, and board games. You can follow her on Twitter.
Looking at the rundown of all the new movies streaming on Netflix this month, there are movies, of course, that have earned the dishonor of being on the list of 10 worst-reviewed movies new on the streamer in June, including a pair of them from comedy stalwart Will Ferrell.
Shot entirely from a third-person point of view throughout the entire film, 1917 follows the harrowing trek of a pair of British soldiers (George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman) who must traverse through enemy territory to warn 1,600 troops that they will be ambushed in an upcoming offensive.
Late writer-director John Hughes created an instant movie classic with the release of angsty teen comedy-drama The Breakfast Club, which shows how the lives of five teens (Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, Anthony Michael Hall, Emilio Estevez and Ally Sheedy) are transformed while serving high school detention on a Saturday.
Initially distributed in Spain, Simn follows the trek of the title character (Christian McGaffney), a Venezuelan freedom fighter who flees the country and seeks asylum in Miami. However, Simn, who is wracked with guilt, must confront the decision of staying in Florida or returning home to keep fighting against a brutal regime.
A computer-animated live-action hybrid, The LEGO Movie actually feels like a stop-motion animated movie given the expert way directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller bring the iconic building blocks to life in an appropriately static manner.
The release of Hit Man on Netflix is unusual in that it debuted at the Venice Film Festival in September 2023 before playing at the Toronto Film Festival a week later. Hit Man also played in a limited theatrical engagement in late May.
A surprise addition to Netflix on June 1, Godzilla Minus One is the latest in the legendary Japanese film series about its nuclear-infused monolithic monster. The film was one of the most acclaimed releases of 2023 and won the Best Visual Effects Oscar at the 2024 Academy Awards in March.
Like Hit Man, the Godzilla Minus One Audience Score will likely be affected now that the film is streaming on Netflix, but given its critical and viewer reactions so far, that number could trek one percentage point upward.
This is where the streaming revolution comes in. Smart TVs and streaming devices give access to apps such as Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus and more, meaning people can watch millions of hours of movies and TV shows, in up to 4K, for set monthly fees, which ends up being significantly cheaper, and tidier, than buying hundreds of Blu-rays.
So it begs the question: why would people bother with physical media such as 4K Blu-ray anymore? As someone with experience in AV retail and now a tester of TVs, I knew there was a quality difference so I decided to check it out for myself and the results were surprising.
For these tests, I used the Panasonic UB154, a budget 4K Blu-ray player and the Panasonic DP-UB820, a mid-range 4K Blu-ray player connected to the Panasonic MZ1500, a mid-range OLED TV, which was set to Filmmaker or Cinema picture mode, and watched the same movies on both Blu-ray and streaming.
Beginning with John Wick 4, I immediately ran into some trouble. Advertised as 4K on Prime Video, I could not get it to stream anything higher than HD (after some research I discovered I was not alone) so I opted for HD quality vs standard Blu-ray.
Moving on to Godzilla vs Kong, again in 1080p HD on Netflix vs standard Blu-ray, and it was the same story. The Netflix version looked better than I expected, carrying a lot of the vivid, colorful punch on the neon signs in Tokyo that was on the Blu-ray version but again the Blu-ray version showed deeper black levels and more refined details and textures. I was still, however, impressed with how good the streaming version looked.
Finally, I managed to test a 4K Blu-ray vs a 4K stream in the fantastic re-master of Alien, which was on Disney Plus. In both versions, black levels and contrast were superb, capturing the eerie, doom-laden nature of the movie well. Textures were again sharp on both versions. Although there was that little bit more perceived definition in the 4K Blu-ray. Skin tones, for example, looked accurate on both, but more so on the 4K Blu-ray. It is worth noting that the Disney Plus version was in HDR10, whereas the Blu-ray version was in HDR10+, which gave the Blu-ray the perception of a clearer picture.
Whether it was the UB820 or UB154, Blu-ray did indeed have better picture quality overall thanks to 4K upscaling and performance, but the comparison between them and streaming was closer than anticipated.
After being surprised by picture quality comparisons, sound was the next logical test. Running the Panasonic MZ1500 through a Sonos Beam (Gen 2) soundbar, one of the best soundbars at a mid-range price, I tested the same movies again. This time, the difference made itself known.
For Godzilla vs Kong, the story was the same. The roars and shrieks from Kong and Godzilla sliced through the room with more heft when played through the Blu-ray compared to streaming. The crunching blows and shattering of buildings during their climatic fight scene had more direction through the room and just more power altogether. This not to say the Netflix sound was bad, just that the Blu-ray did it better.
When I put both Blu-ray and streaming in as close to the same conditions as possible, I was pleasantly surprised by just how close the picture quality battle was. Both had excellent details and colors that would make any viewer happy, although for the real movie lover, Blu-ray had the upper hand thanks to better contrast levels, despite streaming offered a suitable alternative.
James is the TV Hardware Staff Writer at TechRadar. Before joining the team, he worked at a major UK based AV retailer selling TV and audio equipment, where he was either telling customers the difference between OLED and QLED or being wowed by watching a PS5 run on the LG 65G2. When not writing about the latest TV tech, James can be found gaming, reading, watching rugby or coming up with another idea for a novel. "}), " -0-11/js/authorBio.js"); } else console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); James DavidsonSocial Links NavigationTV Hardware Staff Writer, Home Entertainment James is the TV Hardware Staff Writer at TechRadar. Before joining the team, he worked at a major UK based AV retailer selling TV and audio equipment, where he was either telling customers the difference between OLED and QLED or being wowed by watching a PS5 run on the LG 65G2. When not writing about the latest TV tech, James can be found gaming, reading, watching rugby or coming up with another idea for a novel.
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