The 25 best drama movies on Netflix (November 2025)

1917 (2019)

Sam Mendes immerses us in the hell of war in this visceral drama set in the heart of World War I. Lance corporals William Schofield (George MacKay) and Tom Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) are tasked with relaying an important message to a superior to call off a scheduled attack that would put British troops in harm’s way. Schofield and Blake traverse the precarious battlefields of northern France, and Oscar-winning cinematographer Roger Deakins’ expert camerawork makes the film appear to be shot with only two uninterrupted takes. As EW’s critic writes, this trick “effectively drops the viewer into the center of the story and compels them to stay there.” —Kevin Jacobsen

Where to watch 1917: Netflix

EW grade: A–

Director: Sam Mendes

Cast: George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman, Mark Strong, Andrew Scott, Richard Madden, Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. (2023)

It took more than 50 years for Judy Blume’s beloved coming-of-age novel to be adapted to film, but its themes remain as universal as they were all those years ago. Set in 1970, the film follows 11-year-old Margaret (Abby Ryder Fortson) as she grapples with the many changes in her life, from moving to a new town to the turbulence of puberty. Through it all, her mother, Barbara (a never-better Rachel McAdams), deals with her own struggles while trying to have a better relationship with her daughter than she had with her parents. The result is “an endearing portrait of girlhood,” writes EW’s critic, “an adaptation that’s well worth the wait.” —K.J.

Where to watch Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret: Netflix

EW grade: A–

Director: Kelly Fremon Craig

Cast: Rachel McAdams, Abby Ryder Fortson, Elle Graham, Benny Safdie, Kathy Bates

Boy Erased (2018)

Jared (Lucas Hedges) grapples with the horrors of a gay conversion therapy program in this sobering, underrated drama. Based on a true story, the film delves into Jared’s struggle with his sexuality, his continued trauma over an incident in college, and his complicated relationship with his homophobic father. While undoubtedly a difficult watch, Boy Erased is ultimately a story of resilience, with an achingly vulnerable performance by Hedges.

“There’s no doubt that the film’s heart is solidly in the right place,” writes EW’s critic. “And if there is even one confused kid — or mother or father — who sees Boy Erased and gains an extra ounce of understanding as a result, then it will have done a real service.” —K.J.

Where to watch Boy Erased: Netflix

EW grade: B

Director: Joel Edgerton

Cast: Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Joel Edgerton, Joe Alwyn, Xavier Dolan, Troye Sivan

His Three Daughters (2024)

The grieving process is different for everyone, as we see in this potent indie drama. Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne, and Elizabeth Olsen star as estranged sisters who reunite at their father’s apartment to prepare for his impending death. Tensions run high as one sister is accused of callously wanting to inherit the (rent-controlled) apartment, another has difficulty summing up their father’s life in his obituary, and the third feels caught in the middle. Coon, Lyonne, and Olsen all make a meal of writer-director Azazel Jacobs’ well-observed dialogue, evoking the unique bond of sisterhood with devastating clarity. —K.J.

Where to watch His Three Daughters: Netflix

Director: Azazel Jacobs

Cast: Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen

I’m Still Here (2024)

This moving, Oscar-winning drama follows one woman’s resilience through one of Brazil’s most tumultuous eras. Based on a true story, the film focuses on Eunice Paiva (Fernanda Torres), a wife and mother whose politician husband disappears under Brazil’s military dictatorship in the ’70s. Spurred to find answers, Eunice goes to great lengths to find her husband and becomes a renowned activist over the ensuing decades. Torres delivers a masterclass performance, winning a Golden Globe and earning an Oscar nomination, with the film itself taking home the award for Best International Feature Film. —K.J.

Where to watch I’m Still Here: Netflix

Director: Walter Salles

Cast: Fernanda Torres, Selton Mello, Fernanda Montenegro

I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020)

If you’re looking for structure or a linear story with a clearly defined ending, then Charlie Kaufman‘s I’m Thinking of Ending Things might not be the right film for you. Written and directed by Kaufman and adapted from Ian Reid’s novel by the same name, the film is a psychological thriller that traffics in the surreal, shifting fluidly between narrative and free association, all grounded in excellent performances by the film’s actors. Jessie Buckley stars as the Young Woman — her name and occupation changing frequently — who contemplates ending her seven-week relationship during a Thanksgiving trip to meet her new boyfriend Jake’s (Jesse Plemons) parents (David Thewlis and Toni Collette) at their farmhouse. Throughout the visit, character ages change, an old janitor weaves himself in and out of the story, and a maggot-infested pig makes more than a few appearances.

There is an explanation for all the absurdity — but you might not catch it on the first viewing. With the film’s true premise often clouded, what audiences are left with are Kaufman’s “dizzying stretches of dialogue,” as EW’s critic describes them. These conversations, she says, “have the quality of both earnest debate and avant-garde theater, ebbing and flowing on their own inscrutable tides.” —Sammi Burke

Where to watch I’m Thinking of Ending Things: Netflix

EW grade: B

Director: Charlie Kaufman

Cast: Jesse Plemons, Jessie Buckley, Toni Collette, David Thewlis

The Irishman (2019)

Longtime collaborators Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro reunited for this 2019 gangster epic, about the real-life hitman Frank Sheeran and his experiences working for the Mafia. Spanning several decades, the film tracks Frank’s evolution from truck driver to trusted gunman for crime boss Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci) and bodyguard for the infamous Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino). Despite his professional success, his home life deteriorates, particularly his relationship with his daughter.

While its 209-minute runtime may be daunting, the film moves along at an entertaining clip (thanks in part to master editor Thelma Schoonmaker), and the viewer’s patience is rewarded with a haunting conclusion that recontextualizes all that came before. The Irishman scored 10 Oscar nominations, and though it was criminally shut out when it came to wins, time will be kind to the film, even if it wasn’t to Sheeran. —K.J.

Where to watch The Irishman: Netflix

EW grade: B+

Director: Martin Scorsese

Cast: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel, Anna Paquin, Ray Romano, Stephen Graham, Bobby Cannavale

Lion (2016)

Finding your way home is impossible when you don’t realize you’re lost. Such is the case for Saroo (Sunny Pawar), a child found in Calcutta and raised in Tasmania by adoptive parents. It’s not until Saroo reached his 20s that he remembers that he isn’t actually from Calcutta — he was found there after being separated from his mother and brother as a young boy. Now aware of the family that might have been missing him this whole time, Saroo embarks on a journey to find the village where he was born and to reconnect with his biological mother and brother. 

Based on the autobiography by Saroo Brierley, Lion (the word the author’s birth name, Sheru, translates to) offers outstanding Oscar-nominated performances from Dev Patel, who plays Saroo as an adult, and Nicole Kidman, who plays his adoptive mother. —S.B.

Where to watch Lion: Netflix

Director: Garth Davis

Cast: Dev Patel, Sunny Pawar, Rooney Mara, David Wenham, Nicole Kidman

Marriage Story (2019)

Noah Baumbach reached new heights with this bittersweet examination of a relationship in the aftermath of a breaking point. Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver star as Nicole and Charlie, artists in the entertainment industry whose amicable separation soon turns into a nasty divorce and fight for custody over their son. The film even-handedly explores the nature of relationships and societal expectations, with two fully committed performances at its center (plus a scene-stealing, Oscar-winning turn from Laura Dern as Nicole’s lawyer). EW’s critic calls Marriage Story “a movie that somehow makes its intimacy seem like a radical act, one messy, heart-wrecking moment at a time.” —K.J.

Where to watch Marriage Story: Netflix

EW grade: A–

Director: Noah Baumbach

Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver, Laura Dern, Alan Alda, Ray Liotta, Julie Hagerty, Merritt Wever

May December (2023)

Todd Haynes’ mesmerizing new film defies genre, blending psychological drama and ironic satire as it unravels. Natalie Portman stars as Elizabeth, a television actress who travels to the home of Gracie (Julianne Moore) — a woman she’s set to portray in a film — to study her. Gracie was tabloid fodder in the ’90s for her sexual relationship with a boy named Joe, whom she met when he was 13, while she was 36 (loosely inspired by the real-life story of Mary Kay Letourneau). All these years later, the couple is married with three kids, and doing their best to leave their controversy behind them. But the arrival of Elizabeth leads a now-grown-up Joe (Charles Melton) to reexamine his relationship, while Gracie gradually becomes resentful of the actress insinuating herself into their lives.

May December succeeds most as a well-observed, well-acted character study; the nature of Gracie and Joe’s relationship is thorny, but so is Elizabeth’s obsessive probing. Because, as the film demonstrates on both a surface and subtextual level, there’s always more to the story. —K.J.

Where to watch May December: Netflix

EW grade: A–

Director: Todd Haynes

Cast: Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, Charles Melton

On the Basis of Sex (2018)

This biopic about Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a compelling saga of a trailblazer in her early years. Felicity Jones portrays the future Supreme Court justice as a young law student looking to make her mark on the world — and frequently running into roadblocks due to her gender in a male-dominated society. She eventually becomes a law professor and sets out to challenge sex-based discrimination, making a name for herself as an equal rights advocate in the process. EW’s critic writes that On the Basis of Sex “represents a noble attempt to showcase the roots of how deeply her efforts and passions would come to alter the fabric of American life.” —K.J.

Where to watch On the Basis of Sex: Netflix

EW grade: B

Director: Mimi Leder

Cast: Felicity Jones, Armie Hammer, Justin Theroux, Sam Waterston, Kathy Bates

The Outrun (2024)

Saoirse Ronan took on one of her most challenging roles to date with this quietly absorbing independent drama. The four-time Oscar nominee plays Rona, a young Scottish woman struggling with alcoholism who returns home after an extended stay in rehab. While she tries to adjust to a newly sober life, Rona is haunted by her past as she battles the urge to drink. It’s a powerful showcase for Ronan, who’s rarely played in such dark territory before. As EW’s critic writes, she “elevates the film to a moving tale of overcoming one’s demons and learning to savor life as it comes.” —K.J.

Where to watch The Outrun: Netflix

EW grade: B

Director: Nora Fingscheidt

Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Paapa Essiedu, Nabil Elouahabi, Izuka Hoyle, Lauren Lyle, Saskia Reeves, Stephen Dillane

Phantom Thread (2017)

Paul Thomas Anderson‘s beautiful, dark, twisted love story unfolds with the precision of the urbane fashion designer at its center. Daniel Day-Lewis stars as Reynolds Woodcock, a celebrated dressmaker in 1950s London who falls in love with Alma (Vicky Krieps), a waitress who soon becomes his muse. Though Reynolds’ sister Cyril (a scene-stealing Lesley Manville) fears that Alma may be distracting him from his work, Alma proves herself equally matched with the stubborn Reynolds. Adorned with Oscar-winning costumes and a nominated score by Jonny Greenwood, Phantom Thread is a hypnotic (and shockingly honest) exploration of love and the shifting power dynamics therein. —K.J.

Where to watch Phantom Thread: Netflix

EW grade: B

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Vicky Krieps, Lesley Manville

The Piano Lesson (2024)

The theatrical work of August Wilson is ripe for cinematic adaptation, as proved by the Oscar-winning dramas Fences (2016) and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020). The Piano Lesson continues in that tradition of accomplished actors making meals out of Wilson’s remarkable writing about the Black experience, this time with a slight horror bent. The film largely takes place in 1936 Pittsburgh, where the dysfunctional Charles family argues over what to do about their family’s most treasured heirloom, a piano acquired by their enslaved ancestors.

Packed with rigorous performances — particularly by Danielle Deadwyler — The Piano Lesson is a stirring family saga about the tension between honoring one’s history and moving forward to chart a new path. —K.J.

Where to watch The Piano Lesson: Netflix

EW grade: A–

Director: Malcolm Washington

Cast: John David Washington, Danielle Deadwyler, Samuel L. Jackson, Ray Fisher, Corey Hawkins, Michael Potts, Erykah Badu, Skylar Aleece Smith

The Power of the Dog (2021)

Simmering with tension, Jane Campion’s moody revisionist Western is a transfixing examination of power and control — and the lengths to which a boy will go to protect his mother. Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Phil, a spiteful rancher who torments his brother’s (Jesse Plemons) new wife (Kirsten Dunst) and her sensitive teenage son Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee) against the backdrop of 1920s Montana. As Phil plays psychological mind games on his farm’s new inhabitants, Peter quietly calculates how to get back at his uncle after discovering a buried secret. The widely-acclaimed drama earned a whopping 12 Oscar nominations, including acting nominations for all four central performances, with Campion becoming only the third woman to win Best Director. —K.J.

Where to watch The Power of the Dog: Netflix

EW grade: A–

Director: Jane Campion

Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Jesse Plemons, Kirsten Dunst, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Thomasin McKenzie, Genevieve Lemon, Keith Carradine, Frances Conroy

Private Life (2018)

This emotional dramedy from Tamara Jenkins follows a middle-aged couple and their painstaking efforts to have a baby. With Richard (Paul Giamatti) having sperm issues and Rachel (Kathryn Hahn) struggling with in vitro fertilization, the couple is desperate for solutions. After their niece, Sadie (Kayli Carter), goes to live with them, Rachel considers asking her for help, leading to awkward family tension when Sadie’s parents find out. Emotionally honest with just the right dash of humor, Private Life is a poignant slice of family drama anchored by Hahn’s vulnerable performance. As EW’s critic writes of the film, “It’s about perseverance, compassion, and empathy.” —K.J.

Where to watch Private Life: Netflix

EW grade: A–

Director: Tamara Jenkins

Cast: Paul Giamatti, Kathryn Hahn, Kayli Carter, Molly Shannon, John Carroll Lynch, Desmin Borges, Denis O’Hare

The Room Next Door (2024)

Spanish auteur Pedro Almodóvar brought his signature flair for melodrama to this, his English-language feature debut. Tilda Swinton stars as Martha, a woman with terminal cancer who enlists her friend and former colleague, Ingrid (Julianne Moore), to join her at a country house where she plans to end her life. While the subject matter is bleak, Almodóvar balances the darkness with a tenderness and sensitivity that comes from a career of exploring women’s lives at their most intimate. EW’s critic praises The Room Next Door as “a heartfelt portrait of friendship: its cozy familiarity, deep warmth, and inevitable sense of unknowability.” —K.J.

Where to watch The Room Next Door: Netflix

EW grade: B+

Director: Pedro Almodóvar

Cast: Tilda Swinton, Julianne Moore, John Turturro, Alessandro Nivola

Shiva Baby (2020)

Depending on who you are, this acclaimed indie will either play as a hilarious cringe comedy or an anxiety-inducing horror drama. Rachel Sennott stars as Danielle, a college student struggling to balance her chaotic life, as she attends a shiva observation. Amid dozens of prying questions from other attendees about her future, she is mortified to see her sugar daddy at the shiva with his wife, whom she did not know about. “Enter Shiva at your own risk,” EW’s critic quips of the dramedy, “a hell of Danielle’s own making maybe, but still a witty, jittery trip.” —K.J.

Where to watch Shiva Baby: Netflix

EW grade: B

Director: Emma Seligman

Cast: Rachel Sennott, Molly Gordon, Polly Draper, Danny Deferrari, Fred Melamed, Dianna Agron

Society of the Snow (2023)

This harrowing thriller tells the wild true story of a Uruguayan rugby team whose charter flight to Chile crash-landed in the Andes in 1972. The team was forced to survive unbearably harsh conditions within the snowy mountains, with some even resorting to cannibalism. Director J.A. Bayona depicts their struggle with bracing realism as they try to maintain their spirits and sanity as they try to make their way back to civilization. As Bayona told EW in 2023, “To me, it’s more about emotional survival. It’s not only physical survival. It’s to understand that there’s something bigger than yourself.” —K.J.

Where to watch Society of the Snow: Netflix

Director: J.A. Bayona

Cast: Enzo Vogrincic, Matías Recalt, Agustín Pardella, Felipe González Otaño, Luciano Chatton, Valentino Alonso, Francisco Romero, Agustín Berruti, Andy Pruss, Simón Hempe, Juan Caruso, Esteban Bigliardi, Rocco Posca, Esteban Kukuriczka, Rafael Federman, Manuela Olivera, Agustín Della Corte, Tomas Wolf

Still Alice (2014)

After decades of brilliance onscreen, Julianne Moore won an Oscar for this wrenching drama, delivering yet another soul-baring performance as a woman struggling with Alzheimer’s disease. As Alice Howland, a linguistics professor, Moore embodies her character’s internal struggle with heartbreaking accuracy. EW’s critic observes, Still Alice “grapples with this maddeningly ruthless affliction with remarkable compassion and grace.” —K.J.

Where to watch Still Alice: Netflix

EW grade: B+

Directors: Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland

Cast: Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin, Kristen Stewart, Kate Bosworth, Hunter Parrish

Taxi Driver (1976)

Though far from the first psychological character study in film history, Taxi Driver pushed the boundaries so significantly upon its release that it went on to influence generations of filmmakers. In one of his most committed performances, Robert De Niro stars as Travis Bickle, a troubled Vietnam War veteran and taxi driver working the night shift in New York City. Revulsed by the increasing urban decay around him, Travis’ mental instability worsens as he takes drastic actions to protect a 12-year-old girl forced into sex work. Director Martin Scorsese immerses us in Travis’s disturbed perspective, offering a blistering vision of 1970s cynicism. —K.J.

Where to watch Taxi Driver: Netflix

Director: Martin Scorsese

Cast: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Albert Brooks, Harvey Keitel, Leonard Harris, Peter Boyle

The Teachers’ Lounge (2023)

This Oscar-nominated German drama explores the intense pressure of being a teacher in today’s culture. Leonie Benesch plays Carla, the new seventh-grade teacher at a school in which her fellow faculty are investigating a series of thefts from their lounge. After Carla spots one of the other educators stealing money, she soon finds herself in over her head as she tries to balance various conflicts, from parents angry that their children were being interrogated to retaliation from the colleague Carla accused.

Director Ilker Çatak deftly ratchets up the tension throughout, and Benesch’s performance as audience surrogate is compelling as she tries to do what’s right under impossible circumstances. —K.J.

Where to watch The Teachers’ Lounge: Netflix

Director: Ilker Çatak

Cast: Leonie Benesch, Michael Klammer, Rafael Stachowiak, Anne-Kathrin Gummich, Eva Löbau

Thank You for Your Service (2017)

While numerous films have depicted the hellishness of war, sometimes the more interesting story comes from what happens when soldiers return home. Such is the case with Thank You for Your Service, which finds Miles Teller‘s Iraq War veteran Adam Schumann struggling to readjust to life in Kansas between his PTSD and survivor’s guilt. The underrated drama, as EW’s critic writes, proved “successful at capturing the Iraq War’s effects on American lives,” centering on the specific sense of malaise experienced by veterans coming back to a country that doesn’t always provide them with the help they need to re-acclimate. —K.J.

Where to watch Thank You for Your Service: Netflix

Director: Jason Hall

Cast: Miles Teller, Haley Bennett, Joe Cole, Amy Schumer, Beulah Koale, Scott Haze

The Wonder (2022)

Following the Great Famine in 19th-century Ireland, British nurse Lib (Florence Pugh) is called to look after a girl who has not eaten in months, claiming to be fed with “manna from Heaven.” As villagers come to be in the presence of a seemingly holy girl, Lib meets a journalist (Tom Burke) who suspects it all to be a ruse.

Tackling themes of science vs. faith and family trauma, this period drama nearly tips over into gothic horror, brimming with moody atmosphere. As EW’s critic notes, “The sumptuous cinematography, by Ari Wegner (The Power of the Dog, Zola), makes the landscape look like a Brönte novel, full of windswept moors and flickering, fire-lit shadows. Pugh, too, is pretty much perfectly cast, an actress with such a keen emotional presence that she tends to cut through pretense and triviality like a hot knife.” —K.J.

Where to watch The Wonder: Netflix

EW grade: B

Director: Sebastián Lelio

Cast: Florence Pugh, Kíla Lord Cassidy, Tom Burke, Niamh Algar, Elaine Cassidy, Caolán Byrne, Toby Jones, Ciarán Hinds

Y Tu Mamá También (2001)

This naturalistic coming-of-age dramedy put writer-director Alfonso Cuarón on the map as one of the true artists of his generation. Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna play teenage friends who take a road trip through Mexico with a married-but-jilted woman in her late 20s (Maribel Verdú). As they get to know her and she gets to know them, the trio becomes increasingly intimate with each other and forms a messy love triangle. EW’s critic calls Y Tu Mamá También “sad, funny, sexy, and altogether marvelous,” noting it’s “so organic that the road trip, magical as it is, feels in a way realer than life.” —K.J.

Where to watch Y Tu Mamá También: Netflix

Director: Alfonso Cuarón

Cast: Maribel Verdú, Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna