Netflix's September 2026 movie lineup is a pretty good reminder that a great movie does not need to be new to be worth your time. As summer winds down, the service is adding everything from blockbuster classics to cult favorites and movies that have earned their reputations over the years. There is a little something for nearly every kind of movie night here.
Some of these films changed Hollywood. Others just happen to be incredibly fun to watch. Together, they make for a lineup that stretches across decades, genres, and very different ideas of what makes a movie leave lasting impressions on you.
10 Jaws (1975)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg's 1975 thriller, Jaws, sends police chief Martin Brody to Amity Island, where a great white shark turns the town's summer tourist season into a nightmare. The genius is that the shark barely needs to be seen on screen. John Williams' score, a fin cutting through the water, or even an empty patch of ocean is enough to make the audience tense up.
That was partly because the production's mechanical sharks constantly malfunctioned. Spieldberg had to find another way to create suspense, and the solution ended up becoming one of the Jaws' greatest strengths. By keeping the sharks hidden, he lets the audience's imagination do some of the work (via Desert Island Disc's).
Jaws also changed the business of Hollywood, becoming the highest-grossing movie ever at the time and helping establish the summer blockbuster (via IMDB). That legacy is impressive, but the movie itself remains the real reason to press play.
9 Alien (1979)
Directed by Ridley Scott
Space has never looked quite as hostile as it does in Alien. The crew of Nostromo is not made up of fearless heroes. They are workers set out on doing a job, and that makes their situation all the more frightening when they realize something is stalking them throughout the ship.
Ridley Scott turns the Nostromo into a nightmare in its own right. Pipes, narrow corridors, steam and flickering lights all create a maze where the crew can never feel completely safe. Then there is the creature itself lurking in the shadows. H.R. Giger's design remains one of the most unsettling creations in movie history, and Scott understands that showing less can make it scarier.
Of course, Sigourney Weaver's Ellen Ripley gives Alien another appeal. Watching her become the film's unlikely survivor is still one of the greatest pleasures of the movie.
8 Ready or Not (2019)
Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett
A wedding is supposed to be one of the happiest nights of a person's life. For Grace, it turns into a twisted hunt. Ready or Not wastes little time getting to the central joke. Graces' wealthy new in-laws have a family tradition of playing a specific game on wedding nights. Unfortunately for her, she draws Hide-and-Seek. What sounds ridiculous becomes genuinely dangerous when she realizes the Le Domas family is trying to kill her before sunrise.
Samara Weaving carries the movie beautifully as Grave, who spends the night going from confused bride to increasingly furious survivor. The horror works because the movie is willing to be funny, too. The Le Domases' wealth, entitlement, and complete lack of sanity make their downfall almost as entertaining as Graces' escape.
7 Scarface (1983)
Directed by Brian De Palma
Tony Montana does not exactly believe in moderation. Brian De Palma directed Scarface, which focuses on Tony from a Cuban refugee arriving in Miami to a cocaine kingpin surrounded by wealth, paranoia, and violence. And Al Pacino plays every stage of that transformation at full volume.
Excess is precisely the point of this film, though. Tony gets everything he thinks he wants, only to become increasingly isolated from everyone around him. The mansion gets bigger. The suits get louder. The empire grows. Tony himself becomes more unstable in the mix.
Its reputation has only grown since its release in 1983, particularly through its enormous influence on hip-hop culture. Even people who have never seen the entire movie probably know the image of Tony standing behind his desk, surrounded by the trappings of the life he built.
6 About Time (2013)
Directed by Brian De Palma
About Time looks like it would be a romantic comedy, but it's actually not a romance at all. Richard Curtis gives Tim Lake the ability to travel back through moments he has already lived. Naturally, he uses it to try to find love. Rachel McAdams' Mary becomes an important part of his story, but the relationship that ultimately matters most is the one between Tim and his father, James, played by Bill Nighy.
Time travel is fun, but Curtis uses it to talk about things that cannot actually be fixed by going back. Things like growing older, losing people, making mistakes, and realizing too late how quickly ordinary days disappear.
Domhnall Gleeson gives Tim an awkwardness, while Nighy brings a warmth that makes their scenes together memorable. It is sweet without being entirely saccharine, and it has the habit of sneaking up on viewers when they least expect it.
5 Cruel Intentions (1999)
Directed by Roger Kumble
There is something wonderfully shameless about Cruel Intentions. It takes wealthy teenagers, turns them loose in a world of sex, manipulation and revenge, and somehow makes the whole thing feel like the ultimate late-90s time capsule.
Ryan Phillippe's Sebastian starts the movie treating people like pieces on a chessboard, which Sarah Michelle Gellars Kathryn is every bit as calculating. Their bet involving innocent Annette, played by Reese Witherspoon, quickly becomes more complicated when Sebastian develops real feelings for her.
The movie is melodramatic and occasionally outrageous, but that is part of its charm. It also has one of those soundtracks that instantly takes you back to the era.
4 Phantom Thread (2017)
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
Romance does not usually involve poisoned mushrooms. In Phantom Thread, somehow, they are perfect for the plot. Paul Thomas Anderson's 1950s drama follows Reynolds Woodcock, a celebrated dressmaker whose carefully ordered existence begins to unravel when he meets Alma, a waitress who becomes his muse and love. Daniel Day-Lewis and Vicky Krieps play their relationships with a strange degree of intensity that is difficult to look away from.
This is not a conventional love story about two people completing each other. Reynolds needs control. Almost wants to matter. Neither is willing to bend, so their relationship becomes a bizarre negotiation over who has the upper hand.
3 Liar Liar (1997)
Directed by Tom Shadyac
Fletcher Reede has spent his entire career lying. Then his son makes a birthday wish to take that option away from him. Jim Carrey gets one of his best comedic setups in Liar Liar, as Fletcher suddenly finds himself physically incapable of saying anything other than the truth. The results are as chaotic as they sound. His courtroom tactics fall apart, his professional relationships become disasters, and even basic conversations become dangerous.
Carrey goes completely over the top, but the movie gives all that manic energy somewhere to go. Fletcher's problem is not that he just cannot lie; it is that he has spent years using lies to avoid dealing with people he loves. Beneath all the ridiculous faces and physical gags, Liar Liar is about a father realizing that his son has noticed every broken promise.
2 Straight Outta Compton (2015)
Directed by F. Gary Gray
Before N.W.A became one of the most important groups in hip-hop, they were a handful of young men trying to make themselves heard in Compton. Straight Outta Compton follows that rise while showing just how quickly success can change the relationships that made it possible in the first place.
F. Gary Gray keeps the movie moving through its music, performances and increasingly tense conflicts between Ice Cube, Dr. Dre and Eazy-E. O'Shea Jackson Jr. is impressive as his father, capturing Ice Cube's intensity without turning the performance into a straight-up imitation. Jason Mitchell also gives Eazy-E a lot of personality as his story continues down a darker path.
The concert sequences are some of the movie's biggest moments, but the slower scenes are just as important. Watching the group argue over money, contracts and control makes the eventual breakup feel personal rather than inevitable.
1 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Directed by Tobe Hooper
Tobe Hooper's 1974 horror classic follows five friends whose road trip through rural Texas takes a horrifying turn when they encounter a family of cannibals. Leatherface's first appearance is shocking, but the movie's overall atmosphere is what really gets under the skin. The heat, filthy house, the strange furniture, and the sound of that chainsaw create a world that feels completely rotten.
Marilyn Burns is excellent as Sally, especially once the movie turns into an increasingly desperate fight to escape. Hooper also keeps the violence more restrained than its reputation may suggest, which makes the few moments that are shown feel even more disturbing.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre wastes no time getting horrifying. It builds tension, descends into chaos, and ends with one of horror's most unforgettable images as Leatherface swings his chainsaw beneath the morning sun. It is easily among Netflix's best September 2026 movies.
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