Published Aug 21, 2026, 6:55 PM EDT
Felipe Rangel is a Movie and TV Journalist ScreenRant. He has been writing about movies and TV since 2021. Felipe joined ScreenRant in 2022, working across different teams, covering everything from breaking news to features to reviews and more.
Felipe is a writer who is an avid film and TV fan, with superhero movies and series being his biggest passion. He graduated from college in 2019, having studied Journalism. Before college, he spent a month studying at the Oxford English Centre. His superhero knowledge expands to the comics, with his undergraduate thesis being "Politics Reflected In American Comics."
Netflix subscribers will be treated to one of the biggest stars in the world on the streaming service this weekend, alongside a hilarious film, and a thriller that will get viewers' blood boiling. On last weekend's Netflix movie recommendations, I went over Don't Say Good Luck, A Child of My Own, and Daniel Craig's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
At the time of writing, two out of the three Netflix recommendations are still trending on the streaming service nationwide. The Mexican documentary hybrid A Child of My Own is now the 7th most-watched movie on Netflix in the United States, while the dramedy Don't Say Good Luck, led by Adam Sandler's daughter, Sunny, is #2 on the list.
Based on that, if you have not yet given either of those a chance, just know you are missing out on popular recent Netflix movies. Looking at last weekend's recommendations, it is clear that every project spoke to a different type of viewer. This time around, I believe the lines get blurrier, and Netflix subscribers might even go for a three-movie binge.
A lot of the time, what I think about when looking at what is best on Netflix each weekend for subscribers consists of finding movies that can naturally serve as follow-ups to other popular films or shows in theaters or on streaming. Well, get ready for an exciting sci-fi thriller that falls into that category. Alongside it, there is a unique comedy with major stars and a mystery thriller.
3 To Catch a Cheater (2026)
We start our Netflix weekend recommendations with the last of those, the mystery thriller To Catch a Cheater. The film arrived on Netflix this Thursday, August 20, and instantly proved itself a streaming hit. Right now, To Catch a Cheater is the most-watched movie on Netflix in the United States. As such, this is the film to check out this weekend if you have not already.
The mystery thriller follows Kate Watson's Monica, whose daughter, Hannah, never comes home after making a stupid bet with her best friends about testing the loyalties of each other's boyfriends. To Catch a Cheater is a dark, intense, and emotional thriller that sees a mother search for the man who killed her daughter.
2 Swiss Army Man (2016)
Swiss Army Man is another movie that arrived on Netflix recently, having debuted on the streaming service on Wednesday, August 19. The best way to describe Swiss Army Man is that it is a wild ride brimming with talent. The surrealist comedy-drama's cast includes major names like Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe, The Batman's Paul Dano, and Ahsoka's Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
Swiss Army Man was directed by Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan, aka the Daniels. Audiences might know them from the Oscar-winning multiversal movie Everything Everywhere All at Once. Swiss Army Man tells the story of Dano's Hank Thompson, a suicidal man on an island who finds company in the corpse, Manny, played by Radcliffe. Only the body has supernatural powers.
1 War Machine (2026)
The final movie on our Netflix recommendations for this weekend is War Machine. Some might have already caught it on streaming, as the sci-fi thriller became a global hit when it debuted in March. War Machine is currently one of the most-watched Netflix movies of all time, ranked 10th. That said, the film has just become more timely, as Alan Ritchson's Reacher season 4 is now airing new episodes on Prime Video.
As such, anyone looking for a solid follow-up while waiting for new episodes of Reacher will find that in this action-packed Netflix movie with Ritchson. War Machine sees the actor play an unnamed soldier as his squad comes under fire from a killing machine not from this planet. The action in War Machine is visceral, with the sci-fi elements making it a uniquely entertaining thriller with Ritchson to end the weekend on Netflix.
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