Image via Netflix
Published Aug 23, 2026, 10:33 AM EDT
Jiminna Shillingford is an avid reader and a passionate storyteller. She is obsessed with all things TV, from anime and romantic fantasy to action-packed series. With that deep affection, Jiminna longs to share her excitement with all her readers through the Collider platform as a TV author. Through her writing she has created stories and blog posts of amazing book recommendations, showcasing her love of writing. Jiminna's goal is to inspire others to discover and embrace their love of stories in all of its forms.
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It's always a little subjective when someone calls a movie a 10/10, no notes kind of experience, but there are quite a few Netflix originals that make that argument easier than others. Those types of fantastic Netflix films feel carefully created from beginning to end, whether due to their sharp storytelling, emotional power, visual style, strong performances, or rewatch value.
Movies like the underrated action masterpiece The Old Guard, which transforms an immortal warrior action story into something with real depth, and Beasts of No Nation, which stands as a truly devastating war drama, are two Netflix originals that deliver so strongly on what it sets out to do that defending the film as genuinely masterful is quite easy. Compiled on this list are brilliant Netflix movies that are 10/10, no notes required.
'Roma' (2018)
Image via NetflixRoma is a pretty defensible movie as a noteworthy 10/10 experience, simply because of its control and ability to never lose its emotional humanity. Set in early-1970s Mexico City, the historical drama follows a domestic worker, Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), who's being kept busy caring for a middle-class family as they practically disintegrate against the backdrop of political upheaval all amid her unexpected pregnancy.
Roma wields dynamite control over its cinematic space. From the movie's black-and-white cinematography, which doesn't merely beautify memory but also gives everyday life a striking sense of importance and intimacy, to its carefully constructed compositions and patient camera movements, nearly every frame of the 10/10 experience feels significant. Roma is an emotionally cumulative and technically extraordinary film that stands strong as a Netflix masterpiece with a well-deserved reputation for being absolutely fantastic.
'The Ritual' (2017)
Image via NetflixThis Netflix movie may look like a regular lost-in-the-woods horror movie, but its masterful execution makes it a great standout that is arguably one of the best 10/10 watches on the platform. The Ritual focuses on a group of friends whose trip hiking in Sweden after a tragedy turns completely awry as strange and terrifying things begin to happen.
The Ritual is a perfect film for viewers who desire a story with plenty of psychological unease and also value atmosphere. With the movie's use of trauma, isolation, friendship, and folklore to create a sense of dread that quite steadily grows without relying on cheap scares, the film easily stands as one of Netflix’s most defensible horror gems. The Ritual is careful enough that its monster story never feels separated from the characters' emotional trauma, and with its horror tropes, it's arguably one of Netflix's greatest films in the genre.
'I'm Thinking of Ending Things' (2020)
Image via NetflixFew selections in Netflix's movie catalog test the idea of a 10/10, no notes film harder than the 2020 watch, I'm Thinking of Ending Things. The Charlie Kaufman-directed drama, adapted from the book of the same name, focuses on a young woman who's on a strange trip through a snowstorm with her boyfriend to meet his family at an isolated farmhouse.
I'm Thinking of Ending Things is definitely a movie that's received a very mixed bag of compliments and critiques. Some call it boring, while others dub it an extremely clever watch. Kaufman doesn't offer a simple mystery that rewards audiences with a literal solution; instead, the film quite deliberately blurs fantasy, reality, memory, and identity, which forces viewers to piece together the movie's emotional meaning rather than search for one straightforward explanation. For those who connect with I'm Thinking of Ending Things, the film definitely stands as the perfect 10/10 experience that's worthwhile.
'Beasts of No Nation' (2015)
Image via NetflixThis movie is an emotionally brutal artpiece that is definitely one of Netflix's most devastating original films. Beasts of No Nation follows a young boy who is forced into becoming a child soldier after war destroys his life and separates him from everything he knows.
Beasts of No Nation can be defended as a 10/10, no-notes kind of watch because of how uncompromisingly it tells its story. The film is a standout that masterfully focuses on a child's experience of violence without transforming his suffering into a cliché, massive spectacle. It may be a war drama, but its real force comes from watching innocence be tainted and stripped away as the protagonist delves deeper into a world of manipulation, survival, and fear. Beasts of No Nation is painful cinema, but the film is no doubt an exceptionally controlled Netflix-quality masterpiece.
Collider Exclusive · Action Hero Quiz
Which Action Hero Would Be
Your Perfect Partner?
Rambo · James Bond · Indiana Jones · John McClane · Ethan Hunt
Five legends. Five completely different ways of getting out alive — with style, with muscle, with charm, with luck, or with a plan so intricate it probably shouldn't work. Ten questions will reveal which action hero was built to have your back.
🎖️Rambo
🍸James Bond
🏺Indiana Jones
🔧John McClane
🎭Ethan Hunt
FIND YOUR PARTNER →
01
You're dropped into a dangerous situation with no warning. What do you need most from a partner? The first few seconds tell you everything about who belongs beside you.
ASomeone who already has three contingency plans running and is calmly working through all of them. BSomeone who reads the terrain instinctively and knows exactly how to use it against the enemy. CSomeone who keeps their nerve and their sense of humour when everything is falling apart. DSomeone who knows the history of wherever we are and what we're walking into. ESomeone with the right contact, the right cover identity, and the right exit already arranged.
NEXT QUESTION →
02
You have to get somewhere dangerous, fast. How do you travel? How you get there is half the mission.
AOn foot through terrain no one else would attempt — I move where vehicles can't follow. BOn a motorcycle, a cargo plane, or anything else that gets me there before I think too hard about it. CIn something that belongs to someone else — borrowed, stolen, or improvised under fire. DFirst class, with a cover identity and a gadget that does something I won't explain until it's needed. EBy whatever means are available — I've driven, flown, and once arrived by camel. The destination matters, not the method.
NEXT QUESTION →
03
You're pinned down and outnumbered. What does your ideal partner do? This is when you find out what someone is really made of.
ADisappears into the environment, flanks them silently, and ends it before I've reloaded. BCracks a one-liner, grabs a fire extinguisher or a chair, and improvises something that somehow works. CProduces a gadget specifically designed for this exact scenario and uses it with infuriating precision. DPulls out a whip, a pistol, and an archaeological insight that somehow gets us out alive. ENeutralises the threat with maximum efficiency and minimum words — they were already three moves ahead.
NEXT QUESTION →
04
The mission is paused. You have one evening to decompress. What does your partner suggest? Who someone is when the pressure drops is who they actually are.
AA bar with terrible lighting, cold beer, and absolutely no questions about feelings. BThe finest restaurant in the city, a bottle of something expensive, and a conversation that is equal parts brilliant and exhausting. CA local dig site, a museum after hours, or a long story about why that particular artefact matters to human civilisation. DPizza. Bad TV. Falling asleep halfway through a movie neither of you were watching anyway. EA debrief that turns into three hours of contingency planning that somehow becomes the most fun you've had all week.
NEXT QUESTION →
05
How do you prefer your partner to communicate mid-mission? Good communication is the difference between partners and a liability.
APrecise and minimal — tell me what I need to know and nothing else. Every word has a cost. BDeadpan and dry — keeping it light keeps me sharp, even when everything is on fire. CEnthusiastic and slightly chaotic — but always with useful information buried somewhere in the noise. DCalm and controlled through an earpiece, with a plan that covers every variable I haven't thought of yet. EBarely at all — silence is a language and they speak it fluently.
NEXT QUESTION →
06
Your enemy is powerful, well-resourced, and has the upper hand. How should your partner approach them? The approach to the enemy defines the partnership.
AInfiltrate their inner circle, learn everything, and dismantle them from inside out before they know we're there. BStudy the historical pattern — every villain of this type has a weakness written somewhere in the past. CGet them talking. The more they monologue, the more time I have to figure out how to beat them. DGo through them. Directly. With as much force as the terrain allows. EFind the one thing they haven't accounted for — there's always one thing — and make sure we're holding it.
NEXT QUESTION →
07
Things go badly wrong and you're captured. What do you trust your partner to do? Who someone is when you need them most is the only thing that matters.
ACome in alone, quietly, and get me out before anyone knows they were there. BHave already been working on the extraction since the moment I disappeared — the plan is already running. CCome in loud, come in fast, and worry about the collateral damage later — I'd do the same for them. DUse every resource, every contact, and bend every rule until I'm out — they don't leave people behind. ECharm their way in somehow, bluff through the hard part, and still manage to look good doing it.
NEXT QUESTION →
08
What does your ideal partner bring to the table that you couldn't replace? A great partner fills the gap you didn't know you had.
ATechnology that shouldn't exist yet and the training to use it under any conditions. BSurvival instinct so refined it borders on supernatural — and the scars to prove it's been tested. CKnowledge of history, language, and culture that makes them invaluable in places where force is useless. DThe ability to walk into any room in the world and immediately become the most trusted person in it. EStubbornness that refuses to accept a situation is hopeless — and the improvisational skill to back it up.
NEXT QUESTION →
09
Every partnership has a cost. Which of these can you live with? No one comes without baggage. The question is whether you can carry it together.
AA partner who never fully switches off — always watching exits, always calculating threats, even at dinner. BA partner who gets the job done brilliantly but has the emotional availability of a locked filing cabinet. CA partner who makes everything ten times more complicated than it needs to be — but who always comes through. DA partner who gets personally attached to every relic, ruin, and artefact we encounter, which slows everything down. EA partner who was not built for this and knows it — but shows up anyway, every time, without being asked.
NEXT QUESTION →
10
It's the final moment. Everything is on the line. What do you need from your partner right now? The last question is the most honest one.
AOne line. Absolutely dry. Delivered like the world isn't ending. Then we move. BNothing said at all — just a look that means we both already know what has to happen. CA plan I don't fully understand that somehow accounts for everything, delivered in thirty seconds flat. DA piece of historical context that reframes the entire situation and tells us exactly what to do next. ESomeone who steps forward instead of back — because that's who they've always been.
REVEAL MY PARTNER →
Your Partner Has Been Assigned Your Perfect Partner Is…
Your answers have pointed to one action hero above all others. This is the person built to have your back — for better or considerably, spectacularly worse.
Rambo
Your partner doesn't talk much, doesn't need to, and will have assessed every threat in your immediate environment before you've finished your first sentence. John Rambo is not a man of plans or politics — he is a force of nature shaped by survival, loyalty, and a capacity for endurance that goes beyond anything training can produce. He will not leave you behind. He has never left anyone behind who deserved to come home. What you get with Rambo is the most capable, most quietly ferocious partner imaginable — one who has been through things that would have broken anyone else, and who chose to keep going anyway. You'll never need to ask if he has your back. You'll just know.
James Bond
Your partner will arrive perfectly dressed, perfectly briefed, and with a cover story so convincing it'll take you a moment to remember what's actually true. James Bond is the most professionally dangerous person in any room he enters — and the most disarmingly charming, which is the point. He operates in a world of layers, where nothing is what it appears and every advantage is used without apology. You'll never be bored. You'll occasionally be furious. But when it matters — when the mission is genuinely on the line and the margin for error has collapsed to nothing — Bond is exactly the partner you want. He has survived things that have no business being survivable. He does it with style. That is not nothing.
Indiana Jones
Your partner will know the history, the language, the cultural context, and exactly why the thing everyone else is ignoring is actually the most important thing in the room. Indiana Jones is brilliant, reckless, and occasionally impossible — but he is also one of the most resourceful, most genuinely knowledgeable partners you could find yourself beside. He approaches every situation with a scholar's eye and a brawler's instinct, which is an unusual combination and a remarkably effective one. He hates snakes and gets personally attached to objects of historical significance, both of which will slow you down at least once. It doesn't matter. What Indy brings is irreplaceable — and the adventures you'll have together will be the kind people write books about. Assuming you survive them.
John McClane
Your partner was not supposed to be here. He does not have the right equipment, the right information, or anything approaching the right odds. He has a sarcastic remark and an absolute refusal to accept that the situation is as bad as it looks. John McClane is the greatest accidental hero in the history of action cinema — a man whose superpower is stubbornness, whose contingency plan is improvisation, and whose capacity to absorb punishment and keep moving would be alarming if it weren't so useful. He will complain the entire time. He will make it significantly more chaotic than it needed to be. And he will absolutely, unconditionally, without question come through when it counts. Yippee-ki-yay.
Ethan Hunt
Your partner has already run seventeen scenarios by the time you've finished reading the briefing, and the plan he's settled on involves at least two things that should be physically impossible. Ethan Hunt operates at the absolute edge of human capability — technically, physically, and intellectually — and he brings the same relentless precision to protecting his partners that he brings to dismantling organisations that shouldn't exist. He is not easy to know and he will never fully tell you everything. But he will carry the weight of the mission so completely, so absolutely, that your job is simply to trust him — and the remarkable thing is that trusting him always turns out to be the right call. The mission will be impossible. He will complete it anyway.
↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ
'The Mitchells vs. the Machines' (2021)
Image via NetflixThe Mitchells vs. the Machines is an underrated animated movie that deserves far more attention than it's received. The sci-fi comedy centers around Katie Mitchell (Abbi Jacobson), an aspiring filmmaker, whose father turns her trip to college into a family getaway in order to grow closer and bond, only for their attempt at reconciliation to be met with a full-blown robot uprising that forces the dysfunctional relatives to be unlikely heroes.
The Mitchells vs. the Machines may be a pretty underwatched film, but it is a true masterpiece that features tons of humor, heart, and creativity. It's a film that's remarkably rewatchable, with its jokes that move quickly without ever feeling empty, animation practically bursting with personality, and its heartwarming family story that gives the madness a real emotional core. The Mitchells vs. the Machines is a peak hidden gem that can easily be defended as a 10/10 animated masterpiece.
'They Cloned Tyrone' (2023)
Image via NetflixThey Cloned Tyrone is a Netflix genre experiment that definitely lands. The standout science-fiction conspiracy comedy focuses on the trio — Slick Charles (Jamie Foxx), Fontaine (John Boyega), and Yo-Yo (Teyonah Parris) — after an impossible event leads them to uncover a conspiracy beneath their neighborhood.
With its rather strange premise, They Cloned Tyrone is actually a crazy funny, sharp, stylish, and politically charged film. What makes the movie such an arguably 10/10 noteworthy experience for most isn't that it creates something the conspiracy genre has never seen before; it actually takes those familiar tropes from science fiction, social satire, blaxploitation, and conspiracy thriller, and reshapes them into something that feels genuinely funny and distinctly its own. They Cloned Tyrone is a confident, strange, and boldly unique kind of film that definitely stands as one of Netflix's smartest originals.
'Rebel Ridge' (2024)
Image via NetflixThis recent Netflix thriller is a quality film that truly understands the power of patience. Rebel Ridge follows Terry Richmond (Aaron Pierre), who enters the corrupt small town of Shelby Springs to post bail for his cousin, only to have police seize his funds.
Rebel Ridge was definitely a welcome surprise upon its release. For such a thrill ride, the movie surprisingly doesn't just rely on nonstop violence; it instead also builds its tension through restraint, procedure, intelligence, and the slow realization that the system itself is the true threat. Rebel Ridge is a really defensible film because it actually lands its delivery as a grounded thriller. It's a truly gripping 10/10 watch that wields action with a clear purpose, making it quite easy to add to this list of Netflix cinematic jewels.
'The Old Guard' (2020)
Image via NetflixThe Old Guard is an action masterpiece that most Netflix subscribers who have actually seen it never expected to be as good as it is. The movie centers around a team of immortal warriors who have spent their centuries alive fighting in secret to protect humanity, only for their existence to be threatened by a new and unexpected foe.
The Old Guard is an incredible superhero-style movie with a surprisingly emotional core. It can be defended as a 10/10 viewing experience simply because of its ability to balance its pretty brutal, expertly choreographed action with characters who actually feel real and human despite their immortality. The Old Guard offers humanized heroes who have suffered through centuries of complicated relationships, grief, and emotional exhaustion, making it a rather captivating action movie that's capable of winning over any skeptical viewer.
'KPop Demon Hunters' (2025)
This Netflix animated original is one of the most recent iconic watches on the platform and is quite genuinely beloved. KPop Demon Hunters follows pop star girl group Huntrix, whose mission is not only to produce hits but to also secretly protect humanity from demons, which only gets tougher when an existential crisis and a rival demon boy band get in their way.
No notes are necessary for a watch like KPop Demon Hunters, as the animated knockout is an actual 10/10 masterpiece. The film blends colorful animation, concert energy, demon-fighting spectacle, and team-centered emotion into a story that feels genuinely original. The Netflix animation could have easily been a gimmicky musical fantasy, but instead KPop Demon Hunters succeeds as a well-balanced good time with no notes needed.
KPop Demon Hunters
Release Date June 20, 2025
Runtime 96 minutes
Director Chris Appelhans, Maggie Kang
Writers Hannah McMechan, Chris Appelhans, Maggie Kang, Danya Jimenez
English (US) ·