Netflix has several tiers for subscribers, and one of the tiers opens the door for 4K movie streaming, which means a chance to watch the best 4K movies on Netflix on all their vibrant and crystal-clear glory. Anyone with a 4K TV should invest in the small extra fee that affords the Ultra HD viewing of great TV shows and movies, all enhancing the overall viewing experience. What is great is that the selection of quality 4K movies to watch has never been better on Netflix, and it includes award winners, classics, and Hollywood blockbusters, all exploding off the TV screen with the best quality picture and sound.
With so many great choices when looking for the best 4K movies on Netflix, fans of every genre have great options. There are scary horror movies, foreign language masterpieces, explosive blockbusters, critically acclaimed award winners, and even some classics from filmmakers like Alfred Hitchcock and Martin Scorsese. Of course, there is a chance that a beloved 4K movie will leave the streaming service, so be on the lookout for changes when the service drops and picks up new movies to choose from to stream.
25 1922 (2017)
Stephen King is a name that has become synonymous with horror within the pop culture zeitgeist and anything associated with him is bound to be frightening. Such is the case with 1922, a dramatic horror by Zak Hilditch based on a King novella of the same name. The film centers on a Nebraska farmer, played by Thomas Jane, with murderous intent and depicts standard King fodder in the form of horrific lunacy and ghastliness — made all the more terrifying by the UHD 4K picture. 1922 was praised for its storytelling and dramatic depiction, and while it was no award winner, it remains a critically-appreciated horror movie and one of the scariest of the best 4K movies on Netflix.
24 Okja (2017)
Bong Joon-ho directed the science fiction masterpiece Okja in 2017, and it remains one of the best 4K movies on Netflix. The movie follows a young Korean girl who raises a genetically-modified super pig. However, when others want her pig for their own nefarious purposes, it becomes a tale of saving something she loves from people with much more power than her. With a great cast including Steven Yeun, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Tilda Swinton, the movie was a Saturn Award nominee and one of Joon-ho’s best movies to date. This underrated gem is a must-watch in standard definition, but when it’s streamed as part of Netflix’s 4K movie offerings it takes on a whole new lease of life — especially the pig.
23 Always Be My Maybe (2015)
It isn’t always important to see a romantic comedy in high definition, but when watching Always Be My Maybe, the quality is high for one of the best 4K movies on Netflix. Starring Randall Park and Ali Wong, those romantic comedy follows two friends who drifted apart over the years and then reconnect years later when they are at very different places in their lives. Sasha is a celebrity chef and Marcus still lives at home with his dad. The movie is very funny and even has a great cameo from Keanu Reeves, playing himself. It picked up a People’s Choice Award nomination.
22 Hustle (2022)
Adam Sandler roared into awards season in 2022 with the drama Hustle. The movie sits at the top of the best Sandler performances with other similar movies like Uncut Gems and The Meyerowitz Stories, proving that Sandler can do more than just frat boy comedies. Sandler stars as a basketball scout looking for the next big thing, which he finds with a phenom in Spain that he leads to success. While Sandler didn’t get the Oscar nomination that many might have believed he deserved, he did pick up a People’s Choice Award for Hustle. What makes Hustle one of the best 4K movies on Netflix is how well its many NBA sequences come to life thanks to the UHD picture quality, and the UHD medium lends itself well to this surprisingly vibrant sports comedy.
21 Enola Holmes (2020)
Millie Bobby Brown has been involved in two of the most-watched properties on Netflix. Stranger Things is the most-watched show in Netflix history, and Enola Holmes ranks near the top for streaming movies as well, with over 189 million hours viewed. The movie was based on the book series by Nancy Springer and followed Sherlock Holmes’s little sister Enola as she set out to find their missing mother and start a detective agency of her own. The movie was not only popular but critically acclaimed, winning a Saturn Award. Enola Holmes was always destined to be one of the best 4k movies on Netflix when it was added to the catalog, as it’s a movie that always has aesthetics and cinematography at the heart of every shot.
20 White Noise (2022)
Noah Baumbach is no stranger to critically-acclaimed movies, as he went from an indie darling to an Oscar hopeful with movies like Marriage Story streaming on Netflix. He also has one of the best 4k movies on Netflix in the 2022 dark comedy-drama White Noise. The movie stars Greta Gerwig and Adam Driver as a husband and wife who have a conflict of interest when he learns she is taking a mysterious drug at the same time that an environmental disaster shakes up the status quo. Of course, some of the more psychedelic visuals lend themselves incredibly well to 4K, and viewing in UHD makes it clear why White Noise earned a Golden Globe nomination.
19 Dolemite is My Name (2019)
After a three-year hiatus from film, Eddie Murphy returned for the critically acclaimed Dolemite is My Name, one of the best 4k movies on Netflix. Boasting numerous awards and accolades among the film community, including a Golden Globe nomination, Dolemite was an impressive return to form for Murphy. The film is a biographical comedy about the life of the “Godfather of Rap” Rudy Ray Moore, an American comedian, singer, actor, and film producer famous for the raunchy pimp character Dolemite. Murphy and his supporting cast displayed the humble and comedic roots of some of the most influential figures of the Blaxploitation sub-genre of film.
18 Animal House (1978)
Not all the best 4k movies on Netflix are new and shiny 21st century films. Animal House was a raunchy comedy from 1978 that most people would never think of when considering movies to watch in high definition. Directed by John Landis (American Werewolf in London) and starring everyone from John Belushi and Tom Matheson to Kevin Bacon and Donald Sutherland, the movie tells the story of the worst fraternity on campus and the school officials that want it shut down and the members expelled. It is a cult classic and was added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2001.
17 The Bad Guys (2022)
The style of animation is changing in Hollywood. It all started with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and continued through Puss in Boots 2, which used a style called 2.5D stylized animation. This was a way to make the animation look less realistic and more animated, which has caught on for many fans. This also helped The Bad Guys become one of the best 4K movies on Netflix, as it also uses the style to great effect. The movie is about a gang of bad guys who decide to go straight, but find out that might be harder than they had hoped. The movie picked up an Annie Award for its animation.
16 Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
When Knives Out was a critical and box office success for Rian Johnson, he did the unthinkable for his follow-up. He signed a deal to bring the sequel to Netflix as an original movie with only a limited theatrical window. What resulted was one of the best 4K movies on Netflix, as Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc returns in what started out as a murder mystery party that then changed into a real murder mystery where everyone on the island paradise was a suspect. The movie earned several awards, mostly for the cast, as well as an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. However, Glass Onion‘s style and narrative aren’t what earns it a place among Netflix’s best 4K movies. The murder-mystery is also a treat for the eyes, and Rian Johnson’s visual finesse can be truly appreciated in UHD.
15 Da 5 Bloods (2020)
When it comes to legendary and iconic directors who have some of the best 4K movies on Netflix, Spike Lee sits proudly in that category. His movie was the 2020 war drama Da 5 Bloods. The story followed four aging Vietnam War veterans who decide to return to that country to search for their fallen squad leader’s remains, while also trying to find treasure they buried there while serving. Both Delroy Lindo and Chadwick Boseman received praise for their performances and the movie picked up an Oscar nomination for the score and a SAG nomination for the ensemble cast. This drama truly comes to life in 4K, as its difficult real-world themes hit home all the harder when the picture quality is as close to the fidelity of the human eye as possible.
14 El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019)
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie is an essential follow-up for fans of the award-winning television drama Breaking Bad. The crime thriller serves as an epilogue to the series and follows Jesse Pinkman in a continuation of the Breaking Bad story, following the events of the final episode. Actor Aaron Paul reprises his role as Pinkman and has received universal critical acclaim for his performance. The film earned four Emmy nominations for its continuation of the critically-acclaimed series. The bold cinematography and shots of the Painted Dessert landscape are bolstered by high-definition resolution.
13 The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
With The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, the award-winning duo of Joel and Ethan Coen take their genre-spanning approach to filmmaking to the American Western frontier. Set during the rugged post-Civil War settling of the Old West, Buster Scruggs is a dramatic anthology made up of six often humorous vignettes that showcase Western elements from gun slinging to robbery to gold panning. And indeed, the Coen brothers struck gold with the film, nabbing three nominations at the 2018 Academy Awards. This was the first Coen brothers’ film to be shot digitally, allowing for the crisp high-resolution capture of the magnificent Western landscape.
12 The Two Popes (2019)
The Two Popes is a biographical drama that depicts the relationship between Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the current Pope Francis. It has received high praise for its screenplay by Anthony McCarten based on his play The Pope, as well as spectacular performances by Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce. McCarten, Hopkins, and Pryce all received nominations at the 2019 Academy Awards, with Hopkins and Pryce both picking up acting nominations for Best Actor (Pryce) and Best Supporting Actor (Hopkins). This visually stunning film has shots from Rome and Buenos Aires, and a full reproduction of the Sistine Chapel interior was created for authenticity.
11 The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)
Aaron Sorkin took the director’s chair for the biographical drama The Trial of the Chicago 7 in 2020. The movie told the story of the seven anti-Vietnam War protesters charged with conspiracy and intention to incite riots during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The cast had some major names involved, including Sacha Baron Cohen, John Carroll Lynch, Frank Langella, Eddie Redmaybe, Jeremy Strong, and Mark Rylance. It stands as one of the best 4K movies on Netflix thanks to its numerous awards recognition, including six Oscar and five Golden Globe nominations, although it only won one Glove award for Best Screenplay.
10 The Woman King (2022)
One of the most overlooked movies in award season in 2022 was the Viola Davis-led The Woman King. The movie was a fictional historical action movie about the Agojie, an all-female warrior race who protected the kingdom of Dahomey in West Africa from the 17th through the 19th centuries. Davis was a general who trained the next generation of warriors in the 1820s, just in time to battle new invaders to their lands. Despite the Oscars ignoring it, the movie remains one of the best 4K movies on Netflix, winning two NAACP Awards and six Black Reel Awards. From a cinematography perspective The Woman King makes exceptional use of color, driving forth a mix of deliberate eathy hues in almost every shot and making exceptional use of filters and tinting to drive the mood of a scene — aspects that viewing in 4K UHD make all the plainer.
9 RRR (2022)
Not all the best 4K movies on Netflix are award-winning masterpieces. Some of the movies were just meant to be a spectacle. However, with RRR, it was able to hit both of the sweet spots between critics and fans and was an immediate success on the streaming giant. The 2022 Telugu movie featured two Indian revolutionaries (Charan and Rama Rao) and focused on their friendship and their battle against the British Raj. The movie was explosive and a perfect movie to test out any high-definition home entertainment system. It also won an Oscar and Golden Gloe for Best Original Song as well as several critics’ organization awards. RRR is an unparalleled spectacle, and one of the movies so steeped in what it shows as much as the story it’s telling that viewing in 4K is a near-necessity.
8 Tick, Tick … Boom! (2021)
In 2021, Lin-Manuel Miranda made his directorial debut and ended up with one of the best 4K movies on Netflix as a result. His topic of choice was perfect considering his theater background, as he told the story of Jonathan Larson, the man who created the play Rent. Andrew Garfield took on the role of Larson in this musical drama and showed audiences how good of an actor he really was. Garfield won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance, and picked up an Oscar nomination for Tick, Tick… Boom! to boot. However, it’s the Oscar nomination for Best Film Editing that best explains why it’s ranked so highly among Netflix’s 4K movies, as the cinematography in Tick, Tick… Boom! is almost unrivaled as far as 2021 releases go.
7 Mank (2020)
In 2020, David Fincher took a break from his crime dramas to create a biographical drama about screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz. Shot in black and white, Mank told the story of the man who wrote Citizen Kane at the time in his life when he was working on that movie while seeing his life fall apart around him. Gary Oldman starred as Mankiewicz and the movie looks amazing, making it one of the best 4K movies on Netflix to seek out for anyone who wants to see the crisp beautiful black-and-white photography — showcasing that what 4K viewing can do for form is just as important as what it does for color. The movie earned 10 Oscar nominations, although it only won for Production Design and Cinematography.
6 Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022)
It says a lot that a film director can create a movie using stop-motion animation and still deliver a product that looks as amazing as it does in high definition. That is what makes Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio one of the best 4K movies on Netflix, and it could arguably be used as justification for why the upgrade to 4K UHD is worth it. Del Toro told the story from the classic 1883 Italian Pinocchio novel while remaining influenced by illustrations in a 2002 edition of the book. While this means the story might not be as familiar for those who only know the Disney animated classic, it helped the movie reach great acclaim, winning both the Oscar and Golden Globes Awards for Best Animation Feature Film.
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
