Best Netflix Original Movies of 2023

Netflix Originals like Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio, Enola Holmes 2, and The Grey Man made 2022 a fantastic year for customers. While several of the streaming service’s movies fell short of expectations like A Madea Homecoming and Marmaduke were especially poor, there were still more highlights than lowlights, which is encouraging given the service’s price increase.

Hence, there are far too many for us to describe here, and we think you should add a select number to your watchlist. Please look at our list of 2023’s “most anticipated films” and let us know which films you’re looking forward to the most.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley

The fourth Beverly Hills Cop film is in production and will premiere on Netflix by the end of the year. Eddie Murphy is back in his signature role, and while details on the plot are scant at the moment, fans can anticipate the same blend of comedy and measures that made the first two films in the series so successful. Several other familiar faces from the series will appear alongside Murphy, such as Judge Reinhold as Detective Billy Rosewood, John Ashton as Sergeant Taggart, and Bronson Pinchot as the feisty art gallery salesman Serge! Also starring are Kevin Bacon and Joseph Gordon Levitt, with the new film looking to improve upon the third Beverly Hills Cop instalment by returning to the formulaic style of the original.

Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget

The hens from Tweedy property have returned, but they are no longer residents of the property; they have escaped to a nearby island, safe from being turned into pie filling. However, as they get to their new home, they learn that all chickens are in danger; the title suggests that this is because they risk being transformed into chicken nuggets. While narrative specifics are being kept under wraps, we hope the sequel will be as hilarious and endearing as the first. The original cast members of Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget are Jane Horrocks, Imelda Staunton, and Lynn Ferguson will return to voice Babs, Bunty, and Mac, respectively. Still, Thandiwe Newton and Zachary Levi will now provide the original Ginger and Rocky voices, played by Julie Sawalha and Mel Gibson.

Extraction 2

Chris Hemsworth reprises his role as mercenary Tyler Rake (David Spade and Patrick Mower were already taken) in this critically acclaimed Netflix original film sequel. The summary for Extraction 2 suggests that Rake will be challenged with performing an extraction at one of the world’s worst jails to save a family from a gangster. Does he manage to save their lives? However, based on the story we know, Rake becomes a retribution target after the gangster’s death.

Havoc

Gareth Evans, who previously directed Indonesian martial arts blockbusters including The Raid and Merentau, helmed this latest Tom Hardy action flick. The Venom star portrays an investigator who battles his way through Cardiff’s criminal underground to save the estranged son of a local politician, uncovering a web of corruption and conspiracy that spans the entire city in the process. We don’t know much about the plot. Still, if it’s like Evans’ other flicks, Hardy’s detective character will engage in brutal fisticuffs and possibly even explosive stunt work.

Rebel Moon – Part 1

According to online accounts, Zach Snyder’s space epic was originally conceived as a Star Wars film. However, after Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, his ideas were scrapped, and the script was modified to fit into a completely different universe. The story follows a young woman (Sofia Boutella) on a globe in a galaxy far, far away, as she gathers a band of warriors from around the galaxy to fight a despotic adversary as part of a resistance force.

The Mothership

In the upcoming science fiction film, Halle Berry plays Sara Morse, a woman who finds an alien artefact buried beneath her house some months after her husband disappears. Is there a bond between this and his becoming missing? The facts are out there, but we won’t know what they are until we watch this Spielberg-esque film for ourselves when it finally arrives on Netflix.

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

The soon-to-be-released film is directed by Wes Anderson and is based on a small story by Roald Dahl about a man named Henry Sugar who gets into a string of escapades after finding a book that can tell the future. The film features an all-star cast, led by Benedict Cumberbatch as the film’s sugary-sounding title character and also starring Dev Patel, Ralph Fiennes, and Ben Kingsley.

The Killer

David Fincher, director of Fight Club, adapts the French graphic novel of the same name into a neo-noir thriller about a professional assassin named Christian who is going insane while waiting for his next target. This is the second picture that Fincher has made for the streaming service, and it reunites him with Se7en screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker. Little more is known about the picture, but it boasts a stellar creative team and two of the biggest names in the world’s main acting industries, so Netflix should expect another smash.

The Shrinking of Treehorn

In his next computer-animated picture, filmmaker Ron Howard adapts Florence Parry Heide’s children’s book of the same name. Treehorn, a little boy whose parents fail to recognise his unexpected drop in size, stars in this holiday-themed musical, which takes place in New York City.

The streaming favor has produced some of the best-animated films in recent years, like Pinocchio and Klaus and The Sea Beast, so fans have high hopes for this. The fact that Howard is directing it and that the book is popular suggests that it will be terrific, but we won’t know until the end of the year when the buzz about the film has picked up significantly.

Maestro

Bradley Cooper directs and stars in this biography about the life of Leonard Bernstein, the great American conductor and composer who contributed to films including West Side Story and On the Waterfront. Carey Mulligan plays Bernstein’s wife, Felicia Montealegre, and Maya Hawke, who played Eleven in Stranger Things, plays their daughter. The film covers the last three decades of Bernstein’s life, focusing on his marriage to Felicia and his secret homosexuality, known to his wife but never revealed to the public. There is no chronic release date yet, but given its potential to be a major player in the 2024 awards season (for Best Actor, Best Director, and even Best Film), a release in late 2023 seems likely.

Conclusion

In conclusion, 2023 was another remarkable year for Netflix’s original movies. The streaming platform delivered a diverse range of compelling stories across various genres, captivating audiences around the globe. From enchanting fantasies and gripping thrillers to thought-provoking dramas and epic adventures, Netflix continued to push boundaries and redefine the standard for original content. With their commitment to innovation and storytelling, Netflix solidified its position as a powerhouse in the world of streaming entertainment, offering a wealth of captivating movies that catered to diverse tastes and preferences. As viewers eagerly await the next wave of Netflix originals, the bar has been set high for future releases, promising even more exceptional cinematic experiences.