To be honest, we actually kind of like watching movies by ourselves. It takes a certain amount of energy to watch a movie with someone else, especially if one of you has seen it before and the other hasn’t.
Sometimes you’re just not in the mood to socialize at all, even the relatively low-maintenance socializing required by paying attention to and talking about the same movie.
Also, for most of us, there just aren’t always other people hanging around ready to watch whatever movie we feel like watching at the moment.
So hey, no judgment if you’re looking for movies to watch by yourself. We’re happy to help, and more specifically, we’re excited to help you find some really good movies to watch alone on Netflix.
We’ve opted for several Netflix Original Films, which means that all of these movies are basically guaranteed to stick around on the streaming service for many years to come, unless Netflix itself implodes, and hey, anything could happen.
There’s not too much else to say here, so let’s just jump right in.
Friendly Comedy: Mascots (2016)
From filmmaker/actor Christopher Guest and actor/general TV guy Ricky Gervais, Mascots is a mokumentary, that is, a fake documentary that’s comedic in nature.
It’s about professional mascots who are gearing up for a big competition that’s going to be aired on a very small cable television channel.
Each character is presented in a comedic way, but you also never really feel that the movie is trying to make fun of its characters. It’s not. Impressively, the movie makes basically all of these characters sympathetic, except for maybe one or two who seem to continuously make terrible decisions.
It’s a very easy movie to watch, and an even easier movie to rewatch again and again.
Animated Adventure: Hilda: The Mountain King (2021)
If animated movies are your bag, we’ve got you covered. In fact, we have another animated movie here in the mix, but first up is Hilda: The Mountain King, which is also sometimes formatted as Hilda and the Mountain King. We don’t really know why.
Anyway, the movie is an extension of the Hilda animated series, which is delightful and works well for audiences of just about any age group.
Long story short, at the start of this movie, the title character has been turned into a troll and has to return to her human body/life.
It’s not the most original set-up, but the Hilda team has always done an excellent job of infusing stories with a particular tone that balances excitement and action with heart and joy.
This is a fun little movie. Not groundbreaking, not mind-blowing, but very, very good.
Goofy Fun: Bad Trip (2021)
Bad Trip isn’t a smart movie. It’s not an especially well-made movie. No disrespect to the cast and crew. It’s not really meant to be an Oscar flick.
This movie is for getting you to belly laugh hard, so hard you’ll be glad that no one was watching along with you.
Comedian Eric Andre stars as a guy trying to get from one place to the other on a road trip, but the real point of the movie is to show Andre doing some real-world prank material and capturing the reactions, which make up basically the entire movie.
They went to some real lengths to put this together, and it’s worth watching just for spectacle, honestly.
Animation Excellence: The Mitchells Vs. the Machines (2021)
Early last year, Sony released this impressive family film direct to Netflix after their plans for a full-fledged theatrical release fell through.
It’s about a family who are driving their daughter out to college when a big ol’ world-ending event starts up, and as it turns out, the Mitchell family is in a position to try and save the world.
Everything is made more interesting by the family’s averageness. They don’t have any especially useful abilities, but the romp is a chance for them to reconnect and rediscover the value of family or something like that.
The visuals are the star of the show, featuring creative and innovative art that immediately set this movie apart.
Inspirational Doc: My Octopus Teacher (2020)
The less we say about this one, the better. Basically, an individual spends a year doing some diving and meets up with a female octopus. A relationship forms, which might sound a bit strange, but it’s actually heartwarming.
It’s an inspirational documentary that’s worth watching, and it’s just waiting for you right there on Netflix.
Western But Better: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
The Western genre can have some pretty heavy luggage attached to it, especially for any of us who grew up seeing old Westerns on TV, most of them slow as molasses and just as stimulating.
Yeah yeah, there are some great Westerns in the annals of film history, but not everyone knows how to find ‘em.
Thankfully, the Coen brothers made an extremely entertaining modern Western that also seems to be homaging many of their favorites from years past.
With a star-studded cast and a handful of relatively short vignettes that it dances its way through, the movie makes itself accessible and delivers all kinds of emotional range during its runtime.
Straight Drama: Marriage Story (2019)
Marriage Story was a real big deal back in 2019 when it originally released, with plenty of Oscar buzz behind it in the run-up to the ceremony. It didn’t end up being the biggest winner, but for anyone who’s seen the movie, it’s definitely not an easy one to forget.
As the header suggests, this is not at all a light watch. Despite the title, this is a movie all about divorce, and yeah, by extension, also marriage, but a marriage gone so wrong that even the process of breaking it up devolves into extreme discomfort and financial risk.
You won’t be laughing up a storm, but if you’re in the mood for drama and maybe want to cry for a while in a quiet room, then this is the pick. Just don’t make plans to watch this one with a romantic partner in the future. It might send the wrong message.
Glitterati*Lobotomy 