Netflix‘s additions to its platform this month include a pair of underrated, wildly different gems from last year and a few bona fide film classics. Fortunately, the streamer’s March titles are a diverse bunch, too, which means that whether you’re in the mood for an entertaining thriller or a meditative drama, you will not have to look far for something to watch. You certainly can’t go wrong with any of the following seven films.
Here are TheWrap’s picks for the best new-to-Netflix movies streaming on the platform in March.
“Sicario” (2015)
Directed by Denis Villeneuve and written by “Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan, “Sicario” is a propulsive, nerve-wracking thriller about a naive FBI agent (Emily Blunt) who is recruited by a CIA officer (Josh Brolin) to join a joint task force assigned to hunt down the head of a ruthless drug cartel. Along the way, the ideals of Blunt’s Kate Macer are beaten down and shattered as she is forced to cross ethical and legal lines and is faced with remorseless rage and all-consuming grief in the form of Alejandro Gillick (Benicio del Toro), a former Mexican lawyer turned paid assassin.
Featuring more than a few tense, impeccably staged action sequences and a commanding performance from del Toro, “Sicario” introduced many to Sheridan’s now well-known style of brutal, unflinching screenwriting and Villeneuve’s skills as a master of mood and suspense. 10 years later, he has only repeatedly proven himself as a filmmaker capable of consistently holding your attention — no matter how large his canvas is. “Sicario” remains one of his most memorable and impressive achievements.
“Beginners” (2011)
One of the most underrated movies of its decade, writer-director Mike Mills’ “Beginners” is an observant, deeply moving dramedy about a man (Ewan McGregor) coming to terms with the deaths of his parents, all while falling in love with an illusive, similarly closed-off actress (Mélanie Laurent). The film features an Oscar-winning supporting performance from Christopher Plummer, who plays in flashbacks the elderly father of McGregor’s Oliver who came out as gay in his 70s. The film, inspired by Mills’ relationships with his own parents, uses a mix of still photographs, drawings and subdued cinematography to create a portrait of grief, love and emotional growth.
The film’s high point may be a montage in which McGregor’s Oliver reflects on his parents’ lives and hardships in relation to his bond with Laurent’s Anna, observing, “We didn’t go to war. We didn’t have to hide to have sex. Our good fortune allowed us to feel a sadness that our parents didn’t have time for — and a happiness that I never saw with them.” The journey to understanding both ourselves and those we love is a process that never ends. But that doesn’t mean we should stop doing either. “Beginners” reminds us of that.
“Blade Runner” (1982)
Ridley Scott’s 1982 classic, “Blade Runner,” is a mesmerizing cyberpunk dream. Set in a futuristic, alternate reality Los Angeles, the film follows Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a cynical cop assigned to hunt down a fugitive group of synthetic androids known as replicants. As Deckard sets out to kill his targets and their leader, the charismatic Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), he meets and falls in love with another replicant, Rachael (Sean Young). Their relationship forces him to question not only his own identity but also his conception of humanity itself — an inner conflict that reaches its climax in Deckard and Batty’s breathtaking, oft-quoted third act confrontation.
Butchered before its release by studio notes, “Blade Runner” has slowly, through multiple director cuts and re-releases, been returned to Scott’s original vision. The resulting film is, thanks to Scott’s atypically impressionistic direction, Jordan Cronenweth’s dreamy, neon-lit noir cinematography and Vangelis’ haunting, transportive score, a visually and sonically astounding sci-fi film about the power of connection and the importance of dreaming beyond one’s own assigned station. Its sequel isn’t bad, either.
“Do the Right Thing” (1989)
A classic that holds, in terms of its importance and enduring resonance, a uniquely powerful place in American film history, writer-director Spike Lee‘s “Do the Right Thing” is a dramedy of profound, scalding power. Unfolding over the course of one hot summer day, the film follows the diverse members of a Brooklyn neighborhood as the community’s various racial tensions gradually boil over. Featuring Lee’s trademark, jubilant style and typically unflinching perspective, the film is tense, bitingly funny, observant and heart-wrenching. Its final act is a masterclass in delicate yet fierce storytelling, and it is filled with affecting, overwhelming layers of sadness and rage.
Both ahead of its time and yet long overdue, “Do the Right Thing” is a considerate, unwavering examination of racism in America that leaves a lasting mark. Across its 120 minutes, Lee powerfully explores the ways in which minorities are taught to turn on each other rather than their oppressors and how obsessing about the things that separate us rather than bond us together is a self-destructive act that can have catastrophic consequences. Over the past 36 years, the film has not lost an ounce of its power.
“Black Hawk Down” (2001)
The second film on this list directed by Ridley Scott, “Black Hawk Down” is a unique entry in his filmography. The director is best known now for his often classical period epics (“Gladiator,” “Kingdom of Heaven”), but “Black Hawk Down” has little in common with those films, or even “Blade Runner” for that matter. Based on a 1999 non-fiction book by journalist Mark Bowden, the film dramatizes the real-life story of the military helicopter crew that crashed during the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu between the forces of the United Nations Operation in Somalia II and soldiers of the Somali National Alliance.
Featuring an impressive ensemble cast including Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Eric Bana, Tom Sizemore, Sam Shepard, Jason Isaacs, Hugh Dancy, Orlando Bloom, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Tom Hardy, it is a chaotic, pulse-pounding military thriller that feels like a purposefully grimy, explosive diversion away from the kind of stately dramas Scott had become better known for at the time. It is, by no means, Scott’s best film. It is, however, an infectiously anxious thriller, and it serves as further proof that Scott has a better handle on large-scale action filmmaking than *almost* any other Hollywood filmmaker of the past 40 years.
“Trap” (2024)
Hitchcockian in its style and choice of perspective, “Trap” is a demented, playful thriller from writer-director M. Night Shyamalan. Anchored by a spell-binding, diabolical lead performance from Josh Hartnett, “Trap” follows Cooper (Hartnett), a serial killer who realizes too late that the Eras Tour-esque concert he has taken his daughter (Ariel Donoghue) to is doubling as an FBI trap to catch him. A majority of the film’s runtime is dedicated to Cooper’s increasingly desperate attempts to evade the FBI, and when it was released last year, many moviegoers took issue with the thriller’s dubious dramatic logic and Shyamalan’s admittedly stilted dialogue.
“Trap” is, however, far better than its most passionate naysayers would have you believe. It is relentlessly entertaining and gleefully twisted — making it one of Shyamalan’s few films that actually feels like it is in on the joke. In its interest in the nature of evil and its desire to make the audience root for the bad guy, “Trap” is also a fitting, refreshingly modern companion to the kind of darkly funny, perverse thrillers that Alfred Hitchcock and Brian de Palma once built their careers making. There are not enough mainstream films like it nowadays, which only makes watching “Trap” that much more enjoyable.
“The Outrun” (2024)
Another 2024 gem, “The Outrun” was not nearly as divisive as “Trap,” nor was it as widely seen. If you missed it last year, you should seek it out now. Based on a memoir by Amy Liptrot, director Nora Fingscheidt’s drama follows Rona (Saoirse Ronan), a young woman struggling with alcoholism who moves to London, experiences love, excitement and heartbreak and then returns home to Scotland’s Orkney Islands to rehabilitate herself. The film, which flew under the radar last year, sometimes loses control of its non-linear structure, and its unflinching depiction of its protagonist’s alienating, self-destructive struggles with alcoholism may make it too difficult for some to watch.
Those who give “The Outrun” their time and attention, though, will be rewarded. It is a vibrant, bold film about how hard it can be to recenter after you lose your footing, as well as the difficulty of finding new ways to feel rooted in the world that don’t require you to destroy yourself. It also might just feature the best performance of Ronan’s career to date, and that is saying a lot, considering she had already cemented herself as one of the greatest actresses of her generation long before 2024.
