Netflix has gone and added another diverse batch of movies to its platform this month. The streamer’s May additions include one of 2025’s best horror movies, an underrated sports drama, a practically perfect heist thriller that continues to age like fine wine and a pair of delightful, must-see animated gems. Netflix subscribers do not, in other words, have to worry anytime soon about having nothing new to watch.
Here are seven of the best movies that are now streaming on Netflix in May.
“Heart Eyes” (2025)
A blood-soaked horror comedy, “Heart Eyes” definitely is not for the faint of, well, heart. Directed by Josh Ruben and co-written by “Freaky” and “Happy Death Day” filmmaker Christopher Landon, the film follows a pair of co-workers (Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding) who find themselves mistakenly targeted as a couple by a ruthless, masked serial killer known as the “Heart Eyes Killer.” Released a week before Valentine’s Day, the film is a holiday-themed slasher movie that has just as much fun mocking cringy romantic clichés as it does making heads explode and fall off — and it does all of those things quite enthusiastically.
It is a horror movie made for both die-hard fans of the genre and casual moviegoers in the mood for a fun, silly slasher thriller. In many ways, that makes it a perfect addition to Netflix’s film library this month.
“Ali” (2001)
One of the most underrated films that “Collateral” and “Heat” director Michael Mann has ever made, 2001’s “Ali” is an imperfect but striking, spirited biopic about a pivotal 10-year period in the life of boxer Muhammad Ali (a suitably charismatic Will Smith). Trying to explore the life of one of America’s most electrifying athletes is a tall, difficult task, but it is one that “Ali” accepts without hesitation. It is not as cohesive or thematically rich as some of Mann’s other classics, but “Ali” features some of the director’s boldest filmmaking.
Its incredible opening 10-minute montage needs to be seen to be believed, and that is to say nothing of the minutes in which Mann later builds to and executes the first meeting, dance and hook-up between Smith’s Ali and Sonji Roi (Jada Pinkett Smith). These sequences, among many others, combine to create a kaleidoscopic cinematic experience that is as outwardly admirable as it is narratively and stylistically engaging.
“Ocean’s Eleven” (2001)
Director Steven Soderbergh’s entire “Ocean’s” trilogy has arrived on Netflix this month, and you can take your pick between which of the three films (2001’s “Ocean’s Eleven,” 2004’s “Ocean’s Twelve” and 2007’s “Ocean’s Thirteen”) is the best. All three are worth your time and attention (this writer has a lot of affection, in particular, for the stoner comedy and sweeping European romance of “Ocean’s Twelve”), but “Ocean’s Eleven” is generally agreed to be the best of the bunch.
A heist movie for the ages, the film features a star-studded ensemble cast led by Brad Pitt and George Clooney, and it follows its central crew of thieves and career criminals as they execute an ambitious plan to rob the vaults of three Las Vegas casinos all owned by the same, powerful businessman (Andy Garcia). Stylish, extravagant and bursting with so much Movie Star charisma that it is practically blinding, “Ocean’s Eleven” is one of those rare films that feels impossible to dislike. It is the Platonic ideal of what a star-driven Hollywood blockbuster can — and arguably should — be.
“American Graffiti” (1973)
Before he changed cinema forever with 1977’s “Star Wars,” George Lucas made waves throughout Hollywood with his modest, immersive 1973 dramedy, “American Graffiti.” A clear influence on Richard Linklater’s “Dazed and Confused,” the film follows a group of American teenagers as they spend the last night of summer making memorable connections, searching for answers to their biggest questions, listening to the radio and cruising around the streets of 1962 Modesto, California.
Featuring an ensemble cast of then up-and-coming actors, including Richard Dreyfuss, Charles Martin Smith and Harrison Ford, “American Graffiti” is a lovingly crafted portrait of a time that has come and gone and yet still feels timeless. It is a near-perfect film about growing up, coming of age and realizing, as all teenagers do when they finish high school, that nothing lasts forever.
“Crazy, Stupid, Love” (2011)
A romantic comedy that crackles with life, romance and clever humor, “Crazy, Stupid, Love” is one of the rare rom-com classics released by Hollywood in the 2010s, a decade that proved to be one of the very worst for the genre. Written by “This is Us” creator Dan Fogelman, the ensemble comedy charts the highs and lows of a series of interconnected love stories that are kickstarted by Cal Weaver’s (Steve Carell) attempt to rebound from his unexpected separation from his longtime wife and high school sweetheart, Emily (Julianne Moore).
Cal gets taken under the wing of Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling), a handsome, smooth-talking playboy who ends up falling in love with Hannah (Emma Stone), a disarming law school graduate who quickly gets the better of him. Gosling’s comedic chemistry with Carell is electric, as is his romantic chemistry with Stone. Their pairing in “Crazy, Stupid, Love” briefly turned them into one of Hollywood’s favorite screen duos, and when you watch the film, it is not hard to see why.
“Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit” (2005)
Like the next film on this list, “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit” is an animated movie that can hold your attention and make you laugh no matter how old you are. The stop-motion film follows its eponymous, endlessly lovable heroes as they embark on a new venture as pest control agents. The profession forces them to come to the aid of a town plagued by rabbits that threaten to derail its annual vegetable competition. Eventually, they find their paths crossed with that of a giant, monstrous rabbit.
A good-hearted, clever parody of classic, 1930s Hollywood monster movies, “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit” is an infectiously joyful, smartly written romp that deserves your time just as much as any other animated film streaming on Netflix right now.
“The Wild Robot” (2024)
One of the best animated films of recent memory, “The Wild Robot” is finally making its way to Netflix on May 24. Directed by “Lilo & Stitch” director Chris Sanders, the animated film follows Roz (Lupita Nyong’o), a service robot who ends up shipwrecked on an island and left with no one to help or take care of aside from the island’s animal inhabitants and a baby, orphaned goose (Kit Connor).
Based on a 2016 novel of the same name by Peter Brown, “The Wild Robot” follows Roz as she slowly but surely becomes the matriarch of a dense, diverse found family, all while also struggling to deal with the challenges of parenting. Moving and beautifully animated, “The Wild Robot” soars to emotional and visual heights that are genuinely breathtaking. It is the rare animated film that actually feels made for the whole family.
