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The Best Movies to Watch on Netflix Right Now
Ranked by Netflix's own published weekly viewership data (Netflix Tudum), not our own review scores — most of these haven't been reviewed on this site yet.
लेखक Alex Chen · अपडेट किया गया August 26, 2026
Facing El Chapo
A Mexican crime thriller dramatizing the real 2016 manhunt for Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, based on Operation Black Swan. Debuted at roughly 18 million views to become the No. 1 movie on Netflix globally.
Don't Say Good Luck
A coming-of-age musical dramedy starring Sunny Sandler, Melanie Lynskey, and Steve Buscemi. Topped Netflix's English-language film chart with 12.8 million views and holds a 93% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Last House
Our own reviewed pick on this list — a tense sci-fi thriller starring Greta Lee and Wagner Moura as parents facing an unexplained threat. No. 2 on Netflix's English film chart with 12 million views.
Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing
Rory Kennedy's follow-up to her 2022 documentary "Downfall," investigating Boeing's safety failures through the whistleblowers who tried to warn regulators. Holds a 74 Metacritic score.
72 Hours
Kevin Hart plays a 40-year-old ad executive dragged into a Gen Z bachelor party after an accidental group-text invite. Directed by Tim Story (Barbershop, Ride Along).
How we ranked these
This list isn’t our own editorial verdict — it’s Netflix’s own published weekly viewership numbers (via Netflix Tudum), ranked highest to lowest regardless of which of Netflix’s charts (English-language, non-English, or global) each title topped. Of the five movies here, only The Last House currently has a full Researched review on this site — the other four are included because they’re what’s genuinely trending right now, not because we’ve evaluated them ourselves yet.
FAQ
What’s the #1 movie on Netflix right now? Facing El Chapo, a Mexican crime thriller that debuted to roughly 18 million views and became the No. 1 movie on Netflix worldwide, per Netflix Tudum and ScreenRant’s reporting on its opening week.
Is Facing El Chapo based on a true story? Yes — it dramatizes Operation Black Swan, the real 2016 Mexican military operation that led to the recapture of drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, following two federal officers who unexpectedly encounter him during a routine traffic stop.
Is Don’t Say Good Luck appropriate to watch with the family? It’s a coming-of-age dramedy about a teenager navigating her mother’s cancer diagnosis alongside a school musical, so tone-wise it leans mature in places despite a lighter surface — check Netflix’s own maturity rating before watching with younger viewers, since we haven’t independently verified an official age rating for it.
Do I need to watch Downfall before Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing? No — Freefall stands alone, though it’s a direct follow-up to director Rory Kennedy’s 2022 documentary Downfall: The Case Against Boeing, and several critics have noted it revisits similar ground rather than introducing an entirely new investigation.
Is 72 Hours connected to any other Kevin Hart movie? Not that we found evidence of — it’s a standalone comedy directed by Tim Story, who also directed Barbershop, Think Like a Man, and the Ride Along films, but we didn’t find any indication it’s part of a series.
Why haven’t Facing El Chapo, Don’t Say Good Luck, Freefall, and 72 Hours been scored on this site yet? Because we haven’t watched and evaluated them ourselves — they’re on this list purely because Netflix’s own charts show they’re what people are actually watching this week. Once we do give one a full review, it’ll carry an honest evidence label like every other review on this site; see How We Review for what that means.
Sources: Netflix Tudum — Top 10 Movies and Shows, Week of August 17, 2026, ScreenRant — Facing El Chapo global streaming debut, Netflix Tudum — Facing El Chapo true story and cast, Netflix Tudum — Don’t Say Good Luck cast and plot, RogerEbert.com — Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing review, Netflix Tudum — 72 Hours plot and cast