These 20 Netflix Original Movies From 2019 Are Seriously Works of Art

Set in Auckland, NZ, this hilarious rom-com follows platonic, codependent, cynical besties (who only became friends when they learned that they were dating the same guy) and the agency they run together to help clients break up with their significant others, which usually involves some pretty unorthodox methods. The onscreen chemistry between writer-director-star duo Jackie van Beek and Madeleine Sami will make you wish that both the actress and their characters, Jen and Mel, were your BFFs IRL.

Watch The Breaker Upperers on Netflix.

This sports drama, which stars Moonlight's André Holland and Atlanta's Zazie Beetz, follows a sports agent who pitches a rookie basketball player on a potentially problematic business proposition, and - like director Steven Soderbergh's Unsane - the movie was shot entirely on an iPhone. It's beautifully acted, almost uncomfortably intimate at times, and so subtly political that you don't realize its incredible power until it's over.

Watch High Flying Bird on Netflix.

This Danish 19th-century drama (based on the heartbreaking epic by Henrik Pontoppidan) tells the story of a pastor's son who decides to break free from his devoutly religious family in Western Denmark to pursue a career in engineering, never expecting to fall in love with a progressive, intellectual Jewish woman who will never be accepted by his family. The movie is one of the most expensive Danish film productions in history, and when you see the incredible costuming and period detail, you'll be glad the producers made the investment.

Watch A Fortunate Man on Netflix.

This Taiwanese dark comedy follows a recently bereaved widow who drags her teenage son into a complicated financial dispute when she learns that her late husband left his inheritance to someone else: his free-spirited gay lover, creating the most complicated love triangle ever. The movie manages to be both heartwarming and heartbreaking, and the characters are so nuanced and believable that you'll feel as though you know them personally by the end.

Watch Dear Ex on Netflix.

This Chinese mystery thriller revolves around Lok, a tireless police officer attempting to track down a Chinese migrant worker who disappeared from a land reclamation site in Singapore, only to discover that another Bengali worker - a friend of the first worker - has also gone missing. Though it's difficult to feel any empathy for the characters, the whole movie feels like a dark dream that you can't help but be drawn into.

Watch A Land Imagined on Netflix.

Based on a manga of the same name by Kyoko Okazaki, this dark Japanese comedy-drama takes place in a 1990s Tokyo suburb, telling the story of a teen girl who befriends the school outcast, a relationship that becomes complicated when he tells her about the dead body he found near the riverside. It will definitely remind you of the 1987 Keanu Reeves movie of the same name, and even though it's a bit of a bummer, it's too raw, poignant, and smart to miss.

Watch River's Edge on Netflix.

In Netflix's first original film from Nigeria, Lionheart revolves around a competent but overlooked young woman named Adaeze who must find a way to work alongside her eccentric uncle, Godswill, in order to save her father's failing bus company. The insanely talented Genevieve Nnaji both stars in and directed the movie, and if you're in need of a fun, lighthearted flick, this is the perfect pick.

Watch Lionheart on Netflix.

Starring Everybody Loves Raymond's Ray Romano and The League's Mark Duplass (who also served as writer and director), this Sundance drama follows two neighbors who form an unlikely bond after Duplass's character is diagnosed with terminal cancer. It's a slow burn, but it pays off in a big way, and you're going to want to keep your box of tissues close.

Watch Paddleton on Netflix.

This brilliant biographical comedy film stars Eddie Murphy as Rudy Ray Moore, a raunchy comedian who rose to prominence in the late 1960s and is best known for his character of Dolemite, a character he often played in his stand-up routines, as well as the feature character and urban hero in a 1975 American blaxploitation crime film. Wesley Snipes, Craig Robinson, Tituss Burgess, and Keegan-Michael Key are also in the film, so you know it's got to be good.

Watch Dolemite Is My Name on Netflix.

In this incredibly cool sci-fi drama, two science geek best friends, C.J. and Sebastian, work together to create a time machine that will allow them to save C.J.'s brother, who was wrongfully killed by a police officer. This movie perfectly combines science fiction with social relevance, and it revolves around characters we don't see nearly as often as we should: brilliant black teens creating and excelling.

Watch See You Yesterday on Netflix.

This dramedy stars Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson as a New York City theater director and his wife, a former teen actress turned stage performer. Charlie and Nicole's already rocky marriage comes apart after Nicole accepts a starring role in a TV pilot and moves to Los Angeles with their son, and the movie follows the subsequent unraveling of their lives together. If you need a good ugly cry, this one is for you.

Watch it now.

Based on the Chicago South Side hip-hop scene, this coming-of-age drama stars Anthony Anderson as a disgraced former artist manager, and 17-year-old newcomer Khalil Everage as the agoraphobic hip-hop prodigy he takes under his wing. Orange is the New Black's Uzo Aduba and artists Dave East and Dreezy are also in the film, helping to round out the cast of complex characters that make this movie so special.

Watch Beats on Netflix.

Based on Anthony McCarten's 2017 play The Pope, this biographical dramedy stars Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce as conservative Pope Benedict XVI and liberal Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio (i.e. the future Pope Francis), centering on their relationship as they attempt to forge a new path for the Catholic Church together, despite their wildly different opinions. You definitely don't have to be Catholic to appreciate the tender, unexpected bond that forms between these two.

Watch The Two Popes on Netflix.

Based on Charles Brandt's true-crime novel I Heard You Paint Houses, this Martin Scorsese film revolves around the scandalous life of Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran, a mob hitman who was known for his connection with mob boss Russell Bufalino and supposed involvement in union leader Jimmy Hoffa's death. Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci star, and if you have three-and-a-half hours to spare, this one is well worth your time.

Watch The Irishman on Netflix.

This French-language romance takes place in a suburb of Dakar, Senegal, where 17-year-old Ada falls in love with a young construction worker named Souleiman and mourns him when he and his disgruntled workers sail away - and it is only on her wedding day to another man that Ada learns her lover has returned. It's beautiful and heart-wrenching, and you would never know that this was Senegalese writer-director Mati Diop's debut film.

Watch Atlantics on Netflix.

This rom-com, starring stand-up queen Ali Wong and Fresh Off the Boat's Randall Park (as well as a bunch of other amazing actors), follows childhood sweethearts who reconnect as adults in incredibly different socioeconomic situations, 15 years after a dramatic falling out. It's adorable without being cheesy, it's hilarious without trying too hard, and it features what might be the best Keanu Reaves cameo of all time.

Watch Always Be My Maybe on Netflix.

With an insane cast that includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalia Dyer, Toni Colette, Rene Russo, and John Malkovich, this horror-thriller tells the story of a series of paintings by an unknown artist, which, after they are discovered, release a supernatural force that exacts revenge on those who value profit over art for art's sake. We guarantee you've never seen a thriller quite like this one.

Watch Velvet Buzzsaw on Netflix.

Starring Jane the Virgin's Gina Rodriguez, Pitch Perfect's Brittany Snow, and She's Gotta Have It's DeWanda Wise, this comedy tells the story of aspiring music journalist Jenny (played by Rodriguez), whose boyfriend of nine years unceremoniously dumps her as soon as she lands her dream job in San Francisco. However, her two BFFs, Blair and Erin (played by Snow and Wise, respectively), are there to help her get over her ex with one last crazy weekend in New York City before she moves across the country, and they seriously deliver.

Watch it now.

In this wild French animated film, a severed hand from a dissection lab makes it way through Paris in the hope of reuniting with the young man it was once attached to: a pizza boy named Naoufel in love with a librarian named Gabrielle. Bizarre? Yes. Unexpectedly gorgeous? Definitely.

Watch I Lost My Body on Netflix.

Allison Williams stars in this intense thriller as a cello prodigy who is forced to abandon music after a family tragedy, only to return to performing years later with the help of a rising new star, played by Logan Browning. This movie may not be perfection, but with all its twists, turns, and thrills, Williams and Browning deliver a terrifying and totally unique tale of revenge.

Watch The Perfection on Netflix.