309 Best Original Movies to Watch (Page 19)

With most of early January 2024’s slate focused on fantasy, Metallic Rouge is a fairly decent cyberpunk refresher. With fantastic, mostly 2D animation, studio Bones’ 25th Anniversary project has spectacular mecha match-ups between government android Rouge Redstar versus various members of the excellently designed Immortal Nine, as well as humorous, expository banter from Rouge’s human partner Naomi Orthmann. But it’s the mystery that drives interest in the show, as Nean androids and humans share a world, but not the same status, and the origins of the artificial intelligence bots seem to link with a previous alien invasion that pushed humanity into further space exploration. It’s an interesting premise, and the structure is definitely unusual, but with Bones’ track record, we’re expecting that it’ll all come together by the end of Metallic Rouge.

Genre: Action & Adventure, Animation, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Actor: Atsushi Miyauchi, Chiaki Kobayashi, Hiroyuki Yoshino, Kazuyuki Okitsu, Kenjiro Tsuda, Shunsuke Takeuchi, Tomoyo Kurosawa, Yu Shimamura, Yui Ogura, Yume Miyamoto

Director: Yutaka Izubuchi

Rating: TV-14

1990s Los Angeles was both glamorous and seedy, and it’s this murky territory that filmmaker Lisa Nova (Rosa Salazar) enters as she tries to make her movie dreams a reality. Lisa is ambitious and polite enough—if not a bit naive—but when she gets screwed over, she enlists the help of a mysterious stranger (played to witchy perfection by Catherine Keener) and, together, they brew their revenge. Things then take a turn for the supernatural in this ambitious, eerie thriller that will surely sate any David Lynch fan’s appetite. 

Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Actor: Catherine Keener, Daniel Doheny, Eric Lange, Hannah Levien, Jeff Ward, Manny Jacinto, Mark Acheson, Rosa Salazar

Rating: 18+

Before the late 2000s, people didn’t have social networking sites like Facebook and Instagram to connect with loved ones from afar, but every family reunion, there’s still some posturing in order to feel accepted by older family members. Analog Squad takes this to the extreme as Pond hires actors in order to act out the perfect family. It’s… an interesting solution. This premise naturally delivers some comedic hijinks, as lies pile up over time, but it also drives the plot as it creates two mysteries: 1) What happened that was so bad that Pond needed to resort to this? And 2) Who is crazy enough to accept this job? It takes a while to get there, and the story is uneven between the fake family members, but the ensemble charms Pond’s family (and the viewers) with ease as Analog Squad explores how loving families end up being dysfunctional.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Bhumibhat Thavornsiri, Kritsanapoom Pibulsonggram, Kullanat Preeyawat, Nopachai Jayanama, Surasee Ithikul, Wipawee Patnasiri

Director: Nithiwat Tharathorn

African Folktales Reimagined is exactly what it says in the tin. The anthology isn’t exactly a cohesive, one-plot show – it’s a collection of folktale-inspired short films from six different countries, by six different filmmakers, funded by grants from a rare Netflix-UNESCO partnership. As such, the collection features a variety of genres and styles. If you like Westerns, you might want to watch Katera of the Punishment Island. If you’re into Afrofuturistic sci-fi, try watching Halima’s Choice first. Into supernatural stories? Watch Enmity Djinn. Katope and MaMlambo lean more on the fantastical side of the folklore, while Anyango and the Ogre feels like a straightforward drama. It’s a fairly varied collection, and there’s something here for everyone. African Folktales Reimagined takes a modern twist to the folktales that shaped the continent.

Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Rating: TV-MA

Netflix released yet another coming-of-age show, and this time it’s a lovely coastal vacation set in the Polish seaside. Absolutely Beginners feels familiar, as the quirky protagonists set out to make a short film, they also get into a trio with someone living in the area. It’s not quite a love triangle though, even if the series is marked as romance, and even with its limited runtime, it’s dedicated to building up the friendship between the three. And this friendship is portrayed in such a tender and sweet way that respects both their unique dynamic and their individual paths.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Bartłomiej Deklewa, Jan Sałasiński, Kefas Brand, Martyna Byczkowska

Rating: TV-MA

Based on the 2019 Taiwanese drama, A Time Called You is a fresh take on the time travel romance with its unique premise and structure. The series seamlessly shifts between the decades, flitting between them with ease. It simultaneously introduces both couples on separate, parallel timelines, 1998 at the start of the love triangle, with 2023 at the untimely end of Jun-hee’s. These two timelines merge through time travel via a gifted cassette tape. Because of these shifts, the show creates the expected nostalgia, but it also effectively drives the show’s mystery, as Jun-hee tries to figure out the photo and the trio on it. While the show takes its sweet time doing so, A Time Called You twists the heart in exploring the grief of lost love, and the hope for a second chance.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Ahn Hyo-seop, Jeon Yeo-been, Kang Hoon

Director: Kim Jin-won

Rating: TV-MA

Obliterated brings back the raunchy, yet epic ‘90s action through an inter-organization task force from the best of the best. From the team of Cobra Kai, it was expected to bring back some nostalgia, and it delivers with crazy, coked-up shenanigans with over-the-top explosions and great fight scenes in the neon-lit party city of Las Vegas. That being said, the actual story spreads thin across eight episodes, and the story beats are familiar if you’ve watched plenty of action films before, but it’s totally entertaining as they scramble around to get their wits together to be sober enough to fight old school Russian terrorists.

Genre: Action & Adventure, Comedy, Drama

Actor: Alyson Gorske, C. Thomas Howell, Eugene Kim, Kimi Rutledge, Nick Zano, Paola Lázaro, Shelley Hennig, Terrence Terrell

Rating: TV-MA