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The 10 most popular movies on Netflix right now

Netflix is one of the most popular streaming services in the world, with more than 220 million subscribers. And just what do those people tend to watch? In particular, what is the most popular movie on Netflix?

Each week, the streaming service releases a list of its 10 most-watched movies over the preceding seven days. Below, we’ve listed the top 10 movies in the U.S. from July 24 to July 30, along with general information about each film, such as genre, rating, cast, and synopsis.

A young couple sits next to each other on rocks in Happiness for Beginners.
HAPPINESS FOR BEGINNERS (2023) (L to R) Luke Grimes as Jake and Ellie Kemper as Helen / Barbara Nitke/NETFLIX

Looking for something else? We’ve also rounded up the best shows on Netflix, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Amazon Prime, and the best movies on Disney+. For Netflix fans, check out the 10 most popular shows on Netflix right now.

10. The Boss Baby (2017)

10. The Boss Baby
50%
6.3/10
pg
97m
Genre
Animation, Comedy, Family
Stars
Alec Baldwin, Steve Buscemi, Miles Bakshi
Directed by
Tom McGrath
Watch on Netflix

Boss Baby (Alec Baldwin) is not your typical infant. Boss Baby wears a suit and tie, carries a briefcase, and acts like a boss (pun intended). When he arrives home from the hospital, Boss Baby meets his 7-year-old brother Tim (Miles Bakshi; Tobey Maguire voices Adult Tim), beginning a sibling rivalry. However, Boss Baby takes pity on his older brother after he’s grounded and reveals his plans to Tim.

Boss Baby is on a mission to investigate the recent uptick in adults’ love for puppies while making babies the dominant force in their parents’ lives again. Boss Baby incorporates a fairly high concept for children, but at the end of the day, it’s a kids’ movie, so there are plenty of bathroom jokes and friendly bits that will make children laugh.

9. Unknown: Cosmic Time Machine (2023)

9. Unknown: Cosmic Time Machine
7.2/10
g
64m
Genre
Documentary
Directed by
Shai Gal
Watch on Netflix
The fourth and final film in the Unknown docuseries is Unknown: Cosmic Time Machine, a behind-the-scenes look into NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. What is this device? The James Webb Telescope is the largest telescope in space designed to view far into the universe as it can see through fields of matter and dust. The goal is to gain a better understanding of the galaxy “where creation happened.” How did we get here? With the James Webb Telescope, one scientist believes it’s the “next giant leap in the search for life.”

8. The Out-Laws (2023)

8. The Out-Laws
36%
5.4/10
r
95m
Genre
Romance, Action, Comedy
Stars
Pierce Brosnan, Adam DeVine, Nina Dobrev
Directed by
Tyler Spindel
Watch on Netflix

Meeting your in-laws is scary, but what if your in-laws are criminals? That’s the premise of The Out-Laws, the new action comedy starring Adam DeVine. The film follows DeVine’s Owen Browning, a bank manager set to marry Parker (Nina Dobrev). During the wedding week, Owen’s bank is robbed by a famous group of notorious criminals, the Ghost Bandits.

Things take an interesting turn when Owen believes Parker’s parents — Billy (Pierce Brosnan) and Lilly (Ellen Barkin) — are the Ghost Bandits. When Parker is kidnapped, Owen must team up with the Ghost Bandits to rescue his bride in time before the wedding. As director Tyler Spindel described it, The Out-Laws is “the action version of Meet the Parents.”

7. Ride Along (2014)

7. Ride Along
41%
6.1/10
pg-13
99m
Genre
Action, Comedy
Stars
Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, John Leguizamo
Directed by
Tim Story
Watch on Netflix

In the buddy comedy Ride Along, Kevin Hart plays Ben Barber, a security guard who wishes to one day become a cop. Ben is in love with his girlfriend, Angela Payton (Tika Sumpter), and wants to marry her. The only thing stopping him is Angela’s brother, James (Ice Cube), a tough, no-nonsense police detective.

When Ben asks James for his blessing to marry Angela, James agrees on one condition: Ben must come on a ride-along to prove he is worthy of her love. If Ben succeeds, James will give him his blessing and a recommendation to the police academy. When James takes Ben on a shift to scare him, the night changes when the unlikely duo must work together to bring down a dangerous criminal.

6. Missing: The Lucie Blackman Case (2023)

6. Missing: The Lucie Blackman Case
6.4/10
r
81m
Genre
Documentary, Crime
Stars
Tim Blackman, Jake Adelstein, Lucie Blackman
Directed by
Hyōe Yamamoto
Watch on Netflix

Lucie Blackman, 21, was a former British flight attendant working in Tokyo as a hostess at the Casablanca nightclub. On July 1, 2000, Blackman was last seen leaving the nightclub. Because of her debts, Lucie accepted a dohan, a paid date with a club patron outside the premises. The next day, Lucie’s friend received a mysterious call that she would never see Lucie again, claiming the young woman joined a cult.

In Missing: The Lucie Blackman Casethe documentary attempts to piece together what happened that fateful night and explore the months-long investigation to catch her killer. The tragic case brought a serial killer into the spotlight as the police soon discovered that Lucie was not his only victim.

5. Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, The Movie (2023)

5. Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, The Movie
7.6/10
pg
107m
Genre
Animation, Family, Action, Fantasy, Romance
Stars
Annouck Hautbois, Benjamin Bollen, Fanny Bloc
Directed by
Jeremy Zag
Watch on Netflix

Ladybug and Cat Noir are back, but this time, as the stars of the new movie, Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, The Movie. Based on the animated series of the same name, the movie depicts the adventures of the superhero Ladybug (Anouck Hautbois) and Cat Noir (Bryce Papenbrook).

In the daytime, Ladybug is Marinette Dupain-Cheng, a gawky and socially awkward high school at the Collège Françoise Dupont who dreams of becoming a fashion designer. Cat Noir is Adrien Agreste, a model and the son of a famous fashion designer Gabriel Agreste (Antoine Tomé), Marinette’s idol. The only problem is Gabriel is Ladybug’s archnemesis, Hawk Moth.

4. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

4. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
73%
7.9/10
pg
103m
Genre
Animation, Family, Fantasy, Adventure, Comedy
Stars
Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek Pinault, Harvey Guillén
Directed by
Joel Crawford
Watch on Netflix

Remember the swashbuckling cat from Shrek 2? That ferocious feline is back for a new adventure in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. After finding himself in a battle against a sleeping giant, Puss (Antonio Banderas) wakes up in a hospital and learns that he lost eight of his nine lives. Afraid of dying, Puss decided to track down the Wishing Star to restore his lost lives.

Along the way, Puss finds help from Kitty (Salma Hayek Pinault) and Perrito (Harvey Guillén). However, Puss isn’t the only one after the Star. Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and her Three Bears Crime Family as well as “Big” Jack Horner (John Mulaney) want to secure the Star for themselves, so it’s an all-out race to its location.

3. Happiness for Beginners (2023)

3. Happiness for Beginners
48%
6.1/10
pg-13
103m
Genre
Romance, Adventure, Comedy
Stars
Ellie Kemper, Luke Grimes, Nico Santos
Directed by
Vicky Wight
Watch on Netflix

Based on Katherine Center’s 2015 novel of the same name, Happiness for Beginners chronicles how one woman attempts to find peace following an unfortunate event. Ellie Kemper stars as Helen, a recent divorcée looking for a purpose in her life. One year after her divorce, Helen signs up for a wilderness survival course for beginners on the Appalachian Trail.

The inexperienced Helen joins a group of fellow hikers searching for the adventure of a lifetime. What Helen didn’t expect to find on the trip was love. However, love works in mysterious ways with the arrival of the charming Jake (Luke Grimes), complicating her journey of self-discovery. 

2. Hidden Strike (2023)

2. Hidden Strike
5.4/10
pg-13
103m
Genre
Action, Adventure, Thriller
Stars
Jackie Chan, John Cena, Ma Chunrui
Directed by
Scott Waugh
Watch on Netflix

Jackie Chan and John Cena team up for Netflix’s newest action comedy, Hidden Strike. Chan plays Commander Luo, a private Chinese security team tasked with extracting 500 civilians out of a hostile Iraqi oil refinery being targetted by international mercenaries.

One of those mercenaries is Chris Van Horne (Cena), a former U.S. Marine who takes the job for monetary reasons, so he can bring running water to a rural village. When Luo and Chris cross paths, they learn the identity of their real enemy, one they both share. How do two elite soldiers respond? They fight as Luo and Chris work together to achieve their missions.

1. They Cloned Tyrone (2023)

1. They Cloned Tyrone
75%
6.7/10
r
122m
Genre
Comedy, Science Fiction, Mystery
Stars
John Boyega, Teyonah Parris, Jamie Foxx
Directed by
Juel Taylor
Watch on Netflix

In the sci-fi Blaxploitation comedy They Cloned Tyrone, an unexpected trio tackles a wicked government conspiracy. A drug dealer named Fontaine (John Boyega) learns the government is conducting experiments on the residents of his neighborhood. Fontaine eventually teams up with Slick Charles (Jamie Foxx), a crafty pimp, and Yo-Yo (Teyonah Parris), an ambitious sex worker, to investigate the strange occurrences in the neighborhood.

The trio uncovers a cloning lab and questions why it’s happening in predominantly Black neighborhoods. Anchored by an intriguing premise and charismatic cast, They Cloned Tyrone is a clever sci-fi adventure. 

Editors' Recommendations

Movie images and data from:
Dan Girolamo

Dan is a passionate and multitalented content creator with experience in pop culture, entertainment, and sports. Throughout his career, Dan has been a writer, broadcaster, podcaster, editor, and social media manager. At Digital Trends, Dan covers film and television, from reviewing upcoming projects to interviewing actors and directors. Outside of Digital Trends, he has been an Oscar prognosticator since 2016 as well as a sportswriter with a special concentration in New York professional sports. Dan is still waiting for the New York Knicks to win a championship, but unfortunately, he will have to wait a lot longer for this dream to become a reality.

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