The 10 Best Netflix Original Films of 2018

Netflix has been constantly churning out films at a thundering speed, and most of them have failed to please critics and users. Understandably, Netflix has aggressively marketed films with popular faces associated with them, leaving the fate of low-key films to word-of-mouth publicity. Here is the list of the 10 Best Netflix Original Films of 2018.

Honorable Mention

Gareth Evans’s atmospheric ‘Apostle’
Sara Colangelo’s ‘The Kindergarten Teacher’
Timo Tjahjanto’s intense action-packed ‘The Night Comes for Us’

10. Set It Up | Claire Scanlon

Harper (Zoey Deutch) is an aspiring sports writer who looks up to a self-assertive and brash Kirsten Stevens (a charismatic Lucy Liu), a cutthroat feminist sportswriter and editor of an online sports journalism empire. A few floors down, in the same building, a young man—Charlie Young (Glen Powell)—trying to secure his financial success assists an abrasive, hot-tempered Richard “Rick” Otis (Taye Diggs ).

The office toxicity of ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ meets a no-frills, charming romance, packed with witty one-liners and mushy chemistry between two aspiring youngsters who try to set up their respective bosses to make breathing room to take control of their lives and aspirations. It’s a throwback to classic romantic comedy with a singular narrative that works due to the charm and endearing chemistry of the lead actors.

9. The Resistance Banker | Joram Lürsen

The Dutch drama The Resistance Banker, based on the real-life story of Dutch banker Walraven van Hall (Barry Atsma), is a fascinating and riveting story of a man who formed an underground bank. The underground bank funneled the funds to help Dutch sailors stranded abroad by the war. As the battle continued, Walraven expanded the mission and funded the Dutch resistance. The production value is nuanced, and the framing composition involving long shots is pièce de résistance.

The first two acts move at breakneck speed, gliding through elaborate plans shot with a sense of urgency using the cutting technique. In the third act, the filmmaker loses the grip on the narrative to explore the emotional vulnerability of Walraven, his family, and close associates and misses the much-needed punch. It altogether derails from a thrilling War drama to a predictable and formulaic family drama, perhaps to give a much-needed heroic adios.

8. Mercury 13 | David Sington, Heather Walsh

Mercury 13 is an insightful documentary based on passionate women flying enthusiasts who were rejected to participate in the Space Program because they were “women.” In spite of fulfilling every criterion, in fact, a few of them scoring better than the male counterparts who got enrolled in the program, these women were categorically rejected by the leaders of the early space program, including then-Vice President Lyndon Johnson.

7. Calibre | Matt Palmer

Netflix has been constantly churning out films at a thundering speed, and most of them have failed to please the critics and users. Understandably, Netflix has aggressively marketed films that have famous faces associated with them, leaving the fate of low-key films for word-of-mouth publicity. Calibre falls in the latter part, a low-key Netflix Original film of 2018 that needs your immediate attention. I would strongly advise not to read the plot or watch the trailer, as it gives away many crucial turns of events. The narrative subverts all your assumptions improves the genre elements to make it humanistic within the context of reality and gradually builds to a finale that is disturbing yet in touch with human emotions. The writing is watertight, and the performances are good enough to maintain the taut screenplay.

6. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs | Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs elegantly puts us through a remarkable variety of moods with its six lyrical tales chronicling woeful human existence in the American Frontier. Every chapter is like a new canvas meticulously painted by someone deeply in love with cinema, Shakespearean tragedy, and music.  It is not a masterpiece like No Country for Old Men or The Big Lebowski, but it is still a fascinating addition to the maverick film-making brothers’ enchanting oeuvre.

5. The Other Side of the Wind | Orson Welles

The last incomplete film of Orson Welles is a hyper-stylized noir, glistening with flashy colors of a B-movie and frequently alternating with monochromatic shots and feverish verbal exchange between the assorted characters. It’s surreal to think that the film is about a surly movie director, Jake Hannaford, celebrating his birthday and showcasing his unfinished sleazy psychedelic art film to the crew, turtlenecks, hippies, groupies, and friends while a documentary film crew is shooting it all. The narrative reflects the steep descent of Hollywood, actors, craftsmen, and friendship, while Welles deals with the themes of illusion, identity, memory, and betrayal.

4. Private Life | Tamara Jenkins

Eleven years after her last film, Savages, which dealt with the family dynamics of estranged siblings whose father suffered from dementia, Tamara Jenkins’s ‘Private Life’ is yet another winner. A middle-aged couple desperately trying to have a baby experiences an awkward, often hilarious, turn of events that has a strong undertone of melancholy.

Kathryn Hahn, a New York literary author and Paul Giamatti, a former off-Broadway theatre director, a couple in the throes of infertility, undergoes gamut of emotional resonance, and as the fears and insecurities regarding having the child penetrate their life, it starts showing cracks in their married life. It is the most well-written screenplay of the year, and it went unnoticed by Academy members.

3. Shirkers | Sandi Tan

How do you deal with life when someone robs your dream? Shirkers is a strange and heartbreaking film. It’s a cautionary tale for all aspiring filmmakers, and it’s also a coming-of-age story. It’s a wet dream for a cinephile, an undying ode to the punkish spirit until you learn midway about the heartbreaking part of the documentary, and then it turns into a nightmare. Using the found footage of Sandi Tan’s first feature film, she crafts an emotional roller coaster ride that opens a time portal for ‘Tan’ where past and present co-exist, and the unsettling quirky score makes it even more interesting to see this intimate story of a ‘method film-maker’ who is dumbfounded like a kid.

1. Roma | Alfonso Cuaron

It is undoubtedly the best Netflix Original film of 2018 and one of the most appreciated films in general right now. Roma, nominated in 10 categories at the 91st Academy Awards, is a staggering achievement in narrating the most intimate and personal work. It is structured to make the audience feel like they are reading the most vivid and eloquently written chapters from a personal diary of an exuberant child. Brought up by a devoted woman (first-time actress Yalitza Aparicio) who is a nanny and housekeeper, the film is Cuaron’s love letter to all the nannies out there who bring up the kids as their own.

Roma is a heartfelt story about two women belonging to different social and financial strata who struggle to keep their lives together in the midst of personal tragedy, emotional turmoil, and political uprising. Shot in 65 mm and glorious black and white, Cuarón lets the camera glide inside the house as if it were a character, keenly observing the family dynamics and piecing together their quotidian lives. It’s lyrical and heartbreaking.

Also read: The 45 Best Netflix Originals, Ranked