The 5 Best A24 Movies Available on Netflix Right Now
The idea to start A24 came to founder Daniel Katz when he was driving on the Italian highway by the same name. From then, the venture went from a fleeting concept to an independent distribution company to one of the biggest stamps of quality a movie can have today.
In its young seven years of existence, A24 has seen its movies nominated to the Oscars an impressive 25 times. And if you still don’t know who I’m talking about, you might recognize some of their recent releases: Midsommar, Jonah Hill’s Mid90s, Lady Bird, Moonlight, Good Time,The Lobster, Ex Machina, The Witch, and Swiss Army Man to name a few. The film distribution and production company has also taken a swing at TV with the HBO hit Euphoria and the fantastic Hulu production Ramy.
But below, we count down their top movie releases that are available to stream on Netflix right now.
Scarlett Johanson, in her best performance since Lost in Translation, and Adam Driver, in the peak of his career, star in this heartbreaking drama as a couple going through a divorce.
They are respectively an actor and a director living comfortably in New York. They’re keen to make the divorce go smoothly so as not to affect their son, but with entirely different visions of his future, this proves to be difficult.
This premise makes for familiar territory for director Noah Baumbach who specializes in dramatic storytelling of the intellectual upper-class (like his other Netflix movie The Meyerowitz Stories). Here, Baumbach made his best film yet.
Divorce is a recurring topic of our daily lives, but somehow there hasn’t been a movie that treated it with as little melodrama and as much compassion as this one. It’s still a difficult movie, but it’s good difficult. Perfect difficult.
Genre
Drama
Director
*, Noah Baumbach
Language
English
Mood
A-list actors, Depressing, Dramatic, Thought-provoking
Freediving is a particularly cinematic sport because it taps into something beyond what the human body is capable of. Skilled divers hold their breath for long enough to reach more than 100 meters deep, and watching footage of that incredible feat is exhilarating, to say the least. The Deepest Breath capitalizes on that very spectacle—being exposed to death and conquering it—and banks on using archival footage of world records and training. It’s a smart move, as it keeps the spectator on edge, but it can also be a cruel way to put thrills over ethics. The editing is kept suggestive, but sometimes, shamefully, at the cost of misrepresenting Alessia Zecchini and toying with the viewer’s expectations to the point of callousness.
Genre
Documentary
Director
Female director, Laura McGann
Language
English, Italian, Russian
Mood
Dramatic, Gripping, Inspiring, True-story-based
It wouldn’t be too far of a reach to evoke Kids (1995) while diving into Mid90s. But instead of taking on the HIV crisis, Mid90s is a much more tender, poignant reflection on coming of age in 90’s skate culture. Jonah Hill, writer and director, examines the complexities of trying to fit in and the difficult choices one has to embrace individualism. From an opening of physical abuse to scenes of drug usage and traumatic experiences, Mid90s is a meditation not only on culture, but also a subtle examination of what it means to be human, to reach emotional and physical limitations, and to seek acceptance. Filmed in a 4:3 aspect ratio, Mid90s doesn’t concern itself with grandiose filmography, but instead the aspect ratio almost reflects the tonal and metaphorical aspects played out on screen. With a smaller dynamic range of color and the familiar dust/scratches, the 16mm film compliments gritty and emotional moments of Mid90s. The emotional range of the film will take the audience from the depths of empathy to laughing out loud, but there is no compromise to the weight of each moment. Jonah Hill’s directorial debut is beautiful in every sense of the word.
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Director
Jonah Hill
Language
English
Mood
Feel-Good, Slice-of-Life, Slow, Sunday
This documentary starts with Alex Lewis, who gets into a motorcycle accident and wakes up in the hospital not knowing who he is. He doesn’t remember anything (not even what a bicycle or a TV is, or who his mother or father are), but he remembers his twin brother, Marcus. When Alex gets back into his childhood home, he’s full of questions, and Marcus is full of answers. However, slowly, Marcus realizes his power to reshape Alex’s version of their past. Marcus leaves one important detail from Alex’s life that makes this documentary (as if it wasn’t already) such an insane story. I know I said it’s a sad movie, but it’s also fascinating and, ultimately, humanizing of the brothers’ experience.
Genre
Documentary, Drama, Mystery
Director
Ed Perkins
Language
English
Mood
Challenging, Depressing, Discussion-sparking, Emotional, Mind-blowing, Touching