The Best Drama Movies on Netflix to Stream Now

If you’re in the mood for drama, Netflix has you covered

Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively in 'It Ends with Us,' 2024
Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively in ‘It Ends with Us,’ 2024. Photo: Nicole Rivelli

Netflix has made a name for itself when it comes to drama movies.

Over the past few years, many of their original films have become critically acclaimed — and some have even earned Best Picture nominations at the Academy Awards. On top of that, the platform is also home to numerous excellent dramatic offerings from other studios around the world. From relationship dramas to biopics based on real people, there’s never a shortage of films to fit your mood.

But with the number of options on the streaming service, it can sometimes be difficult to figure out exactly what to watch. That’s why we’ve compiled some of the best drama flicks available to view on the platform right now. Between newer releases like Lonely Planet and His Three Daughters and award-winning films like Schindler’s ListMarriage Story and Roma, you’ll find the perfect movie to stream in no time.

Ahead, the best drama movies on Netflix to watch.

It Ends with Us

Jenny Slate and Blake Lively in 'It Ends with Us,' 2024
Jenny Slate and Blake Lively in ‘It Ends with Us,’ 2024.Jojo Whilden

Before the PR turmoil and ongoing legal battlesIt Ends with Us was already packed with its fair share of fictional drama. Based on Colleen Hoover‘s best-selling romance novel about domestic violence, this 2024 film centers around Lily Bloom (Blake Lively), a florist who starts a new life in Boston and falls for a smooth-talking neurosurgeon (Justin Baldoni), only to have her teenage love (Brandon Sklenar) come back into her life just as her current relationship takes a turn for the worst.

Watch It Ends with Us on Netflix

The Whale

Brendan Fraser in 'The Whale,' 2022
Brendan Fraser in ‘The Whale,’ 2022. Courtesy of A24

In Darren Aronofsky‘s The WhaleBrendan Fraser delivers an Oscar-winning performance as Charlie, a reclusive English teacher affected by severe obesity. As he isolates himself in his apartment while his health quickly declines, Charlie makes his final attempts at reconciling with his estranged daughter (Sadie Sink).

Watch The Whale on Netflix

Melancholia

Kirsten Dunst in 'Melancholia,' 2011
Kirsten Dunst in ‘Melancholia,’ 2011.Christian Geisnaes/Magnolia Films/Courtesy Everett Collection

As a free-floating planet hurtles towards Earth, two sisters (Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg) struggle to cope with the impending apocalypse — one succumbing to apathetic depression, the other overwhelmed by anxiety. The second installment of Lars von Trier‘s Depression Trilogy, Melancholia also stars Kiefer SutherlandAlexander Skarsgård and Stellan Skarsgård, among others.

Watch Melancholia on Netflix