The weekend has arrived once again and with it comes another opportunity for a cozy night in watching a great movie on Netflix. The most essential films to check out on Netflix cover a wide range of genres and include both classics from years past and some more modern Netflix original releases.

For this weekend, we’ve got the perfect trio of movies to recommend for your streaming desires. Among them are an animated classic from the early 2000s that started a franchise, a scandalous film surrounding an unhealthy relationship, and a blast of a mystery film with an ensemble of incredible actors.

Not only are these great movies to watch on Netflix but they’re also among the best films in their respective genres. The animated movie is an Academy Award winner, while the other two were nominated for Oscars and Golden Globes, among several other major awards. Watching any of them would make for a great weekend experience.

Glᴀss Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

In 2019, Rian Johnson’s Knives Out became a huge hit. An original mystery written and directed by the filmmaker and boosted by a star-studded cast, Knives Out appealed to the mᴀsses and grossed over $300 million while landing a Best Original Screenplay Oscar nomination. The highly anticipated sequel was bought by Netflix and was a huge hit for the platform.

That sequel is Glᴀss Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. It brings back Daniel Craig’s charismatic detective Benoit Blanc but gives him a totally new mystery to unravel with a new cast of characters to deal with. Instead of a wealthy family, this time, he investigates a murder involving a tech billionaire and his eccentric friends.

Dave Bautista, Kate Hudson, Edward Norton, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, and Madelyn Cline delivered fantastic work alongside Craig, who was as stellar as ever. However, the real scene stealer is Janelle Monáe, who shines in some of the film’s best moments.

Like the original, the writing in Glᴀss Onion is remarkably sharp and earned Rian Johnson another Best Original Screenplay Academy Award nod. Reviews for Glᴀss Onion were sparkling, with it holding a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Even if you haven’t seen the first Knives Out, you can check this out and have a great time.

Shrek (2001)

If you asked someone what the first film to win Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards was, they’d likely say a Disney movie. The iconic studio had owned the realm of animated films for decades but the actual winner of the inaugural Oscar was Dreamworks Studio’s Shrek, which took the world by storm.

What really made Shrek stand out was that the premise actually parodied popular fairy tales, including ones popularized in the modern world by Disney, including Pinocchio and Peter Pan. This was different for animated movies of the time and immediately put Dreamworks on the map, establishing them as a force.

On top of the clever comedic writing of Shrek was the impressive visual style, focusing on computer animation rather than traditional artwork, which also went on to become the norm (though it was Toy Story that got the ball rolling on that). The Shrek voice cast is also stellar, led by Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz.

Shrek was also a huge hit commercially, grossing nearly $500 million and starting a long-running franchise that’s still around today. In fact, a fifth installment in the main series is on the horizon. That makes it an ideal time to rewatch the original or check it out for the first time ever.

May December (2023)

Although May December was named on several lists as one of the best movies of 2023, it kind of flew under the radar on Netflix. It didn’t get a ton of hype surrounding its release but it deserved it since it holds up as one of the best films ever distributed by Netflix, which is saying something.

May December follows an actress (Natalie Portman) who meets with Gracie (Julianne Moore), a woman she is going to portray in a movie, to study her life ahead of the role. Gracie is famous because she’s a pedophile who started a relationship with a 13-year-old boy when she was 36, and they ended up in a scandalous marriage.

When Portman’s Elizabeth enters their seemingly happy life, things begin to unravel, true feelings are revealed, and as an audience member, you’re never quite sure what will happen next. As always, Portman and Moore delivered tremendous performances that led to Golden Globe nominations. As great as they are, this was a breakout performance by Charles Melton, who plays Gracie’s husband.

Melton also landed a Golden Globe nod with the best work of his career. May December was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards as well and sits at 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s a completely unsettling watch, yet it’s one that any fan of movies needs to check out.