Cobra Kai never dies. Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 returns on November 15, with the karate students heading to Spain for the Sekai Taikai. On that same day, Netflix continues its venture into live sports with its biggest event — a boxing match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson. Elsewhere, two new holiday movies — Hot Frosty and Our Little Secret — and the streamer’s Oscar contender, Emilia Pérez, arrive this month.
The above titles will likely end up on Netflix’s most popular lists. However, Netflix is a streaming service with thousands of selections, especially movies. To help expedite your decision, we curated a list of five underrated movies to watch this month. Our recommendations include a high school sports story, a rap drama, and a holiday romance.
We also have guides to the best new movies to stream, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.
Rez Ball (2024)
Basketball gets a Native American spin in Rez Ball, a sports drama that’s like Friday Night Lights with Native American heritage. Directed by Sydney Freeland from a script she wrote with Reservation Dogs’ co-creator Sterlin Harjo, Rez Ball follows the Chuska Warriors, a Native American high school basketball team in New Mexico.
After the loss of the team’s star player, the Chuska Warriors are at a crossroads in their season. Their coach, Heather (Jessica Matten), encourages the players to embrace their Indigenous roots with Navajo-based play signals and a hardworking attitude. The plan works, as the team begins to string together some wins, putting them in contention for a state championship. It’s an underdog story with culture, heart, and an inspiring message.
Stream Rez Ball on Netflix.
8 Mile (2002)
Eminem has always been an elite rapper since he exploded onto the scene in the 1990s. In 2002, Eminem proved he wasn’t a one-trick pony by showing he had another skill: acting. The movie is 8 Mile, a film about an aspiring rapper that contains real elements from Eminem’s life. During the day, Jimmy Smith (Eminem) is a blue-collar worker who lives with his mother (Kim Basinger) and younger sister Lily (Chloe Greenfield) in a Detroit trailer park.
At night, Jimmy transforms into B-Rabbit, his stage name and rap alter ego. His first go-around as a rapper ends in humiliation when he develops stage fright. With his back against the wall, B-Rabbit risks it all to take on a rival rap group, the Leaders of the Free World, in the final battle.
Stream 8 Mile on Netflix.
Escape Plan (2013)
Two legends came together in 2013 when action icons Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger joined forces in Escape Plan. Ray Breslin (Stallone) owns a security firm specializing in supermax prisons. To test a prison’s security, Ray intentionally goes behind bars to study the facility from the inside. He then breaks out of the prison to observe its escape measures. When Ray agrees to a shady job, he’s double-crossed and thrown into an unescapable prison on a massive ship in the Atlantic Ocean. The warden, Willard Hobbes (Jim Caviezel), plans to keep Ray in prison forever.
In need of some help, Ray meets Emil Rottmayer (Arnold Schwarzenegger), an inmate who wants to help with an escape. Would it have been better had Stallone and Schwarzenegger teamed up in the 1980s? Absolutely. However, Escape Plan is surprisingly solid and feels like a throwback to the 1990s action movies we grew to love.
Stream Escape Plan on Netflix.
Safe House (2012)
Safe House is a classic three-out-of-five-star movie. That’s not a dig on the action thriller; it’s a compliment. If Hollywood made more three-star movies, more theaters would survive. In Safe House, Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) is a rookie CIA officer serving as a “housekeeper” in Cape Town, South Africa. Housekeepers secure, maintain, and hold CIA safe houses.
Hoping to move up within the CIA, Matt receives a chance to prove his worth when international criminal Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington) is brought to the safe house. After Tobin arrives, mercenaries attack the safe house and kill everyone except Matt and Tobin, who manages to escape. Why do the mercenaries want them dead? That’s what Matt and Tobin must find out as they become unlikely allies in their pursuit of the truth.
Stream Safe House on Netflix.
The Family Man (2000)
Considering this man recently played a serial killer and Dracula, it’s difficult to picture Nicolas Cage as the lead in a holiday romance. As we’ve learned, never doubt Cage’s commitment to a role, even if it involves winning over a woman’s heart. In The Family Man, Jack Campbell (Cage) is a workaholic bachelor working on Wall Street. Thirteen years prior, Jack was in a relationship with his college sweetheart, Kate (Tea Leoni), but he left her to progress in his career.
After a chance encounter on Christmas night, Jack is transported into an alternate universe where he marries Kate and becomes a “family man.” Despite the initial shock, Jack falls in love with his new life and wants to remain on this path. To keep it, he’ll have to fight for it. Seriously, you’ll be surprised at how lovable Cage becomes in this sweet, heartfelt movie.
Stream The Family Man on Netflix.
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