Picture Credit; Paramount Pictures
As we transition from summer blockbusters into the fall prestige season, Netflix is delivering an incredibly strong lineup packed with massive theatrical hits, pulse-pounding thrillers, and highly anticipated original comedies.
Whether you’re looking to feel the need for speed with a monumental legacy sequel, get into the early Halloween spirit with a grinning horror sensation, or catch up on sharp international comedy, this month’s movie roster truly has something for everyone. From Russell Crowe’s dark turn in the psychological thriller Unabomber to the long-awaited streaming debuts of massive theatrical hits like Top Gun: Maverick and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, we’ve sifted through the complete release schedule to bring you our top movie picks for the month.
As always, we’ll split our article into two sections: First, we’ll cover the big new Netflix Originals we’re most excited for, then dive deeper into some of the licensed titles on the way.
For the complete list of everything new on Netflix for September, keep it locked here on What’s on Netflix.
Best of the Best
Director: Lena Khan
Cast: Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Priyanka Kedia, Hasan Minhaj, Ankur Rathee, Chaneil Kular, Janina Gavankar
Genre: Comedy | Runtime: 105 Minutes
Hasan Minhaj and Never Have I Ever breakout star Maitreyi Ramakrishnan team up for this highly anticipated Netflix Original coming-of-age comedy that steps into the vibrant, high-energy world of collegiate Bollywood-fusion dance. Directed by Lena Khan (Flora & Ulysses), the film was co-written and produced by Minhaj alongside Patriot Act collaborator Prashanth Venkataramanujam.
The story follows Maya (Ramakrishnan) and Anjali (Priyanka Kedia), two childhood best friends who arrive at UCLA and quickly join the university’s competitive Bollywood-fusion dance team. However, they soon discover that the road to winning the U.S. Championship is far more raucous, grueling, and cutthroat than they ever imagined.
Unabomber
Director: Janus Metz
Cast: Jacob Tremblay, Russell Crowe, Shailene Woodley, Annabelle Wallis
Genre: Thriller, Biography | Runtime: 118 Minutes
Directed by Janus Metz (Borg vs. McEnroe), this dark original movie takes an unconventional narrative approach, using two cross-cutting timelines.
The first timeline takes us back to the 1950s, following a 16-year-old Ted Kaczynski (Jacob Tremblay) as a math prodigy at Harvard, where he becomes the unwitting guinea pig in a series of abusive mind-control experiments led by a deeply manipulative psychology professor (Russell Crowe). The second timeline jumps forward to the mid-1990s, focusing on the intense FBI manhunt to catch the elusive bomber, spearheaded by fictional agent Joanne Miller (Shailene Woodley). By focusing on the psychological breakdown that turned a prodigious teenager into a monster, this looks like a gripping, must-watch addition to Netflix’s true-crime slate.
Will it be good? Not sure. Will it pull in numbers for Netflix given the talent and the subject matter? Absolutely.
Call My Agent! The Movie
Director: Émilie Noblet
Cast: Camille Cottin, Laure Calamy, Thibault de Montalembert, Nicolas Maury
Genre: Comedy | Runtime: 120 Minutes
Dix pour cent fans, rejoice! One of Netflix’s most beloved international comedy series is finally getting the feature-length treatment. Serving as a highly anticipated continuation of the hit French show, this Netflix Original film brings back the delightfully chaotic former agents of the ASK talent agency for another round of cinematic showbiz stress.
Set nearly six years after the agency folded in the series finale, the movie finds Andréa Martel (Camille Cottin) stepping behind the camera to direct her debut feature, a gritty survivalist drama. Naturally, disaster strikes when her leading man—played by Laurent Lafitte as himself—threatens to derail the entire production, forcing Andréa to reunite with her former rivals and colleagues (including Laure Calamy’s Noémie, who is now producing) to save the film. Packed with A-list cameos like George Clooney and Eva Longoria, the film retains the biting industry satire of the series.
Writing for Variety, Guy Lodge praised the return, noting, “The comedy remains on-target: Fleet and fast-talking and packed, as ever, with Gallic industry in-jokes and celebrity cameos… [Cottin and Calamy are] a double act to treasure here, their passive-aggressive exchanges the stuff of sitcom perfection.”
Top Gun: Maverick
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Cast: Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Val Kilmer
Genre: Action, Drama | Runtime: 130 Minutes
Thanks to the ongoing licensing relationship between Netflix and Paramount, one of the biggest and most universally beloved blockbusters of the decade, and one that’s directly cited in helping bring back the box office, is finally soaring onto the service and Netflix forgot to even announce it was coming! If you somehow missed this theatrical juggernaut back in 2022 that single-handedly revitalized the box office (or if you just want to experience the adrenaline rush all over again), September is your lucky month.
After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) finds himself tasked with training a detachment of Top Gun graduates for a highly specialized, near-impossible mission. Among the hotshot pilots is Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (Miles Teller), the bitter son of Maverick’s late best friend, Goose. What follows is a visually spectacular, emotionally resonant legacy sequel that truly fires on all cylinders. With jaw-dropping practical aerial stunts and a massive amount of heart, this is blockbuster filmmaking at its absolute peak.
LifeHack
Director: Ronan Corrigan
Cast: Georgie Farmer, Yasmin Finney, Roman Hayeck-Green, James Scholz, Jessica Reynolds, Charlie Creed-Miles
Genre: Thriller, Heist, Mystery | Runtime: 97 Minutes
Netflix is getting a bunch of SVOD debuts in September, and one of the ones we’re most excited for is LifeHack.
Hailing from Searching and Missing producer Timur Bekmambetov (the undisputed king of the “screenlife” format), this pulse-pounding thriller holds a stellar rating on Rotten Tomatoes following its massive splash at the 2025 SXSW festival. Told entirely through computer screens, discord servers, and social media feeds, the film follows four chronically online teenage slackers and hackers who attempt to steal millions in crypto from a ruthless tech billionaire without ever leaving their gaming chairs. What starts out as a fun Robin Hood-style stunt quickly spirals out of control when they discover their mark—and his calculating daughter—is much more dangerous than they realized.
Fast-paced, fiercely modern, and anchored by great performances from Wednesday‘s Georgie Farmer and Heartstopper‘s Yasmin Finney, this is an incredibly inventive, white-knuckle cat-and-mouse game you won’t want to miss.
True Things
Director: Harry Wootliff
Cast: Ruth Wilson, Tom Burke, Hayley Squires
Genre: Drama, Romance | Runtime: 102 Minutes
Sticking with the Brits, Ruth Wilson gives a career-standout performance in this slow-burn drama that dives headfirst into the messy, complicated side of obsession (a subject that’s played VERY well at the box office this year and will soon be on Netflix!). She plays Kate, a bored, deeply unfulfilled benefits office worker who is desperately sleepwalking through her daily routine. That is, until she finds a dangerous, intoxicating escape in the form of a charismatic but undeniably toxic ex-con (played brilliantly by Tom Burke, who will be back in Legends season 2).
Directed by Harry Wootliff, the film offers a claustrophobic and gripping look at an intoxicatingly bad romance that completely derails Kate’s life. It adapts Deborah Kay Davies’s novel and thrives on the palpable, electric chemistry between its two leads.
T2 Trainspotting
Director: Danny Boyle
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle
Genre: Comedy, Drama | Runtime: 117 Minutes
Choose life. Choose a legacy sequel that actually manages to live up to the sky-high expectations of the original cult classic.
Twenty years after betraying his friends and fleeing to Amsterdam with their drug money, Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) finally returns home to Edinburgh. Waiting for him are the fractured remnants of his past: the ever-struggling Spud (Ewen Bremner), the scheming Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller), and the terrifyingly volatile, recently escaped Begbie (Robert Carlyle). As the boys awkwardly attempt to reconnect, old resentments, dangerous habits, and half-baked criminal schemes quickly resurface.
Directed once again by the visionary Danny Boyle, this black comedy-drama is a visually kinetic, deeply nostalgic, and surprisingly moving exploration of aging, missed opportunities, and toxic friendships. It successfully recaptures the pulsing energy of the 1996 original while offering a melancholic, mature update on the characters we know and love.
Smile 2
Director: Parker Finn
Cast: Naomi Scott, Rosemarie DeWitt, Kyle Gallner, Lukas Gage, Miles Gutierrez-Riley
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller | Runtime: 127 Minutes
Just in time for the (early) Halloween season, the highly anticipated (and remarkably successful) follow-up to the 2022 viral horror sensation is bringing its terrifying, grinning curse to Netflix.
Smile 2 expands the franchise’s scope, swapping out the grim clinical setting of the first film for the glittering, high-pressure world of international pop stardom. The brilliant Naomi Scott gives a powerhouse, physically demanding performance as Skye Riley, a global music sensation who is preparing to embark on a massive comeback world tour. However, after witnessing a horrific tragedy, she begins experiencing relentless, hallucinatory terrors. Driven to the brink of madness by the sinister entity and the crushing weight of fame, Skye must confront her own dark past before she loses her life completely. Critics and audiences largely agreed that this sequel dialed the dread, humor, and pure horror up to eleven, making it a spectacular horror watch.
The Sixth Sense
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Cast: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Drama | Runtime: 107 Minutes
“I see dead people.” It is easily one of the most iconic and frequently quoted lines in cinematic history, and this September, you can revisit the brilliant 1999 psychological thriller that started it all. M. Night Shyamalan’s (who recently became a YouTuber – yes, really) breakout masterpiece is heading to the Netflix library, offering the perfect opportunity for a nostalgic rewatch—or an incredibly lucky first viewing for anyone who has miraculously managed to avoid having the legendary twist ending spoiled.
Bruce Willis delivers one of the most understated and powerful dramatic performances of his career as Malcolm Crowe, an esteemed child psychologist who takes on the case of a terrified, isolated young boy named Cole (an Academy Award-nominated Haley Joel Osment). As Malcolm attempts to help Cole navigate his horrifying ability to see and communicate with the dead, the two form a profound bond that leads to shocking revelations.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Director: Joel Crawford
Cast: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek Pinault, Harvey Guillén, Florence Pugh, John Mulaney, Wagner Moura
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy | Runtime: 102 Minutes
It’s going to be a very busy month for new kids and family titles on Netflix ahead of everyone heading back to school. DreamWorks gives its swashbuckling feline a visually stunning, Spider-Verse-style upgrade in this surprisingly profound and visually spectacular sequel. Down to the last of his nine lives and stalked by the genuinely terrifying embodiment of Death (Wagner Moura), Puss (Antonio Banderas) must team up with Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek Pinault) and a relentlessly optimistic therapy dog named Perrito (Harvey Guillén) to find the mythical Wishing Star before his time runs out.
