Best New Movies on Netflix This Week: May 31st, 2020

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The Lincoln Lawyer is now on Netflix – Picture: Lionsgate

It’s been a great week for new movies on Netflix this week. While not all are blockbusters, there’s plenty for all sorts of movie fans. Here’s a roundup of our picks at the top four new movies on Netflix in the US this week.

In case you missed our roundup of the best new TV series, go ahead and check that out. You’ll probably not be surprised that our top pick is the new Steve Carrell comedy but there’s a few other surprises in there too.

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The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)

Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Director: Brad Furman
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Marisa Tomei, Ryan Phillippe, William H. Macy
Runtime: 118 min

Matthew McConaughey has really grown to prominence over the last decade but one more that’s often overlooked is The Lincoln Lawyer.

The movie touches on the morality of being a lawyer when his character takes on a new client who’s not only guilty of the crime he’s accused of, but a myriad of other crimes too.

The movie sits at a 63 on Metacritic and 7.3 on IMDb.


Session 9 (2001)

Genre: Horror, Mystery
Director: Brad Anderson
Cast: David Caruso, Stephen Gevedon, Paul Guilfoyle, Josh Lucas
Runtime: 97 min

Feel like the world isn’t horrific enough? Session 9 is our horror pick of the week where a workman heads to a psychiatric hospital but finds out its chilling past.

The movie scores well with both critics nearly two decades on. On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie holds a 63% rating, 58 on Metacritic and 6.4 on IMDb.


Naledi: A Baby Elephant’s Tale (2016)

Genre: Documentary
Director: Ben Bowie, Geoffrey Luck
Runtime: 90 min

With the loss of the BBC Earth library, Netflix is missing out on some great nature documentaries so it’s great to see this movie from four years ago hit Netflix this week.

The doc covers the story of a baby elephants fight for survival in Botswana where poaching is ripe.

Reviews are strong across the board and will absolutely pull on your heartstrings so bring a box of tissues.


High Strung Free Dance (2018)

Genre: Music, Romance
Director: Michael Damian
Cast: Jane Seymour, Thomas Doherty, Ace Bhatti, Juliet Doherty
Runtime: 103 min

Dance centric movies either go one or two ways and with this one, audiences seem to put it among the better in the genre.

We follow a choreographer and a pianist planning for their big Broadway show.


Ne Zha (2019)

Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure, Family, Fantasy, Thriller
Director: Yu Yang
Cast: Yanting Lü, Joseph, Mo Han, Hao Chen
Runtime: 110 min
Language: Mandarin

Our final highlight of the week is an animated hit from China and seems to have come onto Netflix relatively quietly so we’re happy to promote it here.

With great reviews including an 88% Rotten Tomatoes metric, the movie is about a young boy with great power who is recruited to slay dragons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEiimFT2HZY

What movies are you watching on Netflix right now? Let us know in the comments.

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Founder of What's on Netflix and based in Norwich in the United Kingdom, Kasey has been tracking the comings and goings of the Netflix library for a decade having started the site in 2013. Kasey maintains the what's new on Netflix library, keeps the coming soon lists up-to-date and writes about new and upcoming projects. Contact: kasey@whats-on-netflix.com