Best Movies on Netflix Right Now: The Top 10 and What Lands in October 2026

In the week of 21–27 September 2026, the most-watched English-language movie on Netflix worldwide was UNABOMBER, with 16.4 million views, more than twice the film in second place.

Here is the current Top 10, the second global list that is easy to miss, how the US chart differs, and a selected list of what Netflix has scheduled for October.

One point of order first. This page is pinned to the chart for 21–27 September 2026, which Netflix published on Tuesday 29 September. Netflix’s charts run Monday to Sunday and publish the following Tuesday, so the chart for 28 September–4 October is due on Tuesday 6 October. A chart tells you what people watched, not what they are watching tonight.

What is the No. 1 movie on Netflix right now?

UNABOMBER, with 16.4 million views on the global English-language movies chart for 21–27 September 2026, and No. 1 on the US chart as well.

It arrived on Friday 25 September, so those views are three days of watching, Friday to Sunday. Netflix lists the film at 1 hour 40 minutes and 27.4 million hours watched, and 27.4 million hours divided by that run time is the 16.4 million. Our Unabomber explainer covers what the film changes from the real case.

What are the top 10 movies on Netflix worldwide?

Netflix’s global movies chart is really two lists, English-language and non-English, and the table below is the English-language one.

Netflix’s Top 10 page labels them “Movies | English” and “Movies | Non-English”. The non-English list is covered in the next section.

Netflix global Movies | English list, 21–27 September 2026. Weeks is Netflix’s running total of weeks on that list, not necessarily in a row.

The top of the list is lopsided: UNABOMBER’s 16.4 million views are more than double the 7.3 million for Best of the Best in second place, yet second and third are only 0.3 million apart, and places four to ten run from 4.4 million down to 2.5 million.

Almost nothing here was on the list a month ago. Of the ten films this page showed for 24–30 August, only two are still on the English list: KPop Demon Hunters and The Whisper Man. The Whisper Man drew 23.2 million views in its first week, 33.4 million in its second, and then 12.7 million, 6.2 million and now 4.0 million. Why Did I Get Married Again? was No. 1 on the English list for the two weeks before this one, 7–13 and 14–20 September, and is now No. 8. Our guide to the film covers it.

What are the top non-English movies on Netflix worldwide?

Irumudi, with 3.4 million views, was No. 1 on Netflix’s separate global non-English movies list for 21–27 September 2026.

That list has its own ten places and its own view counts, measured the same way as the English list. Facing El Chapo, which our explainer covers, is No. 3 on it, in its sixth week.

Netflix global Movies | Non-English list, 21–27 September 2026, places one to five of ten. Places six to ten drew between 1.1 and 2.0 million views.

Leaving this list out changes the picture. For 24–30 August, Facing El Chapo was No. 1 on the non-English list with 20.7 million views and The Secret Woman was No. 2 with 11.4 million, and they were also Nos. 3 and 4 on the US chart. A comparison that checks only the English list would call both of them missing from the global charts, and it would be wrong.

What are the top 10 movies on Netflix in the US?

The US chart is one list, not split by language, and UNABOMBER is No. 1 on it for 21–27 September 2026.

It carries no view counts, because Netflix publishes those for the global lists only. It is a ranking without magnitudes, and no global figure is borrowed to fill the gap.

Netflix United States Movies list, 21–27 September 2026. Global is the title’s rank on the global English list. A dash means it is on neither global top ten, English or non-English.

• Five of the US ten are on the global English ten: UNABOMBER, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, Top Gun: Maverick, Best of the Best and Why Did I Get Married Again?
• Five are on neither global list: The Breadwinner, The Seemingly Perfect Family, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Knock at the Cabin and The Matchmaker’s Playbook.
• Five global English titles are not in the US ten: A Minecraft Movie, Riot, The Whisper Man, Black Adam and KPop Demon Hunters. Not in the US ten does not mean unwatched in the US.
• None of the global non-English ten is in the US ten this week.

Week counts are kept per list, so the same film can differ: Top Gun: Maverick is on its third week on the global English list and its first on the US list.

Is KPop Demon Hunters still on the Netflix Top 10?

Yes: it is No. 9 on the global English list with 2.5 million views, in its 66th week on that list, though not 66 in a row.

Its run of 63 straight weeks, from the week of 16–22 June 2025 to the week of 24–30 August 2026, ended when it missed the chart for 31 August–6 September, and it has been back for the three weeks since. It is not in the US ten this week.

What does a Netflix “view” actually count?

Netflix defines a view as a title’s total hours viewed divided by its total run time, rounded to the nearest 100,000.

• Somebody who watches half a film and stops contributes half a view.
• Somebody who watches it three times contributes three views.
• A shorter film needs less watching time for the same number of views, because the divisor is smaller.

That last point shows up in this week’s list: Riot runs 1 hour 27 minutes and drew 4.4 million views from 6.4 million hours, while The Whisper Man runs 1 hour 54 minutes and drew 4.0 million views from 7.6 million hours. The Whisper Man was watched for more hours and ranks lower.

A view is not a person, and it is not a completion. And the global lists count viewing worldwide, while the US list ranks US viewing, so they answer different questions.

Which movie should you watch tonight?

The chart shows what people watched, not what you will enjoy, so treat it as a filter rather than a verdict. On the chart’s own evidence:

• If you want what most people picked, start with UNABOMBER, No. 1 on both the global English list and the US chart.
• If you want a film high on both charts, Best of the Best is No. 2 globally and No. 4 in the US, and The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is No. 2 in the US and No. 7 globally. Both are in their second week.
• If you want something that has lasted, KPop Demon Hunters has 66 weeks on the English list.
• If you want a film from outside the English list, Irumudi leads the non-English list and Facing El Chapo is in its sixth week there.

Which movies are coming to Netflix in October 2026?

Netflix’s own October list includes Tyler Perry’s Doing Life and Schumacher ’94, both already streaming, then Animals on 9 October, Sacrifice and Heat on 16 October, Gladiator and Gladiator II on 21 October and Collision Course on 30 October.

This is a selected list, not every movie. It is built from Netflix’s own Tudum listing of October arrivals, published 30 September, and its What to Watch article for 2–8 October. Licensed films in particular can change dates, and Netflix does not carry every title in every country, so check your own catalogue before you plan a night around one.

Dates as Netflix lists them. Genres follow Netflix’s own descriptions. Selected films only.

Already streaming. Tyler Perry’s Doing Life and Schumacher ’94 arrived on Friday 2 October. Netflix calls Doing Life a heartfelt film about a single mother and an incarcerated man who forge a bond through letters, and describes Schumacher ’94 as Michael Schumacher’s first World Championship win told through interviews and archival footage of the 1994 Formula 1 season. Both arrived inside the 28 September–4 October week, which the chart due on 6 October covers, so neither can be on the chart this page is pinned to.

Animals on 9 October. Netflix calls it a thriller in which Ben Affleck plays a Los Angeles mayoral candidate and Kerry Washington plays his wife, whose son is kidnapped. Affleck also co-wrote and directed it.

Sacrifice and Heat on 16 October. Netflix describes Sacrifice as a hostage thriller with Chris Evans and Anya Taylor-Joy, set at a glitzy charity gala where a down-on-his-luck movie star is taken hostage by a doomsday cult. Heat’s listing is a heist gone wrong that sets a criminal mastermind against the hard-boiled detective obsessed with catching him.

Gladiator and Gladiator II on 21 October. Netflix lists both together, the original with Russell Crowe as the Roman general Maximus.

Collision Course on 30 October. Netflix sets it in Spain in 2013: after a bank robbery, a getaway crash reveals the hidden side of each thief.

Comedy documentaries. Netflix’s own roundup singles out Who Is Martin Mull? on 7 October, Norm: The Tale of Norm Macdonald on 16 October and Paralyzed by Hope: The Maria Bamford Story on 23 October.

Nothing here says how any of these films will do on the chart. Netflix publishes that on Tuesdays, and the first chart that can include the 2 October films is the one due on 6 October.

When does the Netflix Top 10 update?

Every Tuesday, covering the previous Monday-to-Sunday week.

The chart for 28 September–4 October is due on Tuesday 6 October. Until then this page stays on the 21–27 September chart and says so, and it is marked to be rechecked on that date.

What is the short version?

One film, UNABOMBER, led both the global English-language chart and the US chart for 21–27 September, and Netflix’s global movies chart is two lists, not one.

Most of the films that topped this page a month ago are gone, one animated film is in its 66th week on the English list, and October’s selected arrivals start with two films that were already streaming on 2 October. Everything above is a most-watched list, not a critics’ list.

All rankings, view counts and week counts from Netflix’s own global and United States Top 10 data for 21–27 September 2026, and arrival dates from Netflix’s own Tudum listings, read on 3 October. A most-watched list, not a critics’ list.