25 best critically acclaimed movies on Netflix

16. Burning Sands (2017)

Director: Gerard McMurray
Cast: Trevor Jackson, Alfre Woodard, Steve Harris, Tosin Cole, DeRon Horton, Christian Robinson, Trevante Rhodes

Black fraternities are the subject of the next film on the list. Burning Sands is a Netflix original that premiered at Sundance in 2017. The plot centers around five young black students trying to join a prestigious fraternity on their college campus.

Membership will give them status, accomplishment, and a line of brothers to call on for life; but the consequences of their pursuit could be lethal. The critical question posed is this: is being apart of something seemingly greater than your self, worth losing yourself in the process?

Hazing has been a growing issue on college campuses across the country. If you are unfamiliar with what it takes to join a big college sorority or fraternity, this will surely be an eye opener for you as the viewer.

I’m not here to say whether these organizations are wrong or right, but I appreciate the topic being a focal point in this film. Any movie that raises social awareness through its narrative is worth a watch to me, but this isn’t just a message movie. The story is great. You empathize with the young men in their pursuit and hope that they make the cut regardless of the detrimental tasks that they have to perform along the way.

The acting is strong, and the story is unpredictable which leads to a great watch. I feel like this film was overlooked when it was released, so give it a shot. I believe that it won’t disappoint.

15. The Truman Show (1998)

Director: Peter Weir
Cast: Jim Carrey, Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich, Natascha McElhone, Holland Taylor, Ed Harris

This is one of those classics that I had to add to this list. In case you haven’t seen this gem. The Truman Show stars Jim Carey as Truman Burbank, the star of a reality show that documents his life on a 24-hour basis. Seems a bit intrusive right? Well, it’s not for Truman, because he has no idea that the cameras are rolling.

To him, his life is as healthy as anyone else’s, but slowly he starts to realize that certain aspects of his existence seem a little off. As the film progresses, he makes it his mission to uncover the lie that has been told about his life.

I remember going to see this film as a kid. Growing up I was a huge Jim Carey fan. Movies like Dumb and Dumber, Ace Ventura, and The Mask were integral parts of my early love of films. I went to see the Truman Show believing that it was too a comedy, and was incredibly surprised at this sophisticated plot that I now had to follow. I was only 10 at the time, so the themes went entirely over my head. Reality TV wasn’t as prevalent as it is now, so it all felt like science fiction to me.

20 years later, not only have I grown to love the film, its relevance to our current world is startling. Because of social media, we are all living a 24-hour reality show whether we are the character or the audience.

The film has aged incredibly well, and I’m willing to bet that you can see the direct line between its overall message and the state of our social media society today.