3 Irish movies on Netflix to watch (and 2 to skip) for St. Patrick’s Day 2023

Grab a bottle of green beer and a bowl of stew before settling in front of an Irish movie this St. Patrick’s Day! You’re in luck because there are several great Irish movies on Netflix.

Visit the lush fields of Ireland and breathtaking rolling hills in the picturesque rom-com Leap Day starring charismatic leads Matthew Goode and Amy Adams, or check out the acclaimed performances from Robert de Niro, Anna Paquin, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino in the gangster epic The Irishman. Learn more about these films and more below!

The nice thing about this year’s St. Patrick’s Day is that it falls on a Friday, so you can plan a weekend-long movie binge if you like. Even though there are several Irish movies on Netflix, there are also a few you might mistakenly think are suited for the luckiest day of the year. You’ll see a couple of options you’re better off skipping, at least for this weekend.

Irish movies on Netflix for St. Patrick’s Day

Channel the luck of the Irish with some of these charming Netflix movies! Here are a few great options to watch this St. Patrick’s Day and a couple you can skip.

Leap Year

Watch! Leap Year is an undoubtedly charming romantic comedy starring the beautiful and talented Oscar-nominated actress Amy Adams, and you can’t really go wrong with Amy Adams. Even though Leap Year isn’t about St. Patrick’s Day, the entire plot centers on a Celtic tradition in which a woman can propose marriage to her beau on February 29.

Hoping she’ll finally get married to her long-time boyfriend Jeremy (Adam Scott), Anna (Adams) is surprised when she meets the surly, handsome Declan (Matthew Goode) and is forced to reassess everything she thought she knew about love.

Mank

Skip! There is absolutely nothing wrong with Mank, the David Fincher-directed biographical drama starring Amanda Seyfried, Charles Dance, Gary Oldman, and Lily Collins, but it’s a movie about the making of Citizen Kane and is entirely shot in black and white. I know it’s a silly St. Patrick’s Day tradition, but for a day that’s supposed to be all about the color green, it seems unlucky to watch a movie devoid of color!

The Irishman

Watch! Martin Scorcese’s epic gangster film The Irishman is worth watching if you haven’t gotten around to it yet. Given its three-hour runtime, I know it’s a formidable task, but the movie received countless accolades and nominations for a good reason. Note that The Irishman is not set in Ireland (it takes place in 1950s Philadelphia), but the main character, Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro), is an Irish-American war veteran.

Starring De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel, Anna Paquin, Ray Romano, and Bobby Cannavale, The Irishman follows truck driver Frank Sheeran as he becomes entangled with Russell Bufalino and his crime family, leading into an examination of Jimmy Hoffa and his disappearance. It’s a fictionalized version of the real true crime story involving the mystery of Hoffa.

Luckiest Girl Alive

Skip! Despite its title alluding to luck, the protagonist of Luckiest Girl Alive is about the furthest thing from “lucky” you can get. Luckiest Girl Alive is a compelling dark psychological drama based on the book of the same name by Jessica Knoll, starring Mila Kunis. It’s a great movie but unsuited for creating the St. Patrick’s Day vibe.

The Wonder

Watch! Florence Pugh delivers another stellar performance in this 2022 drama set in the Irish Midlands in 1862. Pugh plays an English nurse visiting a rural village where an 11-year-old girl has supposedly stopped eating yet remains alive and well. The local villagers begin to see her as a genuine miracle and travel for miles to visit and witness the young girl believed to have gone months without eating anything but “mana from Heaven.”

Which of these Irish movies on Netflix do you plan to watch for St. Patrick’s Day?