57 best Netflix movies to watch (and 24 to skip)

The Half of It

Release Year: 2020

Directed By: Alice Wu

Starring: Leah Lewis, Daniel Diemer, Alexxis Lemire, Collin Chou, Enrique Murciano, Catherine Curtin, Wolfgang Novogratz, Becky Ann Baker, Gabrielle Samels

There’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it: Netflix has been absolutely killing the coming-of-age game. From To All the Boys to Moxie and everything that’s been released in between, the streaming giant’s revival of the dormant teen drama has inspired a number of modern stories for a new generation of adolescents. The original dramedy The Half of It is just one of the best.

Loosely based on the 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, The Half of It stars Nancy Drew breakout Leah Lewis as wallflower high school student Elle Chu. Since Elle makes extra money on the side, writing papers for her classmates, it’s natural when clueless jock Paul Munksy (Daniel Diemer) enlists Elle to write letters to his crush, Aster Flores (Alexxis Lemire), who also happens to be Elle’s crush.

The Half of It proves that we need more queer retellings of classic stories. But let’s take that one step further: We need more queer stories in general. The film holds a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and landed a top honor at the Tribeca Film Festival as well as a nod at the GLAAD Media Awards. When it comes to movies on Netflix, The Half of It is not to be skipped.

Verdict: WATCH