The 7 Best Movies New to Netflix in September 2021

Christian Blauvelt
·2 min read

Ah, September. A time of endings and beginnings. Summer is coming to a close as the kids go back to school, but a new broadcast TV season awaits, while cinephiles everywhere start sniffing something new in the air after these fetid summer months: quality. Yes, Telluride, Venice, and TIFF are set to unspool a season’s worth of awards contenders, but even on Netflix you can fire up a few higher-toned offerings, including one of Sundance 2020’s most acclaimed dramas, “Worth,” finally making its debut.

Not that everything’s looking up at the streamer: how could it when the Ryan Reynolds-starring “Green Lantern” is coming to the service? And “The Blue Lagoon.” And “Chappie.” But for every “Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles” hitting Netflix in September there’s a “School of Rock.” No, the beloved Richard Linklater comedy didn’t make our Top Seven below. That’s because it’s on our new, improved, and just republished list of the 50 Best Comedies of the 21st Century!

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Another, far more mediocre, comedy — but one with some history to it — is returning to Netflix as well: “The Interview.” When Sony dropped it from release following North Korea hacking the studio, resulting in a leak of embarrassing emails from its top executives, Netflix picked it up instead, all but kicking off the idea of the company as a bona fide distributor. Sony withdrew the distro rights after the controversy died down and the film left the service — only to make a return to Netflix this month.

But you could do much better than watching James Franco and Randall Park riding a tank while blasting “Firework.” Treat yourself to a couple of Harrison Ford gems, Spike Lee and Sergio Leone masterpieces, and one of the loveliest rom-coms of the century to date. Wake us up when September ends? Not with this lineup!

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