Netflix has so much content it’s scary, and with over 7,000 movies for you to watch, it can be hard to decide on just one. Some are obviously better than others, which is why I’ve put on my streaming cap to recommend choices for the week, using metrics like popularity, ratings on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, and personal preference. At the end of February, 2022 thriller Fall is seeing a second life on streaming, so check it out along with some other flicks that capture the same spirit of dangerous heights.
Fall
What makes a movie surge in popularity on Netflix is always a mystery, but for some reason 2022’s B-thriller Fall is getting watched a lot right now (it’s still in second place behind Joe’s College Road Trip, but I wrote about that one last week). While this isn’t a masterpiece, it’s got a lot going for it in how well it tackles the ultra-minimalist plot. When a young woman’s husband dies in a climbing accident, she’s persuaded to scatter his ashes from the top of a 2,000-foot TV tower. When their ladder down collapses, she and her friend are stranded with no hope of rescue. Unless…
The Decline
Continuing our exploration of movies where nature wants to kill you, French-language thriller The Decline (which was shot in Quebec) transports you to a survivalist camp in the middle of nowhere. When a ragtag group of acolytes is invited to study under a self-sufficient loner for when the apocalypse comes, things rapidly spiral out of control, and bodies begin to pile up. It’s a very solid movie from a perspective we don’t see a lot of, and the snowy scenery is majestic.
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Director: Patrice Laliberté
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Cast: Guillaume Laurin, Marie-Evelyne Lessard, Réal Bossé
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Genre: Thriller
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Rating: TV-MA
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IMDb Rating: 6.5/10
Free Solo
Let’s take a side trip into the documentary world with Free Solo, which will either cure your fear of heights or make it worse. Alex Honnold recently livestreamed a skyscraper climb on Netflix, but before that, he starred in this film that chronicled his attempt to surmount El Capitan in Yellowstone National Park without any ropes or protective equipment. A great score and some world-class camerawork make this one as tense as any fictional film, and Honnold is a fascinating athletic specimen.
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Directors: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
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Cast: Alex Honnold, Jimmy Chin, Tommy Caldwell
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Genre: Documentary
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Rating: PG-13
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IMDb Rating: 8.1/10
The Platform
There’s a lot of verticality in 2019’s sleeper sci-fi hit The Platform, and just as much fear of falling. When a man awakens in a bizarre prison cell with a rectangular hole in the floor and the ceiling, he quickly discovers that food comes down from the top to the bottom, and the lower you are, the less you get. That kicks off a bizarre, terrifying, and sickening allegory for privilege, selfishness, and social position. The sequel is also on Netflix, but it’s not as good.
Recommended by Our Editors
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Director: Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia
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Cast: Ivan Massagué, Zorion Eguileor, Antonia San Juan
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Genre: Science Fiction
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Rating: TV-MA
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IMDb Rating: 7.0/10
Want to see everything that’s new on Netflix this month? We’ve got you covered.
About Our Expert
K. Thor Jensen
Contributing Writer
Experience
K. Thor Jensen is a writer and cartoonist living in the Pacific Northwest. He has contributed to dozens of prestigious outlets, including PCMag, Tested, Clickhole, and Newsweek. His second graphic novel, Cloud Stories, was released in 2017.
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