The Netflix Top 10 list won’t tell you how many people are watching what show, but it will tell you which shows people are watching the most. The Netflix Top 10 list for Wednesday, November 4 is almost the same as it was yesterday, with the top 6 titles unchanged. The new arrivals are a pair of not-new movies, Mile 22 at No. 7 and Snowden at No. 8, which knocked new movie His House off the list.
But of the Netflix Top 10, which of these shows and movies are actually worth watching? We break down the entire Netflix Top 10 list and guide you through what to binge and what to skip.
The Best TV Shows and Movies on Netflix in November 2020
Based on Netflix’s Top 10 from Wednesday, Nov. 4
1. The Queen’s Gambit
For fans of: Chess, drugs, and character drama | Is it good?: It’s one of the best shows of the year
Future superstar Anya Taylor-Joy (she’s been cast as young Furiosa in the next Mad Max movie) stars in this literary adaptation as Beth Harmon, a brilliant but troubled chess champion in 1950s Kentucky. She was an orphan who, in her youth, developed an incredible skill for the game but also a debilitating addiction to pills, which quiet her obsessive mind. It’s a detailed character study of brilliance and madness that’s usually reserved for male characters. It comes from one of Netflix’s go-to limited series producers, Godless‘ Scott Frank. (Yesterday’s rank: 1)
2. Holidate
For fans of: Crude and formulaic holiday-themed rom-coms | Is it good?: Not even by the standards of the genre
The title makes this seem like a Christmas rom-com, but it’s not. It’s every holiday. Emma Roberts and Luke Bracey play single people who make a deal to be each other’s dates to holiday parties, therefore avoiding awkward conversations about why they’re still single. Guess what happens. It’s a raunchy and retrograde bummer. (Yesterday’s rank: 2)
3. Knock Knock
For fans of: Keanu Reeves, straight-to-video erotic thrillers | Is it good?: Not exactly
This 2015 erotic thriller about a married architect who offers shelter to two young women with ulterior motives jumped high on the list partially because it stars internet hero Keanu Reeves and partially because R-rated erotic thrillers do quite well with people who are alone and bored at home. (Yesterday’s rank: 3)
4. Rogue City
For fans of: Shoot ’em ups, cops who don’t play by the rules | Is it good?: Ehhh, it is what it is
One of the most surprising entries into the Top 10 is this French film about corrupt cops and violent gangs in Marseilles, France. If you want guns, guns, guns and don’t really care about plot and character arcs, it will do the trick. (Yesterday’s rank: 4)
5. Cocomelon
For fans of: Mashed vegetables, pacifiers | Is it good?: For babies, sure
Colorful objects, preschool songs, and big-headed babies make this catnip for toddlers and younger kids who get screentime. (Yesterday’s rank: 5)
6. Over the Moon
For fans of: Coco, Inside Out | Is it good?: It’s cute
This moving animated family musical is inspired by a Chinese folktale about the moon goddess Chang’e. A girl whose mother died builds a rocket ship to the moon to prove that the moon goddess is real. Oscar winner Glen Keane directs, and the voice cast includes Philippa Soo, John Cho, Margaret Cho, and Ken Jeong. (Yesterday’s rank: 6)
7. Mile 22
For fans of: Mark Wahlberg action movies | Is it good?: It’s whatever
Mark Wahlberg loves to make movies with director Peter Berg. This is one of their five collaborations. It’s an action thriller about covert CIA operatives transporting a whistleblower through 22 miles of hostile terrain. It’s kinda confusing and dumb. (Yesterday’s rank: n/a)
8. Snowden
For fans of: Thrillers based on real life | Is it good?: Watch the Edward Snowden documentary Citizenfour instead (it’s on Amazon)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden in Oliver Stone‘s biographical drama about Snowden’s life and his leak of classified information about government surveillance to journalists. It’s not a great movie, and if you’re really interested in learning more about Snowden and the information he liberated, the documentary Citizenfour, footage of which gets incorporated into Snowden, is a better bet. (Yesterday’s rank: n/a)
9. Grand Army
For fans of: 13 Reasons Why | Is it good?: It’s pretty average
Grand Army, adapted by playwright Katie Cappiello from her play Slut, follows five youths from different social circles at a Brooklyn high school as they confront racial and social issues, sexuality and sexual assault, and other controversial topics. (Yesterday’s rank: 9)
10. The Haunting of Bly Manor
For fans of: Horror that makes you sad | Is it good?: It’s not quite as good as Hill House, but it’s still very good.
Season 2 of the moody, emotionally heavy horror anthology (the first season was The Haunting of Hill House) is loosely based on Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw. If you don’t go into it expecting a Hill House redux, you won’t be disappointed, because Bly Manor is really good, but it’s different. [TV Guide review] (Yesterday’s rank: 8)
The Best Netflix Originals of 2020 So Far
Lucifer, The Baby-Sitters Club, Love Is Blind