Netflix is adding dozens of movies in September 2026, but deciding what is actually worth watching can take longer than choosing something to stream.
That’s where we come in. We’ve gone through Netflix’s September lineup and picked 10 movies worth putting on your watchlist, ranging from all-time classics and modern favorites to comedy, romance and a few darker choices as fall approaches.
Most of our picks are new additions arriving on Netflix in September, but we’ve also included one movie you should catch before it leaves and a double-feature that offers an early taste of spooky season.
Looking for the complete schedule? See everything coming to and leaving Netflix in September 2026.
1. Jaws
Available September 1
Nearly five decades later, Jaws remains one of the easiest recommendations on any streaming service. Steven Spielberg’s 1975 classic turns a shark terrorizing Amity Island into a master class in suspense, anchored by Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss.
Netflix is adding all four Jaws movies in September, but the original remains essential. If summer isn’t officially over until you’ve spent one last day near the water, this is one memorable way to say goodbye to it.
2. Phantom Thread
Available September 1
Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread pairs Daniel Day-Lewis with Vicky Krieps in an exquisitely strange relationship drama set inside the world of 1950s London fashion.
Beautiful, funny, unsettling and deliberately paced, this isn’t a casual background movie. Give it your attention and the increasingly complicated relationship between Reynolds Woodcock and Alma becomes one of the most fascinating romances of the past decade.
3. About Time
Available September 1
About Time looks like a romantic comedy built around time travel, but Richard Curtis has something considerably more emotional in mind. Domhnall Gleeson stars as Tim, who discovers that the men in his family can travel backward through moments in their own lives.
Rachel McAdams provides the romance, but the movie’s real staying power comes from what it eventually has to say about family, ordinary days and appreciating the life happening around you. Bring tissues.
4. The Blues Brothers
Available September 1
Sometimes you just need Jake and Elwood Blues.
John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd lead one of the most gloriously excessive musical comedies ever made, complete with spectacular car crashes and performances from legends including Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Cab Calloway and Ray Charles.
The mission may be from God, but putting The Blues Brothers on your September Netflix watchlist is entirely up to you.
5. Scarface
Available September 1
Brian De Palma’s Scarface remains an enormous, violent and endlessly quotable crime epic more than four decades after its release.
Al Pacino goes all-in as Tony Montana, a Cuban immigrant whose rise through Miami’s drug trade transforms him from ambitious outsider into a criminal kingpin consumed by power, paranoia and excess. It’s big, messy and unmistakably Scarface.
6. Ready or Not
Available September 1
Before spooky season officially takes over, Ready or Not offers a wonderfully twisted warm-up.
Samara Weaving stars as a newlywed who discovers that marrying into an eccentric wealthy family comes with one particularly unpleasant tradition: a wedding-night game of hide-and-seek in which her new relatives are trying to kill her.
It’s bloody, funny and brisk enough to make for an easy September movie night.
7. Straight Outta Compton
Available September 1
Straight Outta Compton chronicles the rise of N.W.A and the cultural impact of the group that brought Ice Cube, Dr. Dre and Eazy-E together in late-1980s California.
Directed by F. Gary Gray, the film combines music-industry drama with a look at the social and political environment surrounding the group’s emergence. O’Shea Jackson Jr. is particularly effective playing his father, Ice Cube.
8. Liar Liar
Available September 1
For something considerably lighter, Liar Liar remains one of the purest showcases for Jim Carrey’s particular brand of physical comedy.
Carrey plays Fletcher Reede, an attorney whose son’s birthday wish leaves him physically incapable of lying for 24 hours — an inconvenient problem for a man whose professional and personal lives depend heavily on doing exactly that.
It’s fast, silly and extremely rewatchable, making it an ideal choice when you don’t want your Netflix movie night to require much homework.
9. Last Call: Poor Things
Leaving Netflix September 7
Not everything worth watching in September is arriving.
Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things leaves Netflix early in the month, making this your last chance to catch Emma Stone’s fearless performance as Bella Baxter before the movie disappears from the service.
The surreal fantasy follows Bella as she discovers the world on her own terms, pairing elaborate production design and dark comedy with a performance that earned Stone the Academy Award for Best Actress.
If Poor Things has been sitting untouched in your Netflix queue, consider this your reminder: September 7 is the deadline.
10. Spooky Season Starts Early: Alien + Aliens
Available September 1
We’re cheating slightly with our final selection — because choosing between Alien and Aliens isn’t nearly as much fun as watching both.
Ridley Scott’s Alien is a claustrophobic science-fiction horror masterpiece, trapping Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley and the crew of the Nostromo aboard a ship with one of cinema’s most terrifying creatures. James Cameron’s Aliens then takes the same universe and transforms it into a muscular action thriller without losing the fear that made the original work.
Together, they’re one of cinema’s great back-to-back double features — and with both arriving on Netflix September 1, they’re also our excuse to start looking toward Halloween a little early.
September still belongs to everything from comedy and romance to sharks and gangsters, but spooky season is coming. We’ll be digging much deeper into the best horror movies to stream as Halloween approaches.
What Else Is Coming to Netflix in September 2026?
These 10 picks only scratch the surface. September also brings Cruel Intentions, Conan the Barbarian, Knocked Up, Sleepless in Seattle, T2 Trainspotting, several Resident Evil movies and plenty more.
Browse our complete guide to everything coming to and leaving Netflix in September 2026.
Ready to start watching? You can browse the current movie lineup directly on Netflix.
Thomas Miller is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Seat42F, covering television, movies and streaming entertainment. He launched Seat42F in 2007 and has spent nearly two decades covering the entertainment industry.
