Memorial Day is here, and with it the start of Summer, and if you’re looking for the best Netflix movies to watch to honor the holiday’s celebration of the victims of war, we have you covered. The occasion is an important one on the calendar, offering an opportunity to remember those lost to war and their loved ones, and there are some great options streaming now for those who wish to commemorate the day with a movie.
While Memorial Day is an American holiday, there are also some other war films on Netflix that deserve recommendation: Sam Mendes’ haunting 1917 is a compelling tale of two British soldiers sent on an almost impossible mission across enemy lines; All Quiet on the Western Front is a modern masterpiece; and Atonement belongs on any list of top war movies. All are also available on Netflix, along with the excellent Beasts of No Nation, Operation Mincemeat, and Mosul.
6) Unbroken (2014)
Long before he was leading violent post-apocalyptic cults in 28 Years Later, and biting necks in Sinners, rising star Jack O’Connell led this Angelina Jolie-directed effort that was written by the Coen brothers. Based on a controversial book by Laura Hillenbrand (which prompted criticism and a call to ban the film in Japan), Unbroken is a tale of remarkable spirit and endurance. It tells the true story of Louis “Louie” Zamperini, the former Olympic athlete who survived for 47 days at sea on a raft after his bomber was shot down, and then endured unthinkably harsh treatment as a prisoner of war in Japan before being freed by the American occupation. O’Connell is excellent, and it’s a particularly harrowing account of war with just the right amount of hope and human propaganda rolled in.
5) The Six Triple Eight (2024)
In a break from making Madea films, Tyler Perry turned his hand to a missing story from most war movies with The Six Triple Eight with an excellent cast led by Kerry Washington, Dean Norris, and Ebony Obsidian. Another movie in the grand tradition of adapting magazine articles, it tells the important true story of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. They were an all-Black, female battalion whose overlooked mission saw them delivering mail to and from soldiers on the front. The story is prompted by the death of a fighter pilot, which inspires his girlfriend to join up, becoming part of the specially assembled battalion to solve the issue of undelivered mail. It’s not a typically “glamorous” war movie about the frontlines and battles, but it’s still just as crucial a part of modern American history.
4) Father Soldier Son (2020)
Memorial Day is intended to be a sombre day of reflection and remembering those who were lost in US wars, and documentaries offer an unfiltered, often challenging look at the reality of war. Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger’s Afghan War doc Restrepo remains the most essential movie in the bracket, though it isn’t available on any streaming platform, but Father Soldier Son is a similarly affecting film. It tells the often-forgotten story of the soldiers who return from war, but are still casualties because of how their experiences change them. It follows Brian Eisch, who was deployed to Afghanistan, over a nine-year period, and it’s an important picture of those who deserve the same post-war reflection.
3) Sand Castle (2017)
Often overlooked thanks to an uninspiring critical reception, Fernando Coimbra’s Sand Castle is nonetheless far better than you’ve probably been led to believe. It stars Nicholas Hoult, Henry Cavill, and Logan Marshall-Green, relating screenwriter Chris Roessner’s experiences of the Iraq War. Sand Castle belongs in the same bracket as the excellent Black Hawk Down, telling a claustrophobic, often hopeless story of war that highlights resilience and human spirit in the face of insurmountable odds and the devastating reality of war. The cast is excellent, and while it’s not exactly a unique war movie, it’s still well worth a watch.
2) Da 5 Bloods (2020)
Packed with talent and led by a phenomenal performance by Delroy Lindo, Da 5 Bloods is Spike Lee’s meditation on those whose lives are defined by their experience in war long after the battles end. Set over two time periods, the multi-award-nominated drama tells the story of a squad of black soldiers who seek to retrieve a bounty of gold bars they buried (and subsequently lost) during a mission in the Vietnam War. Decades after the end of the war, they team up with a shady French businessman (Jean Reno) to head back to Vietnam to recover the treasure, but are faced with the ghosts of their past. This being a Spike Lee joint, the film heavily explores issues of racism and shared trauma, and is a stylish, confident portrait of flawed characters
1) Glory (1989)
According to popular (but somewhat disputed) history, Memorial Day wouldn’t exist without the American Civil War, so what better way to honor the day than to watch one of the greatest Civil War movies of all time? Directed by Edward Zwick, Glory tells the true story of the Union’s Black regiment, the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, which was one of the first of its kind. The cast is excellent, and mostly remembered for an Oscar-winning performance by Denzel Washington. Alongside him, Matthew Broderick stars as commanding officer Robert Gould Shaw, with support from Morgan Freeman, Cary Elwes, and the late, great Andre Braugher. The film is actually set to leave Netflix in just 5 days at the end of May, so now’s the perfect time to revisit it.
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