3 award-winning Netflix movies to watch this weekend (October 16-18)

Published Oct 16, 2026, 2:00 PM EDT T.M. Amrita is a writer and tech enthusiast with experience as a news reporter covering technology, artificial intelligence, and gadgets. A journalist at heart, she found a soft spot for technology reporting during her tenure as a reporter at The Hindu Businessline, where she covered topics like the economy, data, and personal finance. She has published more than 250 news stories, tech guides, and opinion articles. Outside of technology, she is a passionate poet and brings her interest in learning new things to her work as a writer. Amrita is also a student of design and interface development, and likes to take on passion projects in her free time. Sign in to your How-To Geek account Netflix has a few award-winning movies that make for easy streaming on your weekends. From a Christmas romcom full of overlapping love stories to a high-speed action sequel and a fashion-world comedy-drama, these three films offer something different for everyone. As you curate your Halloween list with Netflix, here are three award-winning movies streaming on Netflix U.S. worth adding to your weekend watch list. Stay tuned for my top pick: a cult classic that recently returned with a sequel. 3 Love Actually Love comes in all forms It may be a little early in the year, but Netflix is bringing Love Actually to its platform this month if you’re ready to skip right ahead to Christmas. Richard Curtis’s romcom follows several people in London whose lives and relationships overlap in the weeks before the holiday. There’s a new prime minister falling for a member of his staff, a writer starting over in France, and a father trying to help his son through his first crush. The ensemble cast is incredible and includes Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Keira Knightley, Liam Neeson, and Bill Nighy. With so many tender and interesting storylines, the film moves between sweet, awkward, and sometimes angsty moments of love. Bill Nighy won a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor for playing aging rock star Billy Mack. If you want a holiday rom-com before December rolls around, Love, Actually is a nice addition to your watchlist. Love Actually Release Date November 7, 2003 Cast Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Martine McCutcheon, Colin Firth, Bill Nighy, Laura Linney, Lúcia Moniz, Andrew Lincoln, Keira Knightley, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Gregor Fisher, Martin Freeman, Joanna Page, Heike Makatsch, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Kris Marshall, Rodrigo Santoro, Abdul Salis, Rowan Atkinson, Rory MacGregor, Sienna Guillory, Billy Bob Thornton, Lulu Popplewell Runtime 135 minutes Director Richard Curtis Writers Richard Curtis Producers Duncan Kenworthy, Eric Fellner, Tim Bevan Main Genre Romance Budget 45million Studio(s) Universal Pictures Distributor(s) Universal Pictures 2 Top Gun: Maverick The need for speed never dies A good action movie is something I love to put on after a work week (right after I finish my weekly dose of documentary streaming, that is), and one title that caught my attention on Netflix was Top Gun: Maverick. The film brings Tom Cruise back as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, who is called in years after the original movie to train a group of elite pilots for a dangerous mission. Among them is Rooster (Miles Teller), the son of Maverick’s late friend Goose, making the assignment more personal than Maverick would like. The film has many high-speed flying and intense training sequences, but I like how it handles Maverick’s relationships with the younger pilots. Glen Powell, Monica Barbaro, and Jon Hamm are also part of the movie, with Cruise bringing the Maverick charm back to the screen. Top Gun: Maverick won the Oscar for Best Sound. If you're in the mood for an action movie with spectacular flight scenes and a well-rounded story underneath all the adrenaline, Maverick is an easy pick. Top Gun: Maverick Release Date May 27, 2022 Cast Tom Cruise, Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller, Bashir Salahuddin, Jon Hamm, Charles Parnell, Monica Barbaro, Lewis Pullman, Jay Ellis, Danny Ramirez, Glen Powell, Val Kilmer, Jack Schumacher, Manny Jacinto, Kara Wang, Greg Tarzan Davis, Jake Picking, Raymond Lee, Jean Louisa Kelly, Lyliana Wray, Ed Harris, Chelsea Harris, Darnell Kirkwood, Austin Bowerman, Stephanie Andrea Barron Runtime 131 minutes Director Joseph Kosinski Writers Christopher McQuarrie, Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, Peter Craig, Justin Marks Producers Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison, Jerry Bruckheimer, Tom Cruise Prequel(s) Top Gun Franchise(s) Top Gun Main Genre Action Story By Peter Craig, Justin Marks Budget $170 Million Executive Producer(s) Chad Oman, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, Mike Stenson, Stefan Sonnenfeld, Tommy Harper 1 The Devil Wears Prada Hell has a dress code One of my favorite early 2000s comedy dramas is now on Netflix (even though I'm not a huge fan of its recent sequel). The Devil Wears Prada is an iconic pop culture pillar, bringing together some of today's best-known actors in its lead cast. It follows college graduate Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway), who takes a job as an assistant to Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), the formidable editor of Runway magazine. Andy isn’t really interested in fashion (her true passion lies in journalism), but she soon learns that doing the job well means understanding Miranda’s expectations and keeping up with this new hurricane of an industry she is sucked into. The office is full of impossible deadlines and requests that make Andy wonder how much of herself she’s willing to change for the job. Emily Blunt complements Hathaway as the other assistant, Emily, who knows exactly what the role demands. Stanley Tucci also adds a bit of warmth to Andy's work life as Nigel, who helps her find her footing in the fashion world. Streep won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy for playing Miranda. The Devil Wears Prada Release Date June 29, 2006 Cast Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci, Simon Baker, Adrian Grenier, Tracie Thoms, Rich Sommer, Daniel Sunjata, David Marshall Grant, James Naughton, Tibor Feldman, Rebecca Mader, Jimena Hoyos, Gisele Bündchen, George C. Wolfe, John Rothman, Stephanie Szostak, Colleen Dengel, Suzanne Dengel, Heidi Klum, Valentino Garavani, Bridget Hall, Ines Rivero, Alyssa Sutherland Runtime 109 minutes Director David Frankel Writers Aline Brosh McKenna, Lauren Weisberger Producers Wendy Finerman Sequel(s) The Devil Wears Prada 2 Main Genre Comedy Budget $35 million Studio(s) 20th Century Distributor(s) 20th Century Executive Producer(s) Joseph M. Caracciolo Jr., Karen Rosenfelt Dive into Netflix's collection Want to explore more acclaimed titles on Netflix? You can find award winners and nominees by simply searching for the award you have in mind (Oscar, Golden Globe, etc.) or browse through the platform's dedicated award-winner collections (such as Oscar Spotlight) for some amazing finds. Subscription with ads Yes, $8/month Simultaneous streams Two or four Stream licensed and original programming with a monthly Netflix subscription. Live TV No Price Starting at $8/month