Netflix is in the news now for all the wrong reasons, and it goes without saying that the success of the streaming titan is overall not a good thing for the film industry. The better they do, and the more money they make, the worse things will be in the future. Big movies will continue to get minimal theater time, and hit shows will be dumped on the service to be binged as soon as possible. Still, we can’t deny the quality of plenty of the media that Netflix provided for us in 2025.
Netflix Had a Good Year
Netflix’s library is vast and nearly impossible to parse through. If you’re not sure what you’re looking for, it can be exceptionally difficult to find certain things. If you do happen to continue searching, you might end up with some pretty good media to watch.
Just from the year 2025, the service has a few really good things to provide. In just the last couple of months, the service saw Wake Up Dead Man, Jay Kelly, and Train Dreams drop. Those all hit theaters for a couple of weeks prior to coming to the service, so everyone can watch at home.
Train Dreams and Wake Up Dead Man are both among my top 10 movies of the year. Steve, another sneaky hit that got dropped with little to no fanfare earlier this year, just missed the cut. And while I don’t love Jay Kelly (a solid 3.5/5 film, however), it is getting Best Picture buzz for the Oscars and could see some acting nominations, too.
That’s just four movies out of the swaths of films that dropped on the service this year, but they’re incredibly good. They are “Netflix originals,” which means that the streamer finally, seemingly, put out good content this year. That doesn’t even mention the television show side of things.
Say what you want about Stranger Things Chapter 5, but everyone is watching. Black Mirror‘s seventh season dropped earlier. The final season of You streamed in 2025. So did Love, Death & Robots Volume 4, Squid Game Season 3, Wednesday Season 2, and Emily in Paris Season 5.
That’s a pretty great slate. In the case of the shows, those are mostly legitimate “Netflix originals,” meaning that the streamer had a legitimate hand in making them. On the movies side, that’s not quite the case. That label is a little misleading.
Wake Up Dead Man came as a result of a contract signed with Rian Johnson after the first Knives Out movie. They contracted him for two sequels, Glass Onion and Wake Up Dead Man, both of which went to theaters in limited capacity before streaming. Still, the service didn’t necessarily produce them.
Train Dreams was a film festival darling that no other major production company bought, so Netflix scooped it up. They purchased it at Sundance, so again, they had nothing to do with the production of the movie. They simply bought a well-received product.
Jay Kelly was similar to Wake Up Dead Man, as the service has a deal with Noah Baumbach (his other big movie, Marriage Story, was also on the streamer. Adam Sandler also has a deal, and he was a co-star with George Clooney in this one.
Conclusion
Put simply, Netflix had a terrific year in terms of media, and I’m sure it led to a great financial year for them. These successful years are why they can afford to buy Warner Bros. But there is a risk in giving the service any credit for this. Stranger Things and Wednesday are kind of their doing, but Train Dreams and Wake Up Dead Man are just the result of shrewd business practices and a bit of luck.
