Netflix’s Mea Culpa is a Rotten Tomatoes disaster – watch these 3 thrillers instead
It’s fair to say that the reviews of Mea Culpa, the new Netflix thriller, are not very nice. The movie currently has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of just 15%, and while that’s only based on 13 reviews so far, it seems like if this movie were a bird, it would be a turkey with people like Gigli.
The guard says it’s “hilariously messy” – and not on purpose – while the New York Times says this “intentionally steamy” thriller is “decidedly stupid.” Variety tries to have it both ways, noting that “many will write it off as shlock,” but “there’s something admirable about a filmmaker who knows exactly what his audience wants.” In any case, it doesn’t seem like this will jeopardize our list of new Netflix movies.
But do not worry. If you want a thriller that will reliably entertain you, there are plenty of good options among the best Netflix movies. Here are three of our favorites.
LA Confidential
Based on the complex and pitch-dark novel by James Ellroy, LA Confidential is set in the dark world of 1950s Los Angeles, where the only thing scarier than the criminals are the police. It follows three police officers as they try to tackle the corruption surrounding an unsolved murder, and as the late Roger Ebert wrote in his judgement it’s a film noir, but it’s also so much more. “It contains all the elements of police action, but in a sharply clipped, more economical style; the action exists not for its own sake, but to provide an arena for the personalities. The dialogue is beautiful; not the semi-parody of a lot of film noir, but the words of serious people trying to reveal or hide themselves.” It is an exceptional film.
Jackie Brown
This time it is again an adaptation of a novel Rum punch by Elmore Leonard. Jackie Brown is a delight from start to finish, with a spectacular performance from Pam Grier as flight attendant and smuggler Jackie Brown, Samuel L Jackson as her arms dealer boss and an ensemble cast including Robert Forster, Bridget Fonda, Michael Keaton and Robert De Niro. According to richthe film firmly established director Quentin Tarantino as “still the most important filmmaker of the decade”; Variety also loved it, saying it “provides an abundance of fun, especially in terms of characterization and atmosphere.”
Fair game
The most recent film here feels like it fits in well with the other two, with which it shares a similar sensibility: a mix of thriller, violent drama and erotic thriller, Newsday says it’s “one of the most sharply and powerfully made films about relationship dynamics in a long time.” Not every critic was so enthusiastic, but like the Independent explains that “it’s ultimately a very ugly film. That’s not its failure, but its intention. Don’t be put off by the synopsis: while the film focuses on a young couple whose relationship begins to unravel after an unexpected promotion, it’s a story of twisted love rich says, “You will hold your breath until the end.”