The Netflix Top 10 list won’t tell you how many people are watching a show, but it will tell you which shows people are watching the most. The Top 10 list for Tuesday, Dec. 8 finds the same top 5 holding strong for the third day in a row. Selena: The Series remains in the No. 1 spot, while Big Mouth holds on to No. 2, followed by Virgin River. A pair of action movies — Jennifer Garner’s Peppermint and Bruce Willis’ Marauders — round out the top 5.
But of the Netflix Top 10, which of these shows and movies are actually worth watching? We break down the entire Netflix Top 10 list and guide you through what to binge and what to skip.
The Best TV Shows and Movies on Netflix in November 2020
Based on Netflix’s Top 10 from Tuesday, Dec. 8
1. Selena: The Series
For fans of: Selena Quintanilla, good music | Is it good?: It doesn’t really do the beloved singer justice, but it’s sweet
Selena Quintanilla, the iconic Queen of Tejano music who was tragically killed at 23, gets her origin story told in this Netflix series. Unfortunately, it really doesn’t give Selena (played by Christian Serratos) very much depth at all. Honestly, you’d probably just be better off watching the 1997 Jennifer Lopez film, Selena. (Yesterday’s rank: 1)
2. Big Mouth
For fans of: Puberty, Hormone Monsters | Is it good?: It keeps getting better with every season
Do you remember how awful puberty was? If you don’t, Big Mouth wants to make sure you can’t walk away from an episode without doing so. Now in its fourth season, the Netflix animated series tackles a host of new issues, including race, growing up as a young transgender person, and summer camp. (Yesterday’s rank: 2)
3. Virgin River
For fans of: Hallmarkian romance, heartwarming tearjerkers | Is it good?: It’s a fun time for any hopeless romantic out there
Adapted from the Virgin River novels by author Robyn Carr, the romantic drama stars Alexandra Breckenridge as Melinda “Mel” Monroe, a midwife and nurse practitioner from Los Angeles who moves to a beautiful but remote Northern California town following a series of traumatic heartbreaks. It all has a very Hallmark vibe to it, but in a good way! (Yesterday’s rank: 3)
4. Peppermint
For fans of: Jennifer Garner, moms getting revenge | Is it good?: Not really
Jennifer Garner plays a mother on a mission to exact her revenge on the cartel that killed her husband and daughter. It was critically panned and is full of typical action movie clichés, but Garner’s performance makes it watchable. (Yesterday’s rank: 4)
5. Marauders
For fans of: Bank robberies, Bruce Willis | Is it good?: It’s no Die Hard
You don’t have to have seen it to know exactly what you’re getting with this 2016 crime thriller, which stars Bruce Willis as the president of a bank chain that keeps getting robbed and Christopher Meloni as the FBI special agent heading up the investigation. It’s clichéd, but if you’ve been missing Elliot Stabler since Meloni’s SVU spin-off was pushed back, we’re not here to judge. (Yesterday’s rank: 5)
6. The Queen’s Gambit
For fans of: Chess, drugs, and character drama | Is it good?: It’s one of the best shows of the year
Budding superstar Anya Taylor-Joy (she’s been cast as young Furiosa in the next Mad Max movie) stars in this literary adaptation as Beth Harmon, a brilliant but troubled chess champion in 1950s Kentucky. She was an orphan who, in her youth, developed an incredible skill for the game but also a debilitating addiction to pills, which quiet her obsessive mind. It’s a detailed character study of brilliance and madness that’s usually reserved for male characters. It comes from one of Netflix’s go-to limited series producers, Godless‘ Scott Frank. (Yesterday’s rank: 7)
7. Ava
For fans of: Prestige actors, morally gray assassins | Is it good?: Not particularly
Three very talented actors — Jessica Chastain, Colin Farrell, and John Malkovich — are all pretty under-utilized in this generic thriller about an assassin (Chastain) who is targeted by her own black ops after a hit goes wrong. (Yesterday’s rank: n/a)
8. How the Grinch Stole Christmas
For fans of: Jim Carrey, Baby Grinch | Is it good?: People certainly love it
Jim Carrey’s 2000 adaptation of the Dr. Seuss book has become a holiday classic for plenty of people. If you’re a fan, you’ve probably already made a plan to revisit it for the holidays. (Yesterday’s rank: 8)
9. Cocomelon
For fans of: Mashed vegetables, pacifiers | Is it good?: For babies, sure
Colorful objects, preschool songs, and big-headed babies make this catnip for toddlers and younger kids who get screentime. (Yesterday’s rank: n/a)
10. The Crown
For fans of: Palace intrigue, the Royals | Is it good?: It’s the best season yet
The ambitious, decades-spanning drama series about Queen Elizabeth II is back for its second season with Olivia Colman in the lead and its fourth season overall, and it adds two pivotally important characters into the mix: Margaret Thatcher (the great Gillian Anderson) and Princess Diana (Emma Corrin), who both clash with the Queen. Their addition breathes fresh life into the series, which remains one of the grandest on all of television. (Yesterday’s rank: 10)
The Best Netflix Originals of 2020 So Far
Lucifer, The Baby-Sitters Club, Love Is Blind
