What’s new on Netflix UK for March 2023?
Our pick of the fresh TV shows and movies on the nation's favourite streaming service, updated for March 2023
You know how new DVDs and Blu-rays always come out on a Monday? Netflix laughs in the face of such regimented scheduling. Instead, it releases all of its new TV shows and movies whenever the heck it feels like it.
That can make keeping track of all of the new stuff a first-world nightmare of epic proportions. Don’t worry: help is at hand. Here we highlight all of the best new stuff on Netflix. And yes, that means we’ve left out all the rubbish. You won’t find the likes of Frontier or Sharknado: The 4th Awakens here.
Instead, allow us to guide you, truffle pig-like, to the finest and freshest streaming fungus.
Note: the newest content is at the top of the list, with shows and movies getting progressively less new as you scroll down
Luther: The Fallen Sun
Forget The Wire’s Stringer Bell. If there’s a role that’s truly defined Idris Elba’s career, it’s DCI John Luther, the angst-ridden, desk-flipping London detective who upsets his superiors almost as much as he does London’s nastiest baddies.
After a string of BBC series and specials, Luther is back for this Netflix-produced feature-length instalment, butting up against Andy Serkis’s almost comically malevolent tech expert. (Luther’s villains have never been subtle, but Serkis gleefully cranks things up to 11 on the creepiness scale.) Can Luther stop the killer before his latest grand plan paralyses London? He’ll have to get out of prison first.
Cheat (S1)
Every game show needs a gimmick, and Cheat has a real doozy: if a contestant doesn’t know the correct answer to a question, they can hit a secret button to have it surreptitiously fed to them. The only downside to this tactic? The other players have the opportunity to call them out, and correctly identifying cheats can be the route to a big payday.
Presenter Danny Dyer is in his element here, goading and cajoling the contestants as he stalks the neon-lit stage like a cockney panther. Yes, it’s trashy TV, but it’ll have you playing along at home as you try to read the slippery cheats’ poker faces.
Chris Rock: Selective Outrage
In a history-making world first, this hour-long stand-up special was originally broadcast on Netflix via a worldwide live stream, but it’s now available on-demand to all subscribers. Selective Outrage is Chris Rock’s first televised special since the infamous 2022 Oscars slap at the hands (hand?) of Will Smith, and the subject is addressed in the comic’s typically forthright fashion – alongside other topics like racist yoga pants, social media and ‘wokeness’.
If you’re already rolling your eyes at the thought of yet another unfathomably wealthy middle-aged man moaning about pronouns, trans rights and how “you can’t say anything these days” to a worldwide audience of millions, it’s worth knowing that Rock manages to frame it from a different point of view than we’ve seen from the likes of Ricky Gervais and Dave Chappelle – and brings it home ably enough with a strong final section about that Oscars fiasco.
Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal (S1)
This documentary series about a wealthy, influential South Carolina family and their relationship to five mysterious untimely deaths is scarcely believable; if you were to use the events that transpire here in the plot of a mystery novel, your publisher would likely send it back as being far too clichéd and hackneyed, and its villains far too one-dimensional. Corruption, drugs, deadly accidents, murder and multi-generational secrets and lies.
And yet it’s all true, recounted in great detail over three episodes, and made all the more fascinating for the fact that, in this case, the wheels of justice may actually be turning properly.
Nocebo
A guilt-wracked children’s clothing designer (Eva Green) finds herself suffering from multiple health problems, including memory loss, tremors and difficulting breathing. Her husband (Mark Strong) believes these symptoms to be psychosomatic, but when a Filipina housekeeper (Chai Fonacier) arrives on their doorstep with a host of seemingly effective folk remedies, he puts his reservations aside. This housekeeper isn’t all she first appears, however, and Nocebo quickly builds into a compelling and tightly scripted horror film with enduring themes and a great final twist.
Full Swing (S1)
Produced by Netflix in close collaboration with the PGA Tour, this behind-the-scenes documentary series (already renewed for a second season) offers an unprecedented look at life on the professional tour, focussing on top players including Rory McIlroy, Ian Poulter, Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson over its eight episodes.
Netflix picked a great time to make this series, what with the PGA Tour engaged in a vicious battle with Saudi-backed rival LIV Golf, but Full Swing’s drama and compelling storytelling means you don’t have to have a stake in that particular struggle – or even a strong interest in golf – to enjoy it.
Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre (S1)
This collection of disturbing, distressing and downright terrifying stories inspired by the works of Junji Ito – Japan’s most celebrated horror comic book artist – should appeal to any fan of manga, anime and spine-chilling stories. Cosmic horror, body horror, sci-fi horror, demonic horror and any other horror you can think of gets ticked off in no fewer than 20 creepy tales, which are spread over 12 episodes.
Watch Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre on Netflix
Under Siege
Following a series of action flicks that were low on budget but big on violence, Steven Seagal got his big Hollywood break as special ops man turned navy cook Casey Ryback in Under Siege. When the warship he works on is hijacked by terrorists, Ryback puts down the wooden spoon and picks up a selection of improvised weaponry to off the bad guys, rescue the girl and save the day.
While Seagal himself – blues musician, Buddhist teacher, erstwhile real-life lawman and close friend to Vladimir Putin – has become something of a sinister joke in recent years, he’s never been better than in this film, a genuinely enjoyable example of 1990s action cinema. Yes, it’s powered along chiefly by testosterone and clichés (and we’re sure Ryback kills the same three stuntmen multiple times), but the action sequences are well-directed and Tommy Lee Jones, in star-making form, makes a superb antagonist for Seagal’s aloof hero.
The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker
When you get to the end of this feature-length documentary about the perils of viral fame, it’s hard to feel sorry for anybody involved – certainly not for the titular hitchhiker Kai, but also not for the TV newsmen and executives who earmarked him for a showbiz career based on a five-minute interview and still seem baffled as to why he wasn’t interested in becoming the star of his own trashy reality show.
At least the story itself makes for a fairly compelling watch, as Kai goes from loveable homeless have-a-go hero to chaotic maverick to murderous vigilante in the space of a few months. Did his newfound social media recognition play a role in his downfall or was he destined for ruin from childhood? A timely cautionary tale.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Clocking in at a backside-numbing 161 minutes, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is likely to elicit one of two reactions in a viewer: unadulterated Tarantino worship or terminal boredom. As is frequently the case with QT’s films, a fairer response lies somewhere in the middle.
It’s true that there are looooong scenes of seemingly inconsequential dialogue and that you’ll need a strong constitution to stomach the violence when it comes, when have either of those things put people off his films before? And there’s also that Tarantino magic on show: a certain cinematic chutzpah and self-confident swagger that you rarely find elsewhere. Glossy, glitzy, cool, self-indulgent – it’s an event movie you shouldn’t miss.
The Pale Blue Eye
This historical whodunnit stars Christian Bale as Augustus Landor, a veteran investigator hired to track down a killer at large at West Point’s U.S. military academy; just who is murdering trainee officers, and why is he or she removing their hearts?
Landor’s sidekick in this endeavour? A young and unusual cadet by the name of Edgar Allen Poe (yes, that guy). The Pale Blue Eye is rich in chilly gothic atmosphere and well-served by a fantastic cast that also includes Harry Melling, Lucy Boynton and Toby Jones – and ends with a twist that Poe himself would be proud of.
White Noise
There have been several abortive attempts to bring Don DeLillo’s cult classic novel about academia, technology, consumerism, chemistry and mortality to the screen; Netflix and Noah Baumbach have finally pulled it off with this black comedy starring Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig.
Is it entirely successful? Well, your mileage may vary, but this chaotic, relentless film may well capture the 1985 book’s themes as capably as any two-hour movie can. There’s plenty to ponder from a 2023 perspective too, even if the absurdity of everything and the shifting tone makes it hard to give yourself fully over to Baumbach’s vision.
The Recruit (S1)
An enjoyable fast-paced and humour-laced spy series about rookie lawyer Owen Hendricks (Noah Centineo) who, upon starting a new job at the C.I.A., is immediately dragged into a case that involves murder, torture and an apparent agency asset who’s threatening to reveal a whole slew of damaging secrets. The Recruit isn’t going to change the world, despite its international jet-setting espionage story, but it’s a fun ride while it last.
Who Killed Santa? A Murderville Murder Mystery
The Netflix-produced comedy series gets an hour-long Christmas special, and it’s more of the same: brusque homicide detective Terry Seattle (Will Arnett) is saddled with a celebrity trainee (or two in this case: Jason Bateman and Maya Rudolph) who must help him solve a murder. The twist? The whole thing is largely unscripted, with the trainees forced to think (and act) on their feet. Who knew a seasonal slaying could be so much fun?
Watch Who Killed Santa: A Murderville Murder Mystery on Netflix
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Incredibly, Guillermo del Toro hasn’t directed a single animated movie during his illustrious career. That all changes here, with the Mexican master of the macabre tackling something rather less creepy and disturbing than his usual fare: a musical adaptation of the classic fairy tale about a wooden boy – rendered in gorgeous stop-motion animation.
Reportedly a lifelong passion project for del Toro and arriving just in time for Christmas, the film proves an intriguing counterpoint to Disney’s recent (and wholly unnecessary) live-action remake of its own Pinocchio adaptation. It’s much, much better too. Ewan McGregor, Tilda Swinton and Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard are among the voice cast.
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
It might be as cheesy as a gallon of fondue and wilfully historically and geographically inaccurate (who knew Robin of Locksley spoke in a Southern California drawl sometimes?) but this 1991 Kevin Costner vehicle is heaps of daft medieval fun. The lion’s share of the credit should go to Alan Rickman for his moustache-twirling, scenery-chomping portrayal of a devil-worshipping Sheriff of Nottingham, but the rollicking action scenes and sweeping English locations (which take in pretty much the entire country by the time the credits roll) do a lot of heavy lifting too.
Stand by Me
Chances are you’ve seen this beloved tale of childhood friendship – based on a rare non-horror story by Stephen King – before, but if not it makes the perfect post-Christmas Dinner watch as you doze in a hazy turkey-induced food coma. Nostalgic, funny and warm, it follows four teenagers who, in the hot summer of 1959, head off into the woods to look for the body of a missing boy. They’re hoping for adventure, fame and a reward, but find out that childhood dreams and the cold reality of the real world are far, far apart.
Lady Chatterley’s Lover
Netflix serves up yet another screen adaptation of D.H. Lawrence’s taboo-shattering erotic classic, this time starring Brit thesps of the moment Emma Corrin and Jack O’Connell as upper-class Constance Chatterley and gamekeeper Oliver Mellors. If the al fresco nudity and rural rumpy pumpy doesn’t do it for you, there’s a fairly interesting treatise on class, exploitation, nature and sexism here too – but there’s not much novelty for anyone who’s read Lawrence’s book or watched one of the previous adaptations.
Troll
Deep in the remote mountains of Norway, something vast and ancient stirs: and you can probably guess what it is from the title of this straight-to-streaming Netflix original release. Inspired by Scandinavian folklore (but with a bit of Godzilla thrown in for good measure), this diverting monster movie sees the mega-sized mythical beast cutting a swathe of destruction through the country as it heads straight for Oslo. Meanwhile a plucky group of heroes try to work out how to stop the seemingly unstoppable.
Pulp Fiction
Reservoir Dogs may have put Quentin Tarantino on the map as a director, but it was Pulp Fiction that cemented him as the enfant terrible of 1990s cinema, as well as inspiring an entire generation of imitators (none of which came close, we might add).
What is Pulp Fiction? On the face of it, it’s a trio of interweaving stories set in the Los Angeles criminal underworld, which is in itself a pretty interesting, novel way to structure a movie. But it’s the film’s style, its snappy dialogue, its music, its depictions of violence and drugs, and its dance sequences that truly make it something special.
Tarantino has yet to make a better film than Pulp Fiction. And judging by his recent efforts, enjoyable as they are, he never will. It manages to feel both fresh and classic at the same time, both a tribute to cinema and a mould-breaking, pioneering piece of filmmaking. If we had to pick a movie that best sums up cinema in the 1990s, it’s tough to think of a better bet.
Another Round
Danish director Thomas Vinterberg’s Oscar-winning dramedy takes a look at middle-aged manhood, responsibility and friendship through an unconventional lens: booze. Four friends and colleagues, all teachers at the same school, decide to test an obscure theory: that we’re born with a 0.05% deficiency in our blood alcohol levels.
By keeping themselves permanently lubricated (albeit with strictly no drinking at weekends or after 8pm), they believe they may unlock some secret to social happiness and professional performance. Needless to say, their experiment proves revealing, but perhaps not quite in the way intended.
The Crown (S5)
This fifth and penultimate season of Netflix’s excellent drama about the monarchy moves to the early 1990s and shakes things up by once again replacing its entire cast. In come British TV royalty in the form of Imelda Staunton and Jonathan Pryce as Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Dominic West as Prince Charles and (bit of a leftfield casting choice, this) Jonny Lee Miller as famously dull PM John Major.
The plaudits should fall first on Elizabeth Debicki, however, who takes over the role of Princess Diana from the excellent Emma Corrin and does a fantastic job. With Diana’s death foreshadowed throughout the season, Debicki’s excellent performance shines through.
The Quick and the Dead
Sam Raimi’s 1995 Western is a star-studded romp that ticks off pretty much every trope in the genre’s checklist. Sharon Stone leads as a female gunslinger seeking vengeance on Herod, the ruthless outlaw boss who murdered her father decades before. Herod, played with relish by Gene Hackman, is now de facto mayor of a one-street frontier town, leeching the locals for money and ruling through fear, but his gunfight contest gives anyone the chance to face him in combat – they just have to survive the competition long enough to face him.
Russell Crowe and a young Leonardo DiCaprio are other standouts in a cast filled with recognisable faces, and while it plays a fairly straight bat as modern Westerns go, The Quick and the Dead is relentlessly enjoyable.
All Quiet on the Western Front
It’s been over 90 years since the publication of former German soldier Erich Maria Remarque’s anti-war novel documenting the horrors of life in a First World War trench, and it’s been twice adapted for the screen since – most notably in the Oscar-winning 1930 film. This new, third adaptation is the first made by a German director though, in German, and is the country’s Oscar submission for Best International Film this year.
Subtle this isn’t: even at almost 2.5 hours in length, it’s unrelenting in its depictions of brutality; loud and visceral from almost the beginning and giving viewers a break only to check in on how badly the generals and politicians are messing things up. Powerful stuff.
Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities (S1)
Just in time for Halloween, master director Guillermo Del Toro has assembled an eight-strong horror director dream team including the creators of Mandy, The Babadook and Splice. Each member of this Monster Squad has been tasked with serving up their own hour(ish)-long blood-chilling tale of terror.
The result is this Twilight Zone-style anthology series, with weightless CGI wizardry reduced (if not eschewed entirely) in favour of good old-fashioned practical effects. Del Toro himself describes the worlds and stories created as ‘beautiful and horrible’, and having watched half of them we agree – from gruesome rituals to voracious aliens to bizarre beauty products, there’s plenty here for horror lovers to enjoy.
Watch Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities on Netflix
Paranormal Activity 3
Of the many Paranormal Activity movies rattling around on streaming services, very few can match the first. The pressure to do more and go further than that hugely successful initial instalment has forced the series’ writers and directors to stray too far from its low budget found footage roots.
With that being said, Paranormal Activity 3 isn’t bad at all, and for our money by far the best of the later entries. Made by the team behind cult ‘documentary’ (and later reality show spin-off) Catfish, it winds the clock back to 1988 to explore the childhoods of the sisters who starred in the first two movies. You surely know the score by now: malevolent entities, possessions and abducted babies abound. Despite the familiar ground, it stills serves plenty of chills.
The Watcher (S1)
A family moves into their dream home, only to find themselves the victims of a stalker who sends them creepy letters and may even be breaking in to watch them sleep. Is The Watcher – a heavily dramatized real-life mystery thriller big on the campiness we’ve expect from showrunner Ryan Murphy – actually a ‘good’ show? No, we don’t think so – it’s just too bizarre and ludicrous to be truly disturbing, and not insightful enough to feel significant.
That being said, the series is a classic Murphy guilty pleasure, star-studded, occasionally shocking and slickly made, and if you’re looking for some enjoyably macabre entertainment that you’ll likely have forgotten about in three weeks, you could do a lot worse that stream it.
Cobra Kai (S5)
Now one of Netflix’s most beloved series, this Karate Kid spin-off – which picks up the story of Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence 30-plus years on from their first clash – shows no signs of slowing down. This new season has arrived with more long-held grudges, more emotional allegiance-switches and more nostalgia-tweaking cameos. If you’re already on board the Cobra Kai train, chances are you’ll have binged through the lot already.
Chef’s Table: Pizza (S1)
The pizza may have originated in Italy, but it’s become a truly global phenomenon, with different countries, regions and cities producing wildly different types of this simple dish. The latest season of Netflix’s beautifully produced, long-running food documentary series focusses on the modern chefs (the pizzaiolos if we’re being fancy) who have elevated the humble pie to an art form, with each episode providing a portrait of a particular pizza pioneer. Mouth-watering stuff.
Cop Land
Having spent much of the 1980s and 90s as an all-out action star, Sylvester Stallone adopted a more considered and low-key approach for James Mangold’s 1997 neo noir thriller (before going back to being an action star in the 21st century – go figure).
Stallone is fantastic as the put-upon, hearing impaired local sheriff of Garrison, New Jersey – a quiet suburban town that happens to be home to some of New York City’s finest police officers, most of whom look down their noses at this hayseed hick cop. But when a mysterious murder-suicide alerts him to corruption within the NYPD, he’s drawn into a deadly conflict of wills with some truly ruthless men. Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel also star.
Hot Rod
Hot Rod – in which Andy Samberg plays an aspiring stuntman desperate to win the respect of his tough stepfather – got mixed reviews and little box office success upon its 2007 release.
It’s since garnered something of a cult following – and deservedly so. Originally envisioned as a Will Ferrell vehicle, it instead morphed into a platform for the sort of surreal humour that made Samberg and his Lonely Island cohorts Jorma Taccone (who co-stars) and Akiva Schaffer (who directs) famous. Describing it as ahead of its time might be overdoing things a bit, but a decade-plus on this style of comedy is practically mainstream. So do yourself a favour and take Hot Rod for a spin.
Lawrence of Arabia
Clocking in at a backside-numbing three hours and 47 minutes, David Lean’s brilliant biopic of mercurial, enigmatic British Army officer T.E. Lawrence is epic in every sense of the word; when first released back in 1962, it had an actual intermission in the middle allowing cinemagoers to stretch their legs. It was subsequently cut down so that more screenings could be fitted into a day, but this special edition restores every minute of Lean’s original cut.
Stunning desert vistas, grand battles, a cast of thousands and some of the best acting talent of the time all go towards making Lawrence of Arabia an unforgettable film about war, Empire, loyalty, individual brilliance and what happens when greedy foreign powers meddle in the affairs of the Middle East. There’s no better way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Napoleon Dynamite
Napoleon Dynamite is a nerd of many talents: dancer extraordinaire, time machine builder, friend to llamas and all-round poster boy for the semi-mythical 1980s.
In case you missed the t-shirts that are still knocking about 20 years after this movie was released, the plot (such as it is) revolves around Napoleon’s new pal Pedro running for class president, with obligatory indie teen comedy staples like girl trouble and dysfunctional family thrown in to season the mix.
Like a lot of low budget indie comedies, Napoleon Dynamite is carried along more by its tone (heavily ironic) and characters (deadpan and deluded) than its story. Just hop on and enjoy the ride.
Life
A team of astronauts on the ISS rendezvous with a satellite carrying soil samples from Mars and are delighted when they discover microscopic signs of life within. Joy quickly turns to concern when the organism, dubbed “Calvin”, turns out to be intelligent, resourceful, capable of rapid growth and absolutely determined to stay alive – no matter the cost to its hosts.
It’s b-movie stuff at heart, but with a strong cast (including Ryan Reynolds, Jake Gyllenhaal and Rebecca Ferguson), superb visual effects and some disturbing twists and turns, this tense sci-fi creature feature doesn’t disappoint.
I Came By
This Netflix original is written and directed by Babak Anvari, the British-Iranian horror auteur best known for the brilliant Under the Shadow (and its decidedly less-than-brilliant follow-up, the Armie Hammer-starring Wounds). I Came By hops gamely hop between genres, never quite allowing the audience to feel comfortable in its tale of anti-establishment graffiti writers, asylum seekers and creepy posh high court judges with dark secrets in the basement.
Hugh Bonneville is great playing against type as the aforementioned judge, and there’s get a sense that Anvari is trying to make several points about racism and colonialism along the way, but as a whole the film feels a little too unfocussed in both its themes and its plotting to be remembered as anything more than a tense and watchable psychological thriller. And that’s fine.
Memento
Christopher Nolan’s breakthrough film stars Guy Pearce as a man with a particular form of amnesia. Following an attack that also left his wife dead, he’s unable to form new memories and must use notes, Polaroid photographs and tattoos on his own body as a way to track down her killer and find the revenge he seeks.
With its twin-timeline structure (one told forwards, one told backwards) and gripping neo noir plot, Memento was an early demonstration of Nolan’s characteristic sense of inventive storytelling and marked him as a director to watch, as well as further cementing the former soap star Pearce as a talented and magnetic leading man.
The Sandman (S1)
There have been several abortive efforts to adapt Neil Gaiman’s beloved DC Comics series for the screen, but Netflix’s millions have finally made it happen. Bottling the appeal of this dark fantasy tale of metaphysics, gods and dreams in a TV series can’t have been easy, but the makers have actually pulled it off (to be fair, having Gaiman himself involved in the production has probably helped no end). The Sandman is a bewitching and entertaining series with fantastic visuals, a dark adult-oriented tone and compelling plotlines.
The Gray Man
The Gray Man had a $200 million budget, making it the streaming service’s priciest original film yet. So that’s why your Netflix subscription fee just jumped… That money has gone a long way, though. Not only does this action-thriller star Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans as duelling assassins, its extended cast includes Ana de Armas, Billy Bob Thornton and Regé-Jean Page. Its directors are the Russo brothers – previously best known for the final two Avengers movies.
Gosling’s highly skilled merc stumbles across some CIA dirty laundry, making himself prime target for a host of international hitmen. Evans plays their psychotic killer leader, sporting the grossest-looking on-screen moustache since Justin Bieber’s attempt to grow a mo. As a big-budget blockbuster action movie, it does its job, even if there are very few surprises in store.
The Father
Anthony Hopkins won an Oscar for this film, in which he plays a man in the throes of dementia. At turns confused, cruel, angry, lonely, stubborn, childish, suspicious and devious, Hopkins’ character becomes a stand-in for the audience. We are shown characters, locations and plot points in the same contradictory way he experiences them, leaving us similarly perplexed. It’s a powerful method of putting us in the shoes of a person suffering with this awful affliction.
