Best Streaming Movies of 2018… So Far

Platform: HBO

The WWE has long understood the power of its film library and, over the years, has been famously unwilling to work with outside partners on documentary projects. The result of this policy is a stable of entertaining docs that, sadly, often veer uncomfortably towards hagiography, which is why unauthorized films like Beyond The Mat feel so vital to wrestling fans. On Andre The Giant, however, Vince McMahon made the decision to dial back his overprotective streak and turn over some semblance of control to HBO and The Ringer’s Bill Simmons. The result? One of the most fascinating and heartfelt docs we’ve seen in years, one which delights in balancing the telling of tall tales and reconciling them with the grim consequences that come courtesy of a life largely spent inside the squared circle. — Mark Graham

Stream Andre the Giant on HBO GO

Platform: Netflix

Netflix’s Cargo may very well be the perfect zombie movie for people that don’t like zombies. I don’t mean that as a slight, as Cargo more than delivers the blood and gore that horror devotees hunger for. But as someone that’s admittedly not down with the undead, Cargo succeeded as a beautiful and tragic character study of Martin Freeman’s desperate father character. The film’s conceit–Freeman’s character has to get his infant daughter to safety before he succumbs to the zombie infection slowly eating away at him–is also one of its greatest strengths, a truly original idea that makes an already harsh journey through the Australian outback even more heartbreaking. This is a tightly-paced zombie film with another career-best performance from Freeman, one so riveting that even the squeamish won’t be able to look away. — Brett White

Stream Cargo on Netflix

Platform: Netflix

Is The Kissing Booth a good movie? No. I wouldn’t say that. However, as a form-breaking foray into the mind of a blissfully horny teenaged girl, it is a sublime work of art. Of all the films released on streaming this year, The Kissing Booth has stuck with me the most. Maybe it has something to do with Joey King’s effervescent charm, or Jacob Elordi’s face, which had to have been crafted in a lab with the help of Tiger Beat portraits, but this film will grip into your soul and never let you go. As bubbly as it is nonsensical, delightful as it is delirious, The Kissing Booth is an experience to be had, savored, and then secretly watched again. — Meghan O’Keefe

Stream The Kissing Booth

Platform: Netflix

This year has seen several truly excellent documentaries, but few feel as relevant or will make you feel as emboldened as Seeing Allred. Directors Roberta Grossman and Sophie Sartain are not afraid to paint Gloria Allred as a controversial figure. But under their direction, the civil rights figure emerges as a thought leader and advocate who was consistently ahead of her time and who has always been punished for it. Documenting one woman’s lifetime of being publicly ridiculed shouldn’t feel as empowering as Seeing Allred is. — Kayla Cobb

Stream Seeing Allred on Netflix

Platform: Netflix

This is it, this is the romantic comedy we were all so desperately waiting for. Set It Up stars Glen Powell and Zoey Deutch as assistants who scheme together to play secret matchmakers for their very busy and very demanding bosses (Taye Diggs and Lucy Liu!). The humor is quick, the pizza looks delicious, and the quality of this rom-com is the best we’ve seen in a while. Set It Up knows how to hit all the right rom-com notes while staying silly and fun and is sure to leave you smiling. That it’s on Netflix, and that everyone seemed to fall head over heel in love with it, can hopefully only mean there are many more rom-coms to come.  — Lea Palmieri

Stream Set It Up on HBO

Platform: Netflix

Spanish director Ramon Salazar took his latest film, Sunday’s Illness, to the Berlin Film Festival back in February, but it was Netflix where his film debuted for American audiences. Here’s hoping they’ve been taking notice. The film is about a wealthy woman who is encountered at a dinner party she’s throwing by one of the waitstaff, who says she’s the woman’s daughter she gave away at birth. What follows is a thorny, thoughtful, and emotionally enveloping story about reaching across unbridgeable gaps. Salazar’s style is an intriguing splitting of the difference between the melodrama of a Pedro Almodovar and the dark absurdity of a Yorgos Lanthimos, though he arrives at a vibe that’s all his own. Make it your big Netflix discovery of 2018, you won’t be disappointed. — Joe Reid

Stream Sunday's Illness on Netflix

Platform: HBO

Jennifer Fox’s The Tale has been touted by many as a “film for the #MeToo Movement”, but it’s a film for all movements, all moments. A cinematic memoir of Fox’s childhood sexual abuse, The Tale acts as an interrogation of her past, an attempt to make sense of her suffering. A gut-wrenching lead performance from Laura Dern is the beating heart of the film; she plays each moment with all conflict and confusion and rage that sexual assault survivors can endure, navigating her trauma the best that she can. The Tale is indeed a harrowing and difficult watch, but it’s a necessary, unforgettable one, a story that will no doubt resonate for years to come. — Jade Budowski

Stream The Tale on HBO GO

Platform: HBO

The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling is the rare long-from documentary that’ll leave you wanting more. Now streaming on HBO, this comprehensive look into the life of the late comedian combines rare home video footage, intimate passages from Shandling’s personal journals, and more than 40 interviews with family and friends to deliver an authentic look at the enigmatic life of a truly revelatory comedian. Zen Diaries is an obvious must-see for comedy nerds, but it’s also an accessible documentary for viewers who’ve never seen an episode of Larry Sanders or The Garry Sandling Show. The comedian’s professional journey from writer to comedian to potential Tonight Show host will inspire anyone crazy enough to pursue a career in comedy, but it’s his personal journey — which includes a life-altering childhood tragedy — that serves as the narrative backbone of this immersive film. — Josh Sorokach

Stream The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling on HBO GO