As we're heading into a Bank Holiday weekend, you've no doubt got some precious free time on your hands - and you're probably going to spend it flicking through Netflix, looking for something to watch.

With that in mind, we've picked thirteen films - each with a distinctive genre - to help you choose what you're going to watch. We've got everything from period dramas, sci-fi thrillers, prison escape movies, and everything in between.

Take a look.

 

9. CINEMA PARADISO (Drama / Foreign Language)

What's it about? 

It can be said for a lot of people that Cinema Paradiso is the perfect expression of why they love films so much. Set in post-war Italy, Toto is a young boy who befriends a curmudgeonly projectionist at a local cinema. The two become friends as Toto sees the world through the cinema news-reels and learns the ropes of the film business. It follows him from a young child, through his teenage years and finally, to becoming a man who has left behind his previous life. Hugely emotional and genuinely heartwarming, the final scene could make even the most hardened of people well up with tears.

Three reasons why I should watch it?

The brilliant music, the touching story, Italy looks gorgeous.

 

8. RED ARMY (Documentary / Sports)

What's it about?

Together with Hoop Dreams, Red Army is easily one of the best sports documentaries ever made. In fact, you don't even need to be into sports or ice hockey to watch this. It's that good. It follows the USSR's ice hockey team through their incredible career and the insane lengths the KGB went to both control the team and win against their opponents at any cost. Again, we have to stress this point - you do not need to have an interest in ice hockey, or sports in general, to enjoy this. All you have to have is an appreciation for a great story that's bafflingly true.

Three reasons why I should watch it?

Terrifying KGB handlers, ice hockey is different from The Mighty Ducks, may explain why Vladimir Putin is so scary.

 

7. LET ME IN (Horror)

What's it about?

One of the very few US remakes that's as good as the original, Let Me In takes the somewhat icy-cold narrative and turns into a haunting tale of innocence, love and the drive to survive. Chloe Moretz gives a star-making performance as Abby, a young girl who hides a dark secret, namely that she's a vampire. When she befriends a lonely boy, Kodi Smith-McPhee, he begins to understand that she's not everything she claims she is. It's a tough watch in places, but Let Me In is one of those films that'll stay with you for days.

Three reasons why I should watch it?

Looks gorgeous, it's got noted / underrated character actor Richard Jenkins in it, it's directed by the guy who did War For The Planet Of The Apes and will be directing the next Batman movie.

 

6. NETWORK (Comedy / Drama)

What it's about?

In a nutshell? A TV news anchor goes crazy live on air and threatens the established order of television. What's it really about? Pretty much everything. How news is disseminated, packaged and focused for audiences. How trivial everything is, how cynical the world has become, why nothing really seems to have any kind of meaning anymore. How it's all one big joke. This makes it sound really heady, doesn't it? Don't worry, Network manages to be wickedly smart, outrageously hilarious in parts, and the best part is that it was made in the '70s - so none of it is relevant any more. Right...?

Three reasons why I should watch it?

Peter Finch in the lead role, how terrifyingly prescient it is, how it still manages to be funny while being terrifyingly prescient.

5. LOOPER (Sci-Fi / Thriller)

What it's about?

Like your sci-fi action intelligent and also trippy? Looper is the film for you. Directed by Rian Johnson, who's now working on the sequel to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, it tells the story of a 'looper' - basically, a guy who kills people sent back from the future by criminal gangs. They zap them back to Joseph Gordon-Levitt, he shoots them and on it goes. However, when his future, middle-aged self (Bruce Willis) is sent back to be killed, he literally begins to chase his own tail around a near-futuristic world.

Three reasons why I should watch it?

Unique story, Bruce Willis is actually good in this, the guy who's directing The Last Jedi directed this.

 

4. IT FOLLOWS (Horror)

What it's about?

Drive sparked a wave of interest in '80s aesthetics and a reevaluation of the films of the decade and their sense of style over substance. With It Follows, it takes in elements of the decade and then funnels it through a fascinating script and believable performers to make something truly timeless. There are so few horrors in the modern age like It Follows that allow themselves to be interpreted in various ways. Some might argue that the 'It' is an allegory to sexually transmitted diseases like HIV / AIDS, others might even claim the disease is human intimacy and being vulnerable. Whatever It is, the film works as an effective and stylish chiller with a fantastic central premise.

Three reasons why I should watch it?

You've probably never seen a horror like this, great soundtrack, looks gorgeous.

 

3. SICARIO (Crime / Thriller)

What it's about?

Sicario was far and away one of the best films released in 2015. How it didn't win Oscars that year is a reminder of how disgracefully out of touch the awards system are. To begin with, Sicario is not like your standard crime thriller. It mixes together elements of atmospheric horror, gender politics (the fact that Emily Blunt's FBI agent is a woman comes up repeatedly) and the exact nature of the so-called drug war, to create something original and frightening in equal measure. If you watch no other film on this list expect this one, you're doing alright.

Three reasons why I should watch it?

One of the best crime thrillers of the past ten years, Emily Blunt's best on-screen performance to date, Juarez as a possible holiday destination.

2. THE HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE (Comedy)

What it's about?

Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison) is a "bad egg" who is sent out to the New Zealand bush to live with two foster parents, the warm-hearted and kind Bella (Rima Te Wiata) and the gruff and sullen Hector (Sam Neill). However, after a sudden tragedy, Hector and Ricky go missing in the bush and a national manhunt gets underway to bring them in. As you can imagine, things get a bit crazy when an over-zealous child protection officer (Rachel House) leads the hunt. Think Wes Anderson comedy, but not as up its own hole.

Three reasons why I should watch it?

It's the funniest film we've seen in years, Sam Neill is an untapped comedic goldmine, who doesn't love New Zealand?

 

1. SING STREET (Comedy / Musical)

What's it about?

A group of students in CBS Synge Street attempt to form a musical group and have to deal with the pressures of being a teenager in '80s Dublin. Directed by John Carney of Once fame, Sing Street was a smash-hit when it was released last year, thanks to the infectious charm of its cast and the pitch-perfect soundtrack that went along with it. Sure, it might be taking a few cues from The Commitments and some others, but who cares when it's this good?

Three reasons why I should watch it?

Dublin never looked this cool, cracking soundtrack, as funny as any Irish film you'll see on Netflix.