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With the right kind of weed and the perfect company, almost any movie can be a weed movie. But while Netflix has always served up an ample supply of movies that go great with a foggy night in, the library of cannabis movies has expanded as of late.
Here are some of the best Netflix movies to light up with:
The best Netflix show on edibles – Cooked with Cannabis
Starring singer/songwriter and chef Kelis, Cooked with Cannabis is an edibles-making showcase modeled on the legion of timed cooking reality show competitions. Each episode features three cannabis chefs who prepare a 3-course cannabis-infused meal, that is served to the Kelis and co-host Leather Storrs, as well as guest hosts such as legendary Bay Area rapper Too $hort, comedian Flula Borg, and former NBA stars like John Salley and Nate Robinson.
As should be expected from a cooking show, this is truly haute cuisine and not just because of the high THC levels. Some of the dishes prepared include a grilled sweet corn gazpacho with THC olive oil and halibut ceviche smoked with the “mimosa” strain, and desserts like “purple apple pie,” which includes a granddaddy purple terpene-infused cinnamon whipped cream. It also features a THC/CBD salted caramel apple “rose,” and a crust infused with a powdered version of the blueberry strain.
The THC levels on the dishes are typically not that high, but most serve to highlight how edibles aren’t just a delivery device for cannabinoids. They can be an entrée into fine dining and a vessel to bring forth the unique and complex flavor profile of cannabis, and how it can enhance just about any dish. The show could spur you to embrace your edibles-making with a newfound creativity, or just make you nod your head while you chew down a THC gummy.
The best Netflix show on medical cannabis – Weed the People
For countless people in North America and beyond, the decision to support cannabis reform just needed to understand what is at stake. And arguably, nothing can do that better than children’s lives.
Made by filmmaker Abby Epstein and talk show icon Ricki Lake, the 2018 documentary Weed the People looks at pediatric cancer patients who have used medical marijuana, and the parents who have done whatever it takes to get their children the medicine they need. It also paints a frustrating picture of patients and their families who have been denied treatment in a society that often favors dangerous pharmaceutical medicine.
In addition to the parents and children featured in the film, Weed the People also portrays cannabis doctors and professionals like Dr. Bonni Goldstein and Mara Gordon, as well as Raphael Mechoulam, the Israeli scientist known the world over for first isolating THC.
The best weed family comedy/drama on Netflix – Family Business
The family that grows weed out of their kosher butcher shop together….stays together? It’s not a saying in English, but maybe it will be in French. In the meantime, feast your eyes on Family Business, the two-season tale of the Hazan family of Paris, and bumbling son Joseph who decides that the kosher butcher shop he inherited from his father would be the perfect spot for the first weed store in France.
By season two (c’est un spoiler!), the family is growing their own weed – and business is booming. But as should be expected when mixing family and business – and an illegal weed business – trouble looms around every corner.
The show is also easy to binge. Each season is made up of just six 30-minute episodes that you can snatch up like hors d’oeuvres – with or without your family.
The best Netflix movie on weed and the War on Drugs – Grass is Greener
Hosted and directed by hip hop legend Fab 5 Freddy, the documentary Grass is Greener takes a deep look at the history of cannabis and cannabis prohibition in America, mainly through the lens of music and race.
The film starts by looking at the music (and weed) icons of the jazz age, including Louis Armstorng and Count Basie, how it coincided with the government’s move to ban marijuana, and the Reefer Madness propaganda and racism that was part and parcel of this effort.
Fab 5 Freddy talks about the role of marijuana in black music in America, and speaks to some perhaps not too surprising experts including Snoop Dogg, B-Real, Chuck D, and Damian Marley. He also leads us into the contemporary era of cannabis legalization, and how the same minorities who have borne the brunt of the War on Drugs, are the ones being left out of the legal weed windfall. The movie also highlights how even as cannabis is becoming legal in state after state, the stigma around cannabis use is still being used to sully the reputations of black Americans like Michael Brown, Philando Castille, and Botham Jean after they have been killed by police.
The history of cannabis in America has long been tied to the history of music in America. Grass is Greener forces us to look closer at how race has been intertwined in this entire history, and how much further we have left to go.
The best weed thriller on Netflix – Murder Mountain
For outsiders, especially in the years before cannabis legalization, Humboldt County has often been seen as a Xanadu of underground weed farms and cannabis cultivators living well beyond the reach of the law.
The 2018 true crime documtnary series Murder Mountain reveals the darker side of the Humboldt County legend, and the disproportionately high rate of missing persons in one of the country’s most beautiful and mysterious regions.
The docuseries is full of striking footage of the wild, rugged countryside of the Emerald Triangle, and closely follows the case of 29-year-old Garret Rodriguez, who was found murdered in the area in 2013.
And while local officials have been highly critical of the series and how they believe it smears their reputation, there is no question it is a compelling docuseries that shines a compelling light on what goes on deep in the woods of Northern California.
The best stoner comedy on Netflix – How High
When it comes to “the best stoner movie,” it’s really just in the glassy, blazing red eyes of the beholder.
For many, including those whose younger days were spent stoned out with Wu-Tang, the Blackout! album, or a St. Ides poster on a wall nearby, it’s hard to argue against How High.
This cinematic masterpiece follows the exploits of two stoners played by Method Man and Redman, who smoke the ashes of a deceased founding father so that they can ace a test and get into Harvard.
The movie, which is not based on a true story, is a classic “stoner/fish out of water” tale led by two charismatic actors who in the years to come would do a lot better than whatever a BA from Harvard gets you.
And now for something completely different – Have a Good Trip: Adventures in Psychedelics
Weed cinema purists would tell you that a movie about psychedelics should not be on this list, but you can easily make the case that the two go hand in hand, and that probably a disproportionately high percentage of the people who watched Have a Good Trip did so while stoned.
The 2020 documentary is a hilarious and illuminating look at psychedelics featuring interviews with a variety of celebrities who have decided to share their experiences with hallucinogens.
Hosted by actor Nick Offerman, it features interviews, anecdotes, animation, and reenactments from celebrities like Rosie Perez, Ben Stiller, Natasha Lyonne, ASAP Rocky (who starred in his own LSD movie), Carrie Fisher and a lot, lot more.
In the film, Sting says “I don’t think psychedelics are the answer to the world’s problems, but they could be a start.” Something similar applies to this film: It won’t solve all the world’s problems, but it could be a start (to a great evening).
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