Netflix movie of the day: Living is a feel-good Oscar nominee with 96% on Rotten Tomatoes

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A story about improving your life no matter how far through it you are

Bill Nighy in the movie Living
(Image credit: Lionsgate UK)

Eager for a feel-good movie as we cruise towards the weekend? Try Bill Nighy as a stuffy English gentleman who learns to actually do some good in the world instead of just protecting the status quo when he realizes he only has a short time left to live. 

It got an Oscar nomination for Bill Nighy, and for its script from Kazuo Ishiguro (adapting the Akira Kurosawa classic, Ikiru) – and with a colossal 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it arguably ranks among the best Netflix movies available now.

Nighy plays Rodney Williams, whose local government job mostly involves finding bureaucratic reasons not to fulfil requests from the people of his area. His winning introduction is to find a way to bury a request for a new playground on some ruined ground where bombs fell during World War II.

But when he's diagnosed with cancer, he starts disconnecting from that life. He's dragged out on the town for a surprise night of revelry, he treats a young colleague to fine dinner, and he generally realizes that doing something nice for others actually feels good, and has meaning.

It's a story of inspiring others, centered around one of today's acting greats, and is well worth a watch for Netflix subscribers.

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Matt Bolton
Matt Bolton
Managing Editor, Entertainment

Matt is TechRadar's Managing Editor for Entertainment, meaning he's in charge of persuading our team of writers and reviewers to watch the latest TV shows and movies on gorgeous TVs and listen to fantastic speakers and headphones. It's a tough task, as you can imagine. Matt has over a decade of experience in tech publishing, and previously ran the TV & audio coverage for our colleagues at T3.com, and before that he edited T3 magazine. During his career, he's also contributed to places as varied as Creative Bloq, PC Gamer, PetsRadar, MacLife, and Edge. TV and movie nerdism is his speciality, and he goes to the cinema three times a week. He's always happy to explain the virtues of Dolby Vision over a drink, but he might need to use props, like he's explaining the offside rule.