Netflix Adds Acclaimed Romantic Comedy With 86-Percent on Rotten Tomatoes

Netflix’s romantic comedy library just got a little bigger. Beginners, the Mike Mills-directed film that released in 2011 to critical acclaim, is now streaming on the platform.

The film, which earned actor Christopher Plummer his first Oscar win, was added to the streaming platform on March 1 alongside other fan-favorites such as 50 First Dates, Black Hawk Down, The Holiday, Sicario, and Wedding Crashers.

Plummer starred in Beginners as Hal, a retired museum director who is dying of lung cancer. Following the death of his wife and in the last few months of his life, he comes out to his son Oliver (Ewan McGregor) as gay. The film largely centers around McGregor’s Oliver as he learns of the parts of his father’s life that Hal kept hidden and as he deals with the aftermath of his father’s death. The movie also starred Mélanie Laurent, Goran Višnjić, Kai Lennox, and Mary Page Keller.

Beginners was written and directed by Mills, who based the film on the story of his father, who came out as gay at the age of 75. Described by some as a “son’s love letter to his gay father,” the movie debuted in theaters in June 2011 to critical success, earning a 77% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and an 86% critics score. The critics consensus reads, “Wearing its twee heart on its sleeve, Beginners explores the depths of modern, multi-generational romance with wit and depth.”

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film a three out of four, calling Beginners a “touchingly personal and altogether extraordinary film.” Roger Ebert said the film was “a hopeful fable with deep optimism and a cheerful style that kids itself,” while Variety’s Peter Debruge called Beginners “deeply poignant and disarmingly personal.”

The film went on to win the Gotham Award for Best Feature, which it shared with The Tree of Life, in 2011, while Plummer picked up numerous accolades for his performance of Hal. In addition to taking home Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild Awards, and British Academy Film Awards wins, among others, Plummer also won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, marking his first Oscars win.

Movie lovers can now catch the actor’s award-winning performance in Beginners on Netflix.