LAST UPDATE: August 2026
Netflix doesn’t have the deepest found footage catalog out there — that’s Shudder’s territory. But what it does have is good. A handful of titles that genuinely belong on any shortlist of the best the genre has to offer, and a few hidden gems that most people scroll past without a second glance.
I’ve gone through everything available right now and pulled out the ones actually worth your time. No filler, no padding — just the films I’d recommend to anyone who asks me where to start with found footage on Netflix.
⚠️ Availability varies by region. All titles below are confirmed on Netflix US at the time of writing. Use the JustWatch widgets to check what’s available in your country.
The Best Found Footage Movies on Netflix Right Now
1. Incantation (2022)
2022 · 1h51 · ⭐ IMDb: 6.3/10
The most-watched Taiwanese film in Netflix history — and one of the most genuinely unsettling found footage films of the last decade.
The Story: Six years ago, Li Ronan broke a sacred religious taboo while filming in a remote cult settlement. She has been cursed ever since. Now, trying to rebuild her life and regain custody of her young daughter Dodo, she begins documenting everything — partly to explain what happened, partly because she believes filming offers some kind of protection. It doesn’t.
Is it worth watching? Yes — with caveats. Incantation is committed to its premise in a way that few found footage films manage. The folk horror mythology feels genuinely foreign and genuinely threatening, and director Kevin Ko uses the camera-as-protection conceit with real intelligence. It’s a slow burn, and some viewers find the final act confusing rather than terrifying. Stick with it. The dread accumulates in ways you won’t shake easily.
Watch it now on Netflix (or elsewhere):
2. Creep (2014)
2014 · 1h17 · ⭐ IMDb: 6.3/10
One of the smartest, most uncomfortable found footage films ever made — and it costs almost nothing to achieve its effects.
The Story: Aaron is a videographer who answers a Craigslist ad from a man named Josef, who claims he’s dying and wants someone to document a day in his life for his unborn son. Josef is strange from the moment Aaron arrives. He gets stranger. Aaron stays anyway — because what do you do, just leave?
Is it worth watching? Most people love Creep — it has a strong cult following and Mark Duplass is genuinely committed to the role. Personally it didn’t do much for me. I found Josef more annoying than frightening, and the slow burn never quite paid off the way I wanted it to. But I’m clearly in the minority on this one, and if awkward psychological horror is your thing, there’s a good chance you’ll rate it higher than I did. Worth trying.
Watch it now on Netflix (or elsewhere):
3. Creep 2 (2017)
2017 · 1h18 · ⭐ IMDb: 6.4/10
The rare sequel that’s as good as the original — and arguably more interesting.
The Story: Josef — now going by Aaron — contacts Sara, a filmmaker who runs a web series about online weirdos. He tells her upfront that he’s a serial killer. She decides to film him anyway. What follows is less a cat-and-mouse thriller than a strange, tension-filled character study about two people who are each, in their own way, completely unhinged.
Is it worth watching? Yes. Creep 2 does something clever — it gives Josef a credible match in Sara, played by Desiree Akhavan, who refuses to be frightened and keeps the power dynamic genuinely uncertain. You spend the whole film unsure who’s really in control. It’s funnier than the first one and, in some ways, more unsettling. Watch them back to back.
Watch it now on Netflix (or elsewhere):
4. Host (2020)
2020 · 56 min · ⭐ IMDb: 6.5/10
Shot in twelve days during the first Covid lockdown, entirely over Zoom. It has no right to be this scary.
The Story: Six friends set up an online séance during lockdown — something to do on a Friday night. They hire a medium, they light some candles, they mess around. One of them doesn’t take it seriously and accidentally invites something in. From that point on, the film doesn’t stop.
Is it worth watching? Absolutely. At 56 minutes Host is ruthlessly efficient — no setup that doesn’t pay off, no scene that outstays its welcome. The practical effects are genuinely impressive for the budget, and Rob Savage uses the Zoom format with the same intelligence that made the first Paranormal Activity work — giving you just enough to fill in the gaps yourself. One of the best found footage films of the last ten years, full stop. Check out our full review here.
Watch it now on Netflix (or elsewhere):
5. Deadstream (2022)
2022 · 1h27 · ⭐ IMDb: 6.4/10
A haunted house film disguised as a YouTube video — and one of the funniest found footage films ever made.
The Story: Shawn Ruddy is a disgraced internet personality trying to rebuild his audience by spending a night alone in Death Manor, America’s most haunted house. He locks himself in, throws his car keys down a drain to prove he can’t leave, and starts streaming. The house has other plans.
Is it worth watching? Yes — if you’re willing to go with it. Deadstream is played partly for laughs, and Shawn is deliberately irritating in the way that only someone who has spent too long optimising for engagement can be. But the horror is real alongside the comedy, and the film earns both. Joseph Winter’s performance is genuinely committed, and the final thirty minutes escalate in ways you won’t see coming. One of the most purely enjoyable found footage films in years, as you can read in our review.
Watch it now on Netflix (or elsewhere):
6. The Bridge Curse (2020)
2020 · 1h35 · ⭐ IMDb: 5.3/10
Taiwanese campus horror built around a real urban legend — and a lot more atmosphere than its IMDb score suggests.
The Story: A group of college students decide to test the legend of a haunted bridge at Tunghai University, where a woman is said to have killed herself after being abandoned by her lover. The ritual is simple: walk the bridge at night, count the steps, and don’t look back. They look back.
Is it worth watching? If you enjoyed Incantation and want more Taiwanese horror, yes. The Bridge Curse is rougher around the edges and the characters make the kind of decisions that found footage films require but real people wouldn’t. But the location is genuinely creepy, the legend it’s built on has real weight, and there are a handful of scenes that land hard. Go in with adjusted expectations and you’ll get more out of it.
Watch it now on Netflix (or elsewhere):
7. Jurnal Risa by Risa Saraswati (2024)
2024 · 1h38 · ⭐ IMDb: 5.1/10
Indonesian mockumentary horror built around a real YouTuber — niche, but genuinely creepy if you give it a chance.
The Story: Risa Saraswati plays herself — a popular Indonesian content creator whose YouTube channel covers supernatural phenomena. While filming a new video, one of her crew members gets possessed by a spirit. The team travels to the spirit’s home village hoping to find someone who can help. They find something, but help isn’t quite the right word for it.
Is it worth watching? It depends what you’re after. If you want slick Hollywood horror, look elsewhere. But if you’re interested in how found footage works in a completely different cultural context — different mythology, different setting, different rules — Jurnal Risa is genuinely interesting. The possession sequences are effective and the mockumentary format is used well. One of the more underrated titles on this list.
Watch it now on Netflix (or elsewhere):
Also on Netflix: CTRL (2024)
2024 · 1h39 · ⭐ IMDb: 6.5/10
Not found footage — but if you’ve made it this far down the list, you’ll want to know about it.
The Story: Nella is a social media influencer who uses an AI tool to scrub her ex-boyfriend Joe from her entire digital life after their breakup. Then Joe turns up dead, and suddenly erasing someone from the internet looks a lot less like self-care and a lot more like evidence.
Is it worth watching? Yes. CTRL is a screenlife thriller rather than found footage — the whole story unfolds through screens, apps, and interfaces — and it’s one of the sharper entries in that format I’ve seen recently. Ananya Panday is excellent, and the film has genuinely smart things to say about AI, digital identity, and how much of ourselves we hand over to platforms without thinking. If this kind of screen-based storytelling appeals to you, I’ve put together a full guide to the best screenlife movies worth watching — you can find it here.
Watch it now on Netflix (or elsewhere):
Which Found Footage Movie Should You Watch on Netflix Tonight?
If you want to be genuinely scared — Host. 56 minutes, no filler, and at least two scenes that will stay with you. Watch it alone, at night, with headphones.
If you want something different — Incantation. Taiwanese folk horror with a mythology that feels completely foreign and all the more unsettling for it. Nothing else on this list feels quite like it.
If you’re in the mood for something fun — Deadstream. It’s funny, it’s messy, and it genuinely earns its horror alongside the comedy. Good one to watch with someone else.
If you want to explore beyond found footage — CTRL. Technically screenlife rather than found footage, but if you liked the format you’ll like this. I’ve got a full guide to the best screenlife films over here if you want to go deeper.
If you want to explore the genre beyond Netflix — the titles above are just what happens to be on one platform right now. The found footage rabbit hole goes much deeper. A good place to start is our database — 1,400+ films, filterable by style, genre, country and decade.
That’s everything worth watching right now. Netflix rotates its catalog regularly, so if something has disappeared by the time you read this, the JustWatch widgets will point you to wherever it’s moved. If you spot a title I’ve missed, a rating that looks wrong, or a film that’s no longer available — drop a comment below. I keep this updated and I read everything.
