Depending on who you ask, Ryan Gosling might just be the biggest star on the planet right now – he can do it all, from huge-budget action movies to indie dramas, and is at once a master of comedy timing and a genuine heart-throb.
Fresh off even more wild success for Gosling as Ken in Barbie, if you’re looking to catch up on his filmography and want to do that without spending more money, we’ve found the Ryan Gosling movies you should be watching that are already included in the libraries of the best streaming services.
So, buckle up and check out the best Ryan Gosling movies streaming right now. And if you enjoy this list, also check out our round-up of Margot Robbie's best movies streaming right now too...
1. Drive
- Streaming services: Prime Video, Netflix
One of the most iconic roles in modern history, Gosling brings a crazy amount of steel to the near-silent protagonist of Nicolas Winding Refn’s thriller.
This is a hyper-violent film, but one with a tender heart at its core, as damaged individuals try to find a way out of the lives they’ve been backed into.
Gosling is vulnerable at the same time as being frankly terrifying, and that silver scorpion jacket is quite simply jaw-dropping, too. No wonder it’s sitting on a 93% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
2. The Nice Guys
- Streaming service: Prime Video
We weren’t joking when we said Gosling can absolutely nail comic timing, and Shane Black’s The Nice Guys is possibly the film that best demonstrates this.
His bungling detective is just unbelievable value on-screen, his every line delivery and action begging for mockery, right from the off.
This is just a joyously fun film to watch, and Gosling’s chemistry with Russell Crowe beggars belief – where is the sequel, people?! Its 91% score on Rotten Tomatoes shows we’ve already waited too long for a follow-up.
3. Half Nelson
- Streaming service: Prime Video
One of Gosling’s earlier movies, and one of his best, is this little indie picture about a teacher struggling to keep his drug habits from impacting on his professional life.
Gosling is honestly revelatory, a far cry from his hunky persona in so many other movies (even though this is after The Notebook), and has great chemistry with younger co-star Shareeka Epps.
There’s a reason this scored Gosling an Oscar nomination, and why it’s sitting pretty on a 90% score on Rotten Tomatoes. It's worth subscribing to Amazon Prime just for this.
4. The Big Short
- Streaming services: Netflix, Prime Video
When a film as good as this is only fourth on any list, you know you’re talking about an A-lister – Gosling is scintillating in The Big Short.
This funny, pithy retelling of the subprime mortgage crisis in 2005 has Gosling as one of the many blithe, frankly amoral men who realised what was happening just early enough to make a whole heap of cash out of it all.
He’s a slimy piece of work, but in the best (and funniest) way – and this is a must-see, so no wonder it has an 89% score on the Tomatometer.
5. Blade Runner 2049
- Streaming services: Prime Video
This is a film of just impossible scale – Denis Villeneuve’s audition to be allowed to make his stunning vision real for Dune.
Gosling plays the central figure in 2049, the long-awaited Blade Runner sequel. He’s Officer K, he’s not sure who he is, but he’s damn well going to find out one way or another.
Full of visions that live impossibly long in the memory, 2049 is an astonishing monument that earned 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, and Gosling’s trembling, doubting performance at its centre is worth the price of admission alone.
6. Crazy Stupid Love
- Streaming services: Netflix, Prime Video
For something much lighter, Crazy Stupid Love features Gosling at his most jaw-droppingly attractive, playing a slick love rat teaching a depressed Steve Carrell how to make it as a bachelor.
It’s got a lovely funny script and a climax that brings together plotlines in one of the funniest single scenes in any film you could hope to see.
Gosling is in sparkling form, all overconfidence and braggart behaviour, but he earns it way back by the end – not many silly comedies manage 79% on Rotten Tomatoes, after all.
- Streaming service: Prime Video
7. The Notebook
The Notebook plays host to some of the most iconic moments in any romance movie this century, as the gorgeous Gosling and Rachel McAdams dance around each other after years apart.
It’s soaring stuff at times but has been more of a hit with audiences than critics, after landing with a surprisingly middling 54% on Rotten Tomatoes back when it came out.
Still, if you’re in the mood for some pure romance and Gosling is your choice, there’s nothing much more lovey-dovey than this.
8. The Gray Man
- Streaming service: Netflix
It looked too good to be true when Netflix announced it was pairing Gosling with the Russo brothers on a pure action movie, and that proved largely accurate when it was released.
The Gray Man might have a lowly 44% score on Rotten Tomatoes but, in truth, there are some really fun and solid action scenes to be had in this flick – it just lacks some teeth to really make it all hang together.
Still, if you’re a Netflix subscriber and you want to turn your brain off completely with some lovely Ryan Gosling to soak your eyes into, there are worse ways to spend a couple of hours!
