Between yuletide merriment and Christmas feasts, there’s nothing quite like finding solace in a Richard Linklater movie. From the Before trilogy to his cinematic feat Boyhood, the 65-year-old filmmaker boasts a prolific filmography filled with thoughtful, comforting watches — perfect for a Christmas respite.

His movies are also getting a lot of buzz now as his latest one, Nouvelle Vague, hits Netflix. Per the stramer, it is described as the directors “love letter to the spellbinding magic of French cinema, reimagining the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s revolutionary Breathless, which ultimately cemented Godard as a pioneer of the French New Wave.” The cast includes Zoey Deutch as Jean Seberg, Aubry Dullin as Jean-Paul Belmondo, and Guillaume Marbeck as Godard.

Let’s take a look at Linklater’s top five movies, according to Rotten Tomatoes, that are ideal to stream this holiday season.

‘Double Play: James Benning and Richard Linklater’

Tomatoer Ranking: 100%

Following Linklater’s real life “personal and professional” friendship with the late filmmaker James Benning, Brogan Morris of Movie Mezzanine called 2013’s Double Play a “valuable introduction to these two filmmakers’ work for budding film enthusiasts.”

In his review for Seattle Times, John Hartl said the documentary “is an invitation to stare – usually at an object that’s worthy of prolonged attention.”

‘Before Sunrise’

Tomatoer Ranking: 100%

Linklater’s Before series kicks off with 1995’s Before Sunrise, following an American traveler Jesse (Ethan Hawke) who meets a French woman, Celine (Julie Delpy) on a train. They talk, and Jesse convinces Celine to embark on an adventure to Vienna with him. After a night of exploring and talking, they must decide what to do when morning comes.

Writing for Sight & Sound, John Wrathall praised Linklater’s balance “between poetry and the everyday” in the film. And in his review for InSession Film, JD Duran praised Hawk and Delpy’s “incredible” performances: “The chemistry they have in palpable and the energy is always flowing between the two of them.”

‘J.R. ‘Bob’ Dobbs and the Church of the SubGenius’

Tomatoer Ranking: 100%

Linklater’s 2020 documentary J.R. “Bob” Dobbs and the Church of the SubGenius follows “two self-proclaimed weirdos from Texas” as they create the titular “parody” religion that rocks conservative Southern ideology.

In their review for The Hollywood Reporter, staff writers described the film as a “a colorful piece of weird-Texas history” that offers “a surprising commentary on the current state of the world.” And Variety’s Dennis Harvey wrote that the film would be “an in-demand work at genre festivals, as a streaming item and in other forums.”

‘Before Midnight’

Tomatoer Ranking: 98%

The 2013 third installment of Linklater’s Before series, Before Midnight, sees Hawke and Deply reprise their roles as Jesse and Celine respectively — this time, they’re a middle aged couple at a low point in their marriage. On the last night of their Greek vacation, they look back on their lives and, according to the film’s log line, “what different choices might have brought.”

Oktay Ege Kozak for Bitch Media found the film to be “a refreshing counter-point to Hollywood’s typical happily ever after stories.”

In her review for Film Comment Magazine, Amy Taubin praised Deply for “unleashing a stream of feminist consciousness that is both outraged and outrageous-and cathartic.”

‘Boyhood’

Tomatoer Ranking: 97%

Filmed over the course of 12 years, 2014’s Boyhood tracks the “joys and pitfalls of growing up” by way of Mason (Ellar Coltrane), his parents (Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke) and his sister (Lorelei Linklater). Their story is told in vignettes of “family meals, road trips, birthday parties, graduations and other important milestones,” seeing Coltrane’s Mason journey from boyhood to the dawn of manhood.

In his review for The Times (UK), Kevin Maher praised Linklater’s ability to capture “the fundamental grief of the parenting experience” over more than a decade.

And Jocelyn Noveck for The Associated Press marveled at the “extraordinary care” Linklater put into the film, namely in “the casting, 13 years ago, of a little Texas boy named Ellar Coltrane.”