What Should I Watch — Random Movie Picker
Random pick from your watchlist.
Built and maintained by Paul Clark, Redmoon Software · Last checked
Can't decide what to watch? Paste your watchlist into this Random Movie Picker and let it choose a title for tonight. Tag entries by service, genre, or length so you can narrow the pool before picking, then click once for an instant answer. It's the cure for endless scrolling when everyone's hungry to start something.
Paste. Paste your watchlist, optionally tagging titles by service or genre.
0 items
Click What should we watch? to see a result.
Options
Recent results
- No history yet.
How it works
- Paste. Paste your watchlist, optionally tagging titles by service or genre.
- Filter. Use any tags to narrow the pool to what you're in the mood for.
- Pick. Click What should we watch? to get tonight's title.
- Repick. Click again if you'd like a different suggestion.
About the What Should I Watch — Random Movie Picker
Tag your list once, filter it forever
Titles go one per line and take hash tags: Arrival #scifi #slow. The Include filter requires every tag you list; the Exclude filter rejects a title carrying any of them. So "#comedy, #short" as an include means comedies that are also short, not comedies or short films.
The tags that earn their keep are the practical ones rather than the genres — which service it is on, how long it is, whether you can watch it with your parents in the room. Genre you can usually remember; "is this the one that is two and a half hours" you cannot.
Remove after picking
The Remove after picking option deletes the chosen title from your list once it has been drawn. That turns the tool from a picker into a watchlist that empties as you work through it, which is a genuinely different thing to own.
It edits your saved list directly, and there is no undo. If the evening falls through and you did not actually watch it, you will need to type the title back in. For a list you have curated over months, consider leaving the option off and deleting by hand.
Filters fail loudly
When no title matches your filters the tool raises an error instead of drawing from everything. That is the correct behaviour and it is worth relying on: it means a successful draw genuinely satisfied your constraints, rather than possibly being a silent fallback after a mistyped tag.
The usual cause of an empty result is an include list with two tags that never co-occur — you have tagged things #comedy or #short but nothing both.
Frequently asked questions
How are tags useful?
Mark each title with tags like #netflix, #scifi, or #short, then filter by them at pick time to narrow the choices.
Will it nag me to watch something?
No. Picks happen only when you click, and there are no notifications or reminders.
Is the pick truly random?
Yes. Selections use your browser's Web Crypto API, so every eligible title has a fair shot.
Is my watchlist private?
Completely. Your list stays in your browser and works offline, so it's never uploaded to a server.
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Further reading
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- Stop scrolling and let a random picker choose tonight's watch
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- A random date idea for when 'I don't mind, what do you want to do?' strikes
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- What should I eat? Save your meals once and let a picker decide dinner
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- Let a coin flip decide — but make it a smarter coin
Flipping a coin to make a decision isn't lazy — it's a useful tool for breaking analysis paralysis and surfacing what you actually want. Here's how weighted randomness helps you decide better, not just faster.