The conditions are the problem, not the film. A dark room, a still body, a fixed position and a late start are close to a set of instructions for falling asleep, and any film that does not actively demand attention will lose to them. Picking for the state you are in works better than picking harder.
You have assembled the conditions for sleep
Lights off, body still, warm room, no decisions to make, late evening. Every one of those is something you would do deliberately if you wanted to fall asleep, and doing all of them at once while asking your attention to stay engaged is a fight you will usually lose.
It is also why the same film watched at four in the afternoon holds up fine. People conclude a film is boring when what actually happened is that they watched it in a bed-shaped situation at the end of a long day.
Some films need more than you have
Slow-burn structures, subtitled dialogue and long runtimes all demand sustained attention, and they are exactly the films people queue up for a serious evening. Starting a three-hour subtitled drama at ten at night is not a test of the film.
The practical fix is to match the demand to the reserve. Something under a hundred minutes, in your own language, with visible forward motion, will survive a tired evening. Save the demanding thing for a Saturday afternoon, which is when it will actually land.
Or stop fighting it
There is a legitimate category of film to fall asleep to, and choosing one deliberately is better than failing at something ambitious. A rewatch you already know is the ideal candidate: nothing is lost by drifting off, and the familiarity is the point.
What does not help is starting something new at midnight and then concluding you dislike it. Nearly everyone has a list of well-regarded films they believe they have seen, and a common feature of that list is that they were all started after eleven.
Recommended viewing
Sources and further reading
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FAQs about Why Do I Fall Asleep During Movies?
Does falling asleep mean the film is boring?
Rarely. It usually means you watched it in conditions optimised for sleep at the end of a long day. The same film in an afternoon, with a light on and something to drink, frequently plays completely differently, which is a fairly reliable test of which explanation applies.
What should I put on when I am already tired?
Something under a hundred minutes, in a language you do not have to read, with visible forward motion, and ideally a rewatch. Save subtitled, slow or three-hour films for a Saturday afternoon. Matching the demand to what you have left is more effective than trying to concentrate harder.
Is it bad to fall asleep to something on purpose?
Not at all, and doing it deliberately is better than failing at something ambitious. A familiar rewatch is the ideal candidate, because nothing is lost by drifting off. The thing to avoid is starting a new, well-regarded film at midnight and then deciding you did not like it.