Android TV box + Remote Control + Netflix

I use a mele Android TV box with a mele remote control. This works perfectly with Kodi and MXPlayer, but the netflix app is extremely uncomfortable. It only works, very temperamentally, with the mouse controls. I am Primarily looking for Play vs Pause controls actually.. The rest sort of works, but pause is very conspicuously lacking. Is this actually expected or is there a way to get my play/pause button on my remote to work with the app? To be clear I want a way for it to work with my remote control. Not for a way to use my phone as a remote control for netflix.