The 30 Best Movies On Amazon Prime Right Now (May 2024)
Summary
-
Saltburn
and
Cocaine Bear
are some of the best movies currently available on Amazon Prime Video, offering thrilling and unique stories. -
Catherine Called Birdy
and
How to Train Your Dragon
provide crowd-pleasing entertainment, with memorable performances and hilarious humor. -
Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm
captures the chaos of 2020 with edgy hilarity, while
Blockers
delivers raunchy laugh-out-loud comedy.
Amazon Prime Video adds dozens of new movies every month, and the best movies included with a Prime subscription include both modern blockbuster hits and timeless classics across a wide range of genres. Amazon Prime Video rivals Netflix as the contender for the place of most popular streaming platform in the US, and the best movies on Amazon Prime Video right now make it easy to see why Amazon’s streaming platform sits comfortably ahead of the likes of Hulu, Max, and Disney+.
Streaming Service |
Subscribers (As Of Dec 2023) |
Year Streaming Launched |
---|---|---|
Amazon Prime |
220 Million |
2016 |
Netflix |
260.28 Million |
2007 |
With a library that extensive, it can be hard to find the right movie to watch on Prime. Amazon Prime Video offers something for everyone, so no matter what mood someone is in or their tastes in film, they’re bound to find something to dive into on the streamer. Still, it can be hard to narrow down the catalog when Amazon Prime Video offers so many films — that’s why Screen Rant has narrowed down the catalog to the 30 best movies currently available on Amazon Prime Video.
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Best Comedy Movies On Amazon Prime Video
Saltburn (2023)
Saltburn
- Release Date
- November 17, 2023
- Director
- Emerald Fennell
- Runtime
- 131 Minutes
Part thriller and park black comedy, Saltburn was one of the most exciting films to come out of 2023 and now lives on as one of the best movies currently available on Amazon Prime Video. Starring Barry Keoghan, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, and Carrey Mulligan among others in its ensemble cast, Saltburn is a twisted tale of excess, deception, and obsession.
Giving away any details about the plot would result in spoilers, as it’s a movie that’s best appreciated when gone into with as little known about the plot as possible. However, thanks to a riveting script and stellar performances from every cast member, it’s a guarantee that Saltburn is a movie that won’t be forgotten for all the right reasons.
Saltburn
has been nominated for dozens of awards since its release, winning several, including nods for stars Barry Keoghan and Rosamund Pike, with writer/director Emerald Fennell and cinematographer Linus Sandgren also being up for several awards for their work on the movie.
Watch Now On Amazon Prime VideoCocaine Bear (2023)
Cocaine Bear
- Release Date
- February 24, 2023
- Director
- Elizabeth Banks
- Cast
- Ray Liotta , Alden Ehrenreich , Christian Convery , Scott Seiss , Margo Martindale , Keri Russell , Kahyun Kim , O’Shea Jackson Jr. , Brooklynn Prince
- Runtime
- 95 Minutes
One of the strangest and most subversive movies to come of out 2023, Cocaine Bear is literally a movie about a bear that ingests an unfathomable amount of cocaine and then goes on a rampage. Directed by and starring Elizabeth Banks, Cocaine Bear is a far better film than a movie with such a ridiculous premise has any right being. It’s loosely based on a true story, although the real cocaine bear didn’t cause any bloodshed. Hilarious and grizzly throughout, there aren’t any other movies like Cocaine Bear available on Amazon Prime Video or any other streaming service.
The real cocaine bear that inspired Elizabeth Banks’ movie is hilariously known as Pablo Eskobear. The bear was taxidemered after it sadly passed away, and is currently on display in Lexington, Kentucky.
Watch Now On Amazon Prime Video
Asteroid City (2023)
All of Wes Anderson’s whimsical sensibilities are present and accounted for in Asteroid City — and Amazon Prime Video subscribers looking for a quirky comedy to watch right now on Amazon Prime Video should look no further. For the director’s eleventh feature film, Anderson leans into sci-fi more than ever with a complex, meta premise about a play depicting Junior Stargazers and their families gathering at a convention in the 1950s.
Anderson is known for his sprawling ensemble casts, and Asteroid City boasts one of the biggest. The movie stars many frequent Anderson collaborators, including Jason Schwartzman and Edward Norton, and Tom Hanks notably joins the company in a small role, marking his first time working with the director. After the somewhat forgettable The French Dispatch, Anderson is back in fighting form with Asteroid City, praised for its style, quirky narrative, and top-notch cast.
Asteroid City
was nominated for multiple awards but sadly lost almost every single one — a surprising fact, since it appeared on multiple critics “best films of 2023” list, including placing 2nd at both
The New Yorker
and
Esquire.
Catherine Called Birdy (2022)
Catherine Called Birdy
- Release Date
- September 23, 2022
- Director
- Lena Dunham
- Cast
- Bella Ramsey , Dean-Charles Chapman , Andrew Scott , Billie Piper , Ralph Ineson , Isis Hainsworth , Joe Alwyn
- Runtime
- 108 minutes
Lena Dunham may be a polarizing filmmaker, but she delivered a crowd-pleasing romp with Catherine Called Birdy. Based on the Karen Cushman novel of the same name, the movie follows Lady Catherine (Bella Ramsey), also known as Birdy, is a 14-year-old girl living in medieval England who is determined to sabotage her father’s plans of marrying her off to a wealthy man.
Ramsey has received tons of acclaim for their performances in Game of Thrones and The Last of Us, and their work in Catherine Called Birdy deserves to join these ranks. As Birdy, they are vivacious, funny, and charming, and they manage to make Birdy’s struggle relatable despite the film taking place so long ago. Fleabag‘s Andrew Scott is also phenomenal as Birdy’s father, Lord Rollo, and their chemistry is just as crackling as Ramsey and Pedro Pascal in The Last of Us.
Catherine Called Birdy
may not have seen mainstream awards success, though it’s won over critics, as evidenced by it’s score of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes.
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Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm (2020)
Few comedy characters are as controversial as Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat, and the 2020 sequel Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm brought the incredibly edgy hilarity to the modern era. Set during the COVID-19 pandemic, Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm only gets funnier with time as the lockdowns and other unique facets of 2020 become more retrospective. With an incredibly shocking finale that targets Rudy Giuliani, this comedy movie on Amazon Prime Video has somehow managed to capture one of the most chaotic times in recent memory and repackage it into absolute hilarity.
2006’s
Borat:
Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
isn’t currently available to stream in the US, but is available to rent and purchase on Amazon Prime.
Blockers (2018)
2018’s Blockers is a raunchy coming-of-age teen comedy with a twist. While movies like Superbad and American Pie have focused on teenage boys trying (and, often, failing) to be intimate with a girl for first time, Blockers flips the script by focusing on three teen girls who make a pact to lose their virginity on prom night. However, their parents discover this pact and have other ideas, going to hilarious lengths to ensure that the trio of girls don’t manage to fulfill their promise to one-another.
Blockers also made strides in the genre for LGBTQI+ representation, as one of the girls, Sam (Gideon Adlon) is also coming to terms with her same-sex attraction and sexuality. The script ensures Blockers is laugh-out-loud hilarious throughout, though it’s the stellar cast that includes names like John Cena and Kathryn Newton that ensures it is one of the funniest movies on Amazon Prime Video — a fact that’s of little surprise given that comedy veterans Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg served as producers.
Best Drama Movies On Amazon Prime Video
Whiplash (2014)
Whiplash
- Director
- Damien Chazelle
- Release Date
- October 10, 2014
- Cast
- Paul Reiser , Miles Teller , Melissa Benoist , J. K. Simmons
- Runtime
- 107minutes
Miles Teller’s career has been on the up in recent years thanks to his appearance as Rooster in Top Gun: Maverick and as Albert Ruddy in 2022’s The Offer. However, it’s 2014’s Whiplash where he perhaps first showed his depth as a dramatic actor when he played talented drumming prodigy Andrew. Opposite Teller is J.K. Simmons — the acclaimed character actor who is known by many as J. Jonah Jameson in various Spider-Man movies — playing Andrew’s abusive teacher, Fletcher. It’s the chemistry between the two that makes Whiplash easily one of the best movies on Amazon Prime Video right now.
Whiplash is the story of a talented young musician struggling to make their way in the world and a ruthless instructor who pushes them beyond their limits. It’s a movie with many layers, especially once Fletcher seemingly abandons Andrew for trivial reasons. Andrew also discovers the impact Fletcher’s abuse has had on other young musicians in his position. The riveting and tense story was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, a nod it more than deserved, and Simmons won Best Supporting Actor.
Schindler’s List (1993)
Schindler’s List (1995)
- Release Date
- February 4, 1994
- Writers
- Steven Zaillian
1993’s Schindler’s List is one of the most acclaimed movies from legendary director Steven Spielberg, though it’s also undoubtedly his most heartbreaking and tear-jerking. While Spielberg is no stranger to WW2 movies, as proved by Saving Private Ryan and shows like Band of Brothers, the black-and-white historical drama Schindler’s List doesn’t focus on Allied forces storming the beaches of Normandy or stories of military heroism. Instead, it explores one of the darkest moments of human history — the Holocaust.
A truly harrowing tale that’s brought to the screen beautifully by Spielberg and the cast.
Schindler’s List recounts the true story of Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), a German industrialist who used his position to save over 1200 Jews during the height of the Holocaust. He did this by convincing members of the Nazi Party that they were essential workers, and that without them his ammunition factories — which were integral to the war efforts of the Third Reich — wouldn’t be able to function. It’s a truly harrowing tale that’s brought to the screen beautifully by Spielberg and the cast.
Schindler’s List
won 7 Academy Awards when it released, including the Oscar for Best Picture and Best Director for Steven Spielberg. Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes were also nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, respectively.
Air (2023)
Air
- Release Date
- April 5, 2023
- Runtime
- 95 minutes
While Ben Affleck’s acting career has been famously up and down, he’s had impressive success behind the camera, and Air is the fifth film he’s directed. Starring frequent Affleck collaborator Matt Damon as Nike shoe salesman Sonny Vaccaro, Air is the origin story of Nike and Michael Jordan’s iconic shoe, the Air Jordan.
A whip-smart look at the American Dream from a corporate perspective, Air is the most entertaining movie about business since The Big Short. While it’s not expected to see the same awards glory as past Affleck-directed films like Argo and Gone Baby Gone, it’s perfect for a crowd-pleasing movie night. And Viola Davis’ performance as Michael Jordan’s mother Deloris is poignant, heartfelt, and Oscar-worthy.
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Sound of Metal (2019)
Sound of Metal
- Release Date
- November 20, 2020
- Director
- Darius Marder
- Cast
- Shaheem Sanchez , Riz Ahmed , Paul Raci , Jeremy Stone , Mathieu Amalric , Olivia Cooke , Lauren Ridloff , Chelsea Lee
- Runtime
- 130 minutes
Riz Ahmed has been known for playing dark, troubled characters since his breakout role in Nightcrawler, and in Sound of Metal, he delivers the performance of a lifetime. He plays Ruben Stone, an avant-garde metal drummer who begins to lose his hearing. As Ruben grapples with the fact that he is going deaf, he must decide whether to get cochlear implants or remain with his community of people with deafness recovering from addiction.
Unsurprisingly, Ahmed’s performance as the troubled Ruben earned him many award nominations, including an Oscar. And while Ahmed steals the show, many other elements of the film were praised, particularly the sound editing. In total, Sound of Metal was nominated for an impressive six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and deservedly won for Best Sound and Best Editing. Subscribers seeking a cerebral drama that pulls at many emotional strings will be more than satisfied with Sound of Metal, as it’s one of the most gripping movies you can watch right now on Amazon Prime Video.
One Night In Miami (2020)
One Night in Miami
- Release Date
- January 15, 2021
- Director
- Regina King
- Cast
- Eli Goree , Michael Imperioli , Beau Bridges , Aldis Hodge , Nicolette Robinson , Kingsley Ben-Adir , Derek Roberts , Joaquina Kalukango , Leslie Odom Jr. , Lawrence Gilliard Jr. , Lance Reddick , Christian Magby
- Runtime
- 110 minutes
Oscar winner Regina King steps behind the camera for a triumphant debut with One Night in Miami. Based on Kemp Powers’ play of the same name, One Night in Miami is a fictionalized retelling of a real night in February 1964 in which Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, and Sam Cooke spend a night celebrating Ali’s boxing win over Sonny Liston, and share poignant conversation about what it means to be successful Black men in the midst of the civil rights movement.
While this premise may sound stagey and more suited to the theater, the discussion among these powerhouse men will have viewers so engrossed they’ll barely register how little action is happening, and if they do, they won’t care. The movie earned three Academy Award nominations, including Best Supporting Actor for Leslie Odom Jr. as Sam Cooke. If One Night in Miami is any indication, King has a bright directing future ahead of her.
Best Romance Movies On Amazon Prime Video
Bones And All (2022)
Bones and All
- Release Date
- November 23, 2022
- Director
- Luca Guadagnino
- Cast
- Chloe Sevigny , Timothee Chalamet , Taylor McKenzie , Michael Stuhlbarg , David Gordon Green , Mark Rylance
- Runtime
- 130 minutes
Horror and romance don’t often go hand-in-hand without terrifying results, yet – somehow – 2022’s Bones and All manages to keep the needle firmly on the romance side of the arrangement while also containing plenty of moments of cannibalism. Starring Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell, Bones and All is a love story about a pair of young cannibals taking a road trip across the US in the 1980s.
The film is both critically acclaimed and beloved by audiences despite underperforming at the box office, and it won the Silver Lion for best direction when it debuted at the 79th Venice International Film Festival. With a movie like Bones and All the critical reception almost takes second place to the premise and story, however, since there are few — if any — other movies that manage to craft such an emotionally deep story focusing on characters who eat other human beings as a hobby.
Watch Now On Amazon Prime Video
I Want You Back (2022)
I Want You Back
- Release Date
- February 11, 2022
- Director
- Jason Orley
- Cast
- Scott Eastwood , Mason Gooding , Gina Rodriguez , Manny Jacinto , Jenny Slate , Charlie Day
- Runtime
- 111 Minutes
Starring It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Charlie Day and SNL’s Jenny Slate, the 2022 Amazon Prime Original rom-com I Want You Back is a classic “getting back the ex” storyline with a twist. Peter (Day) and Emma (Slate) are two friends who find themselves at a crossroads — both of their respective ex-partners have found new loves. This doesn’t sit well with Peter or Emma, so they make a pact to help each other sabotage the new relationships and win back their former beaus.
Unsurprisingly, this leads to the pair realizing happiness is closer than they think and that the answer isn’t retreading old romantic ground. However, what makes I Want You Back stand out isn’t the intricacies of the plot but the hilarious performances of the cast, making this a more-than-worthwhile watch for Amazon Prime Video Subscribers seeking a quirky feel-good romance movie that delivers on the laughs.
Watch Now on Amazon Prime Video.
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Red, White & Royal Blue (2023)
Red, White & Royal Blue
- Release Date
- August 11, 2023
- Director
- Matthew Lopez
- Cast
- Taylor Zakhar Perez , Nicholas Galitzine , Uma Thurman , Stephen Fry , Sarah Shahi , Ellie Bamber
- Runtime
- 121 Minutes
The film adaptation of Red, White & Royal Blue had big shoes to fill, as Casey McQuiston’s novel of the same name is a New York Times bestseller with myriad fans who were swept up in the enemies-to-lovers romance at its core. Thankfully, the movie royally delivered. Like the novel, Red, White & Royal Blue centers on first son of the United States Alex Claremont-Diaz (Taylor Zakhar Perez) and Prince Henry of Britain (Nicholas Galitzine), who embark on a passionate romance despite their initial disdain for each other.
The chemistry between the lead couple is make-or-break for rom-coms, and Zakhar Perez and Galitzine’s is scorching. Mirroring the novel’s success, Red, White & Royal Blue was a massive hit for Amazon Prime Video, becoming the No. 1 video upon release week and seeing a huge surge in membership, which speaks to both the film’s popularity and quality.
The Big Sick (2017)
The Big Sick
- Release Date
- July 14, 2017
- Director
- Michael Showalter
- Cast
- Zoe Kazan , Ray Romano , Kumail Nanjiani , Holly Hunter , Adeel Akhtar
- Runtime
- 120 minutes
Prior to The Big Sick, Kumail Nanjiani was best known for his supporting role in Silicon Valley as the put-upon Dinesh. But with this movie, Nanjiani steps into the spotlight. He and his wife, Emily Gordon, co-write the script together, which is a semi-autobiographical account of their relationship. In the film, Nanjiani is a stand-up comedian and Uber driver who meets and falls for Emily Gardner (Zoe Kazan). As cultural differences threaten their relationship, Emily falls ill and goes into a coma.
This is a unique premise for the rom-com genre, and one that works spectacularly, as Kumail and Emily’s story is made all the more personal by the fact that it really happened. Romantic comedies are rarely given the respect they deserve, but there’s no denying how powerful The Big Sick is. Nanjiani and Gordon were nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards, and won Best First Screenplay at the Independent Spirit Awards for their stellar script.
Shotgun Wedding (2022)
Shotgun Wedding
- Release Date
- December 28, 2022
- Director
- Jason Moore
- Runtime
- 100minutes
Action and romance go surprisingly well together in movies that mash the genres, and 2022’s Shotgun Wedding is one of the latest rom-coms to lean into some gripping action sequences with hilarious results. Starring Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel as newlyweds whose ceremony is literally hijacked by modern pirates, Shotgun Wedding‘s title is incredibly literal in several scenes.
While the witty dialogue and easy-going laughs make it worth a watch alone, seeing The White Lotus star Jennifer Coolidge grinning manically as she wields a submachine gun is alone enough to make Shotgun Wedding one of the best romance movies on Amazon Prime Video.
Watch Now On Amazon Prime Video
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Titanic (1997)
Titanic
- Release Date
- December 19, 1997
- Runtime
- 3h 14m
Few movies currently on Amazon Prime Video are as iconic as James Cameron’s disaster romance Titanic. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, Titanic is the story of two lovers from different social classes who meet on the maiden voyage of the doomed cruiseliner from which the film gets its name. Both the romantic aspects of Rose and Jack’s love story and the tragic sinking of the Titantic are handled to perfection, ensuring the 1997 movie’s legacy was forever secured.
Titanic was nominated for 162 awards, winning an incredible 111 of them. The accolades scored by Titanic include Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director (James Cameron), Best Actress (Kate Winslet), Best Visual Effects, and of course, Best Original Sogn for “My Heart Will Go On”. It cannot be overstated just how timeless a movie Titanic is, and Amazon Prime Video subscribers will find few films on the platform that match it, whether they’re seeking a romantic story or not.
Watch Now On Amazon Prime Video
Best Sci-Fi & Fantasy Movies On Amazon Prime Video
How To Train Your Dragon (2010)
How to Train Your Dragon
- Director
- Dean DeBlois , Chris Sanders
- Release Date
- March 18, 2010
- Cast
- Jay Baruchel , Gerard Butler , Craig Ferguson , America Ferrera , Jonah Hill
- Runtime
- 98 Minutes
One of the best fantasy movies on Amazon Prime Video right now is also suitable for the whole family. 2010’s How to Train Your Dragon kickestarted one of the most successful DreamWorks franchises in 2010, and it’s now gained status as a classic family movie. The plot focuses on Hiccup, the inept son of the chief of the Viking village of Berk. Berk is so constantly besieged by dragons that dragon-slaying is an essential part of their culture. Thanks to attempts to revolutionize the borderline-sport with his inventions, Hiccup inadvertently captures a dragon instead of killing it.
The dragon, Toothless, turns out to be more adorable than deadly, much to Hiccup’s surprise, and the two form a firm friendship – though it’s one that Hiccup must keep hidden from the rest of Berk. However, he soon also learns that the constant dragon attacks may be down to more than just the aggression of the winged reptiles, and by the end of the movie, he proves that Toothless and the rest of his kind make better friends than foes.
Watch Now On Amazon Prime Video
Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts (2023)
The Transformers franchise is synonymous with big-budget easy-watching blockbuster action that meshes sci-fi and fantasy in an easily digestible package, and 2023’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is no exception. While it’s not as groundbreaking or game-changing as some of the other movies currently available on Amazon Prime Video, the 7th Transformers movie understood its mission brief, more than delivering on the expected jaw-dropping CGI sequences and big, explosion-filled battles between giant transforming robots. Subscribers looking for some slick and well-polished popcorn fodder among Amazon Prime Video movies need look no further.
Watch Now On Amazon Prime Video
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
Given previous attempts at making a D&D movie have tended to end pretty badly, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves seemed like a roll of the dice that could very well end in disaster. By some miracle, though — which in this case really means the talents of writing and directing duo Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley (Game Night) – it actually ended up being a whole lot of fun. Honor Among Thieves is what feels like an increasingly rare fantasy that isn’t incredibly serious, violent, and dark, but is instead lighthearted, good-natured, and feels darn good to watch.
There are plenty of Dungeons & Dragons Easter eggs in Honor Among Thieves, but viewers don’t need to know their wizards from their warlocks to enjoy. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves‘ cast are clearly having a great time, and that spreads to the viewer. It also helps that, in one particular Chris Pine moment, it has arguably the funniest scene of any 2023 movie. Honor Among Thieves may have bombed at the box office, and it’s by no means perfect, but it’s ideal movie night entertainment on Amazon Prime.
Interstellar (2014)
It’s shocking that Christopher Nolan hasn’t won an Oscar. Although Oppenheimer may see this change, he would have been deserving with almost any other movie in his filmography, including Interstellar. A word commonly associated with Nolan movies is “mind-bending”, and his epic space drama is no exception. Typical of a Nolan movie, Interstellar is stacked with an A-list ensemble including Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, and Matt Damon.
McConaughey leads the movie as a former NASA pilot on a mission in space to find a habitable planet as Earth is dying. While Nolan himself received no Oscar nominations for Interstellar, the film deservedly won for Best Visual Effects, and this combined with the thought-provoking storyline makes this one of the best movies on Amazon Prime Video.
Interstellar
won 12 awards from its 28 nominations, including an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 2015.
Best Horror Movies On Amazon Prime Video
Five Nights At Freddy’s (2023)
Five Nights at Freddy’s
- Director
- Emma Tammi
- Release Date
- October 27, 2023
- Cast
- Josh Hutcherson , Matthew Lillard , Elizabeth Lail , Piper Rubio , Mary Stuart Masterson , Kevin Foster , Jade Kindar-Martin , Jessica Weiss , Roger Joseph Manning Jr.
2023’s Five Nights At Freddy’s adapted the popular video game series and proved both that video game adaptions can work as films, and that PG-13 horror movies still have a market. Josh Hutcherson stars alongside Matthew Lillard to bring the tale of Freddy Fazbear’s restaraunt to life – however, when it comes to the FNAF movie, it’s the possessed animatronic killers who steal the show.
Just like the games, Five Nights At Freddy’s turns restaurants like Chuck E. Cheese with their robotic animal mascots into pure nightmare fuel. When it comes to new horror movies on Amazon Prime Video, Five Nights At Freddy’s stands out as one that manages to mix humor with genuine scares without relying heavily on gore or adult content. Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 is currently in development, and Prime Video Subscribers now have the chance to find out what the hype behind the franchise is all about.
Watch Now On Amazon Prime Video
Renfield (2023)
Renfield (2023)
- Release Date
- April 14, 2023
- Director
- Chris McKay
- Cast
- Nicholas Cage , Nicholas Hoult , Awkwafina , Ben Schwartz , Adrian Martinez , James Moses Black , Caroline Williams , Brandon Scott Jones
- Runtime
- 93 minutes
2023’s Renfield stars Nicolas Cage as the worlds most famous vampire, Count Dracula, with Nicolas Hoult as his existentially lost assistant, Renfield. While Renfield didn’t quite make the box-office splash its premise and cast teased it would, the movie has started to find its footing now that it’s available to stream as one of the best horror comedies on Amazon Prime Video. Both Hoult and Cage deliver hilarious performances, and while it may not be among the best movies in either star’s filmography, placing them onscreen together makes Renfield a movie that deserved far more attention than it received theatrically.
Watch Now On Amazon Prime Video
The Exorcist: Believer (2023)
The Exorcist: Believer
- Director
- David Gordon Green
- Release Date
- October 6, 2023
- Cast
- Leslie Odom Jr. , Ellen Burstyn , Ann Dowd , Jennifer Nettles , Lidya Jewett , Olivia Marcum
- Runtime
- 121 Minutes
Few horror movies have gained as much notoriety as 1973’s The Exorcist, and in 2023, David Gordon Green — the director behind the Halloween reboot trilogy — brought the terrifying direct sequel The Exorcist: Believer to theaters, with the movie now available for Amazon Prime Video subscribers. The Exorcist: Believer ups the ante from the original movie by including two possessions. Two young friends, Angela and Katherine, attempt a seance to speak to Angela’s dead mother. The pair go missing and, when they’re eventually found, it’s clear that they made contact with something else entirely.
What follows is a nailbiting exorcism movie that ends with Angela’s father, the widower Victor (Leslie Odom Jr.) having to make a harrowing choice. While it doesn’t quite live up to the original, The Exorcist: Believer still stands out among modern supernatural horror movies, thanks both to some incredible special effects, David Gordon Green’s directoral flare, and the performances of young actresses Lidya Jewett and Olivia O’Neill as Angela and Katherine.
Watch Now On Amazon Prime Video
Smile (2022)
Smile
- Release Date
- September 30, 2022
- Director
- Parker Finn
- Cast
- Sosie Bacon , Jessie T. Usher , Kyle Gallner , Robin Weigert , Caitlin Stasey , Kal Penn , Rob Morgan
- Runtime
- 115 minutes
Nothing is more unsettling than a creepy smile, and Smile capitalizes on this fear to the hilt. Smile begins with therapist Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) meeting her patient Laura (Caitlin Stasey) who claims she is being stalked by a supernatural entity in the form of smiling people after witnessing her professor’s suicide. Laura then takes her own life in front of Rose, who begins to experience the same disturbing phenomena.
The best horror movies always have smart social commentary, and beneath its many jump scares and terrifying smiles, Smile has a lot to say about trauma, and it’s delivered through some stellar performances, led by Bacon is no doubt on her way to becoming an A-list actor.
Not only is
Smile
one of the most terrifying modern horror movies currently available on Amazon Prime Video,
Smile 2
is currently in development
, making it the perfect time for subscribers to catch up with the original before creepy-grin-filled nightmare fuel becomes a franchise.
Watch Now On Amazon Prime Video
Best Action Movies On Amazon Prime Video
Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant (2023)
Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant
- Release Date
- April 21, 2023
- Cast
- Jake Gyllenhaal , Dar Salim , Antony Starr , Alexander Ludwig , Sean Sagar , Bobby Schofield , Emily Beecham , Jonny Lee Miller
- Runtime
- 123 Minutes
Director Guy Ritchie might be known most for his slick British gangster movies like Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, but in 2023 he teamed up with Jake Gyllenhaal and Iraqi-born Danish actor Dar Salim to deliver one of the most cerebral and nailbiting war movies of the decade so far — Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant. In the movie on Amazon Prime Video, Gyllenhaal stars as Green Beret John Kinley who, after returning home from the War in Afghanistan, learns that his interpreter and trusted ally back on the front, Ahmed (Salim), has been forced into hiding.
Ritchie proves his versatility as a director in The Covenant, as none of his trademark tongue-in-cheek humor is present. Instead, he, Gyllenhaal, and Salim deliver an emotionally intense film that shines a light on the aftermath of its central conflict, and it’s almost guaranteed to leave viewers as introspective as they are entertained. The cast shines throughout, and Amazon Prime Video subscribers should also keep an eye out for The Boys cast member Anthony Starr.
Road House (2024)
Road House (2024)
- Director
- Doug Liman
- Release Date
- March 21, 2024
- Writers
- Anthony Bagarozzi , Charles Mondry , David Lee Henry
- Cast
- Jake Gyllenhaal , Daniela Melchior , Billy Magnussen , Jessica Williams , Joaquim De Almeida , Conor McGregor , Lukas Gage , Arturo Castro , B.K. Cannon , Beau Knapp , Darren Barnet , Dominique Columbus , Bob Menery
2024’s Road House is a direct-to-streaming remake of the 1989 cult classic starring Patrick Swayze of the same name, and is an Amazon Prime Video exclusive. The new version of Road House stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Dalton, a cage fighter formerly with the UFC who now earns his keep as a bouncer at the roughest club in Florida Keys, The Road House. This relatively simple premise of course leads to plenty of drama and hardship, with the incredibly troubled Dalton having to face his personal demons as well as the various troublemakers he has to (often violently) eject from the venue.
Gyllenhaal is joined in the Road House cast by Portuguese telenovela star Daniela Melchior and, interestingly, real-life MMA fighter Colin McGregor as the movie’s antagonist, Knox. While not the most cerebral movie in character actor Jake Gyllenhaal’s filmography, 2024’s Road House manage to capture the essence of what made the 1989 original a cult classic, making it a slick-yet-easy watch for Prime Video subscribers.
Batman Returns (1992)
One of the best action movies on Amazon Prime Video also focuses on one of the best superheroes of all time, Batman. What’s more, it also stars one of the best actors ever to portray him — Michael Keaton, returning after 1989’s Batman — paired with one of the most innovative directors ever to bring Gotham City to the big screen, Tim Burton. Throw in Danny DeVito as The Penguin, Michell Pfeiffer as Catwoman, and the juxtaposition of a Christmas setting, and Batman Returns is inarguably one of the greatest superhero movies ever made.
While Batman Returns doesn’t have the same gritty feel as Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy or 2022’s The Batman, it stands out as the best of the pre-Batman Begins movies to feature the Caped Crusader. It can veer into campiness at points, but doesn’t suffer for it, and its flaws (such as Michael Keaton being able to turn his neck while in costume) have only served to give it its own identity. The entire cast gives a performance that is just exaggerated enough to suit the tone without being over-the-top, making Batman Returns a truly unique viewing experience.
Sicario (2015)
Sicario
- Release Date
- October 2, 2015
- Runtime
- 121 Minutes
The talent behind Sicario couldn’t be more prestigious, and with Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan writing the script and Dune‘s Denis Villeneuve in the director’s chair, the movie does not disappoint. Sicario‘s cast is also stacked with some of today’s greatest working Hollywood actors led by Emily Blunt as FBI Special Agent Kate Mercer.
Mercer joins a government task force looking to bring down powerful Mexican drug cartel leader Fausto Alarcón. While Sicario‘s action sequences are thrilling, it’s Sheridan’s nuanced characters and the stellar actors bringing them to the screen that makes the film such an intense, fascinating watch. and easily among the best action movies on Amazon Prime Video.
Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
Top Gun: Maverick
- Release Date
- May 27, 2022
- Director
- Joseph Kosinski
- Cast
- Jennifer Connelly , Jake Picking , Raymond Lee , Tom Cruise , Lewis Pullman , Monica Barbaro , Miles Teller , Danny Ramirez , Val Kilmer , Manny Jacinto , Ed Harris , Glen Powell , Jon Hamm
- Runtime
- 130 minutes
Tom Cruise was right not to release Top Gun: Maverick directly to streaming during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the sequel to the classic Top Gun went on to become the second-highest-grossing movie of 2022 with over a $1 billion at the global box office. But now that it’s had its theatrical run, nobody is complaining about it being available on Amazon Prime Video.
Released over 30 years after the original, the sequel was well worth the wait, as Maverick is even better than Top Gun. As Cruise’s Pete “Maverick” Mitchell trains the next generation of Top Gun graduates, Maverick has better visuals, a tighter script, and sends the franchise soaring into the 21st century with a totally modern update of this beloved story.