Last Updated: August 22nd
Amazon Prime might not be your first stop when you’re trying to pick a movie night binge, but it should be. That’s because there are a ton of interesting, entertaining films lurking on the streaming platform. You just have to know where to look.
To help you out, we’ve rounded up the 35 best movies on Amazon Prime right now. From new Oscar winners to indie dramas, fantasy musicals, and a bunch of action flicks, you might be surprised at how stacked this lineup is.
Related: The Best Shows On Amazon Prime Right Now
Sound of Metal (2019)
Run Time: 120 min | IMDb: 7.8/10
Riz Ahmed stars in this powerful, heartbreaking Amazon original movie from director Darius Marder. Ahmed plays a heavy-metal drummer named Ruben who, along with his girlfriend and the band’s lead singer Lou (Olivia Cooke) hopes to make it big in the music scene. His plans are thrown for a loop when he begins to lose his hearing, putting his life, and his love for music, in jeopardy.
The Farewell (2019)
Run Time: 100 min | IMDb: 7.7/10
Awkwafina stars in this dramedy from director Lulu Wang that got a fair amount of Oscar buzz this season. The story follows a Chinese family, who discovers their beloved grandmother has only a short time to live. Instead of telling her, they keep the news to themselves, planning a wedding so that everyone can gather to say their goodbyes. It’s a dark comedy to be sure, but it’s given heart by some brilliant performances including Shuzhen Zhao as the central Nai Nai.
Midsommar (2019)
Run Time: 147 min | IMDb: 7.2/10
Nauseating. Disturbing. A total mindf*ck. Those are all fitting descriptions of Ari Aster’s Hereditary follow-up, a sophomore outing that gleefully embraces the very worst of humanity and shines an unforgiving light on those universal flaws. It’s a horror story, sure, but it’s a relationship drama at its core, flavored with pagan rituals, brutal killings, unsettling imagery, and all-consuming grief. Florence Pugh gives a career-defining performance as Dani, a young woman reeling from a terrible familial tragedy who accompanies her distant, disinterested boyfriend Christian (Jack Reynor) and his college bros to a small Swedish village to celebrate the summer solstice.
Attack The Block (2011)
Run Time: 88 min | IMDb: 6.7/10
John Boyega was battling evil creatures from space long before he got his big Star Wars break. This scrappy sci-fi flick which sees Boyega play Moses, a stree-wise gang leader in South London who leads his crew in a fight against an alien invasion, has become something of a cult classic over the years. It’s got a strong cast — Jodie Whitaker pre Doctor Who — a compelling story, and enough ridiculously fun action to keep things interesting.
Annette (2021)
Run Time: 141 min | IMDb: 6.9/10
The latest Leos Carax joint is this musical fantasy epic that sees Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard play a pair of star-crossed lovers whose whirlwind romance meets a tragic, weird AF end. Driver plays Henry McHenry, a comedian who loves to stoke controversy with his art. Cotillard plays Ann, a beautiful and talented opera singer at the height of her career. Jealousy and infidelity destroy their relationship, but not before the couple has an extraordinary child with an unusual gift that takes the world by storm. It’s a strange, absorbing, surrealist journey Carax takes audiences on here, and Driver has never been better.
One Night in Miami (2021)
Run Time: 114 min | IMDb: 7.3/10
Regina King’s first outing as a director comes in the form of this moving drama that imagines a meeting between some of the most influential icons in the Civil Rights Movement. In a room at the Hampton House in February 1964, Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, and Sam Cooke gather to celebrate Ali’s victory over boxer Sonny Liston where they also discuss their own roles in the movement and confront the harsh realities of the Jim Crow Era.
Alien (1979)
Run Time: 117 min | IMDb: 8.4/10
Ridley Scott basically invented sci-fi horror with this alien thriller about a crew on a commercial space tug who must battle a violent extraterrestrial being that’s infiltrated their ship. Sigourney Weaver plays Ripley, an officer aboard the Nostromo, who’s forced to face down the titular Alien, an aggressive life form intent upon killing the ship’s human crew. Most of the action revolves around Weaver’s attempts to destroy the creature and save her shipmates, but it’s Scott’s direction behind the camera that creates the suspense and terror this film has become known for.
Minority Report (2002)
Run Time: 145 min | IMDb: 7.6/10
Steven Spielberg is the genius behind this mind-bending futuristic crime drama starring Tom Cruise and Colin Farrell. Cruise plays John Anderton, a police chief in charge of a unit capable of arresting criminals before they commit their crimes thanks to a trio of psychics called “precogs.” When Anderton is identified as a future murderer, he goes on the run with one of the precogs and uncovers a deeper conspiracy that forces him (and us) to question the nature of free will.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011)
Run Time: 158 min | IMDb: 7.8/10
Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara star in this muted crime thriller from David Fincher based on a best-selling series of books. Mara plays a gifted young hacker with a dark past who teams up with Craig’s journalist to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a wealthy woman from a prominent family 40 years earlier.
The Last Black Man In San Francisco (2019)
Run Time: 121 min | IMDb: 7.4/10
Jimmie Fails plays himself in this semi-autobiographical drama about a young man’s attempts to reclaim his childhood home. Fails and his best friend, Mont (Jonathan Majors), visit the old Victorian house where Fails grew up, only to find it in disarray. When the current tenants find themselves embroiled in a fight for ownership, forced to move out while the battle plays out in court, Jimmy and Mont move in, fixing up the place and fighting to restore some of the neighborhood’s old school charm.
Burn After Reading (2008)
Run Time: 95 min | IMDb: 7/10
Burn After Reading is for people who like their comedy unapologetically mean. Pitch black and filled with irredeemable idiots, Burn After Reading features Brad Pitt as the opportunistic himbo Chad who accidentally acquires the sensitive memoirs of a CIA agent and George Clooney as the inept and unscrupulous U.S. Marshall who is trying to retrieve it. While these two morons may be at the center of the film, scene-stealing supporting performances from Frances McDormand and John Malkovich really elevate this to one of the Coens’ funniest and best films to date.
Raging Bull (1980)
Run Time: 129 min | IMDb: 8.2/10
Robert De Niro stars in this boxing drama from Martin Scorsese playing famed fighter Jake LaMotta. LaMotta succeeded in the ring because of his infamous temper and violence but those same traits are what led him to ruin away from the mat. De Niro plays LaMotta with a kind of swagger and ruthlessness that’s magnetic on-screen, even though the character sees-saws between hero and villain in his own story.
50/50 (2011)
Run Time: 100 min | IMDb: 7.7/10
Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt star in this dramedy based on a true story about a 27-year-old guy battling cancer, and the friend that tries to support him along the way. Levitt plays Adam, a reserved young man facing a cancer diagnosis that requires a risky surgical operation to cure. Rogen plays his best friend Kyle, an outspoken slacker who uses his friend’s illness to pick up women. The two share some darkly comedic jabs on the topic that’ll have you laughing out loud, even though you probably shouldn’t.
Snatch (2000)
Run Time: 103 min | IMDb: 8.3/10
Brad Pitt and Jason Statham star in this crime comedy from Guy Ritchie. One half of the story follows Benicio del Toro who plays a diamond thief trying to sell his stolen goods to some double-crossing gangsters. The other story follows Statham as a small-time boxing promoter struggling to get out from under the thumb of a ruthless drug lord with a love for torture. Ritchie’s patented vibe is on full display here which makes it a quintessentially fun British jaunt.
Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)
Run Time: 123 min | IMDb: 7.3/10
Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton star in this darkly comedic love story about a pair of centuries-old vampires who are contemplating the respective ends of their very long lives together. Hiddleston plays a reclusive undead musician who, despite his fame, seems suicidally depressed. Swinton plays his wife, living at the opposite end of the world, who pays him a visit in the hopes of cheering him up. And Mia Wasikowska shows up at some point, playing Swinton’s younger, erratic sister who makes a mess of everything. It’s a quirky drama that tackles specific genre tropes in a fresh way.
In Bruges(2007)
Run Time: 107 min | IMDb: 7.9/10
In Bruges was the movie that revealed Colin Farrell could be funny. A character actor stuck in a leading man’s body, Farrell gives arguably the best performance of his career as Ray, a rookie Irish hitman on the run with his partner and mentor, Ken (Brendan Gleeson), after accidentally killing a kid while executing a priest. While that may not sound much like the premise of a comedy, director Martin McDonagh crafted a truly hilarious movie. Farrell and Gleeson play off each other wonderfully all the way to the film’s dark finale. But as great as they are, they’re overshadowed at times by an incredible performance from Ralph Fiennes as their boss, Harry. Fiennes is at once funny and terrifying as a man steadfast in his principles, even when that involves committing murder.
The Tomorrow War(2021)
Run Time: 138 min | IMDb: 6.8/10
Sometimes, the world just needs a dumb sci-fi action flick. Chris Pratt knows this which is why he gave us The Tommorrow War, a movie with an interesting premise that ends up following conventional blockbuster beats that never surprise us, but still manage to keep us entertained. Pratt plays a family man and scientist, who’s drafted into a future war with an alien race intent on the extinction of humanity. Once he arrives in the future, he uncovers some shocking truths about the origins of this all-consuming fight and the specific role he has to play in its eventual end. JK Simmons shows up eventually to play, what else, a bada**. Really, what more do you need to know?
Knives Out (2019)
Run Time: 130 min | IMDb: 7.9/10
Call us jaded, but few movies that are as hyped up as this Rian Johnson whodunnit actually live up to the hype. You’ve got an A-list cast that’s somehow managing to share the screen and carve out singular moments for their characters despite a packed plot. You’ve got a story with twists and turns and darkly comedic gags you could never see coming. And you’ve got Johnson, who managed to make an original film that actually competed with, and surpassed, some established franchises at the box office. Something’s got to be wrong with this movie, right? Wrong. It’s as layered and nuanced and perfect as Chris Evans’ waffle-knit sweater. Enjoy.
Chinatown (1974)
Run Time: 130 min | IMDb: 8.2/10
Faye Dunaway and Jack Nicholson star in this neo-noir about a private investigator who becomes entangled in a government scheme. Nicholson plays Jake Gittes, a P.I. hired by Evelyn Malwray (Dunaway) to follow her husband and report on his dealings. It turns out, Mr. Malwray was at the center of a government cover-up as the local water authority was trying to run people off their land by drying up their water source. There’s a lot going on here — corruption, a twisted family secret, romance, and plenty of violence — but watching Nicholson confusedly sort through it all is most of the fun.
Big Fish (2003)
Run Time: 125 min | IMDb: 8/10
This fantasy-comedy from Tim Burton stars Ewan McGregor as a young Edward Bloom, a man with a gift for story-telling and a lust for life. In the present, Edward Bloom is an old man, on the outs with his son and on his deathbed. His son Will (Billy Crudup), having grown up hearing his father’s tall tales, believes he’s lied to him his entire life. As Edward narrates his life, the fantastical adventures he went on, meeting Will’s mother, joining a circus, saving a town, meeting a big fish, Will decides to investigate his father’s claims and discovers that the truth is just a matter of perspective. In the end, the film is about reconciliation and appreciating life to its fullest.
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)
Run Time: 95 min | IMDb: 8.6/10
When filmmaker Kurt Kuenne’s childhood friend Andrew Bagby is killed and his suspected killer/ex-girlfriend reveals she’s pregnant, Kurt decides to make a documentary chronicling Andrew’s life. While largely a love letter to a man who touched the lives of many for Zachary, the son he never met, Dear Zachary also tells the starkly bitter side of a broken Canadian legal system that directly endangered a baby. We follow the drawn-out custody battle between Andrew’s parents and Zachary’s mother, interspersed with loving snapshots into the Bagby family. The story sucks you in, but it’s also the at times comedic, fast-paced, and downright enraging documentary style of the film that breaks up the emotional tale.
Late Night (2019)
Run Time: 102 min | IMDb: 6.6/10
Mindy Kaling and Emma Thompson team up for this comedy that imagines the grit and humor it takes to lead a late-night talk show as a woman. Thompson plays Katherine Newbury, an accomplished TV personality who fears she may lose her talk show because of declining ratings and competition from a younger, male comedian. She hires Molly (Kaling) a comedy writer with little experience to diversify her team, and the two women weather hilarious mishaps and a few scandals to bring the show back on track.
Jaws(1975)
Run Time: 124 min | IMDb: 8.9/10
With just a few bars on the piano and an oversized mechanical shark, Steven Spielberg terrorized generations of moviegoers with Jaws. The film follows a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer who team up to hunt a great white shark who has a worrisome bloodlust and seems to be targeting a small beach town during the busiest time of the year. Spielberg’s camera work — the lingering, under water shots, the quick cuts of flesh being torn from bone and rows of teeth flashing to the surface — makes this exercise in inciting aquaphobia even more chilling. You’ll never look at a carefree day at the beach the same way again.
Honey Boy (2019)
Run Time: 94 min | IMDb: 7.4/10
Shia LaBeouf writes and stars in this semi-autobiographical tale of his time as a child star. Noah Jupe plays the younger version of himself while LaBeouf plays his controlling, often abusive father. The two live in motel rooms in L.A. while Otis (Jupe) works on a popular kids TV show. Their relationship becomes strained as Otis ages, and his dad James (LaBeouf) grows resentful of his son’s success. Lucas Hedges plays an elder Otis, who struggles with all kinds of addictions because of his rough, unconventional upbringing. It’s a tough watch but one that feels refreshingly honest, and you can’t deny LaBeouf’s talent and courage in telling such a raw, intimate story.
The Handmaiden (2016)
Run Time: 144 min | IMDb: 8.1/10
Based on a historical crime novel set in Victoria-Era England, Park Chan-wook’s lavish, mesmerizing thriller focuses on two young women fighting to escape oppression by the men in their lives. Chan-woo has traded the stuffy British countryside for Japanese-occupied Korea, telling the stories of Lady Hideko and her handmaiden Sook-hee in three parts, weaving a tale of passion, betrayal, dark secrets, and revenge with grander themes of imperialism, colonial rule, and patriarchal corruption. The two women are the draw of the film with both resorting to illicit, illegal, morally compromising schemes in order to gain their freedom, but love is an unintended consequence that leaves the third act — one you might think you have figured out halfway through the film — completely unpredictable.
The Big Sick (2017)
Run Time: 120 min | IMDb: 7.6/10
Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon drew from their own unusual love story for their script about a Chicago comic named Kumail (Nanjiani) who falls in love with Emily, a woman (Zoe Kazan) who falls into a coma while in the midst of a rift in their relationship created by the expectations of Kumail’s traditional parents. The funny, moving romantic comedy also features strong supporting work from Ray Romano and Holly Hunter as Emily’s parents, who form an awkward bond with Kumail as they wait for Emily’s recovery.
You Were Never Really Here (2017)
Run Time: 89 min | IMDb: 6.8/10
Joaquin Phoenix stars as a troubled hitman with a dark past in this thrilling crime flick from Lynne Ramsay. Phoenix plays Joe, a gun for hire, former military man and FBI agent, who spends most of his time rescuing victims of sex trafficking. He’s recruited to save a Senator’s daughter from a brothel that caters to high-end clientele, but the job thrusts him into the center of a conspiracy that costs him everything and ends in blood and tragedy. It’s a relentless slog to be sure, but it works because Ramsay is more interested in profiling the man, not the hits he makes.
The Lighthouse (2019)
Run Time: 109 min | IMDb: 7.6/10
Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe star in this truly bonkers period drama from Robert Eggers. It’s a beautifully shot portrait of two men slowly driven to the brink of insanity by their choice in career — they’re stuck alone on a slab of rock, looking after a crumbling lighthouse. Pattinson masturbates to visions of mermaids, and Dafoe gets drunk and does a jig. To say anything more would be spoiling the fun.
Beautiful Boy (2018)
Run Time: 120 min | IMDb: 7.3/10
Steve Carell and Timothee Chalamet star in this heartbreaking drama about a father trying to save his son from a drug addiction that’s slowly eating away at his family. Carell plays David, a New York Times writer who struggles to help his son Nic (Chalamet) after he falls victim to a worrying drug habit. He has moments of sobriety, attending college, living with his mother in L.A., and working at a drug clinic to help others battling the disease. Yet eventually, his addiction returns, and Nic is powerless to fight it. David is forced to choose between sacrificing his family and his own sanity or continuing to help his son. Both Carell and Chalamet give powerful performances that elevate what essentially is an emotionally restrained look at father-son relationships and the landmines they navigate.
Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
Run Time: 104 min | IMDb: 7.5/10
A portrait of a particular moment in music history, when the folk revival found young musicians discovering their voices in old styles and old songs, Inside Llewyn Davis stars Oscar Isaac as a singer/songwriter who can never quite translate his talent into professional success. Joel and Ethan Coen both exactingly recreate early ‘60s New York and use it as the site of one of an affecting tale of the clash between artistic impulses and the needs of the material world, a theme they’d previously explored with Barton Fink and would pick up again with Hail, Caesar!.
Road To Perdition (2002)
Run Time: 117 min | IMDb: 7.7/10
Tom Hanks stars in this mafia drama about a mob enforcer whose son witnesses a terrible crime. Hanks plays Michael Sullivan, a loyal employee of mob boss John Rooney. When Michael’s son witnesses a hit that Rooney had instructed his henchmen to carry out, the two go on the run, seeking redemption and revenge for the violence they’ve helped to cause
We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011)
Run Time: 110 min | IMDb: 7.2/10
Eva Khatchadourian (Tilda Swinton), who’s unwilling and unable to properly care for her troubled son Kevin, watches her life unravel as her husband (John C. Reilly) ignores their problems and Kevin grows more and more sociopathic and violent. The story jumps around in time, showing Swinton’s character as both a new mother who blames her son for ruining her life and as a woman who eventually blames herself for what becomes of her son. Swinton proves once again that she’s the actress that indie movies need for complex characters that live their lives in grey areas. At its core, We Need To Talk is about the importance of proper parenting, communication, and probably therapy. And it’s not for the faint of heart.
Marie Antoinette (2006)
Run Time: 123 min | IMDb: 6.4/10
Another Dunst/Coppola team-up, this period drama is a visual feast that gives Dunst two hours to play, in costume, as France’s once most-hated woman, Marie Antoinette. Born to marry the French King Louis XVI, the ill-fated queen lived lavishly, died tragically, and in-between, shouldered the burden of making a marriage to an apathetic man work while carving out her own bit of freedom.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Run Time: 115 min | IMDb: 7.4/10
This Steven Spielberg sci-fi film is a bonafide classic. Entire childhoods were built around this thing. So there’s not much more we can add to persuade you to watch it if you haven’t already, but just in case, here’s the cliff notes: boy discovers alien lifeform, boy befriends alien lifeform, boy helps alien lifeform get back to his planet before the government can experiment on him.
Coherence (2014)
Run Time: 89 min | IMDb: 7.2/10
Coherence is one of those low-budget sci-fi stories that is extremely tough to explain without either giving too much away or requiring an extended entry. Essentially, a group of friends sifts through their own issues and insecurities during a mind-bending paradoxical experience. Taking place almost entirely in the same room on a single night, the characters struggle to find answers just as much as the viewer. It’s a challenging yet enthralling film, perfect for those who love to overthink things.
Recent Changes Through August 2021
Removed: Fight Club, Saint Maud, It’s A Wonderful Life, Signs, Unbreakable, A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Added: The Tomorrow War, Attack The Block, Annette, Only Lovers Left Alive, Jaws, In Bruges