The 30 Best Movies on Amazon’s Prime Video Right Now

This list is regularly updated as movies rotate on and off of Amazon Prime Video. *New additions are indicated with an asterisk.

Amazon has a little bit of everything on their streaming service, but they don’t have an interface that makes it particularly easy to find any of it. They also love to rotate out their selection with reckless abandon, making it hard to pin down what’s available when you want to watch a movie. It’s the kind of digital minefield that demands a guide. That’s where we come in! This regularly updated list will highlight the best films currently on Prime Video, free for anyone with an Amazon Prime account, including classics and recent hits. There’s truly something here for everyone, starting with our pick of the week.

This Week’s Editor’s Pick

*Moneyball

Year: 2011
Runtime: 2h 13m
Director: Bennett Miller

One of the best baseball movies ever made was adapted from the 2003 book by Michael Lewis, which recounts the management of the 2002 season of the Oakland Athletics, and how they changed the way the game is run by bringing analytics into the mix. Brad Pitt gives one of his best performances as general manager Billy Beane, a man who knew he would have to find a new way to evaluate talent if the A’s were going to compete. This is a rich, smart, riveting movie that’s extra-interesting given what the Oakland franchise is going through in 2023.

Drama

2001: A Space Odyssey

Year: 1969
Runtime: 2h 28m
Director: Stanley Kubrick

It’s hard to overstate how much everything changed when Kubrick went to space to craft one of the most beloved sci-fi films of all time. Before 2001, there weren’t really movies like 2001, a film that blends genre storytelling with deeply philosophical themes about what it means to be human. It’s also a film that holds up remarkably well, although not one that fits casual watching while on your phone. Give this one all of your attention.

Burning

Year: 2018
Runtime: 2h 28m
Director: Lee Chang-dong

The best foreign language film of 2018 has jumped from Netflix to Hulu to Prime Video and should definitely be seen by anyone who fell in love with Steven Yeun’s Oscar-nominated work for Minari or his equally captivating work in Beef. Lee Chang-dong adopts a novella by Haruki Murakami into a riveting dissection of class and gender in modern Korea. Yeun is mesmerizing as the mysterious Ben, someone who our protagonist starts to think might be a killer. Don’t miss this one.

Children of Men

Year: 2007
Runtime: 1h 49m
Director: Alfonso Cuaron

What happens to a society with no hope? That’s the vision of this ‘00s masterpiece, a film about a future in which all women have become sterile, meaning there will be no next generation. Clive Owen is phenomenal as a man who discovers that there may be hope on the horizon. It’s a film that was great when it was released and feels ahead of its time now.

Chinatown

Year: 1974
Runtime: 2h 10m
Director: Roman Polanski

Forget it Jake, it’s Chinatown. This Best Picture nominee (and Best Screenplay winner) tells the story of Jake Gittes, played unforgettably by Jack Nicholson, as he investigates an adulterer and finds something much more insidious under the surface of Los Angeles. It’s a must-see, as important as almost any film from its era.

*Hotel Rwanda

Year: 2005
Runtime: 2h 1m
Director: Terry George

Don Cheadle stars in this recounting of the Rwandan genocide of 1994, seen through the eyes of a hotelier caught up in the madness and forced to act. Paul Rusesabagina saved not only his family but hundreds of other refugees. Films like this can often feel exploitative, but Cheadle’s amazing work breaks through that and allows it to feel genuine and moving.

Judas and the Black Messiah

Year: 2021
Runtime: 2h 5m
Director: Shaka King

The Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actor and a nominee for Best Picture launched on Max but has shifted over to Prime now for subscribers to that service. A phenomenal drama about an under-told chapter of history, the film stars Daniel Kaluuya as Fred Hampton, a leader in the Black Panthers who was murdered by the U.S. government. Fellow Oscar nominee LaKeith Stanfield plays the man who betrayed him.

The Manchurian Candidate

Year: 1962
Runtime: 2h 6m
Director: John Frankenheimer

John Frankenheimer’s 1962 espionage classic remains incredibly timely and powerful, especially in an era of increased political rhetoric. Adapting Richard Condon’s novel, the film stars Laurence Harvey as a survivor of the Korean War who has been turned into a sleeper agent to destroy the U.S. government. Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury, who won an Oscar for her work here, co-star.

Melancholia

Year: 2011
Runtime: 2h 15m
Director: Lars von Trier

One of Lars von Trier’s best films is this 2011 sci-fi/drama starring Kirsten Dunst as a woman who becomes aware that the world is about to end. Von Trier has said the film is an allegory for his depression, something that can come out of nowhere like an apocalyptic event. It feels particularly appropriate for the mid-2020s too.

Memento

Year: 2001
Runtime: 1h 53m
Director: Christopher Nolan

Christopher Nolan announced himself to the world with this Sundance thriller that really reshaped the indie and eventually the blockbuster landscape. Guy Pearce gives one of his best performances as a man with such severe memory loss that he has to use his body to remind himself of the details he needs to solve a mystery. It’s still so clever and riveting.

*Rain Man

Year: 1988
Runtime: 2h 13m
Director: Barry Levinson

Barry Levinson directs Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman in the story of a man who learns he has a brother who is an autistic savant after the death of his father. Both gentlemen are fantastic in a movie that’s arguably a little manipulative but should be watched or rewatched purely for the strength of its performances. The movie won four Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Hoffman.

*To Catch a Thief

Year: 1955
Runtime: 1h 46m
Director: Alfred Hitchcock

There’s not much Hitchcock on any of the streaming services, so take the opportunity to watch his 1955 thriller, a great flick that doesn’t get the attention that some more commonly beloved Hitch flicks get. Based on the novel of the same name by David Dodge, this one features the amazing Cary Grant as a retired cat burglar who is drawn back into the criminal world when he discovers that someone is posing as him on the French Riviera. Grace Kelly co-stars.

Horror

A Knock at the Cabin

Year: 2023
Runtime: 1h 40m
Director: M. Night Shyamalan

One of the most inventive directors of his era adapted a screenplay for the first time when he tackled Paul Tremblay’s stunning 2018 novel The Cabin at the End of the World. Shyalaman does some bad things to the final act, but this is still worth a look for its incredible craft and an excellent performance from Dave Bautista as the leader of a group of people who believe that a sacrifice must be made to stop a pending apocalypse.

The Guilty

Year: 2018
Runtime: 1h 28m
Director: Gustav Möller

Gustav Möller’s 2018 film is a riveting thriller that takes place entirely in an emergency call center in Copenhagen. An officer, demoted to working there because of a pending court case, answers a call from a frightened woman. His life will never be the same as he works to try to save her and makes some false assumptions along the way. The kind of tight little thriller that you should watch before they inevitably remake it (which the director did himself for Netflix in 2021).

Hellraiser

Year: 1987
Runtime: 1h 34m
Director: Clive Barker

The horror author Clive Barker directed this adaptation of his own novella The Hellbound Heart and made genre movie history. Introducing the world to the iconic Pinhead, who would go on to appear in so many sequels, the original film here is still the best, the tale of a puzzle box that basically opens a portal to Hell. The sequels have kind of lost the thread, but the original is still incredibly powerful. It’s one of the few films from the ‘80s that would still shatter audiences if it were released today.

High Tension

Year: 2005
Runtime: 1h 29m
Director: Alexandre Aja

This movie is bonkers. Directed by Alexandre Aja (and sometimes called Switchblade Romance) it stars Cecile de France and Maiwenn as two young woman who go to a secluded farmhouse, where they’re attached by a serial killer. The twist ending to this brutal film will likely either make it or break it for you. Note: Shudder also added a few other French Horror Wave films, including Inside and Martyrs—both essential for horror fans, neither for the faint of heart.

Jacob’s Ladder

Year: 1990
Runtime: 1h 53m
Director: Adrian Lyne

Adrian Lyne’s 1990 horror film has developed an increasingly vocal fan base in the three decades since its release (helped in part by a horrible remake in 2020 that reminded everyone how much better the original was.) Tim Robbins stars as Jacob, a man who starts having increasingly terrifying visions and hallucinations, many of them related to his time in Vietnam. A stunning journey into Hell, it’s also an anti-war film that’s given weight by Robbins’s genuine, in-the-moment performance.

Nope

Year: 2022
Runtime: 2h 10m
Director: Jordan Peele

The genius behind Get Out and Us delivered his most controversial film in 2022, a story that blends an alien invasion with a commentary on movie-watching and spectacle in general. Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer are fantastic in this story of people beset upon by an alien species that likes to watch. Brilliantly structured and gorgeously shot, Nope is blockbuster horror filmmaking at its finest.

Comedy

The Birdcage

Year: 1996
Runtime: 1h 59m
Director: Mike Nichols

Mike Nichols’ remake of the beloved La Cage aux Folles is a joyous comedy about acceptance and love that still works well today (which is not something you can about a lot of mid-‘90s comedies). Robin Williams and Nathan Lane are phenomenal as a gay couple forced to jump through hoops for their son’s new in-laws, played wonderfully by Gene Hackman and Dianne Wiest. It’s funny and smart from front to back.

*A Fish Called Wanda

Year: 1988
Runtime: 1h 43m
Director: Charles Crichton

Movies simply don’t get much funnier than this Oscar winner starring John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and Michael Palin. The story of a jewel robbery gone very wrong, the barrister who gets involved, and the fish that gets caught in the middle is regularly included on any short list of the funniest movies ever made. You know how the Academy Awards never include any comedy performances? This one won an Oscar for Kevin Kline, who is simply impossible to deny.

The Graduate

Year: 1967
Runtime: 1h 45m
Director: Mike Nichols

Few films have impacted the culture as much as Mike Nichols’s 1967 dramedy based on the Charles Webb novel of the same name. It really was one of the first films in a wave of artistic expression that would make the late ‘60s and ‘70s the richest time in American film history. Dustin Hoffman stars as a recent college graduate looking for direction in his life in this sharp, clever comedy that spoke to an entire generation of young people looking for how to change the world.

Heathers

Year: 1989
Runtime: 1h 43m
Director: Michael Lehmann

Talk about a movie ahead of its time. Coming-of-age teen comedies were never quite as wonderfully cynical before this movie about four teenage girls whose lives are upended by the arrival of a new kid, played by Christian Slater. More than just seeking to destroy the damaging cliques at his new school, Slater’s character has plans for something a little more permanent in this comedy that really shaped the teen genre for years to come.

Action

The Batman

Year: 2022
Runtime: 2h 56m
Director: Matt Reeves

Matt Reeves now owns the saga of the Dark Knight as a sequel to this 2022 action blockbuster has already been announced. Dropping on HBO Max while it was still in theaters, The Batman is an ambitious epic reboot of the legendary hero, anchored by Reeves’s craft and fascinating performances from Robert Pattinson, Zoe Kravitz, Paul Dano, and many more. Along with a ton of DC Universe movies, it’s been imported over to Prime for now. Watch it while you can.

Casino Royale

Year: 2006
Runtime: 2h 24m
Director: Martin Campbell

It’s hard to believe the most famous movie spy in history ever needed a comeback, but that’s really what happened when Daniel Craig stepped into 007’s shoes and it turned out to be one of the most acclaimed James Bond movies of all time. An origin story for the suave superspy, Casino Royale introduced new layers to the classic character, resulting in an action film that felt like it had real stakes. This is one of the best modern action movies, period, not just in the Bond franchise.

Escape from New York

Year: 1981
Runtime: 1h 39m
Director: John Carpenter

John Carpenter’s 1981 action masterpiece imagined the distant future of 1997 when the island of Manhattan had become a maximum-security prison. When Air Force One is hijacked and crashed into New York on purpose, only Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) can stop the madness.

*Goldeneye

Year: 1995
Runtime: 2h 10m
Director: Martin Campbell

The legend of 007 was in a pretty dark place in the mid-‘90s as the response to Timothy Dalton playing James Bond had been pretty much a universal shrug. Enter Pierce Brosnan in this film that revitalized the screen legend in a way that’s still going today. Brosnan’s best Bond film features the character trying to stop a rogue MI6 agent, played by Sean Bean. (Note: There are a bunch of other 007 films on Prime too from all eras.)

*Interstellar

Year: 2014
Runtime: 2h 49m
Director: Christopher Nolan

The most underrated film from the director of The Dark Knight and Oppenheimer remains this 2014 sci-fi epic, a film that’s better if you approach it as an emotional journey instead of a physical one. Matthew McConaughey gives one of the best performances of his career as an astronaut searching for a new home for mankind, and realizing all that he left behind to do so. It’s a technical marvel with some of the most striking visuals and best sound design of Nolan’s career.

*The Untouchables

Year: 1987
Runtime: 1h 59m
Director: Brian De Palma

Brian De Palma directed one of the best movies of his notable career in this 1987 action epic that won Sean Connery an overdue Oscar. Connery co-stars with Kevin Costner as Elliot Ness and Robert De Niro as Al Capone in this story of how Ness took down one of the most famous criminals of all time. Tense and riveting, it’s a great action movie that’s anchored by phenomenal performances and De Palma’s unique eye.

Wonder Woman

Year: 2017
Runtime: 2h 15m
Director: Patty Jenkins

A major chapter of the DC Universe is about to end, which means it’s time to assess what worked best. Wonder Woman is undeniably near the top of the list. Take the recent DCU drop to Prime to go back and check out the phenomenal and best non-Batman film in the modern DC Universe. Gal Gadot stars in the title role and really anchors what’s an old-fashioned adventure film, one that owes as much to serial action flicks of the ‘40s and ‘50s as it does to movies with Batman and Superman.

For Kids and the Whole Family

The Bad News Bears

Year: 1976
Runtime: 1h 42m
Director: Michael Ritchie

Walter Matthau rules in this Michael Ritchie classic from 1976. Pushing the boundaries of what would be acceptable in a kids movie, it’s a surprisingly raw and realistic story of an alcoholic and former minor league pitcher who ends up coaching a Southern California Youth Baseball League. At first, he barely tries, but this is the classic underdog sports movie for a reason.