How many hours have we all lost the endless streaming scroll? Aiming for a little kickback, you end up perusing title after title, intent on finding just the right movie, ultimately unsure what to choose in the face of overwhelming options. Fret not, the Collider staff did all that scrolling for you, scanning through the catalog in search of the best picks for an entertaining night in. Now, we’ve put together a wide-ranging list of the best movies streaming on Amazon Prime right now. What’s more, we’ll be updating the list regularly with additional picks, so you won’t run out of viewing material any time soon. The list spans genres, decades, and ratings, so there should be a little something for everyone, but if you can’t find what you’re looking for below (and you’re a multi-platform streamer), be sure to check out our picks for the best tv shows and best movies on Netflix.
A bunch of gems are scattered across Amazon. Let’s round them up.
1) The Big Sick
The Big Sick introduced the world to Kumail Nanjiani, who co-wrote the movie based on his real-life romance with partner Emily V. Gordon. After the pair go on a few promising dates, Emily inexplicably falls ill and must be placed in an induced coma. While Kumail gets to know her worried parents at the hospital, his own Pakistani family keeps arranging dates for him with other women. Not only ripe for cultural comedy setups, The Big Sick is also a down-to-earth and heartfelt story of an interracial couple.
2) You Were Never Really Here
A psychological thriller starring a pre-Joker Joaquin Phoenix? Yeah, more people need to watch You Were Never Really Here. Lynne Ramsay’s masterful take on a story about a hitman who’s hired to rescue a politician’s daughter from a human trafficking network, is stark, brutal and mercifully straight to the point, running at a taut 90 minutes. With Phoenix doing his brilliant committed actor thing, You Were Never Really Here isn’t your average thriller.
3) Brittany Runs a Marathon
An enjoyable comedy, yes, but Brittany Runs a Marathon also hits close to home, focusing on the things we’re all obsessed with: food, body image and exercise. Brittany, played by the effortlessly relatable Jillian Bell, receives strong advice from her doctor to lose weight and cut the hard-partying lifestyle. She starts running, taking all the tough steps toward the life-changing finish line. Watch it from your couch, then be inspired to head outside for a jog.
4) Blow the Man Down
The Coen Brothers meet Wes Anderson in this black comedy thriller steered by two brilliant young female leads. Set in a snowy fishing town in Maine, Blow the Man Down follows sisters, played by Morgan Saylor and Sophie Lowe, who try to hide the body of a man after he attacked one of them and she fought back. While on their crime caper, they find themselves digging up the town matriarchs’ dark secrets, spinning this into a noir mystery. It’s as wonderful as it sounds.
5) One Child Nation
One Child Nation gives you an illuminating look at China’s one-child policy, which lasted from 1979 to 2015. Its directors, Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang, were born during this period and explore the aftereffects of what had become a normal aspect of life for Chinese people. Looking at the unpleasant side of the “population war” through the experiences of a wide variety of people, One Child Nation is a stark illustration of this period of Chinese history.
Hopefully, you’ll find something these amazon originals interesting and up to your taste and we hope these are available in your country too.