In the past For the past year or so, Netflix and Apple TV+ have been making it their most respected movie offerings (congratulations, CODA!), but that doesn’t mean other streaming services don’t have great offerings. For example, Amazon Prime. The stream was one of the first to get around to picking up Film Festival Darlings and other beloved favorites, and they’re all still in the library, so if they flew under your radar the first time around, now’s the perfect time to catch up. .
Below are our picks for the 10 best movies on Amazon Prime. All movies in our guide are included in your main subscription – no rentals here. Once you’ve watched your fill, if you need something else to watch, check out our lists of the best movies on Netflix and the best movies on Disney+. If that’s what you’re in the mood for, we’ve got a guide to the best shows on Amazon.
Shooting wedding
A horror spin on the traditional rom-com, Shooting wedding It seduces the audience by setting up a cliché – a ceremony on a tropical island, with a dispute between the in-laws – before it explodes, literally, with a wedding party held hostage by violent gangsters. If we’re honest, it’s a little hammy and self-aware in places, but leads Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel as bride and groom Darcy and Tom, whose special day turns into an often surprisingly gory battle. To survive, it’s easy to sweep along for the ride. With a strong supporting cast, the ever-entertaining Jennifer Coolidge steals a favorite scene with her gloriously chaotic presence as the mother of the bride, this is a wedding worth responding to.
Nanny
Aisha (Anna Diop) works as a nanny for a wealthy couple in New York City, hoping to earn enough to bring her Senegalese daughter and cousin to America. However, her future is at the mercy of her employers, who often withhold her wages and seem content to leave Aisha to raise their daughter Rose. As the stress of the power imbalance weighs on her, Aisha’s fear of abandoning her own son worsens, and she begins to have nightmares of drowning. Director Nikita Jutsu’s feature debut, Nanny Contrasting the immigrant experience in modern America with something dark, turning an expected wave of hope and opportunity into a backward-looking outpouring of sadness for culture and society. Nanny It takes a slow-burn, psychological approach to its horror, but Diop is generally impressive, and the careful movement and gorgeous cinematography mean every frame lingers.
Licorice pizza
Is it possible to be nostalgic for a time and place you have never been to? Licorice pizza—Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1970s San Fernando Valle coming-of-age comedy, the film follows 15-year-old actor Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman) and 25-year-old photographer Alana Kane (Alana Haim) as they form an unlikely friendship. Perfectly relatable waterbed sales, criminally mistaken identities, and a movie producer running riot with John Peters, all set to a perfectly timed soundtrack and shot in hazy lighting, it’s a self-reflectively packed misadventure film. A half-remembered California winter. Overall, there are sharp dialogues and small but brilliant observations about human behavior that you would expect from Anderson, but what cements this as a modern masterpiece is the director’s ability to transport the audience back in time.
Candyman (2021)
Struggling for inspiration, artist Anthony (Yahia Abdul-Mateen II) finds himself drawn to the urban legend of the Candyman. Captivated by calling his name five times in a mirror to calm down rumors of summoning a malevolent spirit, Anthony soon sets up a gruesome set of errands that haunts his warden’s girlfriend, Briana (Teyonah Parris), all of which spirals into a vicious cycle of murder. , and centuries-old horror. Accessible to newcomers and longtime fans alike—the original Candyman has many nods to the cult classic, including Tony Todd. sort of By cleverly twisting the symbolic role – this is improved. Candyman Director Nia DaCosta updates the themes of heroism, social isolation and racism that rooted the 1992 original, delivering a smart, relatable, modern horror for a new generation.
Coming 2 America
Relying on nostalgia to keep new entries dormant for so long can be a dangerous business, but Eddie Murphy’s return to the role of prince – now king – Akeem Zamunda 3 decades after 1988 Coming to America It shows exactly how to do it. Returning to America in search of the boy he never knew, Akem and the audience meet familiar faces before the first film by director Craig Brewer.Ebb and flow) reverses the formula and challenges the American characters by traveling to Zamunda. With a sharper, smarter and more universally recognizable script than the original, Coming 2 America It defies the possibility of a comedy sequel that defies its predecessor.
Thirteen lives
Director Ron Howard’s latest cast includes Viggo Mortensen, Colin Farrell, and Joel Edgerton for Tam Luang’s 2018 caveman drama, in which a Thai junior soccer team and its assistant coach are trapped in a flooded cave system. . As an international effort to save the children mounts, the challenges of navigating the miles of underwater tunnels become more dangerous than ever, and Howard captures every dangerous, claustrophobic moment expertly. A riveting film with some intricately shot underwater scenes; Thirteen lives It is witness to one of the most difficult rescue operations ever undertaken.
Honor
Jennifer Hudson revels in being the Queen of Soul in this chronicle of the life and times of Aretha Franklin. Directed by Liz Tommy Honor It follows Franklin from her youth in Michigan through her rise in gospel and jazz, and the major breakthrough that eventually made her one of the most successful performers in the world. This is not a puff piece though. Tommy documents Franklin’s lows as strikingly as her highs, from family conflicts to job loss, suicide and battles with addiction. A beautifully shot film that accurately captures every era of Franklin’s life with period-perfect costumes and designs; Honor It also boasts a fantastic supporting cast, including Forest Whitaker, Marlon Wayans, Audra McDonald, Marc Maron, Titus Burgess, and Mary J. Blige—and, naturally, an amazing soundtrack.
One night in Miami…
Based on the game of the same name. One night in Miami … follows four icons of culture, music, and sports—Malcolm X, Jim Brown, Sam Cooke, and Muhammad Ali at the height of the civil rights movement, a defining and pivotal point in their lives and careers. In the year In 1964, when Ali – then still Cassius Clay – met in a motel room after the victory of heavyweight champion Sonny Liston, the four men discussed their role in the movement and society in general, all the audience is aware of the weight of history. Down on them. The intimacy of much of the film reflects its theatrical roots, but this feature directorial debut by Regina King really captures the larger-than-life personalities of its cast. Kingsley Ben-Adr as Malcolm X, along with Aldis Hodge, Leslie Odom Jr. and Eli Gorey – as Brown, Cook and Ali – are all completely magnetically on fire.
Holy Mod
Just like the other one from A24The Witch, Hereditary, Midsommar), directorial debut of Rose Glass Holy Mod It’s an ethereal cerebral horror film. In it, Morfid Clarke plays Katie, a sad and lonely young woman who inexplicably quits her job. Everything she’s not, the vivacious, free-spirited, now-mod Katie becomes enchanted when she begins caring for a terminally ill woman. However, everything starts to spiral out of control when Maude believes she has been sent to save the young woman’s soul.
The report
Made by Amazon, The report It’s a fascinating look at the US Senate’s investigation into the CIA’s “enhanced surveillance” program—how it came about, who knew about it, and how the CIA manipulated the facts to support its effectiveness. Adam Driver stars as Daniel Jones, a lead detective who finds himself increasingly lonely on the path to truth, fighting political opposition and CIA interference. Driver, as usual, is excellent, and the film earns a decent 82 percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The sound of metal
When punk-rock drummer and recovering addict Reuben suffers a hearing loss, it threatens to change his entire life. When Ruben is faced with the impossible choice between giving up his hearing or quitting his job, his girlfriend Lou checks him into a deaf rehabilitation center, forcing him to confront his own behavior as if he were to face the future. Riz Ahmed is fantastic as the troubled Reuben, while Olivia Cooke is Lou who struggles with her own demons, including self-harm. appropriately, The sound of metal One of the best dramas of recent years, director Darius Marder makes a surprising use of sound and its absence.
