The 25 Best Movies On Amazon Prime Right Now (March 2024)

It’s too easy to spend an entire evening scrolling through streaming services like Prime Video picking a movie to watch. By the time you pick a movie, you could have watched one. Or two. Maybe even three. We’re here to solve that problem with the 25 best Amazon Prime movies that are available right now. From recent critical darlings like La La Land and Licorice Pizza to modern classics like Fight Club and Minority Report, here is our list of the best movies on Amazon Prime Video (some remain paid options), so you can have a good time on your next movie night and actually watch a movie:

Last updated on February 27, 2024.

Year: 2001

Cast: Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Ian McKellen, Sean Bean, Viggo Mortensen, Cate Blanchett

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 178 minutes

Director: Peter Jackson

Trailer: Watch here

The introductory film in Peter Jackson’s award-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy is a classic with ground-breaking special effects, affecting performances, and unbelievable set pieces, costumes, and unfathomable scale. The cast and their sparkling chemistry turns the otherwise quite dark hunt for The One Ring into comfort viewing.

Year: 2022

Cast: Tom Cruise, Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller

Genre: Action/Drama

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 130 minutes

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Trailer: Watch here

Tom Cruise (as our own Brian Grubb wrote) pulled out the most ridiculous and needless stops to get you to watch this movie, so if you still haven’t already, get on it, pretty please. Otherwise, Tom is going to leap off a train that’s roaring off a skyscraper that’s perched atop a mountain or something. It’s all too much, and you must save Tom by enjoying this nostalgic trip into the realm of fighter jets and beach volleyball. Not only is there Maverick but also the return of the Iceman and a hefty dose of Jon Hamm. Ride into that danger zone, man.

Year: 2021

Cast: Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Sean Penn, Bradley Cooper

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Rating: R

Runtime: 133 minutes

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Trailer: Watch here

Writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson is obsessed with two things: Hollywood and the 1970s. Licorice Pizza combines those inside a coming-of-age story featuring performances from first-time leads Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman (the son of the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman, a frequent Anderson collaborator). The film is not Anderson’s strongest to date, but it is, perhaps his most personal film to date. Like a typical Anderson film, the narrative feels epic with many acts and many characters, some of who only appear for a scene or two. The best part of the film is Bradley Cooper’s truly wild performance as film producer Jon Peters.

Year: 1991

Cast:Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins

Genre: Horror

Rating: R

Runtime: 118 minutes

Director: Jonathan Demme

Trailer: Watch here

Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs is not only one of the best horror movies ever made, but one of the best movies ever made full stop. The disturbing psychological thriller gets its energy from its rousing lead performances from Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins. Their chemistry on screen is a palpable force that helped earn the film – and the genre – deserved recognition at the Oscars, where it swept the five major categories: best actor, best actress, best-adapted screenplay, best director, and best picture. To this day, it is the only horror film to win best picture.

Year: 2016

Cast: Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, John Legend

Genre: Drama, Musical

Rating: R

Runtime: 128 minutes

Director: Damien Chazelle

Trailer: Watch here

While its legacy might be it was a fake Academy Award winner, Damien Chazelle’s romantic but painful musical La La Land shows how ambition and success can unite people, and also how it can divide and change them in an idyllic, colorful version of Los Angeles (the titular La La Land, of course). Although the year’s best picture Oscar actually went to Moonlight, Emma Stone won the Oscar for best actress for her charming performance as aspiring actress Mia.

Year: 2020

Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen, Maria Bakalova, Rudy Giuliani

Genre: Comedy

Rating: R

Runtime: 95 minutes

Director: Jason Woliner

Trailer: Watch here

This sequel landed like a jackhammer, precisely at the moment that the American public would enjoy it most. The film even managed to be an October surprise in its own way while giving Rudy Giuliani one of the most unflattering cameo appearances in all of cinematic history. Sacha Baron Cohen’s brainchild did it again, overall, while introducing the world to Maria Bakalova’s talent, and together, they pulled off mischievous feats more daring than the original film.

Year: 2013

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Rating: R

Runtime: 180 minutes

Director: Martin Scorsese

Trailer: Watch here

The best thing about The Wolf of Wall Street It doesn’t give a sh*t. Martin Scorsese’s hilarious adaptation of Jordan Belfort’s life and career as a wealthy stock-market manipulator brought out another side of his directing style and another unexpected side of Leonardo DiCaprio. With the help of effortlessly funny co-stars Jonah Hill and Margot Robbie, DiCaprio finally lets loose and allows himself to be funny. Fortunately, he is just as good at it as he is at drama, if not better.

Year: 2021

Cast: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Shari Headley

Genre: Comedy

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 110 minutes

Director: Craig Brewer

Trailer: Watch here

The streaming realm gifted us with this long-awaited followup to the 1988 comedy hit. Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall are obviously the crowning jewels of the returning cast with Murphy’s Prince Akeem heading back to New York for familial matters. Leslie Jones portrays the mother of his (illegitimate) biological child, and Tracey Morgan is here to crank the comedy factor even higher. Meanwhile, Wesley Snipes is on a quest to rule Zamunda by overthrowing Akeem, so there are lots of balls in the air, and damn, they’re all too funny.

Year(s): 2023

Starring: Allison Williams, Violet McGraw

Genre: Horror

Rating: TV-MA

Runtime: 102 minutes

Trailer: Watch here

Why is this one ranked so high on a list that includes some high-brow Oscar fare It’s all relative, and this movie knows where to shoot and excels in that realm, but we really shouldn’t be too surprised. Never bet against James Wan when a homicidal doll is involved, and the same goes for any horror movie starring Allison Williams, who takes on the title role in this movie. This AI-fueled nightmare brought down the house in January 2023 with a sequel already on the way, and between Wan and Jason Blumhouse, one can expect further upgrades to the programming. Much like M3GAN, horror movies will never die, given how producers know how to keep budgets low and returns relatively high, and we need to watch characters make dumb moves (like unleash AI upon the world) to distract us from the real-life horrors that persist in this world. Whew!

Year: 2007

Cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin

Genre: Crime, Mystery thriller

Rating: R

Runtime: 122 minutes

Director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Trailer: Watch here

Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) and his haunting haircut are an unstoppable force in pursuit of Llewellyn Moss (Josh Brolin), who really shouldn’t have thought he could get away with that money from a drug deal gone bad. “The getting place” is a bad place, as it turns out, and this film led by directors Joel Coen an Ethen Coen follows the slow dance of death as Chigurh closes in on his target with an utterly exhausted Texas lawman (Tommy Lee Jones) too many steps behind the chase. “Call it, Friendo” still chills now as much as it did when the Coen Brothers’ adaptation of the Cormac McCarthy novels hit cinemas in 2007.

Year: 2023

Cast: Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Samantha Morton

Genre: Drama

Rating: R

Runtime: 117 minutes

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Trailer: Watch here

Brendan Fraser makes an Oscar-nominated turn to play an estranged, morbidly obese, gay father in this A24 film from Darren Aronofsky. That’s heady stuff, but it’s also nice to see Fraser really stretch himself as an actor, proving that he’s much more than the 1990s boxes where he previously resided. By all accounts, Fraser is well overdue for this type of breakout, and he’s also on tap for Martin Scorsese’s upcoming Killers Of The Flower Moon, so he won’t be going anywhere again anytime soon.

Year(s): 2022

Starring: Kiki Palmer, Daniel Kaluuya, Steven Yeun

Genre: Horror

Rating: TV-MA

Runtime: 131 minutes

Trailer: Watch here

Jordan Peele once again delivered a crowd-pleaser with added nuance to the sci-fi horror audience. The Academy didn’t bite on this selection for the Oscars, and perhaps that’s because Peele takes swings at Hollywood, but this project will stand the test of time. Peele is a true auteur, and most importantly, he’s a lover of genre. That comes through, both in Get Out and Nope, and we can’t wait to see his next directing turn.

Year: 2010

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Melissa Leo

Genre: Drama, Biopic

Rating: R

Runtime: 116 minutes

Director: David O. Russell

Trailer: Watch here

David O. Russell’s film about professional boxers and half-brothers Micky Ward and Dicky Eklund follows all the typical beats of a sports drama and a biopic. Despite its predictability, formulaic structure can be great. In this case, it gives us the committed performances (some of the decade’s best) room to shine from Melissa Leo’s Oscar-winning performance, Christian Bale’s Oscar-winning performance, and Amy Adams non-Oscar winning or nominated performance (a casual reminder that Amy Adams is long overdue for an Oscar ).

Year: 2023

Cast: Barry Keough, Rosamund Pike, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Alison Oliver, Archie Madekwe, Richard E. Grant

Genre: Gothic, psychological dramedy

Rating: R

Runtime: 144 minutes

Director: Emerald Fennell

Trailer: Watch here

In case you haven’t been forewarned, you probably shouldn’t watch this one with the fam. Barry Keoghan’s character really goes to town in multiple scenes that will cause you to nervously laugh at best, and at worst We don’t want to spoil the fun here, but it sure would be something if Keoghan earned another Oscar nod for this performance. Rosamund Pike is likewise lofty in this satire of the posh British class, and Jacob Elordi likewise earns more accolades here, but do not sleep on Archie Madekwe, ever.

Year: 2023

Cast: Matt Damon, Jason Bateman, Ben Affleck

Genre: Drama, Sport

Rating: R

Runtime: 111 minutes

Director: Ben Affleck

Trailer: Watch here

Ben Affleck directs this film and also appears as Nike co-founder Phil Knight. He is joined by Matt Damon and Jason Bateman, as Nike execs Sonny Vaccaro and Rob Strasser, respectively. Their mission: to sign Michael Jordan to a shoe deal that will be lucrative for all involved. We never do get to see Jordan, but Viola Davis portrays his mother, and it’s always a joy to see lifelong BFFs (but non-compatible roommates) Affleck and Damon onscreen together again. Additionally, this film’s cast includes Chris Messina, Marlon Wayans, Chris Tucker, Gustaf Skarsgård, and Matthew Maher.

Year: 2020

Cast: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis, Hodge

Genre: Drama

Rating: R

Runtime: 114 minutes

Director: Regina King

Trailer: Watch here

Regina King’s directorial debut stays true to its title by sticking to one 1964 night in which four icons — Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali), Malcolm X, Jim Brown, and Sam Cooke –(fictionally) come together for a rousing conversation. That’s a mild way to put things, but ultimately, the group dissect their contributions within the ongoing civil rights movement. To say that this is not a calm conversation would be an understatement, and King manages to weave a stunning tapestry within the walls of one room.

Year: 2020

Cast: Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci

Genre: Drama

Rating: R

Runtime: 120 minutes

Director: Darius Marder

Trailer: Watch here

Riz Ahmed earned himself an Oscar nomination for best actor for his performance as a recovering addict and heavy-metal drummer Ruben who hopes to make it in the music scene but discovers that he is losing his hearing, which changes his life and his plans to pursue a career doing what he loves. House of the Dragon’s Olivia Cooke, who plays Ahmed’s girlfriend and bandmate Lou, also delivers an impressive performance in Darius Marder’s directorial debut.

Year: 2021

Cast:Ben Affleck, Lily Rabe, Ty Sheridan

Genre: Drama

Rating: R

Runtime: 104 minutes

Director: George Clooney

Trailer: Watch here

This sentimental coming-of-age film from director George Clooney tells the story of American journalist J.R. Moehringer’s life growing up on Long Island, where he spent a significant portion of his time at a bar, which is his only escape from his complex life at home. It is based on Moehringer’s 2005 memoir of the same name.

Year: 2021

Cast: Chris Pratt, J.K. Simmons, Yvonne Strahovski

Genre: Action/Drama

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 138 minutes

Director: Chris McKay

Trailer: Watch here

A former summer blockbuster movie lands in your living room at no extra cost to Amazon Prime subscribers, so how lucky are you feeling right about now The film stars Chris Pratt (alongside J.K. Simmons, Yvonne Strahovski, Betty Gilpin, Sam Richardson, and more) in a world where time travelers from 2051 arrive to warn mankind that a global war against an alien species is coming. The only way possible for this to turn out well for humans is if soldiers and civilians join the future fight by time traveling, and this film comes from the mind of director Chris McKay (The Lego Batman Movie), so we’re in good hands all around. Go get your microwave popcorn and enjoy the explosive action goodness.

Year: 2017

Cast: Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter

Genre: Dramedy

Rating: R

Runtime: 120 minutes

Director: Michael Showalter

Trailer: Watch here

Real-life couple Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon received an Oscar nod for this romantic comedy which is a true story based on their own relationship. In the film, an interracial couple (a Pakistani comic and an American grad student) must tackle cultural discomfort that he fears from his traditional Muslim family. The Emily character falls into a coma, which leads familial relationships to deepen in an unexpectedly rewarding manner.

Year: 2019

Cast: Emma Thompson, Mindy Kaling, John Lithgow

Genre: Dramedy

Rating: R

Runtime: 102 minutes

Director: Nisha Ganatra

Trailer: Watch here

Think of this as a precursor of sorts to HBO’s Hacks, which shares this show’s central hook — a writer is tasked with saving a former powerhouse’s career. This story takes place inside of the late-night talk show realm, and the dynamic of Emma Thompson and Mindy Kaling will stand in TV history among the best. In a world where these shows are dominated by white males, it’s quite something to see these two ladies come together with punchlines aplenty and a determination to stay on top.

Year: 2016

Cast: Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler

Genre: Drama

Rating: R

Runtime: 137 minutes

Director: Kenneth Lonergan

Trailer: Watch here

Casey Affleck makes a dramatic and acclaimed return (which was both hailed and controversial at the time) to the spotlight in his role as a reluctant guardian, Lee, to his late brother’s son. Michelle Williams is scene-stopping as always as his estranged love, and this is a film that not only takes on the transformative nature of grief but also the power of reckoning with the past after Lee goes home.

Year: 2022

Cast: Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy, Claes Bang, Willem Dafoe, Ethan Hawke

Genre: Action

Rating: R

Runtime: 136 minutes

Director: Robert Eggers

Trailer: Watch here

Like every Robert Eggers film, The Northman is even weirder than it looks. The film follows the Viking Amleth who devotes his life to seeking revenge on the man who murdered his father King Aurvandil (Ethan Hawke) and, seemingly, took his mother. Amleth gets his revenge, but slowly and very violently. And yes, the rumors are true: there is a naked volcano fight scene in this. And also a magically unhinged performance from Nicole Kidman.

Year: 2023

Cast: Anna Kendrick, Wunmi Mosaku, Kaniehtiio Horn, Charlie Carrick

Genre: Drama

Rating: R

Runtime: 89 minutes

Director: Mary Nighy

Trailer: Watch here

This movie, clearly, was never intended as the easiest watch, but it will hit home for anyone who’s endured a psychologically and mentally abusive relationship and hasn’t felt represented onscreen. Anna Kendrick has been quite upfront about how this film helped her work through the fallout of her own abusive relationship, and she portrays a woman in denial of the insidious nature of her own cycle of abuse. And Wunmi Mosaku and Kaniehtiio Horn play the concerned friends who stage a necessary intervention.

Year: 2020

Cast: Tessa Thompson, Nnamdi Asomugha, Eva Longoria

Genre: Drama/romance

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 114 minutes

Director: Eugene Ashe

Trailer: Watch here

Tessa Thompson stepped away from the blockbusters for a music-focused love story (co-starring the late Lance Reddick) that traverses time, space, and, well, you get the drift. It’s much less a typical romance tale than one that is a product of morphing backdrops in American culture as this one uses New York City as its setting. Some things never change, but fortunately, some things do change.

Year: 2023

Cast: Taylor Zakhar, Perez, Nicholas Galitzine, Uma Thurman

Genre: Romcom

Rating: R

Runtime: 118 minutes

Director: Matthew López

Trailer: Watch here

Uma Thurman’s deep-fried Southern accent might be the best reason to watch this film if you aren’t already familiar with the source material of Casey McQuiston’s bestselling novel. The narrative follows as Uma’s portrayal of the first female U.S. president as her son, Alex Claremont-Diaz (Zakhar Perez), ends up entangled with Henry, a Harry-like British prince, Henry (Nicholas Galitzine). There’s annoyance followed by a change of heart, and then there could be a dilemma over duty to country. You know the drill, Bridgerton fans.