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 Critic’s Pick
Die Hard
Year:Â 1988
Runtime:Â 2h 6m
Director:Â John McTiernan
Finally! Streamers have a habit of dropping parts of the Bruce Willis franchise but never the whole thing, until now. Watch the whole series, from the masterful original through the abysmal A Good Day to Die Hard, in one sitting, only on Prime Video. The first one is still the masterpiece, a film that truly rewrote the rules for the genre, shifting it more to everyman characters like Willis and away from muscular stars like Sly and Ah-nuld. It’s held up perfectly, as entertaining today as when it came out.
Drama
Challengers
Year:Â 2024
Runtime:Â 2h 11m
Director:Â Luca Guadagnino
One of the most acclaimed dramas of the year is exclusively on Prime Video. Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor star in a story of tennis players who also happen to be lovers. Smart and sexy, this is the kind of film they’re talking about when they say that Hollywood doesn’t make movies for adults anymore. Watch this one so they do.
Children of Men
Year:Â 2007
Runtime:Â 1h 49m
Director:Â Alfonso Cuaron
What happens to a society with no hope? (A more profound question in November 2024 than we ever could have imagined.) 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.
*Dark City
Year: 1998
Runtime: 1h 40m
Director: Alex Proyas
So far ahead of its time that people barely paid attention to it when it came out, this sci-fi masterpiece has only grown in esteem in the quarter-century since its release. Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, and Jennifer Connelly star in a sci-fi noir, a film with some of the most unforgettable imagery of the ‘90s.
Donnie Darko
Year: 2001
Runtime: 1h 53m
Director: Richard Kelly
It’s a mad world in Richard Kelly’s sci-fi hit starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze, and Jena Malone. Darko made almost nothing in theaters but developed a loyal following on the home market, becoming one of the more acclaimed sci-fi films of the ‘00s. Join in the conversation that seems to constantly surround this film (and maybe Kelly will be encouraged to make another one soon — he hasn’t directed in over a decade).
Fitzcarraldo
Year: 1982
Runtime: 2h 37m
Director: Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog set out to make a movie about a man who was insane enough to try and move a steamship over land from one river to another and Herzog himself was insane enough to actually try and replicate it. The result is a film that’s mesmerizing in its detail and blatant in its study of power gone mad, both in the narrative and the filmmaking. Watch Burden of Dreams after – a great doc about the crazy making of this film. (It’s on Prime too.)
*Glengarry Glen Ross
Year: 1992
Runtime: 1h 40m
Director: 1992
For a long time, it felt like David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1984 masterpiece was unfilmable, but Foley, working with the playwright as screenwriter, figured it out, assembling one of the best ensembles of the ‘90s to do so. Alec Baldwin notoriously steals his one scene, but the entire cast here is a stunner, especially Al Pacino (who was Oscar-nominated), Alan Arkin, and Jack Lemmon.
King of New York
Year:Â 1990
Runtime:Â 1h 43m
Director:Â Abel Ferrara
The amazing Abel Ferrara directed this crime epic that oozes with style. Three decades after its release, it’s still one of the most cited films of this kind of its era. One of the main reasons for that is the cast. Christopher Walken leads the way as the legendary drug lord Frank White, but the whole ensemble here is amazing, including Laurence Fishburne, David Caruso, Wesley Snipes, Steve Buscemi, and Giancarlo Esposito.
*L.A. Confidential
Year: 1997
Runtime: 2h 17m
Director: Curtis Hanson
Curtis Hanson directed this adaptation of James Ellroy’s epic crime novel of 1950s Los Angeles. Starring Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe, Kevin Spacey, and Kim Basinger, it’s a perfect thriller. So many films since this one have tried to mimic the tough-talking thrills of it and fallen completely flat. It’s harder than it looks to be this cool.
The Limey
Year: 1999
Runtime: 1h 28m
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Steven Soderbergh directs a searing performance by Terence Stamp in his thriller about a Brit who comes to California trying to find his missing daughter, and those who may be responsible for hurting her. Soderbergh rarely missteps and The Limey is one of his most underrated films, a perfectly paced angry shout of a movie that matches its captivating leading man.
Lost in Translation
Year:Â 2003
Runtime:Â 1h 41m
Director:Â Sofia Coppola
Sofia Coppola exploded onto the filmmaking scene with her second film, this 2003 dramedy about a fading movie star who meets an American girl in Tokyo and both of their lives change. Bill Murray does career-best work in the film (and should have won an Oscar), and he’s matched by Scarlett Johnansson. But this really is Coppola’s film, a tender, brilliant character study with personal resonance.
Manhunter
Year: 1986
Runtime: 2h 1m
Director: Michael Mann
Believe it or not, this Michael Mann flick isn’t regularly available for streaming subscribers, so take this chance while you can to watch one of the best from a masterful American director. Adapting Red Dragon by Thomas Harris, this is actually the first cinematic iteration of Hannibal Lecter, played here by future Succession Emmy winner Brian Cox. William Petersen is great as Will Graham, the role that Hugh Dancy would play many years later in the NBC series. This one is tense, and truly terrifying.
The Master
Year:Â 2012
Runtime:Â 2h 17m
Director:Â Paul Thomas Anderson
One of P.T. Anderson’s best films, and one of the best films of the 2010s by anybody, is this drama starring Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams. Originally seen as a dissection of the creation of Scientology, The Master is a lot more than that, breaking down leader/follower relationships, trauma, and doubt in ways that only one of our best filmmakers could.
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.
Oppenheimer
Year:Â 2023
Runtime:Â 2h 58m
Director:Â Christopher Nolan
One of the biggest and best movies of 2023 has been doing a victory lap on the streaming services following its Oscar win for Best Picture. Of course, one of the draws of Nolan’s brilliant examination of the development of the atomic bomb was the way it played on Imax screens around the world. It’s best viewed large, loud, and in a one 3-hour chunk. So don’t break this one up and don’t watch it on your phone. Give yourself over to one of the most truly cinematic experiences of the decade.
Passion Fish
Year: 1992
Runtime: 2h 15m
Director: John Sayles
The brilliant writer/director John Sayles delivered one of his most beloved films in this 1992 drama about a soap opera star (Mary McDonnell) who has been paralyzed after being hit by a cab. She returns to her family home, where she crosses paths with a nurse (Alfre Woodard) who refuses to give up on her. It’s moving in a way that feels genuine, never manipulative.
Requiem for a Dream
Year: 2000
Runtime: 1h 41m
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Darren Aronofsky adapted Hubert Selby Jr.’s novel of the same name into one of the most harrowing films about addiction that has ever been made. Jared Leto, Ellen Burstyn, Marlon Wayans, and Jennifer Connelly star in a film that looks at four different spirals into drug abuse and the horrors that can often come with it. The performances are unforgettable, but it’s the incredible visual confidence that Aronofsky displayed in only his second film that makes this such a riveting experience.
*Thelma & Louise
Year:Â 1991
Runtime:Â 2h 4m
Director:Â Ridley Scott
Very few films still have as much power as Ridley Scott’s drama/thriller about two women who go on the run after killing an attacker. Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon do arguably the best work of their careers in a film that has lost absolutely none of its impact. All that and young Brad Pitt!
*To Leslie
Year: 2022
Runtime: 1h 59m
Director: Michael Morris
Andrea Riseborough is phenomenal as Leslie, an alcoholic who hits rock bottom and travels back to her hometown to find herself again. While some of the structure of this surprisingly Oscar-nominated film can be a bit by-the-numbers, it’s a stunning showcase for Riseborough, nicely accompanied by a supporting cast that includes Marc Maron, Owen Teague, and Allison Janney, all delivering.
Horror
*Green Room
Year: 2016
Runtime: 1h 31m
Director: Jeremy Saulnier
Jeremy Saulnier is one of the best current genre directors—seriously, go watch Blue Ruin and Rebel Ridge—and this might still be his best film. The sadly gone Anton Yelchin stars as a member of a band that ends up at an event populated by violent Nazis. Things go very wrong from there. It’s a perfectly paced movie with unexpected twists and brutal violence. See this one.
It Follows
Year: 2015
Runtime: 1h 40m
Director: David Robert Mitchell
Horror favorite Maika Monroe stars in this 2014 indie horror breakthrough hit as a young woman who discovers that her recent sexual activity has cursed her with a supernatural force that will chase her until she passes it along to someone else. Stylish and striking, the movie felt like nothing else on the American horror market in 2014, helping usher in the era of what is now called “elevated horror.†Whatever you call it, It Follows is still an unforgettable genre flick.
Suspiria
Year: 1977
Runtime: 1h 33m
Director: Dario Argento
The Luca Guadagnino remake is also on Prime, but the Argento original is the one to watch. One of the most important and influential of all the Giallo films, it stars Jessica Harper as a ballet student who goes overseas to study and discovers that her new school is populated by witches.
Comedy
Clueless
Year:Â 1995
Runtime:Â 1h 34m
Director:Â Amy Heckerling
You can keep all those stuffy Jane Austen adaptations — one of the best remains Amy Heckerling’s updating of the 1815 classic Emma to mid-‘90s L.A. Perhaps even the most ‘90s movie ever? From its fashion to its references to its beloved characters, Clueless is certainly one of the most iconic films of that decade, and it grows even more popular with each generation that discovers it.
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.
The Holdovers
Year: 2023
Runtime: 2h 13m
Director: Alexander Payne
Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph were Oscar-nominated for this phenomenal comedy (and Randolph won!), which was exclusive to Peacock but has now escaped out to Prime Video. The ‘70s-set story of a boarding school over holiday break already feels like a comedy classic, a movie that people will be watching, especially around the end of the year, for generations to come.
Action
*The Batman
Year: 2022
Runtime: 2h 49m
Director: Matt Reeves
Matt Reeves now owns the saga of the Dark Knight as a sequel to this March 2022 action blockbuster has already been announced. 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.
Goldfinger (and more 007!)
Year: 1965
Runtime: 1h 45m
Director: Guy Hamilton
Classic action! This may be the third James Bond film but it’s arguably the most essential of the early years, the movie that really cemented Sean Connery’s iconic portrayal of 007. Based on the 1959 Ian Fleming novel of the same name, Goldfinger also stars Honor Blackman as the wonderfully named Pussy Galore and Gert Frobe as the title character, one of Bond history’s most iconic villains. There’s a bunch more 007 just added to Prime, from Connery through Craig — far too much to list here.
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
Year:Â 1981
Runtime:Â 1h 55m
Director:Â Steven Spielberg
The first four titles in the franchise featuring one of the world’s most famous action heroes is finally back on Prime Video (jump over to Disney for the fifth one, if you must). Of course, the first entry, Raiders of the Lost Ark, remains the best of the bunch, but there’s some value and fun in Temple of Doom and The Last Crusade too. (And even parts of Crystal Skull. Yeah, we said it.)
*Once Upon a Time in the West
Year: 1969
Runtime: 2h 45m
Director: Sergio Leone
One of Sergio Leone’s best films, this Western stars Henry Fonda, Jason Robards, Claudia Cardinale, and Charles Bronson. It’s an epic film that casts Fonda against type as the bad guy and contains some of the best imagery in Leone’s career, anchored by one of the best scores ever written by Ennio Morricone. In a 2008 poll by Empire of over 10,000 readers, filmmakers, and critics, this film was the highest-ranking Western. It’s essential.
Family and Kids
Paranorman
Year: 2012
Runtime: 1h 32m
Director: Chris Butler, Sam Fell
We don’t deserve Laika. The geniuses at the best stop-motion animation studio in the world delivered the goods with films like Coraline and Kubo and the Two Strings, but their best work remains this 2012 gem about a kid who can see ghosts. As Norman tries to end a centuries-old curse, this visually striking and ultimately moving work never falters once.
If you subscribe to a service through our links, Vulture may earn an affiliate commission.