Best movies on Amazon Prime Video to watch now

Frank Capra's miraculous film from 1946 is regularly cited as one of the best Christmas films of all time – but we'd actually go one step further and call it one of the best films of all time, full stop. It tells the story of James Stewart's George Bailey, a frustrated businessman and family man who is driven to a very dark place until the intervention of an angel on Christmas Eve.

Delivering a heartwarming Christmas message about the importance of family, friendship and community without falling into overtly cheesy sentimentality, the film's ending is sure to leave you feeling more than a little weepy – but the genuine darkness that precedes it ensures that the emotional climax is earned, rather than just an empty display of mawkishness.

It's the perfect film to watch over the festive period – taking inspiration from Charles Dickens's iconic yuletide yarn A Christmas Carol to deliver an unambiguous riposte to greed. – Patrick Cremona

One of David Fincher's finest movies, Gone Girl was adapted by Gillian Flynn from her bestselling novel of the same name and became a major hit with audiences and critics alike. Ben Affleck is brilliant as the untrustworthy husband of a woman who goes missing – but it's Rosamund Pike in the title role who towers above everyone else in this riveting thriller.

Twisty, unsettling, and containing its fair share of shocking scenes, it's a film that asks interesting – and rather dark – questions about the state of modern relationships while never losing any of its entertainment value – functioning first and foremost as an absorbing mystery that will keep you guessing until the last. – Patrick Cremona

Since he started making films in the 1970s, Ridley Scott has had a somewhat inconsistent directorial career, but his hugely influential 1982 movie Blade Runner stands out as one of his true masterpieces. Adopting the moody aesthetic of film noir, this adaptation of Philip K Dick's sci-fi yarn Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? essentially created a whole new aesthetic that has often been mimicked but arguably never bettered.

Harrison Ford stars as Rick Deckard, a burnt-out cop whose job consists of hunting down replicants – bioengineered humanoid creatures who often possess superhuman strength and intelligence. The film asks many probing questions about human identity that remain extremely relevant today, while Rutger Hauer's iconic final scene remains one of cinema's very best speeches. It was only a modest success at the time, but is now rightly regarded as a bona fide classic. - Patrick Cremona

This comedy film from 2016 may have flown somewhat under the radar and been a disappointment at the box office, but in subsequent years it has become something of a deserved cult favourite.

Starring The Lonely Island trio, Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer, the mockumentary charts a downward spiral in the career of pop star Conner4Real, who was formerly a member of pop rap group The Style Boyz.

It's a heightened, ridiculous comedy with an incredible number of jokes per minute and a whole album's worth of hilarious songs. It also features a huge cast of celebrity cameos, all of whom must have known they were signing up for something special. - James Hibbs

The Shawshank Redemption has frequently topped lists of the best films of all time over the years, and there's a reason for that - while it may not be everyone's favourite, it is certainly a masterful work, full of emotion, powerful messaging and exceptional performances by Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman.

It's a classic tale of triumph over adversity, with a rousing climax that sticks in the mind and has made its way firmly into cinema history. If you're looking for something iconic to watch on Prime Video, then look no further - you don't get much more iconic than this. - James Hibbs

Ever since the first one debuted, the John Wick films have been a masterclass in how to make an action film work. The plot machinations have been light and breezy, and the action itself has been exhilaratingly choreographed. Plus, it doesn't hurt to have the excellent Keanu Reeves in the central role.

However, this might just be the best yet in the franchise - a breathless, three hour epic in which we watch John on the run, attempting to beat the high table once and for all, and escape the hit they put out on him. Reeves is brilliant as ever, while Donnie Yen brings an intriguing new character, Caine, to life. The action is absolutely top notch and you'll find yourself mouth agape at the audacity of some of the sequences. - James Hibbs

Jamie Foxx and Tommy Lee Jones are on tip-top form in this entertaining true-story courtroom drama set in 1995. Jones plays Mississippi funeral-home owner Jerry O’Keefe, who hires flashy lawyer Willie Gary (Foxx) to fight his case against a corporate shark. Director/co-writer Maggie Betts orchestrates the courtroom antics with aplomb while smuggling in powerful insights into race relations.

It’s the tale of a little guy taking on big business, but it’s the contrast between Jones’s quiet dignity and Foxx’s razzle-dazzle that centres this crowd-pleasing delight. - Jeremy Aspinall

This directorial effort from John Krasinski, in which he also stars opposite his wife Emily Blunt, became instantly iconic upon its debut, with audiences loving its innovative take on the horror/alien invasion genre and its impressive use of sound design to enhance the terror.

Blunt and Krasinski are both phenomenal in the film, in which they play parents trying to save their children from aliens who can't see but have an acute sense of hearing, as are Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe as their children. An impressively brutal opening sets the stage for what's to come, while the film truly hinges on its heart and family-centric story, as well as the well-staged horror sequences. – James Hibbs

Italian director Luca Guadagnino's previous collaboration with Timothée Chalamet was the much lauded romantic drama Call Me by Your Name, and here the pair reunite for a very different sort of love story. Based on a novel by Camille DeAngelis, the film stars Chalamet and Taylor Russell as Lee and Maren, a couple of runaways who embark on a road trip across Reagan-era America while bonding over their unusual shared affliction: an insatiable appetite for human flesh.

That premise might sound like the basis for a schlocky pulp romance, but while the film does contain its share of grisly set-pieces, this is more than just a provocation. Instead, Guadagnino has crafted something unexpectedly tender, a deeply romantic and empathetic study of young love between outsiders. Russell is the star of the show, but there are also memorable supporting turns from Chloë Sevigny, Michael Stuhlbarg and Mark Rylance, the latter playing a fellow cannibal who is at once bone-chillingly creepy and profoundly tragic. – Patrick Cremona

We love a film title that pretty much sums up the premise of the film and while you’d most certainly think that this new Prime Video original film was all about pretty cakes sitting atop dingy bar counters, it takes a surprisingly heartfelt turn.

The film follows Jane (Yara Shahidi) who is slightly shy but bakes avidly during her LSAT study breaks, and her childhood best friend turned roommate Corinne (Odessa A’Zion) as they navigate life together. Corinne continually tries to get Jane out of her shell so sets her a task of baking cakes for a year and taking them to bars in order to meet people and build up her dwindling social skills. The result? An oftentimes funny but seriously heartwarming tale of female friendship in the wake of serious life issues that may just have you reaching for the tissues. – Morgan Cormack

Social niceties are put in the spotlight in this lovable comedy drama that reunites writer/director Nicole Holofcener with her Enough Said star, Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Beth (Louis-Dreyfus) is a writer who is nervous about following up an under-performing memoir with her first novel. But after inadvertently eavesdropping on his conversation with a friend, Beth finds out that her therapist husband Don (Tobias Menzies) is only pretending to like her new book, a discovery that throws their perfect marriage into jeopardy.

It’s a thought-provoking, sometimes hilarious reflection on just how difficult it can be to do the right thing. – Emma Simmonds

This bold, heartbreaking historical drama depicts the aftermath of the infamous 1955 lynching of teenager Emmett Till in Mississippi. Co-writer/director Chinonye Chukwu focuses on the protracted attempt by the boy’s resolute mother, Mamie Till-Mobley (Danielle Deadwyler), to bring the killers to justice in a state riddled with systemic racism. The film thankfully holds back on the violence, but Chukwu finds plenty of chilling moments throughout. Meanwhile, Deadwyler’s powerful, dignified central performance ably carries this portrait of a woman whose tenacious campaigning helped galvanise the civil rights movement in America. – James Mottram

With Arrival and Blade Runner 2049, Denis Villeneuve proved he could fuse sci-fi spectacle with intricate plotting, and never lose sight of the emotion. He pulls off the same trick with this grandstanding Frank Herbert adaptation, a muscular coming-of-age tale set against the hellfire of interplanetary war.

Timothée Chalamet plays young heir Paul Atreides, whose life is upended when his duke father (Oscar Isaac) becomes the custodian of Arrakis, an unforgiving world composed almost entirely of sand. But with the planet’s former steward (a fantastically grotesque Stellan Skarsgård) planning an invasion, it’s not long before their new home becomes a battlefield. Of course, that summary only scratches the surface of a film steeped in spirituality, “spice” visions, maternal determination and enormous sandworms. Chalamet brings inner steel and outer vulnerability to his role, and his scenes with Rebecca Ferguson, as his mother, are the film’s most affecting.

Dune: Part One is sci-fi on a truly epic scale – complex, absorbing and impeccably styled, with a booming Hans Zimmer score and searing visuals that burn long in the mind. – Josh Winning

Michael B Jordan returns as boxer Adonis Creed in this pumped-up third Rocky spin-off. Also stepping behind the camera for his directorial debut, Jordan crafts an electric tale of friendship gone awry, as Creed is reunited with his old friend Damian (Jonathan Majors), an aspiring boxer fresh from a long stint in jail. Now back in Los Angeles, Damian wants a shot in the ring, which he hopes Creed will engineer.

Jordan proves unafraid of shaking up the franchise, setting the film away from the series’ spiritual Philadelphia home. The boxing scenes are punchy, while Majors is a heavyweight addition to the cast, bringing muscular intensity to the film. – James Mottram

Bill Nighy received the first Oscar nomination of his career for this superb remake of Akira Kurosawa’s Ikiru (1952).

Brilliantly reimagined by Booker Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro, the film follows stiff upper-lipped bureaucrat Williams (Nighy) as he decides to make the most of the time he has left after being told he has only months to live. The result is a thoughtful exploration of reawakening and redemption, and Nighy’s subtle and reflective performance makes it truly soar. – Alan Jones

Director Darren Aronofsky’s heartfelt, often wildly funny adaptation of Samuel D Hunter’s semi-autobiographical off-Broadway play is a moving tale of last-chance redemption. Brendan Fraser gives a heroic, Oscar-winning performance as Charlie, a morbidly obese gay recluse who desperately tries to reconnect with his estranged daughter, Ellie (Sadie Sink from Stranger Things).

Aronofsky deliberately reins in his often flamboyant style, underlining the theatrical origins of the intense chamber piece by using the claustrophobic Academy ratio. The result is an penetrating examination of self-destruction – Alan Jones

Ben Affleck directs and co-stars in this infectious 1980s-set tale of how underperforming sports clothing brand Nike turned its fortunes around by luring basketball star Michael Jordan to endorse its trainers. Affleck plays Phil Knight, Nike’s Porsche-driving CEO, but the film belongs to Matt Damon as Sonny Vaccaro, the basketball guru who spots Jordan’s potential and sets out to reel him in with the creation of the Air Jordan trainer.

Air is an absorbing film about money, power, race and class, revealing how Jordan’s relationship with Nike changed the face of corporate sponsorship for ever. – James Mottram

An undocumented nanny struggles with both the supernatural and the harsh realities of everyday life in Nikyatu Jusu’s unsettling thriller. Caught between the life she has left behind and the one she wishes to obtain, Senegalese migrant Aisha (Anna Diop) cares for the six-year-old daughter of a well-to-do couple (Michelle Monaghan and Morgan Spector). She longs to save enough money to bring her son to the US, while also experiencing disturbing dreams that could be the work of a malevolent presence. Meanwhile, the way she is treated by her casually privileged employers proves every bit as disturbing as her nightmares.

Ultimately, this is an atmospheric and deeply personal debut that simmers with slow-burn dread – Amber Wilkinson

A nature film that’s more about humans than animals, this feature documentary follows British ex-soldier Harry Turner as he lives a new life in the Amazon Rainforest, having been discharged from the Army with depression and PTSD. We see him transformed, or at least inspired and comforted, by his relationship with American conservationist Sam, and in particular by their fostering of a baby ocelot, whose struggles to be ready for release into the wild can be seen as mirroring Harry’s effort to regain his own mental health. The result is a stark picture of the internal struggles undergone by many veterans, but with beautiful notes of hope – Jack Seale

Let’s face it, we’re in the year of the romcom revival and there’s no better time than now to get reacquainted with the genre.

While Jennifer Lopez became one of the most familiar faces of the film genre for a while, she returns to her roots in this hilarious new movie, alongside Josh Duhamel.

The film is as joyously random as it starts with Darcy and Tom gathering their families for a destination wedding. But the ceremony gets put on hold when gunmen take everyone hostage. It’s a tale of survival and protection, but ultimately, this is a new family trying to figure out how not to kill each other first – and it’s a great lighthearted feat to witness. – Morgan Cormack

It should be said up top that if you’re squeamish, Men may not be for you. The folk horror film from Ex Machina and Annihilation director Alex Garland stars Jessie Buckley as a woman who visits a quiet country house following the death of her husband.

From there on out is where things get weird as all the men she meets are played by the same actor – Rory Kinnear. What follows are some seriously creepy, disturbing and shocking goings-on, with a final sequence that is so gloriously depraved that it made the film instantly divisive to both critics and viewers.

Regardless, if you enjoy the folk horror genre, and want to see some phenomenal performances from two actors at the top of their game then Men may very well be for you. Maybe just don’t watch it right before bed… – James Hibbs

When Sheila (Kaley Cuoco) picks up Gary (Pete Davidson) at a bar, the hint of impatience in her tone suggests this is not the usual “meet cute”: that moment in a movie when a chance encounter leads to romance. Indeed, Sheila is a time traveller who has played out this scene many times before, unbeknownst to Gary, because she cannot face tomorrow.

A refreshingly unsentimental love story, Meet Cute has some chuckles despite its sombre tone, and Alex Lehmann plays the time-loop element with a knowing wink. Cuoco and Davidson are charismatic as the time-stuck couple, with Cuoco effectively exploring the pain underlying Sheila’s desperation to cling to a moment of happiness. – Stephen Applebaum

Girls creator Lena Dunham brings a modern sensibility to a medieval British setting in this effervescent comedy based on the 1994 children’s novel by Karen Cushman. Fourteen-year-old Birdy (Bella Ramsey) is a free-spirited maker of mischief living in intensely repressive times, whose spendthrift father Lord Rollo (Andrew Scott) is plotting to marry her off in order to clear his debts. Meanwhile her mother, Aislinn (Billie Piper), is negotiating one pregnancy after another, which mostly end in heartache. Lesley Sharp plays Birdy’s indispensable nursemaid, with Joe Alwyn her handsome uncle, whom Birdy is more than a little in love with. Ramsey is a sparky match for the material, and a soundtrack of fun cover versions keeps the energy high. – Emma Simmonds