With over 24,000 titles available to stream, Amazon Prime offers an overwhelming amount of films to choose from across every conceivable genre. But quality over quantity is key – you want to easily access the very best movies at your fingertips. Fortunately, I‘ve compiled this expert guide on the top 10 films you can watch right now with a Prime membership.
Ranging from Oscar-winning dramas to iconic sci-fi epics, these picks represent the highest cream of the crop. They‘ve resonated with audiences and critics alike, earning accolades like Academy Awards, glowing reviews in esteemed outlets, and devoted fandoms. I‘ll overview why each movie stands out, cite metrics and expert opinions, and detail their lasting impact. Consider this your master list – let‘s count down the 10 best!
#10. The Big Sick (2017)
This charming autobiographical rom-com made a splash as a Sundance breakout hit, earning plaudits for balancing huge laughs with genuine emotion. Kumail Nanjiani stars a version of himself – a Pakistan-American comedian who falls for grad student Emily (Zoe Kazan) despite his traditional Muslim family‘s arranged marriage expectations. When Emily falls gravely ill, Kumail bonds with her parents (Ray Romano and Holly Hunter) and confronts his true feelings.
Accolades: Named the American Film Institute‘s Movie of the Year, also earned Best Comedy & Actress noms at Critics‘ Choice Awards
Box Office: Grossed $56.4 million against $5 million budget
Rotten Tomatoes: 98% critics score, 86% audience score
Critics widely praised The Big Sick as 2017‘s best romantic comedy, applauding its unique cultural perspective and Nanjiani‘s revelatory leading performance. As Rolling Stone observed, "Heartfelt and hilarious, this is the date-night movie of the year."
#9. Manchester By the Sea (2016)
Kenneth Lonergan‘s lyrically told family tragedy earned tremendous critical acclaim, particularly for Casey Affleck‘s restrained lead performance as a solitary Boston handyman forced to assume guardianship of his nephew (Lucas Hedges) after his brother‘s death. Through Affleck‘s character Lee Chandler‘s quiet heartbreak, flashbacks gradually reveal the deep childhood roots of his grief and reasons for self-exile.
Accolades: Won Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay and Best Actor (Casey Affleck). Also nominated for Best Picture, Director, Supporting Actress & Actor
Box Office: $79 million worldwide box office on $9 million budget
Rotten Tomatoes: 96% critics score, 88% audience score
Praised for capturing loss and coping with humanity and wisdom, Manchester dominated awards season. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone called it "a masterpiece of familial love and heartbreak." About Affleck‘s haunting lead turn, Variety raved "There are things he does here as an actor that most actors can’t do.”
Here‘s a handy table compiling awards and critical consensus:
| Award / Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| Best Picture Oscar Nomination | Yes |
| Best Actor Oscar Win (Casey Affleck) | Yes |
| Best Supporting Actress Oscar Nomination (Michelle Williams) | Yes |
| Best Original Screenplay Oscar Win | Yes |
| BAFTA Best Film Nomination | Yes |
| Golden Globe Drama Nomination | Yes |
| Critics‘ Choice Award Best Picture Nomination | Yes |
| Rotten Tomatoes Score | 96% |
#8. Moonlight (2016)
Barry Jenkins‘ intimate coming-of-age portrait made history in 2017 as the first film with an all-black cast to win Best Picture. Based on Tarell Alvin McCraney’s play, it follows young Chiron across three chapters as he struggles with his identity and sexuality while growing up poor, black, and gay in Miami. Glimpses of human connection provide light through the darkness in this gorgeous, melancholic tone poem about marginalized lives rarely depicted on screen.
Accolades: Won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Mahershala Ali), and Best Adapted Screenplay. Ali also won the Golden Globe for Supporting Actor.
Box Office: Grossed $65 million globally against $5 million budget
Rotten Tomatoes: 98% critic score, 83% audience score
Hailed as a masterpiece across the board, Moonlight resonated deeply with fans and critics. RogerEbert.com called it "one of those rare movies that stays with you for days afterward, recalling you continually to its intricacies, innovations and insights.” The seismic impact of such a personal film winning Hollywood‘s biggest prize cannot be overstated either.
#7. The Handmaiden (2016)
Based on Welsh novelist Sarah Waters’ Victorian-era crime novel Fingersmith, Park Chan-wook’s sensual thriller astounded critics with its wild twists and gorgeous vision. Set initially in 1930‘s Korea under Japanese colonial rule, a con man hires a female pickpocket to help him seduce and commit a wealthy Japanese heiress to an asylum. But secret passions and double-crosses upend his scheme once the ladies enter a lustful affair.
Accolades: Won Best Film Not in the English Language at Britain‘s BAFTA awards along with multiple critics‘ group honors in the U.S. and globally. Also competed for the Palm d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
Box Office: Made over $38 million globally, becoming the highest-grossing film ever from Korean director Park (best known for 2003 cult favorite Oldboy).
Rotten Tomatoes: 94% critics score, 91% audience score
Hailed for its opulent style and unpredictable, taboo-breaking narrative, The Handmaiden thrilled arthouse audiences worldwide. The New York Times praised it as a "sleek, astonishing movie marathon — a wild three-hour ride where the romantic and the sinister remain in exquisite tension." While unambiguously twisted, these extremes thrilled critics – calling it "as graphic as it is gorgeous, and as perverse as it is powerful,” per Vulture. Blu-ray sales remain strong thanks to its repeat value.
#6. Parasite (2019)
In a historic first, South Korean auteur Bong Joon-Ho‘s scathing class satire Parasite became the first non-English language film to win Best Picture at 2020‘s Academy Awards. The cunning Kim family slowly infiltrates the glitzy modern home of the wealthy Park family by posing as highly trained staff members. But a violent revelation after the Kims return home early one night upends both families‘ lives in shocking fashion.
Accolades: Won a stunning four Oscars, including Best Director for Bong along with Best International Film and Best Original Screenplay. Only the second foreign film after Roma to ever win Best Picture.
Box Office: $257 million global box office, becoming one of South Korea‘s highest-grossing films in history
Rotten Tomatoes: 99% critics score, 92% audience score
Parasite earned unprecedented near-unanimous acclaim with its symbolic message about income inequality and late-stage capitalism‘s damaging costs to humanity. Rolling Stone declared it "very possibly the movie event of 2020…thrillingly unique and virtually perfect." Justin Chang of the L.A. Times agreed, affirming Parasite as "a wild, wild ride – one I‘d be thrilled to take again." After decades of systemic bias at the Oscars, the film‘s trailblazing Best Picture win felt both historic and incredibly earned.
#5. The Farewell (2019)
Based on director Lulu Wang‘s real experiences, this compassionate cross-cultural charmer follows Chinese-American writer Billi (rapper Awkwafina) as she reconnects with her grandmother Nai Nai (Shuzhen Zhou) during a family trip to China. Orchestrated as a fake wedding to gather everyone before Nai Nai‘s terminal cancer diagnosis gets revealed, tragi-comic tension builds as customs divide how loved ones grieve.
Accolades: Boosted Awkwafina to become the first actor of Asian descent to win Best Actress – Comedy/Musical at Golden Globes. Also won Independent Spirit Awards for Best Supporting Female (Zhou) and Best Feature.
Box Office: Grossed $19 million as one of indie distributor A24‘s biggest releases
Rotten Tomatoes: 98% critic score, 81% audience score
Experts celebrated The Farewell as a hugely promising dramatic leap for Awkwafina led by an excellent ensemble cast. David Sims of The Atlantic wrote "Awkwafina‘s moving performance holds this lovely dramedy together.” As BBC critic Nicholas Barber observed, beyond just its emotional accessibility, the film meaningfully explores "the differences between Eastern and Western attitudes to death and bereavement."
#4. Late Night (2019)
Scripted by Mindy Kaling, this winning comedy chronicles the reluctant mentorship between a veteran late show talk show host Katherine Newbury (Emma Thompson) struggling with declining ratings and diversity criticism…and new comedy writer Molly Patel (Kaling), whose inexperience clashes with the toxic all-male writers room.
Accolades: Emma Thompson earned a Golden Globe Best Actress – Comedy/Musical nomination
Box Office: Grossed $28 million global box office against $13 million budget
Rotten Tomatoes: 79% critics score, 51% audience score
Critics celebrated Emma Thompson‘s triumphant performance as a complex, formidable figure navigating her own obsolescence in a transforming cultural landscape. Time Magazine named it one of their top 10 films of 2019 for Thompson‘s monumental work, observing "the role fits her like a glove." Along with its insider skewering of sexism and gate-keeping behavior from comedy‘s boys club, Late Night‘s ultimate message resonated as well. "It makes a solid case for adding new voices to the cultural discourse,” praised Peter Travers.
#3. Sicario (2015)
Driven by Emily Blunt‘s ferocious turn as hardened FBI agent Kate Mercer, Denis Villeneuve‘s crime thriller Sicario plunges viewers into the ambiguous darkness fuelling America‘s war on drugs. After a grisly cartel discovery in Arizona, Kate joins shadowy government task force led by the mysterious, ethically questionable Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro). But idealism crumbles when the mission‘s true nature unravels.
Accolades: Earned Benicio Del Toro dozens of Best Supporting Actor prizes from critics groups, ultimately winning the same honor from the LA Film Critics Association
Box Office: Grossed $84 million global on $30 million budget
Rotten Tomatoes: 94% critic score, 83% audience score
Praised as a morally complex look at the cycles of violence driving U.S./Mexico drug cartel conflict rarely explored onscreen, Sicario riveted arthouse audiences. Rolling Stone applauded Villeneuve‘s treatment as "a dazzling piece of nasty, queasy excitement.” But the haunting ambiguity left many unsettled in the best way. The Wall Street Journal agreed it was "one of the finest American crime films in recent years, as valuable for what it says as how it says it.”
#2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Legendary screenwriter Charlie Kaufman collaborated with visionary music video director Michel Gondry for this wildly inventive sci-fi romance starring Jim Carrey as Joel, a heartbroken man who tries erasing memories of his ex-girlfriend Clementine (Kate Winslet) after learning she did the same procedure already. But mid-mindwipe he can‘t bear to lose their iconic moments. Trippy and profound with dazzling practical effects, the film established itself as a wholly original cult classic.
Accolades: Kate Winslet became only the fifth actor ever to earn dual acting nominations at a single Oscars, honoring both Eternal Sunshine and Finding Neverland
Box Office: Doubled its $20 million budget domestically
Rotten Tomatoes: 93% critic score, 91% audience score
Upon release, critics swooned over the film‘s astonishing originality and risky high-concept love story. "It‘s one of the smartest and most passionate love stories of the modern cinema,” declared Peter Travers in his five-star Rolling Stone rave review. He further praised Kaufman‘s script as "scathingly funny and audaciously thoughtful” for how profoundly it captured why doomed relationships can still linger painfully in memory. The singular melding of each artists‘ sensibilities made the film feel timeless, cementing it as an all-time great romance.
#1. The Terminator (1984)
There was no stopping the sheer kinetic momentum of James Cameron‘s legendary sci-fi thriller The Terminator, which propelled Arnold Schwarzenegger to icon status as the T-800: a seemingly unstoppable killer cyborg from a post-apocalyptic machine-ruled future, sent back to present day 1984 Los Angeles. His mission? Eliminate young Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), the not-yet-born future mother of resistance leader John Connor, humanity‘s last hope in the brutal future war against Skynet machines.
Accolades: Earned multiple Saturn Award nominations from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films including Best Actor for Schwarzenegger. Installed into the National Film Registry in 2008 along with other culturally significant films.
Box Office: Produced on a modest $6.4 million budget, the film became a surprise commercial smash grossing $78.3 million during its initial theatrical run.
Rotten Tomatoes: A certified "Fresh" score of 100% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, though the initial Los Angeles Times review infamously dismissed the film as having "no real interest."
But with relentless action sequences packed with quotable one-liners that remain ubiquitous nearly 40 years later ("I‘ll be back"), The Terminator swiftly grew to be regarded as one of the most influential sci-fi/action films ever made. It established Cameron as a master of suspense, while Schwarzenegger‘s muscular brooding star-making performance became legendary. Setting up a franchise including five sequels and a TV series, the concept of time-spanning fights against malevolent A.I. feels prescient as technological domination remains a threat. But at its core, Kyle Reese and Sarah‘s tender love story gave the original Terminator film its soul.
Ranging from recent Best Picture winners like Parasite to iconic sci-fi tales including Eternal Sunshine and The Terminator, I‘ve assembled the definitive must-see list of films available on Amazon‘s streaming platform. Battle-tested over years of repeat viewings, each pick stands out as superlative – whether for performances, direction, cultural impact, or in the case of genre classics: all of the above. Consider it my seal of approval as an discerning home viewer.
After you‘ve burned through these best-of-the-best feature films, head over to my rankings of the Top 10 TV Shows on Amazon Prime Now currently streaming for your next binge! Chock full of beloved classics and recent gems, that curated list provides quality programming guidance when you need a temporary escape from reality without the two hour commitment. Think you can handle more expert entertainment analysis and commentary optimized for home viewers on-demand? Then be sure to check back as I‘ll continue covering the latest and greatest titles across streaming platforms and cable alike. Stay curious, my friends!
