The prime 20 exhibits to observe on Amazon Prime Video proper now
Nicole Kidman, James May and Saoirse Ronan – all of them take a starring function in our decide of Amazon Prime exhibits accessible to observe now.
Saltburn
Emerald Fennell’s darkly hilarious, class-conscious thriller
Year: 2023
Certificate: 18
Watch now on Prime Video
Emerald Fennell turned broadly identified when she took over as head author on Killing Eve from Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Also an actress (she was Emmy-nominated as Camilla on The Crown), Fennell has since blazed a path into Hollywood, successful an Oscar for her screenplay for 2020’s Promising Young Woman. The boldly twisty, darkly comedic thriller Saltburn is her sensational follow-up to that.
It’s the class-conscious story of Oliver, a devoted, up-by-the-bootstraps pupil at Oxford who’s invited again to the property of his laid-back, posh pal for summer time. The property is known as Saltburn and it is the sort of place you gown for dinner, and the occupants – together with riveting characters performed by Rosamund Pike and Richard E. Grant – are fascinated by him. We will not say extra about what comes subsequent as a result of that is the sort of film you wish to go into realizing as little as potential, however be ready for the odd horrific second amongst all of it – and to not like anybody on display. (131 minutes)
Expats
Nicole Kidman stars in a finely woven Hong Kong drama
Year: 2024
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Prime Video
Living overseas generally is a unusual and even alienating expertise, particularly when you’re not likely allowed to have your personal life. That’s the human core of this sequence primarily based on the novel by Janice YK Lee, which stars Nicole Kidman as a mom and spouse of a company excessive flier, attempting to carry onto her id in Hong Kong.
There’s one other dimension to this. Margaret (Kidman) has misplaced a toddler and her grief about that, and the tales of the individuals round her (locals, mates, her husband) fill out the remainder of a perspective-shifting sequence that jumps round slightly in time, too, to construct up a rounded image of everybody’s lives, lies and motivations. Kidman’s efficiency is mesmerising and understated, and the present itself has the texture of an Oscar-worthy film, however widened and deepened right into a six-part sequence – it was tailored by Lulu Wang, the writer-director of The Farewell. (Six episodes)
Role Play
Kaley Cuoco and David Oyelowo star in a hitman motion comedy
Year: 2024
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Prime Video
When suburban dad and mom Emma and Dave (Kaley Cuoco and David Oyelowo) wangle an evening away from their children within the massive metropolis, they resolve to bask in slightly function play. Trouble is, Emma already has a secret life – as a globetrotting worldwide murderer – and tonight her undercover id is about to come back dwelling to roost.
Cuoco is clearly having a ball slipping out and in of disguises as she strikes from one motion sequence to a different, whereas Oyelowo makes an excellent befuddled foil as he realises that there’s far more to his mild-mannered missus than meets the attention. Throw in Bill Nighy as certainly one of Emma’s fellow killers and also you’ve a top-notch slice of motion comedy. (100 minutes)
Ronnie O’Sullivan: The Edge Of Everything
Feature-length documentary charting the snooker participant’s turbulent life and profession
Year: 2023
Watch now on Prime Video
Few sportspeople have fairly as troublesome a relationship with their chosen sport as Ronnie ‘The Rocket’ O’Sullivan. A maverick showman in a sport that rewards obsession and precision, he’s struggled with melancholy and habit, but has nonetheless develop into probably the most profitable figures within the sport’s historical past.
This up-close-and-personal documentary not solely appears to be like again over his time within the sport since swaggering onto the scene as a cocky teenager but additionally tracks the star, now 47, as he contemplates each the ever-closer finish of his time on the desk and his 2022 quest to win a record-equalling seventh world title. It’s genuinely gripping stuff, particularly because the realisation dawns that the one individual able to beating O’Sullivan may simply be O’Sullivan himself. (113 minutes)
Australian household drama about an orphaned woman starring Sigourney Weaver
Year: 2023
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Prime Video
After her dad and mom die in a hearth, a younger woman named Alice is shipped off to stay along with her grandmother June (Sigourney Weaver) on a distant flower farm. As Alice grows right into a younger girl, the women who run the farm all attempt to defend her from life’s harsh realities, however these makes an attempt come to nothing when she falls in love with a charismatic and harmful man.
Intensely atmospheric and passionate, this seven-part drama involves life as questions on Alice’s previous and the hearth that killed her dad and mom bubble to the floor. (Seven episodes)
The Great
Outrageous historic comedy drama starring Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult
Year: 2020
Certificate: 18
Watch now on Prime Video
Paying an excellent minimal of consideration to historic truth, this darkly humorous and incessantly outrageous comedy drama charts the rise of Catherine the Great (Elle Fanning) from reluctant bride of the barking and harmful Peter III (Nicholas Hoult) to sole ruler of Russia.
Full of plots, schemes and raunchy comedy, it is a unbelievable Blackadder-esque confection of gorgeous interval costumes, slapstick and really black humour. The first two sequence noticed Fanning and Hoult nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress/Actor in a Comedy Series on the Emmys and this third exhibits no dip in high quality because the chirpy Catherine continues to plot to take away Peter from energy and drag Russia kicking and screaming into the sunshine of the 18th century. The Great is predicated on a play by Tony McNamara, who was additionally behind the same 2018 film The Favourite – and the very dissimilar Aussie medical romcom sequence The Heart Guy. (Three sequence, Lionsgate+ by way of Amazon Prime Video)
James May: Our Man In India
Former Top Gear host’s jolly 3,000-mile South Asian odyssey
Year: 2024
Certificate: 12
Watch now on Prime Video
He toured Japan and Italy within the first two sequence of his intrepid travelogue for Amazon, however India is a a lot bigger proposition than these two nations. This time, May might be going from west to east on a 3,000-mile odyssey throughout India, from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal. He’s been to the nation earlier than however nonetheless requires a little bit of assist making his method round, and that originally comes within the type of humorist Aditi Mittal, who serves as his ‘cultural bodyguard’ – which, on this case, means taking him to a comedy membership in Mumbai and getting all of her fellow comics to choose on him.
That units the jovial tone for a enjoyably chaotic present that manages to tell because it entertains you. Some moments are simply humorous, although, principally these during which James is dropped in method over his head and left to make his method politely by means of the fallout. If the ex-Top Gear man ever determined to show his hand to sketch comedy, he’d make an excellent straight man. (Three episodes)
Bottoms
Raucous high-school comedy a couple of feminine battle membership
Year: 2023
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Prime Video
Fed up with being on the backside of their college’s pecking order, lonely lesbians PJ and Josie (Shiva Baby’s Rachel Sennott and The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri) unintentionally hit on the thought of beginning up a feminine self-defence class to each enhance their standing and provides them an opportunity to spend time with a few of the college’s scorching cheerleaders. Soon, although, they discover themselves on the coronary heart of a punchy feminine revolution that threatens to show the established teen order on its head as soon as and for all.
Saucy, foolish and crunchingly humorous, it is a completely gratifying grown-up comedy about teenage life that mocks and homages basic motion pictures akin to Revenge Of The Nerds and The Breakfast Club in equal measure. (91 minutes)
Graham Norton hosts as 10 Irish comedians battle to bag a fortune for charity
Year: 2024
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Prime Video
Dreamt up in Japan, the Last One Laughing format is genius: a gaggle of comedians are put collectively in a Big Brother-style living-room set, full of cameras. They’re then challenged to make one another chortle. The comedian who manages to stifle his or her guffaws the longest takes dwelling €50,000 for his or her charity of selection. With typical sarcastic brilliance, Graham Norton hosts this six-episode Irish model, with star names akin to Aisling Bea, Catherine Bohart, Deirdre O’Kane and Jason Byrne among the many stand-ups attempting to crack the stony-faced resolve of their foes by no matter means crucial. (Six episodes)
The Wheel Of Time
Epic fantasy sequence starring Rosamund Pike
Year: 2021
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Prime Video
Amazon constructed its personal studio in Prague to accommodate the huge manufacturing wants of this bold fantasy sequence. Based on a sequence of bestselling novels by Robert Jordan, it’s set in a world during which magic is used solely by ladies, and the highly effective Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) should undertake a harmful journey with 5 children, certainly one of whom could also be a strong sorcerer referred to as the Dragon Reborn. The critics weren’t solely satisfied however followers of the books received behind it and the primary run of episodes turned Amazon’s most-watched authentic sequence of 2021.
The present’s engaging sense of scale continues into this much more epic second sequence, which sees the mysterious Moiraine proceed her quest to defeat the looming risk of the Dark One. Despite its enormous scope, the primary sequence was, in some ways, only a scene-setting train. Now that the present’s received most of its exposition out of the way in which it will get to sink its claws even additional into followers of Game Of Thrones and The Lord Of The Rings by correctly exploring the world it’s created. The second, eight-episode run is the place the enjoyable actually begins, particularly because it has an excellent greater funds to play with than sequence one. A 3rd is in manufacturing. (Two sequence)
Good Omens
Terry Pratchett’s apocalypse comedy starring David Tennant and Michael Sheen
Year: 2019
Certificate: 12
Watch now on Prime Video
It was Terry Pratchett’s dying want for his vibrant apocalypse comedy to be tailored for the display, and Neil Gaiman did a terrific job of doing simply that – with no expense spared. Aside from the funds required to deliver this comical account of the rise of the Antichrist to the display, although, there’s one nice casting resolution that makes it actually work on the centre.
Michael Sheen and David Tennant ship an excellent double act as Aziraphale and Crowley, the bantering angel and demon who’re attempting to cease that apocalypse. The ethereal duo have develop into fairly connected to their simple life on Earth over the centuries, thanks very a lot, and don’t need it to finish simply but.
The first sequence of Good Omens was made earlier than Staged despatched Sheen and Tennant’s double act stratospheric, and so they’re simply two of many acquainted faces on the solid – look out for Mad Men’s Jon Hamm because the angel Gabriel, Motherland’s Anna Maxwell Martin as Beelzebub and Miranda Richardson as a medium, to call however three. It’s actually all about Sheen and Tennant, although, and sequence two digs even additional into their characters’ uncommon friendship. (Two sequence)
I’m A Virgo
Comedy sequence a couple of 13ft-tall man’s adventures in fashionable America
Year: 2023
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Prime Video
Part fairy story, half superhero sequence, half absurdist comedy, I’m A Virgo follows the escapades of Cootie (Jharrel Jerome, of Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse), a 13ft-tall black teenager. After being hidden away by his aunt and uncle at their home in Oakland, he heads off to expertise the skin world in all its messy glory.
The ensuing sequence follows Cootie as he is embraced by some sections of society and shunned by others on his journey to find what place an enormous can fill on this planet. Writer-director Boots Riley (Sorry To Bother You) is not afraid to shine a lightweight on society’s flaws right here, however he does it whereas crafting a superbly heat and huggable fashionable fairy story. (Seven episodes)
Palm Springs
Time-loop comedy set at a marriage, starring Andy Samberg
Year: 2020
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Prime Video
Imagine Groundhog Day however set at a marriage, and with two individuals caught within the loop as a substitute of 1, and also you’ve received the gist of this completely fashioned American comedy. Palm Springs is a blast of sunshine set within the California desert metropolis, with Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti (Fargo) because the bantering pair reliving a day they will’t escape, and steadily falling for one another within the course of.
Don’t mistake this for a easy romcom, although. It has sturdy, well-earned philosophical and bittersweet streaks that floor each the rom and the com and make them hit deeper, whereas the more and more surreal nature of the desert setting fits the time loop premise very nicely. How insanity-inducing should it truly be to relive the identical day again and again, in any case? All informed, it is a film that, whereas it could look slightly daft to begin with, will hit you tougher than you anticipate by the top. (90 minutes)
Los Farad
Sultry Spanish crime drama set in Eighties Marbella
Year: 2023
Watch now on Prime Video
When younger aerobics teacher Oskar (Money Heist’s Miguel Herrán) strikes up a enterprise – and intimately private – relationship with the glamorous Sara (Susana Abaitua), his eyes gentle up on the probability to arrange a fitness center of his personal. But when he arrives in glamorous Marbella he discovers that the supply has critical strings connected as he’s launched to Sara’s wealthy and highly effective household of arms sellers, the Farad clan.
Set within the Eighties and shot by means of with the music and trend of that period, it is a lush, attractive and thrilling eight-part Spanish crime drama with an interesting efficiency from the wide-eyed Herrán that pulls you in proper from the beginning. And simply wait till you meet Sara’s wolfish father… (Eight episodes)
Shining Vale
Courteney Cox stars in a pointy horror comedy written by Sharon Horgan
Year: 2022
Certificate: 18
Watch now on Prime Video
Looking for distance from a bout of middle-aged infidelity, Pat and Terry Phelps (Courteney Cox and Greg Kinnear) take their teenage children and up sticks to a picture-postcard dwelling in a Connecticut city. It ought to be a contemporary begin for all of them, however issues rapidly go rotten when author and recovering addict Pat appears to start seeing ghosts (together with Mira Sorvino as an unnerving Fifties housewife).
Sharp, unusual and darkly humorous, the eight episodes of sequence two decide up with Pat – freshly launched from a psychological well being remedy centre and with a brand new e-book to advertise – able to put all of the weird occasions of the primary sequence behind her. Turns out that’s a lot, a lot simpler mentioned than finished. (Two sequence, by way of Lionsgate+)
Desperately Seeking Soulmate: Escaping Twin Flames Universe
Documentary sequence investigating a disturbing new breed of on-line cult
Year: 2023
Watch now on Prime Video
At first look, the Twin Flames Universe feels like another matchmaking app, providing to attach members with their soulmates. But is there extra occurring than simply that? The makers of this eye-opening three-part documentary sequence actually imagine so.
Their investigations into Twin Flames (based and run by Michigan-based YouTube influencers Jeff and Shaleia Divine) uncover tales of members being pressured to pursue ex-lovers in addition to to change their sexual orientation and gender id in an effort to discover romance. It paints an image of a disturbingly cult-like on-line organisation that aggressively makes an attempt to manage its susceptible customers. (Three episodes)
The Continental: From The World Of John Wick
Three-part Seventies-set prequel to the John Wick film franchise
Year: 2023
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Prime Video
Keanu Reeves could be the headline star within the 4 John Wick movies, however Ian McShane’s suave resort boss Winston was a vivid spot. But simply how did his character get to rule New York’s favorite hangout for assassins with a code, The Continental resort?
We discover that out on this three-part sequence that travels again to the Seventies when a cravat-wearing younger Winston (The Flight Attendant’s Colin Woodell) arrives within the Big Apple seeking to get his brother out of bother. With the aptitude of the period’s Blaxploitation pics and all of the pistol-packing, martial arts motion you want (to not point out Mel Gibson because the earlier boss of the resort) it is a must-see for John Wick followers. (Three episodes)
Wilderness
Jenna Coleman stars in an exhilarating revenge thriller
Year: 2023
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Prime Video
How many dramas have you ever watched that begin with a pair who appear to have all of it, however do not? Quite a number of, we would wager, however do not let the familiarity of the set-up put you off this exhilarating story of revenge between husband and spouse Will (The Haunting Of Hill House’s Oliver Jackson-Cohen) and Liv (Jenna Coleman), a lady who has sacrificed her independence to hitch his high-flying life in New York.
Needless to say, he has an affair – and the way in which Coleman conveys Liv’s rage, damage and willpower by means of the twists of what follows is one thing very particular, and deserves awards recognition. There’s extra right here that defies expectation and retains you guessing, however we can’t go into that for apparent causes. What we’ll say is that this drama additionally appears to be like absolutely the enterprise, from its plush indoor areas to some beautiful out of doors filming (the Grand Canyon is one cease on the couple’s street journey) and, in presumably its most costly transfer, the opening credit boast a re-recorded model of Taylor Swift’s Look What You Made Me Do.
So, what precisely did he make her do? You’ll have to observe to search out out. (Six episodes)
Foe
Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal star as a pair dwelling in a ruined future
Year: 2023
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Prime Video
Our planet is headed for Mad Max territory on this haunting movie, set in a time during which the tough local weather has pushed individuals to flee the inhospitable floor for outer house. The story it tells could be very human and contained although, and revolves solely round one couple dwelling in a farmhouse within the American Midwest in 2065. Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal play the couple and we’re informed, simply earlier than we meet them, that it is a world during which synthetic people have began dwelling and dealing in these harsh environments.
As a end result, you spend a lot of the remainder of the film questioning whether or not both of them is a robotic. We will not reveal what occurs, however the movie feels extra like a play at instances as we steadily head towards the Twilight Zone-style finale and, regardless of the sci-fi concepts, that is in the end a deep dissection of 1 relationship. It’s slightly lengthy for that story, maybe, nevertheless it’s additionally a kind of movies you would be tempted to observe twice as soon as you understand how it ends. (110 minutes)
007: Road To A Million
Brian Cox fronts a James Bond-themed globetrotting gameshow contest
Year: 2023
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Prime Video
Ever fancied your self as a superspy? You know, somebody capable of deal with essentially the most death-defying challenges conceivable, all whereas remaining resolutely neither shaken nor stirred? The 9 pairs of contestants on this new sport present all reckon they’ve the power to deal with no matter mission controller Brian Cox (the one from Succession, not the scientist) throws at them. The hopefuls journey from unique location to unique location to face a spread of exams that can push them to their bodily and psychological limits with a £1 million prize up for grabs.
It’s a extremely neat extension of the Bond franchise, introduced with cinematic panache by the sensible Cox, who brings pleasant drawling sarcasm to his flip. If the movies ever want a brand new M, they know the place to look… (One sequence)
