Any time you openAmazon Prime Video, you’re probably looking for a good way to spend a few hours. You might notice that Prime Video has some excellent options but also has a tendency to promote the same content continuously.
If you’re looking for new movies or titles that you would never have guessed were worth your time, we’ve got you covered. These are three underrated movies that you should check out this weekend.
We also have guides to thebest new movies to stream, thebest movies on Netflix, thebest movies on Hulu, and thebest movies on Amazon Prime Video.
American Fiction (2023)
A satire that somehow manages to also be deeply moving,American Fictionis based on the 2001 novelErasure andtells the story of a Black author who doesn’t want to be pigeon-holed into writing Black fiction. When he jokingly pitches a cartoonishly stereotypical novel, he finds himself engaging with a new audience, even as he deals with a crumbling situation in his home life.
Jeffrey Wright rarely gets opportunities to shine the way he does here, and he’s supported by one of the best performances ofSterling K. Brown’scareer. Incisive, funny, and sentimental,American Fictiondeserved more hype than it received.
You can watchAmerican Fictionon Amazon Prime Video.
A Most Violent Year (2014)
A throwback, low-key thriller featuring a pair of exceptional actors,A Most Violent Yearis set in New York City in 1981 and stars Oscar Isaac andJessica Chastainas a married couple trying to protect their family business. 1981 was one of the most violent years on record in New York, and the movie is explicitly set at a time when corruption and crime were rampant.
The movie is hugely stylish and a reminder that Isaac and Chastain are two of the best actors working today, even if neither of them gets the material they deserve on a regular basis.
You can watchA Most Violent Yearon Amazon Prime Video.
Le Samourai (1967)
One of the most influential films of the French New Wave,Le Samouraïis remarkable in that it is a story about a hit man told with a remarkable degree of sparseness. Starring Alain Renais, the film follows an assassin with an elaborate set of rituals who conducts a hit and then realizes that he was spotted.
As his life unravels around him, he’s forced to go on the run and avoid capture from both the police and the men who hired him. AlthoughLe Samouraihas its moments of violence, the most remarkable thing about the movie is all the ways it avoids the thrills you might expect from this type of movie. Instead, it’s just a little bit more mundane than you might expect.
