I have a terrible habit of forgetting about movies that debuted more than a year ago. The hoopla of Academy Award season puts a ton of focus on watching the current nominees. And in that concentrated attention, every other movie goes by the mental wayside. But I want to change.
In that spirit, I’ve been collecting lists of recently acclaimed movies that are currently available to stream. A couple of weeks ago, I made a movie list focused on Netflix. This week focuses on Amazon Prime.
In making this list, I found myself getting more excited to relearn about movies I’d heard about in the recent past. To that end, I only included movies that debuted in the 2010s. But know that Amazon Prime has many notable films from before then.
Read on for the full list of 25. You can watch all of their trailers below.
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In this drama, a Black man fights against gentrification in San Francisco. He wishes to return to the neighborhood in which he grew up, but the area has become too expensive. The life of actor Jimmie Fails, who has a lead role, inspired the script.
Runtime: 2 hours, 1 minute
Notable Cast: Jimmie Fails, Danny Glover and Jonathan Majors
In this horror movie, a woman finds herself trapped at a Swedish festival. This remote gathering occurs only once every 90 years. A pagan cult runs the festival and uses natural beauty to mask their intentions. Although the movie focuses on the cult-led horrors, the story also has a bad-breakup subtext plot.
Ari Aster directed and wrote the screenplay.
Runtime: 2 hours, 27 minutes
Notable Cast: William Jackson Harper, Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor
In this drama based on real events, the Senate Intelligence Committee investigates the CIA’s use of torture. The investigation focuses on the CIA’s actions following 9/11. The name comes from the committee’s report on the abuse and the subsequent fallout.
Runtime: 1 hour, 59 minutes
Notable Cast: Annette Bening, Adam Driver, Ted Levine and Jon Hamm
In this coming-of-age comedy, a young woman tries to survive high school. She feels trapped in her hometown of Sacramento as she wants to be an adult living in New York City already. Her friends and family stick with her despite various growing pains.
The movie earned five Academy Award nominations, including for Best Picture.
Greta Gerwig directed and wrote the screenplay.
Runtime: 1 hour, 34 minutes
Notable Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Beanie Feldstein, Lucas Hedges, Laurie Metcalf and Saoirse Ronan
In this comedy, a family in the 1990s deals with various romantic troubles. The parents are drifting apart. The children don’t have their lives in order. They all might need to find answers to life’s desires outside of their familial unit.
Runtime: 1 hour, 37 minutes
Notable Cast: Jenny Slate, Edie Falco and John Turturro
“The Skeleton Twins” (2014)
In this comedic drama, a brother and sister reunite after they both attempt suicide. After surviving, they decide to live with each other in their New York hometown. The brother moves into the house of his sister and her husband. While the husband wants a kid, the sister is sleeping with her scuba instructor.
Runtime: 1 hour, 33 minutes
Notable Cast: Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig and Luke Wilson
In this coming-of-age comedy, a teenager has a budding relationship with a classmate. While he stumbles through this new experience, the teen despises his mother’s relationship. He plots ways to thwart his mom’s love life.
Runtime: 1 hour, 37 minutes
Notable Cast: Paddy Considine, Yasmin Paige and Craig Roberts
In this political thriller, a feared lobbyist faces a congressional hearing. Her work involving a gun manufacturer has led to possible ethics violations. The lobbyist must test her power against the power of the state.
Runtime: 2 hours, 12 minutes
Notable Cast: Jessica Chastain, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Mark Strong
“The Cabin in the Woods” (2011)
In this horror satire, college students face a torrent of horror cliches while vacationing in a remote cabin. After various battles, the students learn that they’re part of an experiment. The film attempts to critique the genre of torture porn.
Drew Goddard directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Joss Whedon.
Runtime: 1 hour, 35 minutes
Notable Cast: Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth and Anna Hutchinson
In this comedy, strippers in Tampa try to make it in the competitive business. The characters also want to achieve more in life than their current occupation. Channing Tatum’s own life experiences influenced the script, as he stripped in Tampa during his teenage years.
Steven Soderbergh directed.
Runtime: 1 hour, 50 minutes
Notable Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Alex Pettyfer and Channing Tatum
In this action spy thriller, the Ethan Hunt character searches for missing plutonium. Because a separate mission went awry, a CIA agent monitors Hunt and his team. The team must try to do their task while internal leaders question their methods ― as in the past movies.
Runtime: 2 hours, 27 minutes
Notable Cast: Henry Cavill, Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames
“A Quiet Place” (2018)
In this sci-fi horror, a family tries to survive an apocalyptic environment. Blind monsters with strong hearing lurk everywhere. The family must stay as silent as possible to not attract these dangerous creatures.
The movie earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Sound Editing.
John Krasinski directed and co-wrote the screenplay.
Runtime: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Notable Cast: Emily Blunt and John Krasinski
In this crime thriller, a bank robber tries to steal enough money to pay bail for his brother. Since his brother is developmentally disabled, the robber has an added urgency to free him. The robber takes significant risks to accomplish the task.
The Safdie brothers directed and Josh Safdie co-wrote the screenplay.
Runtime: 1 hour, 41 minutes
Notable Cast: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Robert Pattinson and Benny Safdie
In this heist comedy, a family bands together to rob the Charlotte Motor Speedway. The FBI catches on to the plan. The family decides to try to pull off the heist despite unfavorable circumstances. The added attention of a NASCAR race at the speedway will make success near impossible.
Steven Soderbergh directed.
Runtime: 1 hour, 58 minutes
Notable Cast: Daniel Craig, Adam Driver, Riley Keough and Channing Tatum
“The Handmaiden” (2016)
In this psychological thriller, a Korean con man tries to steal a rich Japanese woman’s inheritance. The con man teams up with an orphaned pickpocket to carry out the plan. This story takes place in the 1930s, the time of Japanese colonial rule in Korea.
Park Chan-wook directed and co-wrote the screenplay.
Runtime: 2 hours, 25 minutes
Notable Cast: Cho Jin-woong, Ha Jung-woo, Kim Min-hee and Kim Tae-ri
In this horror film, a family deals with the grief of losing a matriarch. They didn’t know much about the secretive life of this family member. Shortly after this death, the family realizes that something is haunting them. An investigation into the life of the matriarch leads to horrific details that may affect the descendants forever.
Ari Aster directed and wrote the screenplay.
Runtime: 2 hours, 7 minutes
Notable Cast: Toni Collette, Milly Shapiro and Alex Wolff
In this Western, a young farm girl attempts to avenge the murder of her father. She hires an aging lawman to help track down the killer. The unlikely duo teams up with a Texas ranger who also wants to capture this man.
The movie earned 10 Academy Award nominations, including for Best Picture.
The Coen brothers directed and wrote the screenplay.
Runtime: 1 hour, 50 minutes
Notable Cast: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and Hailee Steinfeld
“The Florida Project” (2017)
In this drama, residents of a cheap motel in Florida try to make ends meet. The poverty of the motel residents contrasts with the lavish tourism of Disney World only miles away. In the planning stage, Disney referred to the theme park as “The Florida Project.”
The movie earned one Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor (Willem Dafoe).
Sean Baker directed and co-wrote the screenplay.
Runtime: 1 hour, 51 minutes
Notable Cast: Willem Dafoe, Caleb Landry Jones and Brooklynn Prince
“Love & Mercy” (2014)
In this biopic, two phases of Beach Boy founder Brian Wilson’s life play out. In one half of the movie, Wilson founds the band, creates the album “Pet Sounds” and has a nervous breakdown. In the other half, a psychotherapist seems to be controlling the life of a much older Wilson.
Runtime: 2 hours, 1 minute
Notable Cast: Elizabeth Banks, John Cusack, Paul Giamatti and Paul Dano
“You Were Never Really Here” (2017)
In this thriller, a politician hires a mercenary to find and save his kidnapped daughter. The mercenary has instructions to destroy the human trafficking network through violence. During the mission, the hired figure discovers blatant political corruption.
Runtime: 1 hour, 29 minutes
Notable Cast: Joaquin Phoenix and Ekaterina Samsonov
In this art-horror, a woman enrolls in a prestigious dance academy in Berlin during the late 1970s. Although the dancer doesn’t know this at first, witches run the dance academy. Excellence in art intertwines with incredible violence.
Luca Guadagnino directed.
Runtime: 2 hours, 32 minutes
Notable Cast: Chloë Grace Moretz, Dakota Johnson and Tilda Swinton (in multiple roles)
“The Big Sick” (2017)
In this romantic comedy, a comedian starts a relationship with a woman. This new romantic partner becomes ill almost immediately. The woman goes into a coma, and the man must decide what to do. He decides to keep visiting her in the hospital, and he waits alongside her parents. The story is based on the real-life relationship of the co-writers, Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani.
The movie earned one Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
Michael Showalter directed.
Notable Cast: Holly Hunter, Zoe Kazan, Kumail Nanjiani and Ray Romano
“Last Flag Flying” (2017)
In this drama, three Vietnam War veterans reunite to honor the death of one of their sons. The son died in the Iraq War. They decide not to bury the Marine at Arlington National Cemetery. Instead, the trio takes the casket on a road trip up the East Coast.
Richard Linklater directed and co-wrote the screenplay.
Runtime: 2 hours, 5 minutes
Notable Cast: Steve Carell, Bryan Cranston and Laurence Fishburne
“Brad’s Status” (2017)
In this comedy, a father goes through a midlife crisis while helping his son tour prestigious colleges. The aging dad runs a nonprofit organization, but he feels like he hasn’t accomplished as much as the rich friends from his youth. The story questions the value of everything and what should be enough.
Runtime: 1 hour, 42 minutes
Notable Cast: Austin Abrams, Ben Stiller and Jenna Fischer
In this historical drama, a musical director falls in love with a singer during the Cold War in Poland. The duo tours the country to promote national pride. The man sneaks out of his oppressive motherland, but the woman doesn’t follow him.
The movie earned three Academy Award nominations including Best Director for Pawel Pawlikowski.
Runtime: 1 hour, 29 minutes
Notable Cast: Tomasz Kot and Joanna Kulig