Anna Daniels
(Welcome to Now Stream This, a column dedicated to the best movies streaming on Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and every other streaming service out there.)
Looking for something to stream right now? Good, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve got everything here! Well, not everything, that would be impossible. But there are a lot of great titles available to watch right this now – they’re only a streaming service away. These are the best movies streaming right now.
The Best Movies Streaming Right Now
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RofpAjqwMa8?feature=oembed&w=740&h=416]
The Farewell
Now Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
Release Date: 2019
Genre: Drama
Director: Lulu Wang
Cast: Awkwafina, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin, Zhao Shuzhen, Lu Hong, Jiang Yongbo
Lulu Wang‘s heartfelt, emotional dramedy proved that Awkwafina has more range than we were giving her credit for. The actress, primarily known for comedy, turns in a mostly dramatic performance, and what a great performance it is. Awkwafina plays Billi, a Chinese-American woman who returns to China when she learns her beloved grandmother (Zhao Shu-zhen) is dying. Custom dictates that the family keep the impending death a secret – something Billi is not comfortable with, but goes along with anyway. This premise could’ve descended into generic indie drama territory, but Wang’s script is so sharp – loaded with small, yet powerful moments – that The Farewell packs an unexpected punch.
For fans of: Coco, Eat Drink Man Woman, crying.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FDMP_n-L2A?feature=oembed&w=740&h=416]
Serpico
Now Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
Release Date: 1973
Genre: Crime Drama
Director: Sidney Lumet
Cast: Al Pacino, Waldo Salt, Norman Wexler
One of the great New York crime dramas, Sidney Lumet‘s Serpico stars Al Pacino as Frank Serpico, an undercover cop who seems to be the only person on the entire police force who doesn’t take bribes. This causes Serpico’s fellow officers to be mighty ticked-off at him, and things only get worse when he tries to expose the corruption. Pacino gives one of his most iconic performances here, and we get to watch the great actor as he takes the happy-go-lucky Serpico who first starts out on the force, and then slowly turns him into a more and more disillusioned man.
For fans of: Dog Day After Noon, Carlito’s Way, young Pacino.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RR8WTQzwSk?feature=oembed&w=740&h=416]
Honey Boy
Now Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
Release Date: 2019
Genre: Drama
Director: Alma Har’el
Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Lucas Hedges, Noah Jupe, FKA Twigs.
Shia LaBeouf works through some demons with Honey Boy, a fictionalized autobiography of sorts. LaBeouf plays a character based on his own father, while Noah Jupe is a child actor based on the young LaBeouf. Their relationship is anything but ideal, and it’s clear the unconventional (to say the least) childhood has left the grown-up version of Jupe’s LaBeouf stand-in (Lucas Hedges) a raging, self-loathing disaster. LaBeouf is phenomenal here as his own abusive father, turning in what’s probably the best performance of his career.
For fans of: Waves, Affliction, LaBeouf stans.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEr6K1bwIVs?feature=oembed&w=740&h=416]
Steve Jobs
Now Streaming on Netflix
Release Date: 2015
Genre: Biopic
Director: Danny Boyle
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, Katherine Waterston, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jeff Daniels
Danny Boyle‘s Steve Jobs should’ve been a bigger deal, but it ultimately underperformed at the box office and was mostly overlooked by critics. But Boyle paints a clear picture of the Apple co-founder, as played by Michael Fassbender – drawing us into his world, and his mind. The film is broken into three distinct acts – a masterstroke by screenwriter Aaron Sorkin. We see Jobs at three major product launches over the course of his career, and watch as he keeps encountering the same people each time. Lightning-fast dialogue is handled to perfection by Fassbender, Kate Winslet, and, most surprising of all, Seth Rogen, who turns in arguably the best performance in the whole film as Steve Wozniak, the other Apple founder.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uubih798tg?feature=oembed&w=740&h=416]
Ghost
Now Streaming on Hulu
Release Date: 1990
Genre: Romantic Drama
Director: Jerry Zucker
Cast: Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Whoopi Goldberg, Tony Goldwyn, Rick Aviles
Yes, Ghost feels a bit dated these days. But’s also still quite an inventive, romantic movie that also happens to be a high concept supernatural thriller – they don’t really make movies like this anymore. Patrick Swayze is a banker who gets murdered during a mugging, only to find himself sticking around – in ghost form. He still longs to be with his girlfriend, played by Demi Moore, but she can’t see him. But someone else can – a psychic, played by Whoopi Goldberg in an Oscar-winning role. Things get further complicated when Swayze realizes his murder wasn’t random, and Moore might be in danger. Bruce Joel Rubin‘s script balances all of these threads perfectly.
For fans of: Truly, Madly, Deeply, Always, pottery.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyGBwrtIamw?feature=oembed&w=740&h=555]
Elizabeth
Now Streaming on Netflix
Release Date: 1998
Genre: Historical Drama
Director: Shekhar Kapur
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Christopher Eccleston, Joseph Fiennes, John Gielgud, Fanny Ardant, Richard Attenborough
Elizabeth wasn’t Cate Blanchett‘s first movie, but it was the film that made most people aware of how incredible she was. Blanchett commands the screen as Elizabeth I in this highly fictionalized take on the monarch. Director Shekhar Kapur draws less on history and more on movies like The Godfather to show how Elizabeth rose to power, and held onto it – even if that meant bumping off a few people in the process.
For fans of: The Godfather, big dresses.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYcUUXq6Kd8?feature=oembed&w=740&h=416]
Killer Joe
Now Streaming on Hulu
Release Date: 2011
Genre: Very Dark Comedy
Director: William Friedkin
Cast: Matthew McConaughey in the title role, Emile Hirsch, Juno Temple, Gina Gershon, Thomas Haden Church
William Friedkin‘s southern fried noir is brutal, hilarious, and strange. Matthew McConaughey is phenomenal as a cop who moonlights as a hitman, moving through the film with a kind of slick menace. McConaughey’s Killer Joe is hired to kill the matriarch of a trashy family, but they don’t have the money for the hit. So Joe comes up with a solution: The family will gift him their youngest daughter, a sweet, naive young woman played by Juno Temple. Yes, it’s as sleazy as it sounds, but Friedkin, working with a script by Tracy Letts – who also wrote the play the film is based – mines this premise – and its repulsive characters – for all its worth.
For fans of: Night of the Hunter, K fried C.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieqemSsMxek?feature=oembed&w=740&h=416]
Horse Girl
Now Streaming on Netflix
Release Date: 2020
Genre: Drama
Director: Jeff Baena
Cast: Alison Brie, Debby Ryan, John Reynolds, Molly Shannon, John Ortiz, Paul Reiser
Horse Girl is an oddity. It begins like an indie rom-com before rather abruptly turning into something much darker, and far more disturbing. Alison Brie is Sarah, a lonely young woman with zero social skills. After being set-up on a sort-of-date with a nice guy (John Reynolds), things appear to be turning around for Sarah. That doesn’t last, though. Soon, she’s plagued by weird dreams, sleepwalking, and time loss. She’ll wake up in strange places with no idea how she got there. Mental illness runs in Sarah’s family, and she begins to wonder if she’s losing her mind. Or is there something more sinister going on here? Horse Girl doesn’t really provide concrete answers, but that’s what makes it so fascinating. That and Brie’s performance, which is both sweet and frantic.
For fans of: Mysterious Skin, Happy Accidents, arts & crafts.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQpQ2rWFlYc?feature=oembed&w=740&h=416]
The Golden Glove
Now Streaming on Shudder
Release Date: 2019
Genre: Horror-Drama
Director: Fatih Akin
Cast: Jonas Dassler
One of the most unpleasant, repulsive movies you’ll ever see – and that’s the point. Faith Akin‘s grungy, cruel The Golden Glove tells the true(ish) story of Fritz Honka (Jonas Dassler, buried under convincing make-up), a hideous serial killer who preyed on people even more destitute and pathetic than he was. Not since Herny: Portrait of a Serial Killer has a movie gone to such great lengths to de-glamourize serial killers. This is the type of movie that makes you want to take a shower as soon as it’s over.
For fans of: Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, being repulsed.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-0XuYxh67w?feature=oembed&w=740&h=416]
Super 8
Now Streaming on Hulu and Amazon Prime Video
Release Date: 2011
Genre: Sci-Fi Thriller
Director: J.J. Abrams
Cast: Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler
Have people forgotten about Super 8? It seemed like such a big deal before its release – J.J. Abrams directing a full-blown Spielberg homage, with Spielberg producing! – but after the film’s release, its cultural footprint evaporated. To be fair, Abrams’s film has some problems – specifically in its third act, where the movie just kind of gives up for the sake of an emotional punchline But before that, Abrams crafts something fun, and really does manage to capture some of the energy of the early Spielberg. Is he as good a filmmaker as Spielberg? Oh, heavens, no. But he’s like a great cover artist – he knows how to play those notes, man. Set in 1979, Super 8 concerns a group of small-town kids who end up butting up against an alien monster. It’s basically Stranger Things before there was Stranger Things (not that Stranger Things is very original, either).
For fans of: Stranger Things, Poltergeist, Spielbergian nostalgia.
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