Prime Video is dropping 52 new movies in August, which means scrolling through a mountain of titles just to figure out what’s actually worth watching. There’s no need to waste half your evening deciding, though, as I’ve sifted through the entire lineup so you can skip straight to the movies that deserve to be on your watchlist.
Looking over everything dropping on the service this August, much of it is easily skippable, which is why I’ve gathered the five best movies to watch right now. That includes one of Christopher Nolan’s best-ever movies, a classic crime thriller with a shocking twist, and an action epic set in a future revolving around apes.
5 Prime Video movies and shows to stream right now
‘Challengers’ (2024)
2026 is the year of Zendaya, with the actress starring in four major releases (I don’t blame her for wanting to take a little break after this). Looking back, “Challengers” now feels like the moment she truly cemented herself as one of Hollywood’s most compelling leading stars. Directed by Luca Guadagnino, best known for “Call Me by Your Name,” this romantic sports drama is less about the central love triangle driving the story and more about the manipulation simmering beneath the surface.
Tashi Duncan (Zendaya) is a former tennis prodigy whose playing career ends after a devastating injury. She reinvents herself as a coach and helps transform her husband, Art Donaldson (Mike Faist), into one of the sport’s biggest champions. When Art begins struggling with his form, Tashi enters him into a lower-level Challenger tournament to rebuild his confidence. There, Art unexpectedly faces Patrick Zweig (Josh O'Connor), his former best friend and Tashi’s ex-boyfriend.
Watch on Prime Video now
‘Interstellar’ (2014)
If you’ve watched Christopher Nolan’s new film “The Odyssey” in theaters, there’s no better time to stream one of his very best movies on Prime Video: “Interstellar.” It might be a little controversial to rank it among his top three films, considering it remains surprisingly divisive, but I find this sci-fi epic incredibly compelling, elevated even further by its breathtaking soundtrack. “Interstellar” deserves more love because, while it has its flaws, it’s wholly absorbing from start to finish.
Former NASA pilot Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) has traded spaceflight for farming as Earth faces devastating crop failures and worsening dust storms that threaten humanity’s survival. After uncovering a secret NASA facility, he joins a mission through a mysterious wormhole near Saturn alongside a team of astronauts searching for a new habitable planet. As time passes differently across the galaxy, Cooper races against the clock to complete the mission while those he left behind continue fighting for humanity’s future on Earth.
Watch on Prime Video now
‘The Usual Suspects’ (1995)
Anyone in the mood for a classic crime thriller will want to stream “The Usual Suspects.” It’s easy to see why this film remains a defining thriller of the 1990s. Driven by an incredible ensemble cast and a legendary plot twist, it delivers non-stop tension and masterpiece-level storytelling. Without spoiling the specifics, the final five minutes of the film feature one of the most famous shock endings in film history, fundamentally changing how you view every scene that came before it.
After surviving a deadly explosion aboard a ship in San Pedro Harbor, small-time con artist Roger “Verbal” Kint (Kevin Spacey) is brought in for questioning by U.S. Customs agent Dave Kujan (Chazz Palminteri). As Verbal recounts the events leading up to the massacre, he explains how he and four other career criminals first crossed paths during a police lineup before joining forces on a series of increasingly dangerous jobs. Their activities eventually place them in the orbit of the mysterious and feared crime lord Keyser Söze.
Watch on Prime Video now
‘Licorice Pizza’ (2021)
I’ll always take the chance to recommend a great indie film, especially since these kinds of releases often get overlooked. Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, “Licorice Pizza” is a warm, sun-drenched, episodic coming-of-age comedy-drama set in 1970s California. Neither lead actor Alana Haim nor Cooper Hoffman had previously appeared in a feature film, with Haim being best known as a member of the Grammy-nominated indie rock band HAIM.
Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman) is a 15-year-old actor and aspiring entrepreneur who meets Alana Kane (Alana Haim), a 25-year-old photographer’s assistant, in California’s San Fernando Valley in 1973. After an unlikely connection forms between them, the pair go on a series of adventures involving acting, business ventures, and Hollywood encounters. From starting a waterbed company to navigating various challenges around Los Angeles, Gary and Alana’s lives become increasingly intertwined.
Watch on Prime Video now
‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ (2024)
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” serves as the fourth installment in the rebooted “Planet of the Apes” franchise. It kicks off a brand-new chapter for the series, bridging the gap between Caesar’s era and the world seen in the original 1968 classic. The franchise continues to set a high bar visually, with Wētā FX once again delivering incredible motion-capture work. The CGI is stunning, bringing overgrown city ruins and incredibly realistic primate expressions to life with impressive detail.
This film is set generations after Caesar’s reign, when apes have formed new societies and humans have been pushed to the margins. The story follows Noa (Owen Teague), a young chimpanzee whose peaceful clan is destroyed by a ruthless ape leader searching for human technology. Forced into a dangerous journey, Noa encounters a human named Mae (Freya Allan) and discovers hidden truths about the past. Soon, Noa fights to rescue his clan and determine what the future will look like.
Watch on Prime Video now
Every movie just added to Prime Video
Here's the full list of all 52 movies that were just added to Prime Video:
- Baby Boom (1987)
- Back To School (1986)
- Bandits (2001)
- Barbershop (2002)
- Barbershop 2: Back In Business (2004)
- Barbershop: The Next Cut (2016)
- Beauty Shop (2005)
- Blue Velvet (1986)
- Bridesmaids (Unrated) (2011)
- Challengers (2024)
- Colors (1988)
- Cop Car (2015)
- Everything, Everything (2017)
- Fargo (1996)
- Fighting With My Family (2019)
- Hard Target (1993)
- Hard Target 2 (2016)
- Hercules (2014)
- Hoodlum (1997)
- Interstellar (2014)
- Into The Blue (2005)
- Joy Ride (2023)
- Just Go With It (2011)
- Killing Me Softly (2003)
- Licorice Pizza (2021)
- Moonstruck (1988)
- Mystic Pizza (1988)
- No Way Out (1987)
- Oblivion (1994)
- Operation Finale (2018)
- Overboard (2018)
- Primate (2026)
- Pulp Fiction (1994)
- Quigley Down Under (1990)
- Return To Me (2000)
- Robocop (1987)
- Robocop (2014)
- Robocop 2 (1990)
- Robocop 3 (1993)
- Small Soldiers (1998)
- Sudden Death (1995)
- The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai (1984)
- The Gambler (2014)
- The Hustle (2019)
- The Silencing (2020)
- The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
- The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)
- The Usual Suspects (1995)
- What's The Worst That Could Happen? (2001)
- Women Talking (2022)
- Yours, Mine, And Ours (1968)
- Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes (2024)
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