Streaming is 90% filler, and the algorithms are built to keep you scrolling, not to find you something great. So I pulled the four best picks from each of my service guides, every one a film I’ve reviewed and still stand behind, so you can find something worth your night on whatever you already pay for.
Each section links to that service’s full guide, where the rest of the lineup lives.
Jump to: Netflix · Prime Video · HBO Max · Hulu · Disney+ · Paramount+ · Peacock · Tubi · Kanopy
The Best Movies on Netflix
Critics and Audience scores from Rotten Tomatoes; ratings from IMDb. Scores as of October 2026.
THE END OF THE TOUR (2015)
Both life-affirming, deeply-affecting and willing to play a dangerous game of bringing you to the brink of tears, The End of the Tour is essential watching, a lovely, beautiful tragedy that will shake you to the bone. Jason Segel is revelatory as David Foster Wallace opposite Jesse Eisenberg’s Rolling Stone reporter in James Ponsoldt’s talky, tender road movie.▶ Watch on Netflix · Read the full review
TOP GUN: MAVERICK (2022)
Top Gun: Maverick is precisely the type of old-school action blockbuster that Hollywood no longer makes, feel-good and utterly thrilling, with edge-of-your-seat stunt work and mesmerizing star power in the form of Tom Cruise. The legacy sequel doesn’t lean too much on nostalgia for its own sake, packing plenty of emotional heft and boasting pitch-perfect pacing that keeps audiences pumping their fists and celebrating as if they too were flying high in the skies with the Top Gun grads.▶ Watch on Netflix · Read the full review
ZOLA (2021)
Janicza Bravo’s snappy and stylized Zola is a bottle-rocket of artistic energy boasting four of the most-notable performances of 2021 from Taylour Paige, Riley Keough, Colman Domingo, and Nicholas Braun. An all-around electrifying watch despite a weak ending.▶ Watch on Netflix · Read the full review
PHANTOM THREAD (2017)
A beautiful and thought-provoking slice of cinematic perfection, Phantom Thread is just aces across the board. Smart, rebellious, sneakily funny, and strangely romantic, performed with the measured gusto of those working at the tippy top of their game, and characterized by sterling technical precision, Phantom Thread is a perfect representation of cinema at its most fine-tuned and narratively daring.▶ Watch on Netflix · Read the full review
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The Best Movies on Prime Video
LOVE & FRIENDSHIP (2016)
Whit Stillman’s ‘Love & Friendship’ is a savvy anecdote to the stuffy Victorian costume drama. Hysterical and unpretentious, Stillman’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s work would make the author proud. Additionally, Kate Beckinsale proves that a career spent amongst CGI creations is a monumental waste of her awesome talent as she crafts an unforgettably shrewd feminist heroine in Lady Susan Vernon.▶ Watch on Prime Video · Read the full review
ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (2025)
One Battle After Another is another masterwork from American auteur Paul Thomas Anderson, who turns his incisive storytelling toward contemporary America and uses it as a battle-bound backdrop for a story about fighting for what matters. Every single thing works.▶ Watch on Prime Video · Read the full review
COP CAR (2015)
Cop Car is a refreshing thriller devoted entirely to suspense and dark humor, with effective performances from a slim cast and stark violence that make for a particularly memorable experience. Jon Watts’ lean thriller pits two runaway kids against a crooked sheriff played with menace and comic exasperation by Kevin Bacon.▶ Watch on Prime Video · Read the full review
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA (2016)
Manchester By the Sea is a thoughtfully rendered, grief-loaded New England character study salt-washed in bathos and poised to break hearts. Writer/director Kenneth Lonergan masterful commands the drama while Casey Affleck gives the performance of his lifetime.▶ Watch on Prime Video · Read the full review
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The Best Movies on HBO Max
SING STREET (2016)
Big-hearted, shamelessly cheerful and joyous beyond measure, Sing Street is an upbeat victory for director John Carney. Brimming with laughs and a surprising amount of tears, Sing Street is rarely seen uplift cinema sure to inspire an embarrassingly wide grin from start to finish, suffused with dreadfully catchy tunes to boot.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review
ROADRUNNER: A FILM ABOUT ANTHONY BOURDAIN (2021)
Morgan Neville’s involving documentary puts Anthony Bourdain’s travels and struggles into razor sharp focus, creating a compelling and full-bodied portrait of an ambitious journeyman, a restless searcher, a semi-charmed lover, and a crestfallen philosopher.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review
SICARIO (2015)
Emboldened by Roger Deakins’s screamingly accomplished cinematography, Jóhann Jóhannsson’s hypnotic score, Benicio Del Toro’s unforgettable performance and Denis Villeneuve‘s prudent, cold-blooded direction, Sicario‘ commits cinematic terrorism against our desire for narrative order. It’s time to welcome Villeneuve to the Masters circle.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review
MOTHER MARY (2026)
David Lowery’s hypnotic Mother Mary‘ is a breakup song filtered through the lens of a ghost story, mounted with spectacular production elements and stitched together with unreal performances from Michaela Cole and Anne Hathaway.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review
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The Best Movies on Hulu
KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS (2016)
Kubo and the Two Strings is animation perfected; voiced with great nuance, divinely animated and rippled with decadent thematic elements far exceeding its PG-rating, this is the kind of emotionally rich cinematic achievement that only great animated film seem able to deliver.▶ Watch on Hulu · Read the full review
ANORA (2024)
Mikey Madison rules the screen as a Brooklyn stripper who falls for the wealthy son of a Russian oligarch and the fallout their entanglement entails in the truly alive Anora. As their story unfolds, writer-director Sean Baker puts the romantic-comedy through a fun house mirror, where the promises of love and wealth distort into vapor and illusions, unraveling as the well-drawn characters confront the tricks they’ve played on themselves.▶ Watch on Hulu · Read the full review
FREE SOLO (2018)
A powerful, white-knuckle documentary about fear, passion, and humanity, Free Solo is a thrilling ascent into mountaineering mania fastened by a complicated figure in free-climbing fanatic Alex Honnold. Prepare thyself for the sweatiest palms of 2018.▶ Watch on Hulu · Read the full review
EX MACHINA (2015)
Living in a time when tech and humanity cycle increasingly closer to one another in the Rolodex of life, Ex Machina, from each and every angle, pummels you with the idea of what is to come. Alex Garland’s directorial debut is a chilly chamber piece, and Alicia Vikander’s Ava is one of the great screen AIs.▶ Watch on Hulu · Read the full review
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The Best Movies on Disney+
HOPPERS (2026)
Hoppers is a delightful return to form for Pixar. This story of animals and humans coming together for the common good delivers laughs, awe, and genuine thematic heft, making it one of the studio’s finer entries of the 2020s.▶ Watch on Disney+ · Read the full review
ENCANTO (2021)
Vibrant Afro-Latinx culture, eye-popping visuals, and toe-tapping songs from Lin Manuel-Miranda intersect with one of the House of Mouse’s most original and meaningful stories with Encanto, a dazzling showstopper that proves that Disney is still capable of magic.▶ Watch on Disney+ · Read the full review
LOGAN (2017)
Adult-oriented Logan mixes some rather heavy thematic elements in with its gory violence and hard language to create a uniquely introspective, genuinely mature but welcomely visceral superhero experience. Extremely dark and as gritty as the sandy roads it takes place on, Hugh Jackman’s last stand as the manbeast once known as Wolverine proves an admirably sobering end for a complex character.▶ Watch on Disney+ · Read the full review
SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE (2023)
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a mesmerizing animated spectacle that treads new ground, challenging the conventional tenets of power and featuring an introspective exploration of the ideals of heroism through a visually stunning multiverse. Opening new windows for where the larger story can go while remaining an engaging entry in itself, this is bar none the most exciting thing happening in the multiverse of super-movies.▶ Watch on Disney+ · Read the full review
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The Best Movies on Paramount+
TUNER (2026)
Daniel Roher’s Tuner is the rare crowd-pleasing crime thriller that works just as well as a thoughtful character study. Propelled by Leo Woodall’s breakout performance and a deeply immersive sonic perspective, this sharply tuned gem finds surprising emotional depth between its suspenseful set pieces.▶ Watch on Paramount+ · Read the full review
CHALLENGERS (2024)
In Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers,’ the world of competitive tennis becomes a steamy love triangle, where obsession and passion clash in a song of ice and fire. Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor are excellently matched to the material as Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ heightened score amplifies the movie’s seductive spell.▶ Watch on Paramount+ · Read the full review
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: FALLOUT (2018)
Mission Impossible: Fallout is action movie heroin. Impossibly entertaining, grittier and more artful than its forebearers while still maintaining its smarmy roguish charms, ‘Fallout’ is the result of mind-blowing technical merit underscored by well-earned emotional connection. Tom Cruise proves once and for all that he simply is not human.▶ Watch on Paramount+ · Read the full review
ARRIVAL (2016)
Minor quibbles aside, Arrival is heady, bold, emotionally decadent and fearless. It’s science fiction for film lovers lead by an excellent turn from Amy Adams and emboldened by Jóhann Jóhannsson’s unforgettable score and Denis Villeneuve’s moody aesthetics.▶ Watch on Paramount+ · Read the full review
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The Best Movies on Peacock
KAJILLIONAIRE (2020)
Miranda July’s oddball opus Kajillionaire uses quirk to speak to the distancing of humanity from itself, creating a weirdly tender and wholly otherworldly dramedy that’s lit up by great performances. Miranda July’s offbeat heist comedy follows a family of small-time grifters, and Evan Rachel Wood’s deadpan performance slowly cracks into something tender.▶ Watch on Peacock · Read the full review
THE HOLDOVERS (2023)
A testament to the simple power of an outstanding script, strong direction, and standout performances, ‘The Holdover’’s is a delightfully bittersweet return to form for Alexander Payne. Paul Giamatti is as good as ever in one of 2023’s best films.▶ Watch on Peacock · Read the full review
THE ALPINIST (2021)
A stark reminder of the perilous extremes of climbing, The Alpinist is a fascinating character study of young renegade Marc-André Leclerc and thoughtful companion piece to the recent slew of free solo documentaries, which focuses more on the internal mysteries of the subject than the technical craft of the sport.▶ Watch on Peacock · Read the full review
HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE (2016)
Taika Waititi spreads his wings with Hunt for the Wilderpeople, a genuinely hilarious and emotionally engaging tale of a naughty foster child and his surrogate uncle who venture off into the bush. Sam Neill and Julian Dennison have uncommon comic chemistry in front of the camera while behind it, Waititi shows off some newfound directorial tricks.▶ Watch on Peacock · Read the full review
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The Best Movies on Tubi
WILD TALES (2014)
Szifrón’s smokin’ opus is batshit in all the right ways: it’s ironic, smart, blisteringly funny and downright brutal. It’s a concoction of true madness and borderline genius, shaken up and exploding onto the screen in gory, imaginative splashes.▶ Watch on Tubi · Read the full review
THEATER CAMP (2023)
Fueled by a script that absolutely sings and the thespian talent and improvisational ingenuity to back it up, Theater Camp is a hysterical and delightful trip to mockumentary perfection that stands as one of the best comedy films of the 2020s. More Molly Gordon in everything please.▶ Watch on Tubi · Read the full review
HONEYLAND (2019)
Honeyland masterfully employs the documentary medium to tell a sprawling story about sustainability through the lens of a traditional Macedonian beekeeper. The perfect cross section of educational entertainment and storytelling prowess, the Sundance award winner is nectar for the soul that buzzes with poignancy.▶ Watch on Tubi · Read the full review
ENEMY (2014)
Jake Gyllenhaal plays a history professor who spots his exact double in a movie and becomes obsessed with meeting him. Denis Villeneuve’s queasy, sepia-toned puzzle box is seductive and deeply strange, and its final shot is one of the great WTF endings.▶ Watch on Tubi · Read the full review
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The Best Movies on Kanopy
PRIDE (2014)
In 1984, a group of London gay and lesbian activists set out to support striking Welsh miners. Matthew Warchus’ true story is funny, rousing, and deeply moving, and its ensemble is a joy from top to bottom. Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, and Ben Schnetzer lead an ensemble that will have you cheering by the end.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS (2013)
Inside Llewyn Davis is a mood piece if there ever was any, rich with soulful folk ballads, colorful characters, and stripped of the usual framework that we call a story. Oscar Isaac’s breakthrough performance anchors the Coen brothers’ melancholy portrait of the 1961 Greenwich Village folk scene, cat and all.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review
SWISS ARMY MAN (2016)
One of the most bizarre and bizarrely beautiful films to grace the Sundance Dramatic Competition, Swiss Army Man is not a film to be puzzled out in one go but that’s ok. It’s mightily entertaining, features two standout performances and has enough raw originality coursing through its veins to make it truly stand in a league of its own.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review
NO OTHER CHOICE (2025)
No Other Choice is an expertly constructed social satire from Park Chan-wook that harkens to its South Korean compatriot ‘Parasite’. Come for the bloody thrills, stay for the pertinent message about humanity and their employment crisis circa 2025.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review
See every pick in the Best Movies on Kanopy →
FAQ
What are the best movies streaming right now?
The four strongest picks from each service are above, and every section links to that service’s full guide.
How often is this list updated?
The picks come from my service-by-service guides, which are refreshed every two weeks as titles come and go.
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By: Matt Oakes
Started blogging about film in college when the university paper wouldn’t have him. Dislikes your consensus film Twitter favorites. Devotee of horror movies that make him die a little inside. Catches films at festivals when he can. Proud SFCS and OFCS member and Tomatometer-approved critic. Editor-in-chief of Silver Screen Riot.
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