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The Best Amazon Prime Original Movies in the Company’s History

The Best Amazon Prime Original Movies in the Company’s History

Action blockbusters, comedies, musicals, and more – streaming platforms show movies in every category. And it’s not just a matter of acquiring other studio productions. Like other platforms, Amazon makes its own films, too. The company has invested heavily in original movies, sometimes released exclusively on Prime Video but sometimes also, more recently, in movie theaters as well.

First launched in 2016 as Amazon Unbox, the platform’s catalog of original films has greatly expanded and is now even comparable to some production studio competitors. The list of critically acclaimed Amazon Studios original movies keeps growing. In 2022, the company even landed four Oscar nominations, led by three acting accolades for “Being the Ricardos,” a film about “I Love Lucy” stars Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. (These are the most nominated actors who still don’t have an Oscar.)

To determine the best Amazon Prime original movies, 24/7 Tempo developed an index using average ratings on IMDb, an online movie database owned by Amazon, and a combination of audience scores and Tomatometer scores on Rotten Tomatoes, an online movie and TV review aggregator, as of August 2022, weighting all ratings equally. Only movies originally produced or distributed by Amazon Studios were considered. Documentaries were not included.

There are Oscar-winning and nominated movies and actors featured on the list, and a lineup of directors – including Regina King, Gus Van Sant, and Woody Allen – representing different generations of Hollywood movie makers. (Amazon also produces original series. These are the best Amazon Prime original series of all time.)

Of the 25 films on our list, 11 have a critics’ Tomatometer score from critics of 90% or higher, and every one of them is worth staying indoors for.

Source: Courtesy of Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions

25. Elvis & Nixon (2016)
> IMDb user rating: 6.4/10 (13,661 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 57% (6,038 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 76% (156 reviews)
> Directed by: Liza Johnson

Michael Shannon is Elvis Presley and Kevin Spacey is Richard Nixon in this comedy drama about a meeting the two had at the White House on Dec. 21, 1970. Presley demands a meeting with the president, asking to go undercover as a federal agent for the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (the modern DEA).

Source: Courtesy of Amazon Studios

24. Suspiria (2018)
> IMDb user rating: 6.7/10 (68,266 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 65% (2,843 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 65% (330 reviews)
> Directed by: Luca Guadagnino

This supernatural horror feature is a remake of the 1977 Italian film of the same name. It follows a woman in the 1970s who enrolls in a famous dance company in Berlin that happens to be run by witches.

Source: Courtesy of Amazon Prime Video

23. Black Box (2020)
> IMDb user rating: 6.2/10 (12,202 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 67% (303 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 70% (66 reviews)
> Directed by: Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour

“Black Box” is the second installment of the horror and science fiction “Welcome to Blumhouse” series. In the film, a single father survives a car crash that kills his wife. Now suffering from amnesia, he undergoes a treatment to get his memory back but begins to question what kind of person he is.

Source: Courtesy of Film & TV House

22. Brad’s Status (2017)
> IMDb user rating: 6.5/10 (16,995 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 55% (4,714 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 79% (175 reviews)
> Directed by: Mike White

In “Brad’s Status” Ben Stiller is a happily married man and father who lives a comfortable life in California. However, he keeps comparing his life to the lives of his best friends who appear to be much more successful.

Source: Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

21. Landline (2017)
> IMDb user rating: 6.4/10 (4,411 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 64% (2,987 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 75% (130 reviews)
> Directed by: Gillian Robespierre

This comedy centers on sisters in the 1990s living in New York City who find out her father is having an affair. Other family secrets start to come out.

Source: Courtesy of Amazon Studios

20. The Lost City of Z (2016)
> IMDb user rating: 6.6/10 (84,836 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 57% (21,631 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 86% (247 reviews)
> Directed by: James Gray

Based on true events, “The Lost City of Z” is an adventure drama that follows British explorer Percy Fawcett who makes several attempts to find a lost ancient city in the Amazon in Brazil and eventually disappears.

Source: Courtesy of Amazon Prime Video

19. Being the Ricardos (2021)
> IMDb user rating: 6.5/10 (40,314 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 75% (100 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 67% (275 reviews)
> Directed by: Aaron Sorkin

“Being the Ricardos” follows Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz during a tumultuous week of filming their iconic comedy show “I Love Lucy.” The show’s future as well as their marriage are tested as they face a series of obstacles — from Arnaz being suspected of having an affair to Ball being suspected of supporting communists.

Source: Courtesy of Amazon

18. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020)
> IMDb user rating: 6.6/10 (130,113 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 63% (2,993 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 85% (303 reviews)
> Directed by: Jason Woliner

The sequel to the first hit Borat movie from 2006, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” is a mockumentary black comedy movie that follows a TV personality and his trip to the U.S. where he wants to offer his daughter as a bride to then-vice-president Mike Pence, revealing much about American culture in the process.

Source: Courtesy of Amazon Studios

17. Guava Island (2019)
> IMDb user rating: 6.7/10 (10,197 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 75% (367 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 74% (43 reviews)
> Directed by: Hiro Murai

Starring Rihanna and Donald Glover (who also co-wrote the musical’s story), “Guava Island” follows a young musician who is trying to stage a music festival.

Source: Courtesy of Amazon Studios

16. Last Flag Flying (2017)
> IMDb user rating: 6.9/10 (24,361 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 71% (4,241 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 77% (218 reviews)
> Directed by: Richard Linklater

Three Vietnam War veterans reunite after not seeing each other for over 30 years. One of them lost a son who was killed in Iraq and the men are going on a road trip, taking his casket to New Hampshire.

Source: Courtesy of Amazon

15. The Map of Tiny Perfect Things (2021)
> IMDb user rating: 6.8/10 (17,130 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 73% (365 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 77% (71 reviews)
> Directed by: Ian Samuels

This sci-fi romantic comedy concerns two teenagers who are stuck in a time loop, living the same day over and over. While trying to find a way to escape the loop, they find small things that make the day perfect.

Source: Courtesy of Amazon Studios

14. Beautiful Boy (2018)
> IMDb user rating: 7.3/10 (62,080 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 77% (2,564 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 67% (262 reviews)
> Directed by: Felix van Groeningen

Based on a true story, “Beautiful Boy” is the story of a father who is trying to help his son fight drug addiction.

Source: Courtesy of Amazon Studios

13. Late Night (2019)
> IMDb user rating: 6.5/10 (34,088 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 77% (2,801 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 79% (296 reviews)
> Directed by: Nisha Ganatra

Mindy Kalin wrote and starred in this comedy about a popular late night talk TV host who, suspesting she is going to be replaced soon, hires a new female writer, the only woman on staff.

Source: Courtesy of Amazon Studios

12. Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot (2018)
> IMDb user rating: 6.9/10 (24,410 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 75% (1,613 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 77% (190 reviews)
> Directed by: Gus Van Sant

Based on a true story, this comedy-drama tells the story of how an alcoholic cartoonist gets his life back after surviving a car crash that leaves him quadriplegic.

Source: Courtesy of Amazon Studios

11. The Vast of Night (2019)
> IMDb user rating: 6.7/10 (34,740 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 66% (1,390 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 92% (244 reviews)
> Directed by: Andrew Patterson

“The Vast of Night” is a sci-fi mystery indie movie very loosely based on the Roswell UFO incidents in the 950s in New Mexico. In the film, two teenagers investigate a strange audio frequency that may be a signal from aliens.

Source: Courtesy of Amazon Studios

10. The Aeronauts (2019)
> IMDb user rating: 6.6/10 (30,398 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95% (39 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 71% (189 reviews)
> Directed by: Tom Harper

A stubborn scientist and a rich widow team up in the 1860s for a gas balloon expedition that will take them flying higher than anyone else in history, finding themselves in a fight for their lives in the process.

Source: Courtesy of Amazon Studios

9. Uncle Frank (2020)
> IMDb user rating: 7.3/10 (17,767 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 84% (468 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 77% (119 reviews)
> Directed by: Alan Ball

“Uncle Frank” is a comedy-drama and essentially a road trip movie. The story centers on a gay man in 1973 who goes home for his father’s funeral and is forced to confrot his past.

Source: Courtesy of Amazon Studios

8. The Report (2019)
> IMDb user rating: 7.2/10 (38,426 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 82% (1,058 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 82% (240 reviews)
> Directed by: Scott Z. Burns

“The Report” is a political drama about a staffer working for a senator on the Senate Intelligence committee. He is tasked with investigating the CIA’s use of torture on suspected terrorists after 9/11 and uncovers alarming secrets.

Source: Courtesy of Amazon Prime Video

7. Brittany Runs a Marathon (2019)
> IMDb user rating: 6.8/10 (18,320 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 87% (1,344 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 88% (187 reviews)
> Directed by: Paul Downs Colaizzo

The comedy follows an overweight woman living in New York City who picks up running as a hobby and a way to lose weight, setting a goal to eventually compete in the famed New York City marathon.

Source: Courtesy of Bleecker Street Media

6. Paterson (2016)
> IMDb user rating: 7.4/10 (75,911 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 72% (16,194 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (262 reviews)
> Directed by: Jim Jarmusch

“Paterson” centers on a bus driver who does the same thing every day, but quietly observes the people around him, writing poems about them and other simple things in life.

Source: Courtesy of Amazon Studios

5. One Night in Miami… (2020)
> IMDb user rating: 7.1/10 (28,873 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 79% (1,037 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 98% (331 reviews)
> Directed by: Regina King

“One Night in Miami…” imagines what could have happened on one night in 1964 when four Black icons – Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown – met to celebrate Ali’s big boxing win and discuss their roles in the civil rights movement.

Source: Courtesy of Roadside Attractions

4. Manchester by the Sea (2016)
> IMDb user rating: 7.8/10 (261,587 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 78% (50,382 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (352 reviews)
> Directed by: Kenneth Lonergan

Actors Matt Damon and John Krasinski were among the producers of this family drama, and came up with the original idea for the story. A troubled Boston apartment handyman learns that his brother has died suddenly in the nearby seaside town where both men grew up, and that he is now the guardian of his brother’s 16-year-old son. The handyman struggles to connect with the boy, and with his own ex-wife.

Source: Courtesy of Amazon Studios

3. Honey Boy (2019)
> IMDb user rating: 7.3/10 (32,827 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 92% (560 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 94% (231 reviews)
> Directed by: Alma Har’el

Shia LaBeouf wrote and starred in this well-received film based on his own life. The movie is about a boy whose abusive father returns to his life just as his television career is taking off. The film explores themes such as reconciliation and understanding.

Source: Courtesy of Amazon Studios

2. The Big Sick (2017)
> IMDb user rating: 7.5/10 (127,850 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 88% (32,924 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 98% (303 reviews)
> Directed by: Michael Showalter

“The Big Sick” is based loosely on the true-life story of standup comic Kumail Nanjiani and his wife writer Emily V. Gordon, who collaborated on the screenplay.

Source: Courtesy of Amazon Studios

1. Sound of Metal (2019)
> IMDb user rating: 7.8/10 (105,218 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 90% (2,076 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 97% (274 reviews)
> Directed by: Darius Marder

A successful heavy metal drummer, who is a recovering drug addict, begins to rapidly lose his hearing and checks into a sober house for deaf people, hoping to learn to cope with his new circumstances.

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